Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

The Earth Spider Firefly slowly erased the words from her palm.

"Don't be so reluctant! Cultivation requires a balance of work and rest. If you ask me, Ying, you've overdone it. Cultivating when you're overly tired will only... how do I say it again?... make things twice as difficult?"

"It's a case of doing twice the work for half the result!"

Beside her, Yakumo Kurama, who was honing his painting skills, corrected Fujika's incorrect word choice.

Each of the three, with their own different bloodline limits and secret techniques, naturally had different methods of cultivation. There were three reasons why they cultivated in one place: firstly, it was convenient for them to spar with each other, as the most taboo thing in cultivation is to work in isolation; only through actual combat can one discover one's own shortcomings.

Secondly, the girls are used to being together and do not want to separate unless necessary.

Thirdly, having them together makes it easier for Zongxian to provide guidance. Basically, finding one of them is equivalent to finding all three of them, saving time from having to search for others, since Zongxian is really busy right now.

"Okay! Half the effort, well, twice the result for half the work, it doesn't feel like there's any difference!"

The wisteria murmured softly.

"Is it okay to go where the differences are significant?"

Kurama Yakumo packed up her drawing board and went to the police department's bathhouse with her two friends to take a shower and change her clothes. Being able to take a comfortable hot shower after training was one of the reasons they liked to train in the police department's internal training ground.

Although the public training grounds in the forest are spacious,

But you can't exactly jump into the river to take a bath after sweating, right? Naruto and Sasuke can do that, but girls obviously can't.

"Speaking of which... what are we having for lunch today? Going to the cafeteria?"

As Yakumo combed her hair, she asked her friends for their opinions.

"Huh? Eating in the cafeteria again? Let's eat out! How about ramen? I haven't had ramen since the holidays started." Fujika's eyes widened as she looked at the two of them expectantly. Yakumo looked indifferent, and Hotaru nodded in agreement.

"Go to Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Definitely! I love their soy sauce ramen the most."

As Teng Hua spoke, she couldn't help but swallow hard.

Ichiraku Ramen isn't too far from the police department building, at least compared to the old police department building. However, when they arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, they found that it was probably lunchtime, as there was a long queue outside the restaurant.

Clearly, as the number one ramen shop in Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen is doing as well as ever today.

just,

For young girls, standing in line under the scorching sun is not a pleasant experience.

"What should we do? Do we have to wait in line?"

Standing in the shade under the eaves, Ying looked at the wisteria blossoms and asked softly.

"...Sigh! All I wanted was some ramen, why is it so hard!" Fujika lowered her head in disappointment. "Fine, let's go somewhere else! Yakumo, Hotaru, do you guys have any restaurants you'd like to go to?"

"Over there, aren't those Naruto and Sasuke?"

Yakumo stared at the long queue outside the shop. At the front of the queue, near the shop entrance, were two boys who were noticeably shorter than the adults in front and behind them. One had blond hair, and the other had black hair. On the back of the black-haired boy's clothes was the Uchiha clan's fire fan crest.

"Let me see!"

Hearing Yakumo's question, Fujika immediately perked up, looked over, and also spotted the backs of two boys. "Ah! ...Really, their relationship is still as good as ever! Hey, Yakumo, Hotaru, do you think they might be... you know?"

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Ying thought about it seriously and felt that the possibility was slim.

"But look at them, they're inseparable even when they're on vacation."

"If you put it that way, aren't we together every day?"

"How can that be the same? We live together! But Naruto and Sasuke don't live together, and there are three of us, while there are only two of them."

Listening to his two friends seriously discussing a completely impossible and fictitious topic, Yakumo rolled his eyes helplessly.

Really is,

That's utter nonsense!

I should have pretended not to see it.

"Cough cough!"

Yakumo coughed lightly. "Stop getting off-topic. Weren't we discussing lunch? You two have gone way off-topic, haven't you? Especially you, Fujika, stop looking at that kind of stuff. What are you thinking about all day long!"

"Hmph, you clearly have the most manga, Yakumo."

The wisteria, having been reprimanded, was indignant.

"boom!"

Yakumo delivered a swift chop to Fujika.

The girl who once sat in a wheelchair has become a memory. Now, Yakumo Kurama is able to accurately punish Fujika, provided that he uses illusion magic to prevent Fujika from escaping. Currently, Fujika, who still has only one tomoe in each eye, is clearly no match for Yakumo in illusion magic.

"Damn it! They're bullying people again by using illusion magic."

Fujika rubbed her forehead, indignant, but her voice was so soft that neither Yakumo nor Hotaru could hear what she was saying. However, they could guess what she was going to say. Yakumo glared at her and said irritably, "Stop wasting time here and tell us what you want to eat!"

"or······"

Hotaru was speaking when she noticed that Yakumo's expression suddenly changed. He moved swiftly, leaping out of the sheltered area under the eaves and standing on the street, which was scorching hot under the blazing sun, looking up at the sky.

and,

Not just Yakumo.

The blond-haired boy who was queuing in front of Ichiraku Ramen suddenly jumped out of the queue, stood in the middle of the street, looked up and stretched his neck, casting his gaze upwards.

"what's the situation?"

Wisteria and Firefly looked at each other, then followed suit, leaving the shade and standing on the street, looking up at the sky... and then they saw a strange-looking big bird circling under the azure sky.

"bird?"

Under the watchful eyes of many, the strangely shaped bird shook its body.

then,

Feathers drifted down slowly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

If we push the time forward by about five minutes,

At the main gate of Konoha Village, the two gates remained open as always, welcoming guests from all over the world. However, due to the somewhat tense atmosphere in the village recently, the flow of people had obviously decreased significantly, and many large merchants and minor nobles who had settled in Konoha Village had chosen to go out to escape the summer heat.

There are still quite a few smart people.

Normally, Konoha's safety level is naturally the best in the ninja world, but once something happens to Konoha, it often means a life-threatening event, just like the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, which left a very painful memory for the residents of Konoha.

That was the first time that Konoha Village had suffered such heavy casualties.

No matter how fierce the fighting was on the front lines, people always believed that Konoha was safe. Unfortunately, after that night, Konoha's safety became an uncertain and constantly changing state.

"It seems like there aren't many people around right now."

"There are fewer than yesterday, and... the forest has become quieter."

The ninjas guarding the gate noticed something amiss.

Don't think that guarding the gates is a lowly job. Konoha's two gates are not so bad that Jonin are assigned to guard them. After all, to be honest, Jonin probably wouldn't have much use for it all year round. Of course, these two gates are still the face of Konoha, so experienced Chunin are still assigned to guard them.

At this moment, the Chunin guarding the gate realized that something seemed amiss.

The people on the road had disappeared, and the birdsong and insect chirps in the surrounding forest seemed to have vanished as well. This was not winter, a time when all things rested. The blazing sun in the sky was still radiating endless light and heat, a time when all things flourished. The forest was as lively as if an entire symphony orchestra lived there.

but now,

The sounds in the forest became very faint, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind remaining unchanged.

"Let someone else take a look..."

Before the captain could finish speaking, a small figure appeared on the previously deserted road.

It's genuinely short, not just that it looks small from a distance. After watching the gate for so long, my eyesight has been honed. Judging from the figure of the person walking towards me... it looks like a child, or perhaps a dwarf.

However, when the visitor got close enough to see their face clearly,

However, they discovered that the person was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, with the high collar obscuring half of their face. Fortunately, the height difference was enough for people to see over the collar and see the lower half of their face, which was wrapped in bandages. This made it impossible to confirm the person's identity.

but,

The sheer force emanating from the newcomer, like a tsunami, was enough to convince anyone that this was definitely not a lost child who couldn't find his mother.

"Halt! Who are you?"

The captain, who was in charge, shouted loudly.

His subordinates behind him had already adopted a guarded posture.

"Hiruko, a ninja from Konoha."

Beiruk stopped in his tracks, readily agreeing with the suggestion, and gave a truthful answer.

only--

"······Clam?"

The unexpected answer left the captain and his teammates completely bewildered. They had even prepared for the dwarf to suddenly launch an attack, but instead he said something like, "So he's one of us? Are you kidding me?"

As a gatekeeper, he wouldn't say he knew everyone in the village, but such a distinctive fellow would surely leave an impression if he had seen him before.

The issue is,

He had absolutely no recollection of this 'Beiliuhu'.

"A Konoha ninja? Sorry, I don't know you. Do you have any identification or anything to prove your identity?" the captain asked. He still felt that the person in front of him had ill intentions, but since the other party was willing to answer questions, he was happy to stall for time and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

"That happened many years ago, so it's normal that they don't recognize me."

Hiruko looked up at the two large doors in front of him. They were almost identical to his memory, with virtually no changes.

"Many years ago?"

The captain wondered to himself, "Is he a rogue ninja?"

But it doesn't match up! I don't remember there being such a small dwarf among the rogue ninjas... Wait, Hiruko, that name does seem to belong to a rogue ninja, but if I remember correctly, the rogue ninja on the wanted poster was clearly a normal-sized adult.

"It's about time. Your Hokage should have seen me by now. Wireless transmission technology... is indeed very convenient."

Hiruko's gaze was fixed on the camera on the door frame, and he let out a sneer.