"These shouldn't be poisoned, right?"
Uchiha Hikari picked up a local pastry from the tray and casually tossed it into her mouth.
Though she voiced a verbal concern about poison, her hands showed absolutely zero hesitation.
After all, with Tsunade—the greatest medical ninja and detoxification expert in history sitting right next to her, deadly poison would just be spicy extra seasoning.
"Ah, wait!" The maid stepped forward in a panic, reaching out to stop her.
"What's wrong? Is there actually poison in here? Ugh—hoek."
Hikari chewed twice, grimaced, and spat a crumpled little wad of paper out onto the table.
"Hm?"
Tsunade picked up the damp paper, unrolled it, and read the hastily scrawled text.
[Leave quickly. Danger.]
"Ah. Now it makes sense why only one portion of tea was prepared," Tsunade noted.
Once this paper was discovered in the single snack, the finder would naturally notify their roommates.
Even if the targets didn't obey the warning and flee, they'd at least be on high alert against an ambush.
"It seems you mean no harm. Pull up a stool and speak," Tsunade said, pushing a chair forward.
"I apologize, everyone. I didn't mean to hide my identity."
The maid reached up, removed her wig and stripped off her disguise clothing.
"I am Ryuzetsu, an Anbu from the Hidden Grass Village. I am here to stop Warden Mui and destroy the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
"Eh?"
Uchiha Hikari looked at Ryuzetsu's true appearance, tilting her head as she suddenly realized something.
She turned to Makoto. "Hey... doesn't she look exactly like that 'Anemic Nagato' you described to me?"
"Didn't you mention before that when members of the Uzumaki Clan expend massive amounts of chakra and life force, their signature red hair turns stark white?"
Hikari pointed at Ryuzetsu's spiky white hair.
She remembered Makoto using Nagato as an example of chakra-drain when explaining Uzumaki genetics.
Now, looking at Ryuzetsu, she had white hair in a very similar style to Nagato's, and her unique eyes even somewhat resembled the concentric circles of the Rinnegan.
Just with darker, sun-tanned skin.
"Yeah. She looks like a sun-tanned, anemic Nagato in drag," Makoto agreed with a nod.
"...No! Please, everyone, the situation is incredibly urgent! Could we please not joke around like this?!"
Ryuzetsu's professional composure was crumbling rapidly.
Were these people completely arrogant just because they had some strength?
And did she really look that much like a man?
Why were they roasting her as an "anemic man in women's clothing"?
"Joking? We're not joking at all."
The casual smile vanished from Uchiha Hikari's face in an instant.
Her Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life, staring intently and coldly at Ryuzetsu.
"We can sense your goodwill regarding the warning. But by saying you're from the Hidden Grass, are you implying that the village forces behind you represent 'Justice' here to eliminate Mui?"
"..."
Ryuzetsu wanted to say yes, but under the crushing pressure of Hikari's gaze, the word caught in her throat.
What puzzled her was why the other party had suddenly become so violently hostile.
Where did this intense killing intent come from?
"Our village recently took in a girl named Karin from the Uzumaki Clan," Makoto explained, revealing the dark reason behind their hostility.
"She and her mother used to live as refugees in your Hidden Grass Village. That was, until her mother was literally drained to death by your ninja constantly biting her to absorb her healing chakra. If Karin hadn't managed to escape during the Chunin Exams, she would have been the next one to be bitten to death as a disposable health potion."
After Hikari had befriended several girls "around her age" in Amegakure, she naturally learned about their backgrounds.
Karin's past was particularly horrific.
The feeling of being used as a disposable tool deeply resonated with Hikari, reminding her of how the Warring States Uchiha clan had treated her as a mere weapon.
In comparison, aside from being denied a name and locked in a pitch-black box for centuries, Karin's suffering was arguably even worse in some aspects.
Hikari missed her parents, but those were warm beautiful memories.
Karin, however, had been forced to watch her mother be drained into a lifeless husk right before her eyes by the very village Ryuzetsu served.
For Karin, thoughts of her past only brought despair.
"This..." Ryuzetsu's expression instantly turned pale with shame.
As a Hidden Grass Anbu, how could she not know about the "Healing Bite" mother and daughter?
But what power did she have to stop the higher-ups back then?
She thought this ugly, sinful matter had been buried along with that poor woman's corpse.
She never expected the victims' protectors would come knocking today.
Remembering how she'd mentally agreed with the statement "I represent Justice" just moments ago now made her feel utterly sick with hypocrisy.
"I... I apologize. This is indeed the Hidden Grass Village's unforgivable sin," Ryuzetsu bowed deeply, her voice trembling.
"However, the matter of the Box is of global importance! Please don't act impulsively—we should report this to the Raikage first to coordinate an attack!"
"Wait, what do you mean 'report to the Raikage'?" Tsunade frowned, sensing a massive miscommunication.
"Since when is the Raikage our superior?"
"Eh? Aren't you the advance diplomatic team from the Hidden Cloud Village?!" Ryuzetsu exclaimed in shock, looking up.
Had she completely mistaken their identities?
"Um... may I ask who you actually are? I've been disguised as a prisoner staying deep in the jail cells, so I'm completely unaware of outside developments." Ryuzetsu trailed off, looking incredibly embarrassed.
"According to the Hidden Grass intelligence network, the Cloud Village team arriving tomorrow was led by... well..."
"Spit it out!" Tsunade slammed her hand on the table impatiently.
"The Grass intel reports explicitly stated that the Cloud team was led by... a blonde woman with exceptionally large breasts," Ryuzetsu forced out through gritted teeth, her face burning red.
(Note: The intel was referring to Samui).
"..."
Tsunade froze.
Makoto and Hikari slowly turned their heads to stare at Tsunade's chest.
Tsunade expertly ignored their peculiar gazes, her eyebrow twitching dangerously.
"And then what?"
"Nothing more," Ryuzetsu shook her head.
"Nothing more?!" Tsunade was genuinely appalled. "You're saying there's nothing more to the description?! Is your Hidden Grass intelligence network led by Jiraiya?! You only stare at women with big breasts to identify them?!"
"..."
Ryuzetsu felt deeply ashamed.
She felt that her identity as a Grass ninja was currently the most embarrassing thing in the world.
"Never mind, never mind. Considering your good intentions with the warning note, we won't make an issue of your village's utter incompetence," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Though your combat knowledge is severely lacking too. This girl was staring a hole through you with the Sharingan earlier, and you didn't even recognize it? You still guessed we were from the Cloud Village?" Tsunade complained.
"So that was the legendary Sharingan?" Ryuzetsu looked at Hikari's red eyes with genuine, naive curiosity.
It seemed she truly hadn't seen it before; the Grass Village was far too isolated!
"I am the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade. Our goal... well, it could be considered 'destroying' the Box of Ultimate Bliss, so you don't need to worry about Mui."
Tsunade introduced herself grandly, then shot Makoto a knowing glance as she reassured Ryuzetsu.
'Hmm.'
'Sucking all the chakra out of the demonic box until it's a dry husk—that definitely counts as destroying it, right? Perfectly reasonable.'
"The Hokage?! That's great!" Ryuzetsu's eyes lit up with hope. "Lord Hokage, could you please stop the Raikage from bringing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki to the island tomorrow?!"
Ryuzetsu remained laser-focused on her original mission, terrified of Mui obtaining the Tailed Beast.
"There's no problem with the Jinchuriki coming to the island. He won't be in any danger from Mui. You can rest assured," Makoto finally interrupted, offering Ryuzetsu a polite, chilling smile.
Ryuzetsu sighed in relief, completely unaware of the irony.
The biggest threat to a Jinchuriki stepping onto this island wasn't Warden Mui or the demonic box.
The biggest threat was Makoto and Uchiha Hikari!
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