Masashi teleported directly to the entrance of the Hokage Building using the Flying Thunder God.

  However, the moment he used it, Masashi regretted it. He had bee so aced to using it that he fot he was holding a child.

  Looking dow a pair of curious eyes. Instead of the expected disorientation or nausea, he saw only wonder.

  "Karin, do you feel okay?" Masashi asked in surprise.

  The first time he used the teique with Itachi, the boy had been slightly overwhelmed.

  However, Karin seemed perfectly fine.

  This timid child instead appeared to find the teleportation iing, with an added sparkle in her eyes. Her small hands weren't even trembling.

  He khe Uzumaki generally had excellent physical stitutions, but Karin's rea seemed especially rare.

  This child must have exceptional talent.

  Masashi was increasingly vihat Karin was indeed Karin.

  In the inal timeline, after Kushina's death, the Uzumaki members eared—whether Naruto, Nagato, or Karin—had never received formal training in the 's teiques.

  Among them, only Karin showed even a slight resembo the 's abilities.

  Although this artly due to Orochimaru's obsession with colleg the Uzumaki 's heritage, it still demonstrated her extraordinary potential.

  Holding Karin's hand, Masashi walked along the street in front of the Hokage Building toward a nearby building known as the Hokage's House. He could feel her small fingers gripping his with nervous energy.

  Of course, Hokage's House wasn't its official name. But somehow, the people of Konoha started calling the building that—it just felt more approachable.

  Arriving at the front door of the Hokage's private duplex, Masashi knocked.

  "ing." A warm and eic voice came from inside.

  After a moment, the door opened, and Kushina appeared.

  "Masashi, you're so punctual."

  She had been waiting for a while. After learning about Karin, she had already made up her mind. Her eyes immediately sought out the girl. "Where's the child?"

  "Kushina-nee." Masashi hen tugged at Karin, who was hiding behind him. "Karin, don't be afraid. This is y sister."

  When the door opened, Karin instinctively hid behind him. Hearing what he said, she carefully peeked out.

  "Your name is Karin?" Kushina squatted down. The moment she saw Karin, she khis child was from her . Squatting to meet her gaze, she looked at her gently. "Karin, from now on, this will be your home."

  Karin tilted her head in fusion at the statement and looked up at Masashi.

  He gave her a reassuring nod.

  In his view, leaving Karin in Kushina's care was the best choice.

  It wasn't just because Kushina was an Uzumaki too—she knew what it was like to lose a family as a kid and end up alone in a strange pce.

  Karin started to say something but only got out an "ah" before stopping herself.

  "This child has been through a lot. You'll have to take good care of her," Masashi said.

  "Don't worry. I've got experience." Kushina's heart was already full of passion as she looked at Karin.

  She remembered the time she first arrived in Konoha. Back then, Mito was still around and helped her through the toughest days.

  And now it was my turn to pass that kindness forward.

  "Alright, I'll leave now." Masashi said this to her before squatting down again and ruffling Karin's hair. "I have to go take care of some business. Listen to y sister, okay? She's your real family. Look, your hair is the same color."

  Hearing that, Karin looked at Kushina's fiery red hair hanging over her shoulders and curiously touched it.

  Then she pulled up her own hair and carefully pared it, a small smile finally breaking through.

  Kushily pulled Karin into her arms.

  Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Masashi stood up and teleported away.

  After all, Kushina had been a mother for over two years. She could hahis.

  ---

  Ba the Uchiha 's territory, Masashi headed for Shisui's house.

  Upon arriving at the house, he heard a shout from upstairs.

  "Masashi-nii, are we leaving now?"

  Masashi looked up. Shisui's bedroom windoen, and he was waving at him, already fully equipped for travel.

  "Yeah, let's go. Are you ready?"

  "I've been ready for a while." Shisui jumped out of the window and eadily.

  "Which route are we taking?"

  "What route? I'll take you there."

  Masashi pced his hand on Shisui's shoulder, and the two of them disappeared.

  When they reappeared, they were outside the vilge.

  Before Shisui could say anything, Masashi used the Flying Thunder God again.

  Holding onto him, Masashi followed the Flying Thunder God markings he had set along the route during his previous trip, heading south.

  With Shisui's physical stitutiourally felt no disfort as the sery around them kept ging.

  After the final teleportation, they found themselves on the coastline.

  "We'll walk from here," Masashi said, removing his hand.

  "No more Flying Thunder God? I think it's quite ve."

  "No. Kiri is probably a mess right now, and we're close to the Land of Whirlpools. Let's just walk."

  "Got it." Shisui obediently agreed. Mainly because… he didn't reize this pce.

  When he fought against Kiri before, he had traveled with the main forces.

  It wasn't that he couldn't remember the route—it was just that they hadn't taken this one.

  Following behind Masashi, Shisui moved along the coastline and through forests. Along the way, he began to see how Kiri's chaos had affected the Land of Fire's borders.

  The Land of Fire had a robust fishing industry.

  In the shinobi world, there were three major fishing zones: oween the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, another shared by the Fire, Wave, and Whirlpool tries, and the st one offshore, monopolized by the Land of Water.

  Shisui and Masashi passed through several towns, all of which were noticeably desote. Empty boats lihe docks, s y unused.

  If the Land of Fire was like this, the Land of Whirlpools would be in an even worse state.

  After all, they no longer had a ninja vilge.

  As the two of them approached the Land of Whirlpools, they began to see refugees iowns they passed.

  Abs refugees from neighb tries was an important task for local governors.

  The Land of Fire had enough nd to aodate them.

  Iy, the shinobi world had abundant nd and few people.

  The small tries cked not nd but peaceful enviros. However, unless absolutely necessary, people still preferred to stay in their homend.

  For the Land of Fire to see refugees, it meant that the Land of Whirlpools was already in chaos. This kind of popution movement was actually beneficial for the rger nations.

  Masashi and Shisui tinued forward.

  After passing through the final border town, they approached the Land of Whirlpools.

  Just as they were about to set foot on its nd, they spotted ninjas.

  It was a group of ninjas chasing someone.

  That person—Masashi reized.

  "What's he doing here?" he muttered, fused as to why this guy had e back.

  "Masashi-nii, you know him?"

  "Look closely. You know him too," Masashi said.

  The person iion seemed to have had a rough time retly, his appearance drastically ged, which was why Shisui didn't reize him immediately.

  "Hm?" Shisui activated his Sharingan and looked carefully.

  "Isn't that Zabuza? Didn't intelligence say he was already in the Land of Fire?"

  "Good question," Masashi said, looking at the ninjas chasing the figure. "Why don't we ask him ourselves?"

  ---

  Zabuza was in a very sorry state.

  Behind him, a group of Kiri ANBU were chasing.

  The assassination of the Fourth Mizukage... no, rather, the rescue of the Fourth Mizukage had failed, and he had fled all the way into the Land of Fire.

  But!

  The Kubikiribōchō was a gift from the Mizukage. Uhe real Mizukage himself said so, no one could take it from him.

  So, after the Kiri pursuit squad withdrew, Zabuza sneaked ba.

  He had no choice. The bde had bee behind in Kiri.

  What kind of ninjutsu was that Obito using? Nothing could touch him. Why couldn't the bde hit him?

  Not only had he missed, but the bde was stolen.

  But it didn't matter—Zabuza grew up in Kiri.

  Didn't he retrieve it himself in the end?

  The Demon without the Kubikiribōchō was inplete. Gripping the the bde tightly, he felt a hint of satisfa.

  But even with bde, when it was time to ruill had to run.

  Behind him, the sound of shuriken cutting through the air approached again.

  Hah! They're panig.

  They khat if he ran into the Land of Fire again, they would retury-handed.

  At this moment, Kiri's ANBU did not dare enter Konoha's territory. Because Konoha was unnaturally strht now.

  Kiri was no longer capable of a frontation with Konoha.

  Zabuza kept running, swinging the bde to deflect the shuriken flying from behind.

  Suddenly, he noticed two people standing ahead of him.

  Those grees—they were Konoha ninjas.

  Daring to block the escape route chosen by the Demon—did they have a death wish?

  Fine. He'd cut them down, too.

  Whether he ursued by Kiri or Konoha, debts piling up didn't make a difference.

  He sped up, chakra pulsing through his legs as he readied his bde.

  But as the distaween them closed, his smile disappeared.

  The White Ghost and the Teleporter?

  What kind of crazy setup is this? No, why were these two jinxes here?

  ---

  Masashi and Shisui looked at Zabuza, who was charging at them filled with killing i. However, the closer he got, the slower he moved. Finally, he stopped, and his killing i evaporated like m mist.

  "Zabuza, what a ce," Masashi said, staring at him with those calg eyes. "Were you pnning to cut us down?"

  Shisui, oher hand, g the Kiri ANBU closing in behind them. In an instant, he disappeared from where he stood.

  Zabuza couldn't evehered to look back.

  Either the ANBU would be stopped, or they'd be killed.

  Killing the Teleporter? Those guys behind him? Give me a break.

  Then he heard Masashi speak.

  "Didn't I already tell you not to act recklessly st time? And you still went to assassinate him?"

  Zabuza was silent for a moment before asking, "What kind of ninjutsu is your sman using?"

  "The Mangekyō Sharingan is uo each user. Your teiques are useless against him." Masashi didn't reveal any information about Obito. "I won't give you any more unnecessary intel. Based on your as and current situation, you're no longer a viable ally in this matter. Now tell me, what are you doing in the Land of Fire?"

  "You're sant, White Ghost. I still have es in Kiri," Zabuza said, watg Masashi's rea. "My value is beyond your imagination."

  "Enough with the nonsense. Assassinating the Mizukage? If you had es, they're mostly dead by now. Answer my question properly."

  "I'm just resting on this nd for a while," Zabuza said, using the fiercest too say the politest words of his life. "Once I'm rested, I'll leave."

  "Fine, go ahead." Masashi stepped aside. "As long as you don't cause trouble in the Land of Fire, we won't bother you."

  "Alright, I'll give you that respect—"

  "If you keep pretending, I'll beat you up right now."

  Without another word, Zabuza disappeared like the wind before Masashi.

  He watched Zabuza's retreating figure, and then walked toward the Kiri ANBU, who were now fag Shisui.

  Well, it could be called a standoff in a sense.

  One person standing, a group lying down.

  No one was dead, so it ted as a standoff.

  "Who are you?" Masashi pretended not to see their obviously Kiri ANBU uniforms.

  The Kiri ANBU lying on the ground looked up at the two of them.

  They had the same thought as Zabuza. What kind of crazy setup is this!?

  "I'm talking to you. Be nid speak, please. I don't want to repeat a sed time." Masashi smiled warmly. "If you don't answer, I'll kill you."

  "We are Kiri ANBU," one of the ninja said.

  He would've liked to stand up and say this with some dignity. But one of his partner who tried had been knocked out cold by Shisui's sword hilt. The strike had been so fast, most of them hadn't eve happen.

  At this moment, Shisui didn't resemble the "nice guy" he usually was in the vilge.

  His strikes were quid ruthless.

  This Kiri ninja even wondered if his rades were knocked out or just dead.

  "Wearing masks and g to be Kiri ANBU—that's too easy, isn't it?" Shisui said ftly. "Without permission from Konoha, fn ninjas are not allowed to ehe Land of Fire. That's the rule."

  "We really are Kiri ANBU. We came to capture Zabuza," the ninja said immediately.

  It wasn't out of fear of death; it was just that dying here for no reason seemed pointless. Besides, they hadn't eveered the Land of Fire yet—they were still a few steps away.

  "Alright, I'll take your word for it," Masashi said, tapping the forehead protector on his head. "I am Masashi from Konoha, and this is my panion Shisui. We're here representing Konoha to visit Kiri and discuss renewing the treaty between our vilges. Since you're here, why don't you show us the way?"

  "If that's the case, then why attack us?" the Kiri ninja asked, though he still didn't dare to stand up.

  Shisui's Sharingan sed him repeatedly, as if deg where best to knock him out.

  "Attack?" Masashi formed a hand sign and spat out a massive Fireball Jutsu in ay dire.

  Boom—!

  A mushroom cloud of fire erupted, and the heat wave blew across the area. A few ninjas who weren't lying ft enough got flipped over.

  The grouh the impact cracked aed, creating a glowing crater.

  "See that? Do you have a misuanding about what an attack is?" Masashi gestured to the Kiri ninjas to stand up and take a good look. "We merely stopped you to prevent unnecessary escation of the flict."

  The ninjas who stood up swallowed hard as he stared at the crater big enough to hold all of them.

  "Sorry, it seems I misuood. But Zabuza is very dangerous. Entering the Land of Fire will bring trouble to Konoha."

  "Oh? That guy just now was Zabuza?" Masashi said sincerely. "I saw he had no eyebrows and thought he was a refugee."

  "..."

  " my rades get up now?"

  "Shisui, stop staring at them. These are friends from Kiri," Masashi said, patting his panion on the shoulder. "Yoing to give them the wrong impression."

  Shisui sheathed his small bde and stepped back, though his Sharingan remained active.

  The Kiri ninja on the ground hurried to their feet, some still rubbing their necks where Shisui had struck them.

  No oioned Zabuza again.

  This was already beyond their ability and their jurisdi.

  "Please, go ahead."