[Mission: Survive.]

I don't know why he was doing it but Shikaku had asked me to stick with him as he went around giving out orders. He moved the army like a well-oiled machine. The civilian evacuation was still underway. At some point the third Hokage, a dignified old man joined Shikaku.

"Shikaku. I thought we agreed that discretion would be better than fortifying."

"Yes, but the window other nations have at this juncture to strike us is negligible. There are no forces on our border waiting for an opportunity. I made sure of that."

"And why are we so sure of an attack now?"

"Prophecy."

That seems to have stopped the old man in his track.

"Prophecy from one of the summon clans. Which one?"

"Not a clan. A bloodline limit. From miss Taylor over here."

The old man didn't ask if Shikaku was sure of it or exclaim that it was impossible.

"I trust your judgement. I can take over ground forces if you will have me."

"Of course Lord Hokage. Please go ahead. You will find salient points from the prophecy in this document I prepared."

The Hokage nods and moves along.

"Miss Taylor let's move faster, shall we."

"Please—don't you—-get tired."

I speak in between breaths.

"Being a civilian is not a good excuse to be out of shape Taylor. Now chop chop. I know Nara boys who walk faster while out on a walk."

This causes him to chuckle. He knows I don't get his references, right? Or is that the joke?

We walk downstairs to the room where this Kushina is giving birth. If I got it correct, Kushina is the village's King, The Hokage's, Wife. So I am going to see a Queen give birth to a prince. And maybe also see an assassination attempt.

I am still not clear on how the Queen giving birth leads to the Beast being unleashed but at this point, I am too out of breath to ask questions.

We are soon joined by Mr Yamanaka and A chubby man. He had strange tribal-looking markings on his face.

"Taylor meet my team. Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi. We make the famous and traditional Ino-Shika-Cho team. Ah, and I can tell you are in no mood for a history lesson."

He is right I was barely listening to the man.

"Inoichi, Choza while we are going to the labour room and the main objective of everyone else there will be to keep Kushina from getting assassinated. Our objective will be to keep miss Taylor protected."

It is a statement of how much everyone believes in the man that everyone just goes along with his line of reasoning. No one even asks why should we bother with the nameless nobody girl when the Queen might be in danger.

I learn why as we reach the labour room. As I expected nobody is outside the labour room.

"Keep your speed low. The fourth has seals placed to limit the speed at which people move inside the chamber. Along with it, there are seals against fire chakra manifestation, remote scrying, a forcefield against projectiles, an incoming teleportation ward and a bunch of other tricks the Hokage didn't even tell me."

He then pushes open the door and we walk into the labour room.

Turns out the hospital was a mischaracterisation of where we were going to be. I am in some sort of underground bunker. There are two midwives handling childbirth. Outside of that, I am told that every clan head from all the village's most prominent clans is here, Then there are the Anbu. Some sort of super-specialized ninja force.

"Minato you twat. You told me that this was going to be private. What the fuck is the half the—- Oh, for Sage's sake stop kicking—village doing here."

Did I mention that the red-haired woman, Kushina was screaming obscenities at her husband who was panicking and running around with towels?

The room was stuffed with middle-aged men and women all wearing their uniforms. Some cringing some cheering.

"Let's go Kushina you can do it. Push, Push hard."

Screams a lady standing with her—dogs. Should they be in a labour room? should we?

"Stuff it Tsume. Tell me after you had your brat."

She screams in pain and then continues. "And the rest of you I will break your bones if it turns out that you are here for no reason."

"Hear that Shikaku. Let's pray there is an assassination attempt." Says the sumo guy. Er, Choza.

"And you Hyuga, you are not fooling anyone."

And thus continued the birth. The Queen would scream obscenities or generally just insult everyone in the room. I was ignored for the most part even though the way one guy in a yukata(?) was staring at me told me that I had offended him somehow.

I just want to go home already.

Before I knew it, the child was born. The infant's cries filled the tense room. The midwives pronounced him to be a boy.

No one smiled as the child was given to his(?) tense father. And especially when there was a stranger in the room that had appeared out of nowhere. Standing next to the redhead. Somehow he had pierced the security left in place by an entire village full of Ninjas.

The first thing I noticed about the stranger was the mask. It showed a single eyehole through which I saw a familiar eye. He bought up my memories of slowly being crushed by rubble. Of Dying.

"Your plans are foiled move away from the pregnant woman and we might kill you without having you beg for it."

Wow, Am I on the right side?

"I see your plans have changed. But no matter, mine hasn't."

The room erupts in motion. I remember that there was going to be a speed limiter placed around the room, I wonder what happened to it. I can't keep track of the combatants. I can't see the attacks being done. But I can hear Shikaku's running commentary.

"The assassin can phase through matter, Organic and inorganic. Must have phased through the ground to get here. Must be a Sharingan ability. Fast, agile and skilled enough to keep up when pitted against the best of our village. If we have another chance, We should remove the speed limiter and all the other seals. It is working against us in this case. I won't be surprised to learn that the Assasin has meddled with the seal work somehow."

That confirms why he is keeping me around and showing me all this. I think he must have had this part figured out after I gave him my account. Scary smart or scary lucky? Or is it something else?

Soon the battle ends. I see a grotesque white arm fallen on the floor but no one in the room is missing one.

"He took Kushina." I heard someone say.

"Minato you go find her. We will prepare the village for the worst outcome and keep you, child, safe." Speaks the shaken-looking yukata guy. His eyes were swirling like that of the fox.

Minato, the Hokage, nods. But before he can teleport out Shikaku speaks up.

"Wait, one of my clones received a report. He is near the Katsuji river to our east. I will also send a battalion your way but I have no doubt you will reach her sooner."

"Thanks. I am moving out."

So the Hokage leaves to find his wife. Everyone empties the room with purpose.

"You know what to do. The third has taken arms coordinate with him. Fugaku, Hiashi you are fast. Go with the battalion moving towards Katsuji."

Finally, he turns to me.

"Miss Taylor. I believe you should rest. I have prepared a room for you in the Hokage tower. You will be safe there. Or do you think there is something else you can help us with?"

I was overwhelmed. What I understood was that not everything had gone according to plan, especially the assassin escaping with Kushina. But the village is better prepared for an Endbringer-level threat.

"Can't I help with the evacuation or something?"

"It is going smoothly we won't need more hands there. I would rather that you stay at the tower from where you should be able to see if something happens." Replied Shikaku.

I wonder what he believes I can do. Surely, his first thought after he sees someone who can see the future wasn't that he was a limited-time construct. Did he figure out the mechanics of the timeloop even I wasn't fully sure of or does he know something about this power that I don't? Or am I attributing intelligence and careful plans where there is none?

"If you believe that's for the best."

He assigns one Ninja to take me to the tower. I know that this was going to be a long night for everyone here.

I sat at the Hokage tower and looked out. Waiting for that terrible fox to show up out of nothing again. But nothing like that happens. Time passes on and finally, I see a fox on the horizon. No, it's too far away to see. Unlike last time it wasn't summoned inside the village walls, it seems. The only way I know the fox was summoned is through the light show created by its Energy balls and beams.

It does still go on for a bit. I wonder if they are doing better or worse. I keep awake, staring and wondering at how the battle is going. The Office I was sitting in had a copy of "Fundamental Theories on Natures of Chakra By Tobirama Senju". I was able to distract myself a bit by continuing my reading of the book. It is recontextualized now that I know that the book is about a fundamental force of this reality.

After an hour or two, the lights show stops.

I want to go out and learn what happened but I stay put. There is nothing I can accomplish sitting here and I hate it.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door to the room I am in. I walk up cautiously and open the door.

"Hello, Taylor?"

It's a silver-haired, one-eyed boy that greets me.

"Yes."

"I was told to tell you what happened."

I let out a sigh and tell him "Please go ahead."

"The fourth Hokage is dead. He sacrificed himself to save the village." He seems to be holding in tears as he continues. "There were many casualties. I was told to also say that there were fewer casualties than what would have happened in a fight in the village. Almost zero civilian casualties. Lady Kushina survived due to getting appropriate medical attention. The fox was sealed away once more."

"And the masked man?"

"He got away." His voice was riddled with barely suppressed anger. "But we will find him and when we do we will have our revenge."

"Oh. I don't know what to feel."

"What, I am supposed to tell you?"

I move away from the distraught Ninja.

"I will see myself out. You are free to stay as long as you like. Konoha thanks you for your bravery."

He gives a bow and leaves.

As soon as he leaves a screen appears in front of me.

[Mission: Survive. Tutorial mission complete.]

[Leave:- YES | NO]

I don't think about it, I click yes and the next second I am back in my room.

[Tutorial Completed.]

[Tutorial Rewards: Item Rewards]

[200X Shinobi Throwing Knives]

[100X Explosion Tags]

[50X Storage Space Seals]

[30X Chakra Ink Bottles]

[10X Leaf Ninja Attire (Female)]

[5X Forbidden Individual Curse Tags]

[2X Teleportation Seals]

[1X Fūinjutsu Trap]

[Tutorial Rewards: Skill Rewards]

[Skill: Body of an Athlete obtained!]

[Skill: Shinobi Physical Enhancement(Chunin) obtained!]

[Skill: Minor mental resistance obtained!]

[Skill: Fatebreaker obtained!]

[Skill: Seal Activation learned!]

[Skill: Taijutsu/Body Techniques(Chunin) learned!]

[Skill: Fuinjutsu/Sealing Techniques(Chunin) learned!]

[Removing tutorial aids.]

[Removing aid: Memory Sharing.]

[Removing aid: A Stranger's Favor.]

[Removing aid: Hub World Time Freeze.]

[Removing aid: Accelerated Pain Relief (Mental).]

[Removing aid: Accelerated Pain Relief (Physical).]

[Removing aid: Relevant Loot.]

[Removing aid: Soul Sheild.]

[Removing aid: Appeal to Authority.]