Age Sixteen (continued)
The infiltration of Kiri took three weeks to plan.
I studied the prison's layout from old intelligence reports, memorized the guard rotations, identified the weak points in their defenses. Tsunade helped me prepare medical supplies—antidotes, stimulants, clotting agents. Kushina insisted on coming, and after a long argument, I agreed.
"You're not going to stop me," she said, her arms crossed, her blue eyes blazing. "So you might as well let me help."
"You're twelve."
"I'm an Uzumaki. We're tough."
"Tsunade, talk some sense into her."
Tsunade looked at Kushina, then at me. "She's right. She's an Uzumaki. She has your mother's blood. And she's stubborn enough to follow us even if we say no."
"She's also a child."
"I'm not a child," Kushina said. "I've killed people. In the invasion. Three of them."
I stared at her. "You never told me."
"You never asked."
I felt sick. My little sister. My responsibility. She had killed people, and I hadn't been there to protect her.
"Kushina—"
"I'm not a baby anymore, Ren. I'm a shinobi. And I'm coming with you."
I looked at Tsunade. She shrugged.
"She's your sister."
"Fine," I said. "But you follow my orders. No heroics. No running off on your own. If I say run, you run."
"Fine."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
I didn't believe her. But it was the best I was going to get.
---
The journey to Kiri took five days by boat, then another two on foot.
We traveled at night, hiding during the day, avoiding patrols and checkpoints. Tsunade handled the medical supplies. Kushina scouted ahead, her chakra suppression seal making her nearly invisible. I led, my Sharingan active, my right eye straining to see in the darkness.
The prison was built into a cliff overlooking the sea. It was a massive structure of gray stone and steel bars, surrounded by watchtowers and patrolled by armed guards. The jinchuriki's cell was at the bottom, deep underground, where her chakra couldn't disrupt the seals.
My father was in the same block.
"We need a distraction," I said, studying the prison from a ridge a mile away.
"What kind of distraction?" Tsunade asked.
"A big one."
I looked at Kushina. "Remember when you broke the eastern wall? When you were six?"
"Accidentally."
"Can you do it on purpose?"
She grinned. "Watch me."
---
Kushina's chakra was denser than any Uzumaki's since Mito. When she released the suppression seal, the ground shook. Trees uprooted. Birds fled.
The prison guards saw the chakra flare and sounded the alarm. Dozens of shinobi rushed toward Kushina's position, leaving the prison understaffed.
"Now," I said.
Tsunade and I moved.
My chains shot out, wrapping around the watchtower guards before they could sound a second alarm. I pulled them down, knocked them unconscious, and ran for the main gate.
Tsunade's chakra-enhanced punches broke the lock. We were inside.
The prison was a maze of corridors and cells. I activated my Mangekyo—the golden spiral spinning in my right eye—and saw the threads. My father's thread was faint, fading, but still there.
"This way."
We ran.