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Chapter 3: Threads of Suspicion
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The moon hung low over Uzushiogakure, casting silver light across the village's spiraling seals. Kazuto Uzumaki stood at the edge of the training grounds, his breath steady despite the ache in his limbs. The night air was cool, but sweat beaded on his forehead. Before him, a complex fuinjutsu array glowed faintly in the dirt, its lines pulsing with chakra. The Crimson Chain seal was nearly complete, but it was still too slow, too draining. He gritted his teeth. Time was slipping through his fingers like sand.
"Kazuto-sama!" Reina's voice cut through the silence, urgent but controlled. She appeared from the shadows, her crimson hair tied back, a scroll tucked under her arm. "Toru Hyuga tried to access the western seal archives tonight. We stopped him, but he's claiming it was a misunderstanding."
Kazuto's eyes darkened. The Hyuga envoy had been in the village for three days, and his "misunderstandings" were piling up. First the coded message, now an attempt to breach the archives where the Uzumaki stored their most guarded fuinjutsu scrolls. Konoha's allyship was starting to feel like a noose. "Where is he now?" Kazuto asked, wiping ink-stained hands on his robe.
"Detained in the guest quarters," Reina replied. "The elders are debating whether to expel him. They're… divided."
Kazuto snorted. The elders were always divided—half wanted to cling to Konoha's alliance, hoping it would shield them; the other half saw the truth, that Uzushiogakure stood alone. Kazuto had no illusions. His past-life knowledge painted a grim picture: Konoha would mourn the Uzumaki's fall but do little to prevent it. Danzo's shadow loomed too large, and the Hokage's hands were tied by politics. Kazuto would have to be the shield.
"Keep him confined," he said. "I'll deal with him at dawn. And reinforce the archive seals. Use the tertiary lockdown array—my design, not the old one."
Reina nodded, but her eyes lingered on him, concern flickering. "Kazuto-sama, you've been out here all night. The Crimson Chain… is it worth risking your health?"
Kazuto's gaze softened, just for a moment. Reina was loyal, sharp, one of the few he trusted. But she didn't understand. No one did. The weight of a village's survival rested on his shoulders, and every failure was a step closer to annihilation. "It's not just a seal," he said quietly. "It's a weapon to end wars. If I don't perfect it, we're all dead in two years."
Reina's mouth tightened, but she bowed and left to carry out his orders. Kazuto turned back to the array, his fingers tracing the lines. The Crimson Chain was his masterpiece, a seal that could lock an enemy's chakra network mid-battle, rendering them helpless. But it required precision—too much chakra, and it would backfire; too little, and it wouldn't hold. He'd tested it on shadow clones, but a real opponent would be different. He needed a live test, and Toru Hyuga was starting to look like a candidate.
At dawn, Kazuto entered the guest quarters, where Toru sat under guard. The Hyuga's pale eyes met his, unreadable but alert. Two Uzumaki shinobi stood nearby, their hands ready to activate restraining seals. The room hummed with latent chakra, the walls etched with containment arrays Kazuto had personally reinforced.
"Toru Hyuga," Kazuto began, his voice cold. "You've been busy. Care to explain why you were sniffing around our archives?"
Toru's smile was polite, but it didn't reach his eyes. "A misunderstanding, Kazuto-sama. I was merely curious about your clan's renowned fuinjutsu. Konoha values our alliance, and I thought—"
"Thought you'd steal our secrets?" Kazuto cut in, stepping closer. The air seemed to thicken, his chakra pressing against Toru's. "You're a Hyuga. Your Byakugan can see chakra, but it can't decipher our seals. So why risk it?"
Toru's composure wavered, his fingers twitching. "I meant no offense. The Hokage seeks only to strengthen our bond."
Kazuto leaned forward, his small frame radiating menace. "Then tell the Hokage this: Uzushiogakure doesn't share its blood. If Konoha wants our trust, send shinobi to fight beside us, not spies to steal from us." He paused, letting the words sink in. "You leave at noon. Try anything else, and you'll see what my seals can do."
Toru's jaw tightened, but he nodded. Kazuto turned to leave, then stopped. "One more thing," he said, glancing back. "If I catch your Byakugan looking where it shouldn't, I'll seal it shut." It was no idle threat. He'd already theorized a seal to blind chakra-based vision, a counter to the Byakugan and Sharingan. Another project for his growing list.
Outside, the village bustled, unaware of the tension brewing. Kazuto headed to the training grounds, where a small group of Uzumaki genin awaited his instruction. They were young, barely older than him, but eager to learn. Kazuto's reputation as a prodigy had spread, and his terrifying determination inspired both fear and loyalty.
"Today," he said, unrolling a scroll, "you'll learn the basics of a reactive seal. It triggers when an enemy's chakra crosses its threshold." He demonstrated, tossing a kunai at a dummy. The moment it struck, a seal on the ground flared, and chains of chakra erupted, binding the dummy in place. The genin gasped, their eyes wide.
"It's not perfect," Kazuto continued, ignoring their awe. "It's too slow for jounin-level speed. Your job is to refine it. Break it apart, rebuild it, make it faster. We don't have time for failure."
The genin set to work, their hands trembling but determined. Kazuto watched, his mind elsewhere. Toru's actions confirmed his suspicions—Konoha was probing, testing Uzushiogakure's strength. Other villages would follow. He needed to accelerate his training, his seals, his plans. The Crimson Chain was just the beginning. He envisioned seals that could redirect entire jutsu, trap Bijuu in weapons, even manipulate time's flow. His past-life theories were ambitious, but as an Uzumaki, he had the chakra and talent to make them real.
As the sun climbed higher, Kazuto slipped away to his workshop. He unrolled a new scroll, sketching a seal inspired by the Flying Thunder God technique. If he could combine it with his Crimson Chain, he could teleport restraints directly onto an enemy. The math was dizzying, the chakra cost obscene, but he didn't care. Failure wasn't an option.
A distant explosion rocked the village, faint but unmistakable. Kazuto's head snapped up, his hand already on the storage seal at his wrist. Reina appeared, breathless. "Kazuto-sama! A breach at the eastern wall. Intruders—three, maybe four. They bypassed the outer seals."
Kazuto's eyes gleamed with cold resolve. "Sound the alarm. Mobilize the jounin. And tell them to stay back." He grabbed a scroll, the Crimson Chain seal glowing faintly. "This is my test."
As he sprinted toward the breach, the village's seals flared to life, a crimson web against the morning sky. Kazuto Uzumaki, the youngest patriarch, was ready to show the world what his fuinjutsu could do.
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End of Chapter 3
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