I Feel My Blood

He turned back to Kai, a grim determination flashing across his face. "If that's true... If we're really headed towards our destruction, then we must do everything we can to prevent it," he said, his voice firm.

"That you should." Kai nodded, addressing the older man. "Mito and I concluded that this isn't the past I know. The future might be different, but one thing is certain. The Uzumaki Clan is envied by others. That will not change. Another unchanging factor is the treacherous and greedy nature of the human heart. That means even if this timeline is different, there may still be an attack on your clan. I would suggest you take precautions and don't blindly trust other clans or villages."

The man before him, a beacon of Uzumaki strength and pride, fell into a contemplative silence, digesting the information. His usually bright eyes darkened under the weight of Kai's words, the gravity of the situation settling in.

"So when you tried to pass the seal, you were sent back in time," he said after a few moments, echoing Kai's previous explanation. "Mito mentioned you've been here over a year and now you can go back."

Kai merely nodded, his gaze steady.

"And you want to snatch my princess away?" The patriarch's voice had a hard edge, his eyes narrowed.

Kai didn't flinch, only looked at the older man directly. "I have feelings for your daughter, and she reciprocates them. She wants to accompany me, and I believe I can protect her."

The father's gaze scrutinized Kai, searching his face for any hint of deceit or ill-intent. When he found none, his stance softened just a touch. "Will you... Will you take care of her?" His voice was almost pleading, the strong facade faltering momentarily.

"I promise," Kai vowed, his voice leaving no room for doubt.

After a long pause, the man finally spoke, "Then, I give you my blessing. But if you ever hurt her, know this; I will find you, and I will make you pay."

"I understand," Kai responded calmly, nodding in acknowledgement.

Mito, who had been quietly observing the exchange, exhaled a sigh she hadn't realized she had been holding. Her father's blessing was more important to her than she cared to admit.

"How... how will you do it?" The man asked, his voice shaky with suppressed emotion.

Kai regarded the older man, a hint of respect surfacing in his icy gaze. He respected the man's resolve and his love for his daughter. "We will be teleported. Instantaneously."

The patriarch looked at him skeptically, but remained silent. Kai turned his attention to Mikoto and Mito, gesturing for them to come closer. As they approached, he casually draped an arm around each of their waists, pulling them close.

"It will be an instant," he reiterated, his gaze serious. The two women nodded, trusting him implicitly.

The chakra in the air stirred as Kai's concentration deepened, the atmosphere charged with power. He focused on channeling his energy, drawing it from the depths of his being. The older man took an involuntary step back as an immense wave of energy radiated from Kai, suffusing the surroundings.

"Senjutsu?" He gasped, his eyes widening in shock. The sheer power of Kai's chakra was stifling, overwhelming in its intensity.

As the man looked on in awe, Kai's energy swirled around him and the two women. The chakra pulsed with a steady rhythm, echoing the beat of his heart. Suddenly, an intense light emanated from Kai's chest, so bright that it illuminated the entire area. The man squinted against the light, his heart pounding in his chest.

"What is that?" He whispered, his voice barely audible over the pulsating energy.

But his question went unanswered as, in an instant, Kai and the two women vanished. The man blinked in disbelief, staring at the empty space where they had been just a moment before. The ground beneath his feet was devoid of any signs of their presence, as though they had never been there to begin with. It was a disorienting spectacle, one that left the man rooted to the spot in stunned silence.

Materializing in mid-air above the ocean, Kai, Mikoto, and Mito found themselves looking at a tempestuous whirlpool below. The chaotic spirals of the whirlpool felt eerily familiar, a nautical vortex that looked like a perpetually spinning gateway. Its sight was an uncanny reminiscence to Kai and Mikoto; a seal they recognized.

Mikoto turned to Kai, her raven hair blowing in the saline breeze. Her mature and refined features were graced with a cautious expression. "Are we in our timeline?" she asked, her voice barely cutting through the thunderous sound of the swirling waters.

Kai surveyed their surroundings, his eyes skimming across the vast waters, towards the horizon and back. His gaze was distant, as if he were taking in not just what lay before his eyes, but the invisible seams of reality itself. After a moment, he nodded.

Mito, her fiery red hair billowing like a flag in the wind, raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?" she questioned. Her emerald eyes shone with curiosity. It seemed unfathomable that Kai could discern such a thing with just a glance.

Instead of an immediate response, Kai simply studied the scenery once more. It was as though he was attuning to an inaudible symphony, his senses imbibing the world's subtleties that were invisible and inaudible to the others. He looked distant, lost in a silent communion with the environment. Then, abruptly, something changed.

A smile.

It stretched across his face slowly, transforming his usual stoic countenance into something undeniably bright and surprisingly warm. It was a startling sight for the women, the kind of full, content smile they had never seen on him. It was a momentary vulnerability, a crack in his otherwise impassive armor.

"I can feel the seals," he started, his voice a resonant hum against the ocean's rhythm. "The ones I left around the world." The words hung in the air, riddled with a deeper meaning, a profound connection with the world that had long been severed and was now, once again, reestablished.

The women watched him, anticipation lingering in their attentive gazes. Their breaths seemed to synchronize with the ebb and flow of the waves as they waited for his next words. "And?" Mikoto pressed, her voice barely above a whisper, not daring to shatter the moment's fragile tranquility.

Kai's smile didn't falter. If anything, it seemed to widen even further, his eyes reflecting the endless blue of the ocean. "And," he paused, drawing out the silence. "I feel my blood."

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