The Third Great Ninja War raged on. Among the chaos, the elite ninjas of the Hidden Sand set their sights on Yuki Uzumaki.
This troubled Yuki greatly. These ninjas concealed their appearances, fighting in a reckless style that would injure the enemy but cost them heavily as well. They were determined to leave wounds on her.
Of course, Yuki would not hold back. These reckless ninjas were slaughtered almost entirely by her.
After they left, Danzo of Konoha came to the scene. Looking at the pile of corpses, he fell into thought. These Root ninjas were too weak—they couldn't even plant evidence properly.
Another plan would be necessary. It would be best to lure both sides together to minimize Konoha's risk.
Near Obito Uchiha, Ren sensed White Zetsu. This indicated the opponent was about to act.
There was only one presence—not Black Zetsu. This was expected. That ancient schemer who had lived a thousand years would never reveal himself so easily. No matter, Ren intended to draw him out.
Without hesitation, Ren ran straight toward White Zetsu's location.
"Ah, they found me… run…" Tobi tried to speak but was picked up before finishing.
"A special White Zetsu," Ren murmured, stroking his chin.
"You say I'm special, huh? I have a question—do you know what the feeling of needing to poop feels like?" Tobi asked curiously. He didn't care about his situation. Fear was not part of his existence.
"Hmph." Ren immediately killed the White Zetsu, confirming the presence was gone. There was no valuable intel on this one, so there was no reason to keep him. Of course, Obito still needed to be watched.
Meanwhile, attention in the ninja world was drawn elsewhere. The Land of Water was focusing on eliminating Yuki's squad. She had been traveling the ninja world for years, especially during the wars, and had attracted a group of like-minded allies.
Although Yuki's personal strength was great, her companions were not, which led to constant restrictions.
"Limit… is this the limit?" Yuki felt frustrated. After forming her own team, she realized how difficult things had become. Her father had turned the Land of Whirlpools into the strongest ninja nation, yet the goal that once seemed distant now felt even further away.
The Mist Ninja did not stop. They charged at her squad like rabid dogs.
Konoha.
"Danzo, was this your doing?" Hiruzen was slightly shocked at Danzo's decisiveness and thorough execution. Perhaps framing the neighboring Land of Wind would have been safer—they still had Land of Whirlpools to consider.
"No." Danzo looked a bit embarrassed. He had promised confidently that he would handle this, but it was taken from him. He suspected it was a setup by the Land of Earth, after all, back on the battlefield in the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water had really beaten up the Land of Earth.
"Well, that's fine. Now we focus on recovering our strength. Don't worry about the battlefield for now."
"Should we first see how the Land of Whirlpools responds? Fine." Danzo sent the order immediately. Except for the intelligence team, everyone else was to return.
Land of Earth.
"Kitsuchi, do you think it was Konoha?"
"It's possible. Konoha was about to lose, and at this critical moment, the Hidden Mist shinobi suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Whirlpool's princess. Too coincidental." Kitsuchi shared his thoughts.
"Haha, just as I expected. Prepare a surprise attack on Konoha." Onoki gave his direct orders.
"An attack? At this timing?" Kitsuchi was worried. The Land of Whirlpools could join the battle at any time.
"You don't understand Uzumaki Ren. He once promised that whoever attacked the Land of Whirlpools, he would target them specifically." Onoki's judgment of Ren was clear; decades of observation hadn't been wasted.
"Understood." Kitsuchi quickly made the arrangements. Onoki's decision-making was indeed reliable.
Land of Water.
All of this was naturally meant to draw Ren's attention. Now that all the tailed beasts were in the Land of Whirlpools, the other countries' current value was only to distract Ren.
"Gahaha, Hidden Mist, thank you for keeping his attention." A figure slowly sank into the ground, heading toward Obito Uchiha's location. He still needed to create trouble for the opponent.
Near the Land of Water, a father and daughter reunited after several years, though it was at the scene where Ren had just killed the Mist shinobi.
"Yo, Princess, how about it? Your father's strength."
"Too slow, Father." Yuki smiled. Her squad had survived, and she had reconciled with herself, accepting that she wasn't as strong as Ren.
"Father? Huh?" The people below were extremely surprised.
At that moment, a young man with blonde hair approached Ren. "Father, I am Takano. Please hand your daughter over to me."
"?"
Yuki's face filled with question marks. What was this kid saying to her father? Her father was such a doting dad.
"Heh… hand over Yuki to you?" Ren's mouth twitched. After observing Yuki and confirming she felt nothing, he continued, "If you want me to hand her over, defeat my clone."
"Really? Father, you said this yourself!" Takano was ecstatic.
Hearing the word "Father" made Ren's mouth twitch uncontrollably. He decided he needed to teach this guy a lesson.
Takano faced Ren's clone with great excitement. Yuki—she was his.
Ten minutes later, Takano lay on the ground, questioning his life choices.
The opponent had only been a clone, but even after ruling out Yuki, the clone's chakra surpassed the combined total of everyone present.
After finishing with the small issue, Ren looked at Yuki. "So, after all these years away, what do you think of ninjas?"
"They're all trash," Yuki replied without hesitation, even including herself.
The rest of the squad felt a bit awkward, wanting to say something, but since this was a conversation between father and daughter, it wasn't their place to speak.
"Yo, you even carved a horizontal line. Planning to betray the Uzushiogakure?" Ren said, smiling at her forehead protector.
Yuki blushed and quickly explained, "I just didn't want to cause trouble for my father."
"So the captain has this side too..." The squad members shared the same thought silently.
"What, do you think I'd be troubled by you?" Ren thought his grown-up daughter acting spoiled was equally adorable.
"Of course not, Father. What brings you here? I hadn't called you yet." Yuki instantly appeared beside Ren, kneading his shoulders. She didn't even realize her earlier tone had been her acting spoiled toward him.
"I came to support you. The Uzushiogakure has already set off," Ren said, revealing the purpose of his visit.
"We're participating in the war? Is it because of me?" Yuki panicked slightly, like a child who had done something wrong.
"And if I said yes, what would you do?" Ren teased, giving her a mischievous look.
"Then I'll apologize?" Seeing his expression, she knew nothing serious would happen, so she became bold.
"Looks like Captain Yuki is a daddy's girl too," Takano muttered, quietly commenting on the scene.
"Hey, hey, hey, you weren't supposed to say that," the others all thought internally.
The scene was already silent, and with Takano not holding back, Yuki's face turned pale. Thinking back, had she just been acting spoiled toward her father?
Her long-hidden feelings had been exposed, making her extremely embarrassed and at the same time stirring a murderous urge to silence him.
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