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"We should be safe here."
Uchiha Mikoto carefully led Uchiha Ying and the others away from the supply camp of the Hidden Cloud forces, eventually arriving at a concealed mountain cave.
"Miu-nee, I'm back!"
Apparently, she wasn't the only one who knew about this place.
Uchiha Ying activated the Byakugan to scan inside the cave—and just as expected, another ninja was present.
However, that ninja's condition didn't look good...
"Miu-nee?!"
The moment she stepped inside the cave, Mikoto saw her comrade collapsed in a pool of blood.
"How are you?!"
Panicked, she rushed forward to lift the wounded woman, frantically searching her ninja pouch for medical supplies.
But before she could even retrieve the bandages, a pair of hands glowing with gentle green chakra pressed down on the blood-soaked wound.
"It's you? Thank goodness—you know medical ninjutsu!"
Naturally, it was Uchiha Ying who stepped up to help Mikoto treat the female ninja in her arms.
"I only know a little."
Ying's expression was grave as he channeled Mystical Palm Technique over the gaping wound. At the same time, he explained to Naruto and Sasuke behind him, "I found this jutsu in one of the scrolls."
He also attributed the Mist Hiding Technique and this Mystical Palm Technique to scrolls scavenged from Zabuza and Haku's corpses.
But the truth was, he actually learned this bit of medical ninjutsu from… Tobirama Senju. He'd seen it so often that he managed to copy it.
"Only you would bother learning ninjutsu with no offensive capabilities," Sasuke remarked.
He knew Ying's obsession with ninjutsu well—he'd studied nearly every jutsu scroll passed down in the Uchiha clan.
"My… my child… Mikoto…"
The wounded woman—whom Mikoto had called Miu—stirred slightly, her consciousness returning for a brief moment. She immediately struggled to rise.
And the first thing she did when opening her eyes was search for her child.
"What happened after I left? Where's my baby?"
Mikoto also glanced around in confusion.
"I-It was them… the Cloud Village ninja took my child… Mikoto… *cough*… I'm begging you…"
A massive wound in Miu's abdomen still gushed blood, and her voice was fading fast.
Even so, she used every ounce of strength she had left to tightly grip Mikoto's hands.
"Miu-nee!"
Seeing the deathly pale face of the woman in her arms, Mikoto realized something was very wrong.
She immediately turned to the boy still trying to heal her.
"How is she?"
"It's no use. Her internal organs were pierced, and the other wounds are deep too. The fact she's alive this long is already a miracle."
Ying shook his head, withdrawing his barely-effective Mystical Palm Technique from her lifeless body.
"No… Sis!"
Mikoto hugged the quickly cooling body even tighter, unable to accept her sister had just died in her arms.
"Mom… who is she?"
Sasuke's voice broke the heavy silence. Seeing Mikoto crying so hard, he'd instinctively called her "Mom" without thinking.
And honestly, he was curious—he'd never heard of this relative before.
"M-Mom? Were you… talking to me?"
Realizing the three boys were still nearby, Mikoto quickly wiped her tears and forced herself to stay composed.
Still, being suddenly called "Mom" left her stunned. She wasn't even twenty yet.
Did she really look that old?
"Don't mind him. My teammate here has this weird condition—he calls any beautiful woman he sees 'Mom' by reflex."
Ying spoke up to cover for Sasuke, who stood awkwardly nearby.
At the same time, Ying mentally sorted through the new information he'd just gathered.
Uchiha Mikoto's older sister. A kidnapped Uchiha child taken by the Hidden Cloud...
The Cloud Village sure had a knack for abducting children, huh?
"Don't make stuff up! I don't do that!"
Sasuke quickly retorted.
But in truth, he had no idea how to explain himself to this young woman.
---
---
"So… what's your name, anyway?"
After helping bury the woman's body, Ying realized they still hadn't asked Mikoto for her name.
Even if her face matched, there was still a chance she might not actually be Uchiha Mikoto.
"I'm Mikoto. I'm probably a few years older than you guys. That was my older sister, Miu."
Mikoto introduced herself with a somber tone.
She and her sister had originally been stationed in the Leaf's support corps, far from the frontlines. But the Hidden Cloud's sudden raid had scattered their forces.
Her sister had taken a bad hit during the attack, and Mikoto had hidden her in this mountain cave before heading out alone to find the rest of the Leaf forces.
Along the way, she'd run into Uchiha Ying and the others being held captive—and rushed to save them.
She never expected that by the time she returned, Cloud ninjas would have found her sister again…
"It was probably the blood that drew them here."
Ying sniffed the air.
To a ninja with heightened senses, tracking blood scent to this cave wouldn't be hard.
There might even be a trail of blood left behind by Miu.
And if Mikoto hadn't left earlier, she probably would've ended up like her sister.
"But what about the child?"
Sasuke asked. He'd never heard about having a cousin or anything like that.
Could the child have already…
No. He reminded himself that nothing in this simulation might be real.
"Yeah, why would Cloud Village go after a baby?"
Naruto chimed in, just as curious.
"The child was… unplanned. My sister had no choice but to bring them with her."
Having a child out of wedlock—even in the relatively liberal Uchiha clan—was frowned upon.
It was all this damn war's fault. If the Leaf hadn't been so short-staffed, her sister would've stayed in the rear lines, safe.
"And as for the Cloud kidnapping the child… it's likely because of our Uchiha bloodline."
"You mean that red-eye disease thing?"
"…Yeah."
Red-eye disease?
Despite herself, Mikoto couldn't help but laugh through her tears at Naruto's oddly innocent phrasing.
But her smile quickly faded into a frown.
These three boys… they were probably just Genin. Even though they'd been rescued, they'd likely become cannon fodder in the war sooner or later.
That thought weighed heavy on her heart.
So much so that she didn't even question why she didn't recognize the two Uchiha boys standing in front of her.
"Well then… this is goodbye. You all must have your own missions. I have mine."
Tying her disheveled hair into a ponytail,
Mikoto turned with determined eyes toward the Hidden Cloud camp in the distance.
This was her sister's dying wish—
No matter what, she was going to bring that child back.
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