Bang!
"Ah!"
The wooden house located in a remote corner of the Hidden Grass Village was roughly pushed open, accompanied by a startled cry from a child.
"Is something the matter?"
An adult woman with red hair stood up. Her body was trembling slightly, and her face looked extremely haggard. However, her eyes watched the Grass Ninja who had broken into her home with vigilance, completely shielding the girl who had just screamed behind her.
[Is this Momohime? In the original work, she never even showed her face. These guys didn't even spare her face when biting her; how brutal.]
Under the push of the escorting Grass Ninja, Amane slowly stepped out from behind them. When she saw the bite marks all over Momohime's face, she couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable.
Momohime was slightly stunned when she saw Amane's appearance, her red pupils instinctively sizing her up.
"Be happy, your burden will be a bit lighter from now on."
The Grass Ninja escorting Amane left without even closing the door. Not knocking when coming in and not closing the door when leaving—absolutely no manners.
Amane silently closed the door, then turned around to meet the gazes of the two people.
"May I ask who you are...?" Momohime was the first to ask.
"Uzumaki Amane. It seems we're both quite unlucky."
Amane gave a self-introduction with a bitter smile. In her story, she had been separated from her mother since childhood and was raised in the Sound Village of the Land of Rice Fields. She came here because her village learned there were fellow clansmen in the Hidden Grass Village and wanted to reach out.
Amane's bitter smile deepened as she spoke. As fellow Uzumaki Clan Members, Momohime and Karin immediately understood and signaled that she didn't need to continue.
"Would you like some water?" Momohime said with a smile, taking an extra cup from the cabinet.
Amane nodded, not refusing the simple hospitality.
Karin also walked over from the side and silently sat down with the two of them. Wearing a pair of glasses over her similarly red eyes, she was sizing up the first peer she had ever seen with curious eyes—and a fellow clansman at that.
"I am Momohime, and this is my daughter, Karin. Although we are members of the Uzumaki Clan, we haven't been given the surname."
This first sentence stunned Amane. Only then did she remember that in the original work and the Databooks, Karin was indeed not labeled with the Uzumaki surname; it only said she was an Uzumaki Clan Member.
It turned out that in the Village Hidden in the Tides, one could only be granted the Uzumaki surname after passing the clan leader's assessment upon reaching adulthood. Simply put, only those who could be called Ninjas were allowed to use the Uzumaki surname outside. The civilians within the clan didn't need it, and no one cared much.
Recalling scenes of life in the Village Hidden in the Tides, Momohime slowly explained this old rule to Amane.
"I see, so the Uzumaki surname is also a symbol of status."
According to this logic, Amane should have no problems at all. This also meant that both Momohime and Karin were of civilian origin within the Uzumaki Clan.
Seeing Amane listening intently, the bitter smile on Momohime's face vanished, replaced by a sense of heritage, like an elder telling stories of the past to a child.
But as soon as she thought of their current environment, Momohime's heart grew even sadder.
But at the very least, as a mother and an elder of the Uzumaki Clan, perhaps this was a mission bestowed upon her by the heavens.
Besides, the Village Hidden in the Tides was located on the sea. Its main means of livelihood in the past was providing Sealing Jutsu services, and it had always maintained a relatively neutral stance. Compared to other countries that would start a Ninja World War at the drop of a hat, they were fully entitled to hold their heads high and say they loved peace.
She believed the heavens wouldn't be so cruel to their clan; these two children would surely survive.
Amane, having undergone specialized intelligence training, immediately saw through Momohime's thoughts. She was a typical kind and ordinary woman.
She might have developed some survival instincts during these times of war and displacement, but her true nature was hard to hide.
[I'm being a bit too conspiratorial again. Maybe I should just ask directly.]
Amane made up her mind and deliberately guided the conversation toward how the mother and daughter ended up here.
"I heard the Uzumaki Clan has been friends with Konoha for generations. Since you were seeking refuge, why didn't you go to Konohagakure in the Land of Fire?"
Once this soul-searching question was asked, various conspiracy theories from fan works in Amane's past life began to pop into her head.
For instance, that the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed during the Third Hokage's reign, and he must have had a hand in it.
The evidence was, for example: even though the Village Hidden in the Tides was destroyed, the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple remained perfectly intact in Konoha.
And then there were the refugees from the Village Hidden in the Tides: Nagato's mother went to the Land of Rain, Karin and her mother went to the Land of Grass, and the original character Hino Ka was in the Land of Sea—not a single one went to Konoha.
From this, it was inferred that Hiruzen Sarutobi must have been secretly hunting down the refugees of the Village Hidden in the Tides, and so on.
Such conspiracy theories were countless. Now, Amane wanted to hear what reason Karin's mother had for not going to Konoha.
From Amane's perspective, Momohime's expression became awkward, and her face showed clear signs of regret and other emotions.
[Is it really a conspiracy theory?]
If it were, Amane's plans would have to change. Just increasing her strength wouldn't be enough. She would also need to find a way to become a truly important figure so those people wouldn't dare to act against her.
But achieving that would be far too troublesome, and Amane felt a strong sense of resistance toward it.
However, unless one's strength reached the Super Kage level, giving them the right to look down upon all living beings, one wouldn't be able to ignore the intricacies of power and interest. Until then, every aspect of life would be affected by them.
This was also one of the reasons Amane so readily accepted her new life; in the world of Naruto, it was possible to achieve this.
"I did indeed want to go to Konohagakure at the time, but..."
Momohime suddenly found it difficult to speak, her eyes looking at Karin with guilt.
?
[This reaction... no way.]
Through this reaction, Amane had a guess that was hard to accept but very logical.
"I got lost on the way to Konoha and was then tricked by the people of the Hidden Grass Village..."
Phew... Amane took a deep breath, suppressing the curses that almost flew out as a reflex.
"That is truly unfortunate."
Amane sincerely stated the essence of the source of Karin and her mother's tragedy.
What else could it be but bad luck? Karin was about the same age as the protagonist. Looking back from here, if Momohime had reached Konoha back then, Amane's father should have still been in power.
Just because they got lost and were kidnapped, the lives of this mother and daughter went from the heaven they were supposed to reach to hell instead.
"Life is unpredictable..." Momohime lamented.
By this time, everyone was a bit tired from the conversation, and a brief silence descended upon the small house.
In this silence, Amane noticed that the way Momohime was looking at her seemed a bit off.
Perhaps Momohime couldn't multitask while speaking earlier. Now that they had stopped, Amane could clearly feel that she had been observing her face and was deep in thought.
[Speaking of which, it was the same when I first came in. It couldn't be that cliché, right?]
But just as Amane was about to restart the conversation, the door was roughly pushed open again.
"News from the northern front says the enemy has begun a fierce assault. Now is the time for you to repay our kindness. One of you come with us."
Although the Grass Ninja said this, his eyes kept glancing at Amane.
After all, a mother might sacrifice herself for her daughter, but not necessarily for another child she had never met before.
Moreover, this was a life-threatening matter. If the death of an unrelated child could save the life of one's own family, why not?
There was nothing wrong with this; it had nothing to do with morality, just human nature. Amane thought so too, so she naturally started walking toward the door.
"Wait! I'll go with you. Let the children stay."
But there are always such fools, even if they've only just met.
In Amane's view, such fools were divided into two types: those bound by morality and those who truly believed in it.
"Aunt Momohime, if you leave and I'm faced with a choice between Karin and myself in the future, I won't back down. I will definitely fight for my own life. Even so, are you going to take my place today?"
Momohime was stunned, but then she couldn't help but smile gently. "Then why are you saying this?"
"Because it won't affect anything. Once you're gone, you won't be able to control whether I do that or not. And with a mother like you, if I build a better relationship with Karin by then, maybe I can even get her to die for me willingly, just like today. Can you say for sure that I won't do that?"
A life of displacement had allowed Momohime to develop the skill of reading people.
What Amane really wanted to ask was: can you accept the possible consequences of this choice? The result that your own daughter might die in the future!
It was sharp, and Momohime did feel hesitant, but it was only for a moment before she came to terms with it.
Yes, that was indeed the logic. But it was still the same question: why would Amane say this? Wasn't she implicitly trying to get Momohime to retract her decision?
Such a person couldn't be truly evil inside. Especially a child the same age as her daughter; they were beings with infinite possibilities.
Just like when she was telling Amane about the traditions of the Village Hidden in the Tides earlier, she did feel a sense of what is called heritage.
If she defaulted to letting Amane be taken away today because of this hesitation, the impact on Karin would also be immense.
"In the end, it's hard for a person to live alone. If one is blindly selfish, they will eventually reach a dead end. That's what my parents once told me. Don't you think I'm right? Child."
Momohime was no longer conflicted; she just smiled and slowly walked toward Amane.
"Sigh... if you had let me be taken away, it would have been easier for me to act, but I really can't blame you. You are respectable. Fine, let's just speed things up then."
As she spoke, before Momohime could process what Amane meant.
Familiar Golden Chains erupted from the child before her, who was about the same age as her daughter, piercing through all the Grass Ninja who had come to seize them in an instant!
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