"We cannot let Kushina off so easily this time!"
"Agreed. Her recklessness has crossed a line."
"And what about that disciple of hers? Wasn't he supposed to stabilize her? Why are they causing trouble together?"
"She must face severe punishment. A Nine-Tails Jinchūriki peering into the Scroll of Seals is a dangerous precedent."
"But Sarutobi, she didn't take the scroll, nor did she make copies. Technically, no lasting damage was done."
"It's not about the damage, it's about her attitude! She accessed the village's greatest secrets without a shred of hesitation. That's the real problem!"
A heated debate erupted between the Hokage and the village advisors regarding Kushina's "Great Heist." Opinions on her punishment were sharply divided. Despite his frustration, Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself acting as her defense attorney, smoothing over the harsher demands of the council.
The final verdict for Uzumaki Kushina and Kamishiraishi Hagoromo: Four months of confinement.
Had this been served in the Konoha Prison, it would have been a death sentence in disguise. Foreign spies rarely last two weeks in those cells, and rogue ninjas fare little better. While Kushina and Hagoromo weren't traitors, the prison's "hospitality" would have been grueling.
However, the "prison" was simply their own homes. For Hagoromo, this was less of a punishment and more of an extended vacation. As a professional shut-in, staying home for four months was his natural state of being.
For the free-spirited, hyperactive Kushina, however, it was torture.
The advisors were livid, claiming the Hokage was being far too lenient, but Hiruzen stood his ground. In Konoha's hierarchy, advisors have the right to suggest, but the Hokage holds the power to decide. They could grumble, but they couldn't override him.
And so, the shut-in life began.
For Hagoromo, the routine was simple: knead chakra, practice jutsus, study sealing formulas, train his body, eat, and sleep. An Anbu guard was assigned to monitor him and deliver his daily meals. One day bled into the next...
In the midst of his confinement, Hagoromo celebrated his 12th birthday.
Then, the four months were up.
When Kushina and Hagoromo finally reunited, they were the first living souls each had seen (aside from their silent Anbu shadows) in a third of a year.
"Kushina-sensei, I think you've gotten paler. Your skin looks great, though," Hagoromo quipped the moment they met.
Of course she's pale. She hasn't seen the sun in four months.
"Is that so? You're as pasty as ever. I don't know about my skin, but I feel like I'm allergic to sunlight now." Kushina raised a hand to shield her eyes.
Crystal-clear skin, sunlight sensitivity, terrifying combat power... wait, is the author changing the setting? Is Kushina an Uzumaki or a member of the Yato tribe from Gintama?
Regardless, Kushina was free, and her suppressed energy was reaching a boiling point. She wanted out. She wanted the front lines.
No amount of persuasion would stop her. She was determined to leave the village and head for the battlefield. The Hokage, naturally, refused.
In response, Kushina began a campaign of persistence: she sent the Hokage 50 petitions a day, every single day.
Eventually, Hiruzen buckled. Perhaps out of guilt for the long confinement, or perhaps to prevent her from causing a fresh disaster inside the village, he agreed to a short-term front-line mission.
And so, years into the Third Shinobi World War, Kushina finally got her wish. It proves that persistence—for better or worse—always yields a result.
To ensure her safety, the mission was relatively straightforward. Though ranked as an A-rank mission, it wasn't expected to involve heavy combat: they were to escort a team of medical ninjas to the front-line headquarters on the Sand Village front.
At this point, Konoha's victory against the Sand was nearly assured. The Sand Village was likely already looking for a dignified way to exit the war. While the war was triggered by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, that was merely the spark; the roots lay in deep-seated conflicts between the hidden villages.
The Sand had initially pushed into the Land of Fire, but Konoha had stabilized the situation and pushed the front back into the Land of Rivers—a small buffer state between the two powers. Because Konoha was fighting on multiple fronts, they hadn't launched a full invasion of the Land of Wind yet.
The front lines were jagged and prone to skirmishes, but Konoha held the strategic initiative. It was considered one of the "safer" battlefields.
The medical unit consisted of twenty non-combatant medics. Their fighting strength was effectively zero, requiring a significant escort. It wasn't just Kushina and Hagoromo; sixteen Anbu (four squads) were assigned to the mission, bringing the total escort to eighteen.
In reality, the Anbu's priorities were clear:
Protect Uzumaki Kushina.
Protect the medical ninjas. If push came to shove, the twenty medics were expendable; Kushina was not. These sixteen Anbu were as much Kushina's jailers as they were her protectors.
As for our protagonist, Hagoromo? The Anbu didn't care about him. On the battlefield, he was on his own. Sink or swim.
Mission Briefing: You are headed to the Land of Rivers. You're part of an 18-man escort for 20 medics. The Anbu will watch Kushina, but no one is watching your back.