The first to leave was Uzumaki Kushina, carried away by a flying summon beast.
Long-beaked herons, Yatagarasu, giant eagles… several kinds of summoned creatures soared through the air.
Then came the Hidden Cloud Village shinobi, chasing after the Hidden Eddy Village's Book of Seals.
After that, two Hidden Leaf Village Anbu squads followed.
Even Danzo went with them.
The Yellow Dog Division stayed behind to cover the retreat.
Standing atop the village wall, Yagami turned back for a final look at the Hidden Eddy Village.
Inside the village, Hidden Mist shinobi were surrounding and cutting down the last of the Uzumaki kunoichi.
There were about fifty of them left, desperately trying to break through the Mist's blockade.
The entire Hidden Eddy Village had fallen silent. Only near the northwest wall could faint sounds of battle still be heard.
After leaping down from the wall and slipping into the forest outside the village, Captain Black Ape signaled his squad to halt.
There were only five of them left — Black Ape himself, three squad leaders, and one remaining team member.
"Put on your Cloud uniforms. We have a different mission now."
The last surviving member was carrying a large pack — inside it, he had somehow gathered Hidden Cloud gear.
Yagami discarded his iron Anbu chest armor, which was scarred with blade marks, and put on the single-shoulder armor of a Cloud shinobi instead.
He tossed away his half-broken ninjatō and picked up a nearly brand-new long blade.
There was even a Hidden Cloud forehead protector stained with blood.
The key piece — a mask.
And just like that, a five-man Cloud squad was born.
Black Ape glanced at the lone team member and decided there was no need to hide their true objective anymore.
"Our mission is to ensure that the Uzumaki remnants do not interfere with the Uzumaki princess's entry into the Hidden Leaf Village."
No explanation was needed — everyone knew what that meant.
Any Uzumaki who approached the princess… must die.
The five Cloud shinobi dashed out of the forest.
The remaining Uzumaki had fled the village, heading northwest — toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
But the Land of Whirlpools was a narrow peninsula, leaving them little room to maneuver.
Most of the Hidden Mist shinobi stayed behind, scraping the village clean — sealing notes, treasures, even intel from corpses — everything was valuable to them.
A smaller group continued the pursuit.
The Uzumaki survivors kept splitting into three-man teams to cover the retreat, buying precious seconds for the rest.
Their eyes were locked on the northwest. The Hidden Leaf Village was their only hope.
But the sudden appearance of five Hidden Cloud shinobi made that hope grow dim.
The five carried long blades and stood tall, cutting a menacing silhouette.
Captain Black Ape didn't charge in recklessly. Instead, he led his men to run parallel to the Uzumaki survivors, gradually closing the distance —
applying pressure, little by little.
Under such pressure, even simple actions — jumping, landing, running — began to falter from tension.
When one of the Uzumaki's movements slipped, her foot landing unevenly, Captain Black Ape's squad struck.
Dozens of kunai whistled through the air, killing the poor girl instantly.
With Hidden Mist pursuers behind and Hidden Cloud interference from the side, despair began to devour the Uzumaki survivors.
Yagami frowned deeply.
Something felt wrong. Chasing desperate prey too far was dangerous.
The Uzumaki weren't helpless — they still had sealing scrolls and forbidden techniques.
If cornered, what if they used the Reaper Death Seal to take one of them down?
That was something Yagami definitely couldn't withstand.
He noticed several Uzumaki kunoichi whose eyes had gone lifeless, moving with grim determination as they charged toward him — ready to die.
The night of the seventh was not a full moon yet; his resurrection ability hadn't reset. Trading his life one-for-one here would be foolish.
He glanced at Captain Black Ape. The man was fully devoted to his Anbu orders — exterminating every last Uzumaki.
One of the kunoichi lunged forward.
A squad leader met her head-on, but was immediately bound by the sealing chains from her scroll.
The woman didn't hesitate — she triggered an explosive tag at point-blank range, killing herself and the squad leader together.
Yagami couldn't help but click his tongue. The Uzumaki clan had already suffered catastrophic losses tonight — their fathers, brothers, children… all dead.
These women had nothing left to lose.
No. He couldn't keep fighting these maniacs. He couldn't let them reach the Hidden Leaf Village either.
Yagami's gaze shifted to Uzumaki Yuka.
Yuka was at the center of the group, protected by the remaining kunoichi.
She was lucky — the long-beaked heron she'd summoned earlier had been fast enough to carry Uzumaki Kushina away from the village.
If Yuka died, her summoning contract would be broken, and Kushina would lose her only escape route.
But how could he get a message to her?
While Yagami pondered, the last of Captain Black Ape's team was killed.
Only three remained — Black Ape, Fox, and Monkey.
Seeing how fiercely the Uzumaki still fought, Captain Black Ape ordered the retreat, keeping distance.
He had led sixteen men out of the village, and now only two were left — and Fox wasn't even originally from his squad.
Yagami sighed with relief. That was how it should be — let the Uzumaki and Mist tear each other apart. What business did the Leaf's Anbu have meddling here?
The chase continued.
Black Ape's squad now acted as observers, merely recording the number of surviving Uzumaki.
During a brief lull, Yagami picked up a piece of broken wooden sandal.
Holding his kunai in reverse grip, he pretended to be ready to throw — but secretly carved words into the wood.
The Uzumaki numbers dwindled fast. Those who remained fought like cornered beasts, rushing their enemies with explosive tags strapped to their chests.
Seizing a moment when Captain Black Ape was being held up by one of the Uzumaki, Yagami hurled his kunai — and the wooden piece along with it.
After throwing, he glanced around — no one seemed to notice.
Uzumaki Yuka saw a kunai flying toward her and dodged instinctively.
Something clattered to the ground beneath it — a small wooden board.
There were words carved on it.
Yuka picked it up, and her eyes widened. She quickly crushed the board in her hand.
It read: "Don't go to the Land of Fire."
Yuka looked at the masked Cloud shinobi who had thrown it — and froze.
That figure… different clothes, hair wrapped up, face covered… but why did he look so much like Fox?
She had never connected the two before. But now, the resemblance was unmistakable.
Could that message have been a warning from Fox?
But why? Why tell her not to go to the Land of Fire?
And why disguise himself as a Cloud shinobi?
Suddenly, memories flashed through her mind — Danzo, the lack of Leaf support, and more importantly, why hadn't the Hidden Leaf Village warned them about the incoming Cloud and Mist attack?
The Hidden Eddy Village and Hidden Leaf Village shared intelligence.
And yet, before tonight, there hadn't been a single sign of danger. It was as if every intel ninja had been wiped out in one night.
That shouldn't have been possible.
During the wars, the Uzumaki had scouts stationed all along the Land of Whirlpools coastline.
Unless… unless someone leaked those positions to the enemy.
Only by taking out all scouts at once could the Mist launch a perfect surprise attack.
The Uzumaki would never betray themselves. Which left only one possibility…
The Hidden Leaf Village.
They shared the Uzumaki's defensive information.
Yuka felt her whole body go cold.
Could it be…?
Did the Hidden Leaf Village have a hand in the Uzumaki clan's destruction?