Naruto: reborn as an Uzumaki

Konan blinked, struggling to process what she'd just heard. "Immortal? How is that even possible?"

Kira swished her tail, her tone as calm as ever. "It's unheard of, even in our tribe, but Kaede has a unique genetic mutation. Her regenerative ability is so advanced that she can heal from any injury, no matter how severe. Because of this, she doesn't age. She's been alive for a very, very long time."

Konan furrowed her brow. "How long is 'very long'?"

"Almost a hundred thousand years, give or take ten thousand," Kira said casually, as if discussing the weather. "She was imprisoned in a pocket dimension by my great-grandfather, Yasora—Kaede's father. Don't ask why. Time moves differently in that place, so she's had plenty of time to, well… exist. So yes, Kaede is basically immortal."

Konan stared at Kira, speechless. A part of her marveled at the sheer absurdity of it all. Another part of her couldn't help but wonder how on earth Kenshin had managed to make summons out of beings like Kira and Kaede.

She shook her head, deciding to shelve those thoughts for later as the Grass Daimyo's palace came into view.

The pair landed about two kilometers from the palace, Kenshin deactivating his Wind Chakra Mode as Kaede leaped gracefully off his shoulder. Kenshin unfolded a pair of binoculars from his robe and handed another set to Konan.

Kenshin adjusted the focus, scanning the palace. Switching to infrared, he spotted something strange beneath the building. "I think there's a barrier ninjutsu underneath the palace," he said quietly. "It's small—probably a hidden cell."

Konan nodded, observing alongside him. "That must be where the former daimyo is being kept." She shifted her gaze. "There are about fifty guards on patrol. Two rooms seem to have only one person in each—likely our targets."

Kenshin analyzed the layout carefully, then turned to Konan. "I need you to use your paper insects to scout inside. Figure out how to access the underground cell and confirm which room Tetsuya is in and which one the puppet daimyo occupies."

"Understood," Konan replied. She raised her hand, forming tiny, intricate origami insects from her chakra-infused paper. The delicate creations hovered for a moment before darting toward the palace.

"Be very silent," she added firmly, her gaze sharp. "At this range, I'll need complete focus to listen in and guide them."

Kenshin nodded, signaling for Kira and Kaede to remain quiet as well. The air grew still as Konan closed her eyes, her concentration unshakable.

Minutes passed in silence as Konan listened to the faint conversations inside the palace, her paper insects flitting through corridors and rooms. Occasionally, she whispered updates to Kenshin.

"Three guards at the east wing entrance," she murmured. "Five guards stationed on the roof."

Kenshin noted each detail, mentally mapping the palace's defenses.

After some time, Konan's expression shifted. "The room at the far end of the west wing—Tetsuya's in there. The puppet is in the second room, on the north side."

Kenshin nodded. "And the barrier?"

Konan frowned, her focus intensifying. Her paper insects searched the palace meticulously, slipping through cracks and crevices. Finally, one managed to find a tiny gap in the ground and slipped through.

"There's definitely a holding cell under the barrier," Konan confirmed. "The former daimyo is inside. I can hear her faint breathing. I don't think she's been treated well. Even now, the guards are taunting her."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he absorbed the information. "We'll need to disable or bypass that barrier to extract her."

Konan nodded but kept her focus, listening in further to try and gather more details. With the targets identified and the former daimyo's location confirmed, the next step was planning their infiltration.

Kenshin turned to Konan, his voice calm but questioning. "Is the former daimyo guarded, or is it just the barrier?"

Konan kept her focus on her paper insects, listening intently before shaking her head. "There are no guards near her. It's just the barrier. From what I can gather, only Tetsuya has access to it."

Kenshin frowned, his mind working through the possibilities. "Only Tetsuya..." He paused, then his eyes widened as an idea struck him. Without another word, he pulled out his entrance scroll, channeled chakra into it, and vanished into the Uzumaki library.

Konan blinked in surprise, her concentration momentarily broken. "Where did he—"

Kira smirked, her tail swishing. "He probably went to the Uzumaki library. My guess? Consulting his great-grandfather for advice."

Inside the library, Kenshin stood before the towering shelves of sealing knowledge, where the soul of Ashina Uzumaki awaited. Without bothering with pleasantries, Kenshin spoke with urgency. "Great-grandfather, I need to know if there's a jutsu or seal here that can take down any barrier. There's a daimyo imprisoned, but I don't know what kind of barrier it is."

Ashina's translucent figure considered the question, his expression thoughtful. "If the caster of the barrier is deceased, there is a premade seal that can dismantle it. However, this only works if the barrier has no one alive to sustain it. You'd need to kill the caster first."

Kenshin nodded sharply, already turning to leave. "That's all I need to know."

Back outside, Konan kept a careful eye on the palace. She was still unsettled by Kenshin's sudden disappearance when he reappeared without warning.

"We need to kill Tetsuya," Kenshin said simply, his tone decisive. "Once he's dead, I can use an Uzumaki seal to break the barrier and free the former daimyo."

Konan gave a curt nod, her sharp gaze already scanning Tetsuya's room through her binoculars.

Kenshin formed a shadow clone, both of them immediately using earth release to raise small sections of the ground to arm level. He pulled out the half of the binocular he'd modified before, carefully attaching it to his bicep like a makeshift scope for his Gust Bullet.

"I'll need about 90 seconds to fully charge the jutsu for a precise hit at this range," Kenshin explained as both he and his clone began concentrating wind chakra into their hands. "I'll need to be completely still. Otherwise, the bullet will implode and slow down, giving itself away."

Konan crouched beside him, silently observing the palace and confirming the target's position.

For the next minute and a half, Kenshin and his clone didn't move a muscle, their chakra building steadily. The air around them grew tense as the wind chakra condensed, swirling violently yet calmly within their hands.

Finally, at the exact moment, both Kenshin and his clone fired simultaneously. Twin gust bullets shot through the air, headed towards both targets.

Konan, watching through her binoculars, saw the devastating impact. The bullets tore through Tetsuya's room, obliterating his head, while the other bullet did the same for the puppet daimyo.

Konan lowered her binoculars. "Both targets down," she confirmed.

Kenshin exhaled softly, a faint smile crossing his face. "That was easier than I thought."

But his relief was short-lived. His senses flared, and in an instant, he shoved Konan to the ground, narrowly avoiding a grotesque, tentacle-like appendage that lashed out and latched onto a nearby tree.

Kenshin's eyes snapped to the source. To his shock, Tetsuya, whose head should have been destroyed, was being reeled in by the grotesque tentacle. The limb retracted into his body, morphing into his right arm as if it was a natural part of it.

"What the hell is that?" Konan muttered, her voice filled with disbelief as she rose to her feet, her gaze fixed on the seemingly resurrected Tetsuya.

Kenshin clenched his fists, his Mangekyo Sharingan flaring to life. "Looks like this isn't going to be as simple as we thought."

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Once again, thank you everyone for your continued support and power stones. And as always, please give me your power stones and comment your opinions. They make a big difference and motivate me to write more.

A/N: sorry for the late upload

I've been really busy with studies because university admissions are coming up in a couple months

so I have less time to write

I'll still try to get out a chapter a day but they're gonna be 1500-something like before

I'll adjust every second chapter into the previous one to decrease the chapter count though

so please put up with this for the rest of volume 1