Ch.85 Hidden Grass Village

In the days that followed, Uchiha Shinji spent his mornings attending classes at the Hidden Leaf shinobi academy, his afternoons studying medical ninjutsu, evenings sparring with Haku and Karin, and late nights activating Jikibi to sense Deidara.

Life was busy but fulfilling.

Soon, nine days passed.

That night, Shinji once again activated Jikibi but still couldn't sense Deidara.

Just as he deactivated Jikibi, he suddenly felt a summoning through the summoning jutsu. Realizing it was Coalball reverse-summoning him, he quickly made a hand sign, creating a shadow clone to stay in his apartment while he responded to Coalball's reverse summoning.

Poof.

In a puff of smoke, Shinji appeared.

Coalball jumped out from nearby, looking at Shinji with pitiful eyes.

As Shinji scanned his surroundings, he asked, "Why are you two days late?"

Coalball complained, "Do you know how hard it is for a little cat to cross borders? Look, look, my paws are all blistered!"

Shinji sighed, "Consider it work injury."

Coalball's pitiful expression instantly disappeared. He jumped onto Shinji's shoulder and pointed in the distance, "Look, over there—that's Hidden Grass Village!"

Following Coalball's direction, Shinji finally saw Hidden Grass Village beyond the trees.

Coalball asked, "Shinji, what are we stealing this time from the Hidden Grass Village?"

Shinji lightly tapped Coalball on the head, "Stop babbling. Hide in my shadow; we're about to move."

"Oh."

Coalball obediently hid in Shinji's shadow.

With a swift movement, Shinji dashed toward Hidden Grass Village.

Before long, he reached a dense forest just outside the village and began quietly observing Hidden Grass Village under the cover of night.

He had done his homework in the past few days.

Though Hidden Grass Village wasn't as powerful as the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it was still a notable force in the shinobi world, with a well-established shinobi recruitment and training system.

In a national mobilization, they could raise an army of thousands of shinobi.

Even though Shinji possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, a frontal assault was out of the question.

Of course, there was no need for a direct attack either.

After lying in wait for a while, Shinji spotted a target.

It was a middle-aged shinobi wearing a Hidden Grass Village forehead protector, returning from outside, clearly exhausted.

Swish.

In a flash, Shinji blocked the man's path.

Perhaps because he was close to his village, the shinobi wasn't too vigilant. He simply stared at Shinji and shouted, "Who are you?"

Meeting the man's eyes, Shinji activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Instantly, the shinobi's expression became vacant.

After dragging the man into the forest, Shinji began interrogating him through genjutsu.

The shinobi's name was Daisuke, a Chūnin of Hidden Grass Village. He had just completed a mission escorting a merchant and was returning to the village.

Through the genjutsu, Shinji learned about the layout of Hidden Grass Village.

After knocking Daisuke unconscious, Shinji tied him up with ropes and used a kunai to make a small cut on Daisuke, smearing the blood on himself to fake an injury.

Satisfied there were no flaws in his disguise, Shinji transformed into Daisuke using the Transformation Jutsu and headed toward Hidden Grass Village.

"Hey, Wakamura, Shuuji, you two on duty tonight?"

Arriving at the gate, Shinji greeted the gatekeepers using the information he had extracted during the interrogation.

Seeing the bloodstains on Shinji's body, one of the Grass shinobi asked, "What happened? Did you run into trouble during the mission?"

Shinji shook his head, "Bad luck. I ran into a rogue shinobi."

"Tough break. Better go get treated!"

Shinji nodded and walked boldly into Hidden Grass Village.

It seemed that Hidden Grass Village considered itself the strongest shinobi village outside the Five Great Nations, leading to a certain laxness in everyday vigilance.

This was understandable, as smaller factions generally didn't dare provoke a village like Hidden Grass Village, and the Five Great Shinobi Villages usually left them alone, preferring them as buffers between major powers. Over time, they naturally became complacent.

Following the information he had extracted, Shinji weaved through the village and arrived in front of a rundown little house.

"Could it really be here?"

He had his doubts.

Logically, since Hidden Grass Village had sent Karin to the Hidden Leaf on a secret mission, her mother—used as leverage—should be under tight surveillance.

But this shabby house didn't look like a heavily guarded location.

Knock, knock.

Suppressing his suspicions for the time being, Shinji knocked on the door.

After a long while, a weak voice came from inside the house. "Please come in."

The door slowly opened, and a pale, frail woman bowed deeply to Shinji, speaking in a humble tone, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"You…"

Shinji hesitated.

The woman stepped aside, "Please, come in."

As Shinji entered, he observed the room. There was little furniture—a bed, a table, a few old boxes, and a small, neatly hung set of clothes on the wall that seemed out of place given the room's state.

The clothes were small, likely for a child of five or six years, clearly not belonging to the woman.

As Shinji looked around, the woman extended her scarred arm and lowered her head, "Please, allow me to heal you."

Seeing the scars on her arm, Shinji felt a mix of emotions.

At first, he had doubted the woman's identity since she didn't have the distinctive red hair of the Uzumaki clan. Instead, her hair was white with a few faint red strands.

But now, seeing the scars on her arm, Shinji realized that this woman was indeed Karin's mother.

"To push someone with the Uzumaki clan's Sage Body to such a state…"

He was silently horrified.

Karin's unique self-healing ability was inherited from her mother.

For someone with such strong Uzumaki blood to be worn down like this before reaching the age of thirty, Shinji could barely imagine the treatment Karin's mother had endured in Grass Village.

Noticing that Shinji wasn't biting down on her arm, the woman assumed he couldn't find a suitable spot. She extended her other arm, searching for an unscathed area but, finding none, grew increasingly anxious.

Suddenly, Shinji grasped her hand. "Don't be afraid."

Confusion replaced the fear in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm here to take you away from this place."

Shinji held her hand and began leading her outside.

She followed for a few steps before breaking free and rushing to grab the small, clean set of clothes from the wall, clutching it tightly to her chest.

Shinji walked over and spoke softly, "I'll take you to see her."