[Day 5]
At first light, the Iwa-nin began preparing to leave, heading back in the direction you originally came from.
Activating his Sharingan, Uchiha Setsuna stepped forward again to speak with them. This time, you all revealed your Uchiha clan identity—unexpectedly, this made the Iwa-nin even more alert.
Fortunately, Granny Yukina saw through their intentions. She wheeled herself out of the tent and asked whether they were here because of the explosion in the distance.
The leading Iwa-nin scrutinized your group for a long time.
An old man, an injured old woman, a half-grown child with a ninja blade putting on a show, and two infants...
No matter how he looked at it, none of you seemed remotely threatening.
So, the Iwa-nin finally lowered their guard and began to converse—rather enthusiastically, in fact. After all, while Iwagakure had no shortage of reliable shinobi, it still struggled to cultivate true elites capable of standing on their own.
If he could bring back a group of Uchiha to enrich the village's bloodline, he'd certainly earn Ōnoki's favor.
With that thought, the Iwa-nin split his group, sending half of them to continue scouting in your original direction, while he stayed behind to talk with you.
From your exchange with the squad leader, you learned that they'd been sent based on village intel to investigate what they suspected were earthquake tremors. They then asked about the explosion you'd mentioned.
Granny Yukina and Uchiha Setsuna exchanged a look and decided to tell the truth—partially.
They explained that the massive tremor last night had been the result of a battle. You had no choice but to fight off some mysterious pursuers in order to escape.
While technically not a lie, you'd left out quite a bit.
As a result, in the Iwa-nin's eyes, Setsuna—clearly the only one with combat capability—suddenly appeared to be some fearsome powerhouse, comparable to the Tsuchikage himself.
And you? Your presence was successfully hidden.
After all, the idea of a three-year-old with Kage-level strength was far too terrifying. Even if you revealed the truth, you might not be in danger, but there was a high chance Iwagakure would refuse to let you in.
[Day 6]
The Iwa-nin staying behind agreed to share the camp with you.
By evening, the scouting team returned with some charred corpses of White Zetsu. Everyone stared at the humanoid shapes with bafflement—despite their appearance, their internal structure clearly wasn't human.
The Iwa-nin decided to rest for the night and return to the village the next day to have medical ninja examine the bodies.
You all took the opportunity to rest as well. After several days of travel, the fight with Obito, and the sudden appearance of White Zetsu, you were completely exhausted.
[Day 7]
Your group set off for Iwagakure.
Halfway there, you'd fully recovered your energy. Reflecting on the earlier ambush by White Zetsu, you couldn't help but add Black Zetsu to your list of possible masterminds.
First, there was Obito and Uchiha Itachi slaughtering the Uchiha clan. Black Zetsu was undoubtedly pulling strings behind the scenes.
As for why Black Zetsu would want the Uchiha clan destroyed—it was to eliminate variables. Too many Uchihas meant too many Sharingan, a bloodline limit known for its unpredictable nature. That randomness could very well disrupt Black Zetsu's "rescue mother" plan.
Your escape had likely been seen as one such variable—something to be eliminated.
Unfortunately for him, this variable was far more troublesome than he expected. In the end, an entire White Zetsu gathering point was wiped out, leaving him no time to recover the corpses, which then fell into Iwa-nin hands...
This incident was bound to stir up future chaos in the shinobi world. And your edge of foreknowledge would now be much harder to maintain.
[Day 8]
You were stationed in a town closest to Iwagakure. Though, calling it a "town" was generous—it was more like a large outpost and relay station.
Iwa-nin teams regularly passed through, stocking up on supplies or picking up missions. Some jōnin even brought academy students here for basic training.
Still, with yellow sand swirling in the wind and rather empty streets, the place didn't feel lively. After surveying the area to confirm it was safe, you decided to temporarily stay.
[Day 9]
You remained there to rest and recover, though you soon noticed the Iwa-nin posted nearby to keep an eye on you.
It seemed Ōnoki wasn't ready to bring you into the village just yet—he wanted to observe you first. For someone as experienced and cautious as the Tsuchikage, this was perfectly reasonable.
Interestingly, some of the shinobi tasked with surveillance were clearly fresh academy graduates—still a bit clumsy in how they operated. Sending rookie ninja to monitor potential threats could be seen as a subtle show of goodwill, a way to test the waters.
[Day 10]
You stayed indoors to rest, and the surveillance team was swapped out with a new one.
[Day 11]
You were still living in the town. While your movements weren't restricted, you remained under close watch. The only change was that the number of academy trainees among the observers had noticeably increased.
[Day 12]
Another full day in town. While technically free to move around, being constantly watched and unable to continue your ninjutsu studies had begun to wear on you.
Uchiha Setsuna gave it some thought and decided to start teaching you the basics of sealing techniques—to help you catch up on foundational knowledge.
Now that you had ample time, even if you hadn't entered Iwagakure yet, you were at least in a stable, protected environment—a sort of observation phase.
With that in mind, Setsuna began sharing less-critical basics of sealing techniques. It would also help build a rapport with the young shinobi monitoring you—it might come in handy for blending into the village later.
[Day 13]
Under Uchiha Setsuna's guidance—and thanks to the bloodline you'd absorbed—your talent far surpassed what it used to be. Even without activating your Sharingan, you could memorize the symbols of sealing techniques with ease.
In fact, you could construct several sealing jutsu purely based on your understanding.
You noticed the number of young shinobi watching you had increased. Judging by their intense focus, it was less "monitoring" now—and more like eavesdropping from afar.
[Day 14]
That day, the Iwa-nin at the mission hall were puzzled by why so many were volunteering for the surveillance detail.
Also that day, Iwagakure assigned two young caretakers to look after the two infant Uchiha.
[Day 15]
Having finally understood the situation, Iwagakure sent a jōnin instructor to serve as your private tutor.
However, it wasn't long before he completely lost his composure.
Even during a simple game of hide-and-seek meant to train stealth skills, you had him running in circles.
[Day 16]
Determined to redeem himself, your tutor decided to show off his strongest Earth Release techniques and shake you up a bit.
In response, you casually revealed a glimpse of your true abilities—activating your three-tomoe Sharingan and copying all of his Earth Release ninjutsu.
Of course, you knew when to hold back. After copying his techniques, you only released a scaled-down version of one, making sure not to reveal your near-unbelievable chakra reserves for a three-year-old.
[Day 17]
Even though you held back, the jōnin still looked utterly broken.
Still, you humbly asked for his insights on Earth Release—its principles, subtle manipulations, and so on. Before long, you'd completely absorbed his knowledge, and your own mastery of Earth Release advanced rapidly.
[Day 18]
You began to feel bored again, so you resumed studying sealing fuinjutsu with Uchiha Setsuna.
You also made up your mind—once you saved enough, you'd buy the full Sealing Arts Compendium of the Uzumaki Clan from the ninja cats and fully make up for your shortcomings.
[Day 19]
Early in the morning, your jōnin tutor appeared at your door, solemn-faced.
Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, had decided... to meet you.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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