"Kakashi-sensei?! Lord Second, Lord Third!"
That's right.
After Iruka received the news, he immediately asked a familiar chūnin to deliver the message to the Hokage as quickly as possible.
At the time, Kakashi had already been planning to seek out the Second Hokage anyway.
His head was a jumble of questions..., and he wanted to ask whether he could obtain certain permissions and intelligence.
By coincidence, he received the news together with them.
The last time Naruto released the Nine-Tails' chakra, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had left his Flying Thunder God marks on both Naruto and Itama. So this time he simply brought Kakashi and the Third Hokage along and teleported straight to the scene.
Their sudden appearance helped Naruto regain most of his senses. The anger and panic that had been clouding his mind finally began to fade.
The red beast-like pupils in his eyes gradually returned to their usual sky blue.
"Kakashi-sensei! Old Man Hokage! Second bro!"
Kakashi: "..."
He didn't dare respond.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
He also didn't dare respond.
Tobirama Senju: "Why the hell did I end up being the lowest in seniority here?!"
"That stuff doesn't matter, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, frowning. "Sasuke and Sakura are trapped inside! Second bro, can you do that whoosh thing of yours—go in with a whoosh and bring Sasuke and Sakura out with another whoosh?!"
Tobirama shook his head. The last time he, Uchiha Shisui, and Hiruzen had been trapped inside that domain barrier, he had already tried.
Naruto grew even more frantic.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!"
Damn it!
Naruto was panicking. Sakura's condition clearly couldn't wait much longer, and Sasuke didn't look right either.
Just then, two more figures—
No, one person and one crow burst out of the forest.
The black crow dove sharply, flapping its wings as it circled above the domain barrier.
The red-haired woman who appeared afterward left both Tobirama and Hiruzen so shocked they didn't know what to say.
"M-M-Mito-neesan?!"
Tobirama's expression was priceless.
The Third Hokage was just as stunned.
"Mito-hime?!"
As disciples of the First and Second Hokage, the students of the Team Hokage had regarded the woman before them as both teacher and mother.
They had never expected her to be revived as well—and like Tobirama, she had returned in the form of her younger self.
"Oh? Tobirama, you're revived too?" Mito turned to Hiruzen. "Little monkey has gotten old."
"Yes, Mito-hime," the Third Hokage replied respectfully, lowering his head.
"Enough about that."
Mito walked to Naruto's side and gently ruffled his golden hair.
"Child, I'm sorry you've had to bear this. Could you lift your shirt for a moment?"
"Huh?"
Naruto tilted his head. Another stranger was suddenly treating him so kindly.
Feeling awkward, he looked toward the Hokage for approval.
Hiruzen, who of course understood what she meant, nodded.
"Naruto, do as Mito-hime says."
"Oh."
Naruto pulled his orange jacket up to his chest, revealing his stomach.
"Like this, dattebayo?"
Mito smiled at him. Then her expression sharpened.
"Seal!"
"Ah—!"
A dull pain struck Naruto, and he collapsed unconscious into the woman's arms.
"!!!"
Not understanding the situation, Gaara immediately took an attacking stance.
But Kakashi stopped him. He had already guessed the identity of the red-haired woman.
["This chakra… Uzumaki Mito!! You were revived too?! Damn it! Damn it!!"]
"Go to sleep, Nine-Tails."
["You all just wait… One day I'll definitely— definitely—… zzz…"]
"Mito-hime!" Kakashi said urgently.
"My other two students are in critical condition too!"
In theory, sealing techniques and barrier techniques were Mito's greatest specialties. If anyone could break this barrier, it should be her.
After handing Naruto over to Iruka, who had stepped forward, Mito pressed her palm against the outer wall of the domain barrier.
"No chakra… and it's not any kind of sealing formula either…"
After a while, she shook her head.
"I see…" Kakashi lowered his head in disappointment.
The crow flying above—Itachi—already knew the situation. If the time limit exceeded twenty-four hours, the problem would turn into a multiple-choice question. At that point the danger would be minimal—as long as they knew the question.
But the pink-haired girl inside didn't seem capable of lasting that long.
And the markings on Sasuke's face…
A curse mark?!
He immediately thought of the Leaf's rogue ninja, once the Akatsuki member known as "Kūchin"—
Orochimaru.
Doubting whether Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu had taught Orochimaru enough of a lesson, Uchiha Itachi felt a surge of anger. He almost wanted to hit him with it a hundred million more times.
Mito looked at the injured, poisoned pink-haired girl and naturally noticed the unfinished words written on the ground.
"Question: After the Land of Whirlpools—Uzushiogakure—was destroyed, the survivors who fled to the Land of Grass—"
As the princess of the Uzumaki clan, sorrow appeared in Uzumaki Mito's eyes.
She looked toward the barrier.
Through chakra perception, she had already noticed the girl inside who shared the same red hair as her.
She was tall—but heartbreakingly thin.
Then she saw the girl's body, covered with countless bite marks.
As the Uzumaki princess, how could Mito not understand what that meant?
Just how much had this child suffered?
How much humiliation had she endured?
Then she saw the headband on the girl's forehead.
The Land of Grass—Kusagakure!
There was no need to focus her senses any further. Mito's furious chakra began to materialize around her body.
Her red hair, originally tied into a bun, burst loose under the force of her chakra, cascading down like a crimson waterfall that whipped wildly behind her.
"Uh…"
She didn't have the monstrous chakra of her husband Hashirama, but Mito's chakra was still terrifyingly vast.
Kakashi, Iruka, the Sand ninja, and even the Second and Third Hokage—who had already experienced it once before—were all shocked.
Tobirama and Hiruzen then followed Mito's gaze toward the Grass ninja girl inside the barrier, and they immediately understood the reason.
…
The moment Mito appeared, Karin could no longer tear her eyes away from the red-haired woman who shared the same hair color as her.
Even though the woman's massive chakra was blazing with anger, Karin could still feel an incredibly warm presence within it.
She hadn't felt warmth like that in many years.
Mom…
The word echoed silently in her heart.
Remembering her mother's death, Karin choked back tears.
"Child, could you come over and finish writing the question for us?"
Even in her anger, Mito spoke to her with the same gentleness she had shown Naruto.
"The pink-haired girl's condition is urgent. We need the answer as quickly as possible."
"..."
Karin slowly rose to her feet, trembling, and walked step by step toward the unfinished words Sakura had written.
Because of the previous attack, Sasuke was far more cautious this time.
While struggling to suppress the curse mark invading his consciousness, he pulled out a kunai. If the girl showed any suspicious behavior, he could strike at any moment.
Karin stared straight at Uzumaki Mito outside the barrier. That chakra felt just like her mother's—warm and immense.
Her natural sensitivity to chakra allowed her to sense the chakra of everyone around her.
She knew the people outside desperately wanted to help the pink-haired girl.
It made her feel envious.
And jealous.
So—
Just as she approached the writing on the ground, Karin suddenly turned around and walked toward Sakura instead.
Sasuke and the others: "!!!"