Chapter 23
Chapter 22: Fox Festival Finale, Robbery Arc
"Sorry, I was knocked back a bit by that strange tremor. I hope they find out who did it," Morgan lied smoothly, making it casual. On her way back, she made sure to erase the traces of the barrier Author had deployed during their fight—the one that froze non-mages. She smudged some dirt on her clothes before rejoining her Uchiha friends.
I feel bad for lying like that, but the TSAB told me to keep this low. After all... She thought wryly, I’m the only person on my planet aware of worlds beyond our own.
Han panicked when his father, Obito, dropped to his knees. His visible eye scanned Morgan’s body, gently parting her shoulders as a concerned parent might, before brushing off the dirt. "You seem fine. Thank Kami!" he exclaimed. Itachi nodded quickly, adding, "Gotta investigate. Stay safe, Uzumaki-san!" He ran off, waving, his Sharingan activating as his eyes turned red.
Morgan felt guilty because she and her battle with Author had caused the tremor, but she couldn’t tell anyone that. She hoped the village would settle down and prayed that no one had been hurt. Obito and Han watched her, but once she saw the abandoned district ahead, she sighed. She didn’t want them to know where she lived, so she stepped forward to stop them, signaling that she didn’t want them to follow anymore.
Morgan smiled and waved them off as she headed toward her destination. Turning to Han and Obito, she said, "Well, I’ll take off from here. Thanks for hanging out with me. Hey, after the survival training and the Fox Festival, let’s hang out, okay, Han?"
Han’s eyes sparkled. “Sure! I’ll get that annoying Hyuga to join us too!”
With a laugh, Morgan waved at them and dashed off toward the abandoned district. She ran straight home, making sure no one was following. Once inside, she quickly checked the clearing where she liked to take off.
"Avalon!" she called.
"Yes, M'lady!" Avalon responded cheerfully, floating before her. "Initiating Space Travel Spell!"
Her iridescent magic aura enveloped her, and this time, she chose not to activate her barrier jacket. "Okay, Avalon Stargazer! By my authority, we travel at light speed to Milchidan Airport, Cranagan—Milchidan’s main city!"
"Full drive engaged," Avalon confirmed. With a flash, Morgan’s sword transformed into its longer form, and Avalon shifted back into her earpiece-like device after the battle.
"Take off in 5..." Avalon’s countdown echoed in her ear.
Morgan’s hair fluttered as she thought about Ellen-sensei. She wondered what she was doing and if she would be okay with Morgan showing up unannounced. It was a surprise visit, after all. Morgan couldn’t wait to give her the gift she had won at the festival—a token of appreciation for the person who had always supported her.
In the shadows beside her, a curious figure silently watched her actions. The figure was confused by the strange ritual Morgan was performing.
"4..." Avalon’s countdown continued, while Morgan sighed. "I wish our planet was more peaceful. I would’ve brought Vivio here, but you never know. We shinobi... we’re the worst," she mumbled, glancing down at her intelligent device. It took longer to charge, as she was still recovering from the last battle. Her hands held it beside her like a trained soldier. She looked up, making sure she had everything with her. She smiled, excited to tell Ellen about her real fight—against a criminal mage. She felt like a ninja on a mission, even though she wasn’t a Genin yet and had never been on a real mission, just a mock one.
With a smile, she couldn’t wait to see her friends on Planet Milchidan and her mentor, Ellen.
"3... 2... and 1. Activating light-speed travel: Take off!"
Surrounded by a protective barrier of iridescent light, she shot through space toward her target, leaving behind the stunned shinobi who stared at the clearing. The shinobi, now alone, made sure Morgan was gone and seemingly not coming back before he stopped his chakra-suppressing technique. His red eyes, with the familiar three tomoe of the Sharingan, spun. It wasn’t just a normal jutsu—he couldn’t copy it. The barrier appeared to protect the user from the cold of space. Interesting. As he walked forward and touched the ground, he muttered as he deactivated his Sharingan, "How is that possible? What just happened?"
I feel a headache coming my way, the shinobi thought.
He had followed the Uzumaki secretly to her home for her safety and was shocked to see she lived in the abandoned district. One look at her house, and he could tell she had brought life to the place, which had been abandoned after the Nine-Tails attack. It was horrifying, and the area was avoided like a stinky bug.
Property prices had dropped to 1 yen because no one wanted to live there anymore. She was orphaned. He cringed at the thought of the girl on her own, but she was a ninja, and ninjas in training were allowed to live on their own without adult supervision as they were considered adults by law.
He had heard Han say Morgan was a quiet girl who probably had some issues, but he never realized the depth of her suffering. Before today, he thought Morgan was just the class rep and a good friend to Han... but she seemed to be able to travel in space and visit planets. Well, still, he groaned. Technically speaking, he should be reporting this to the Hokage, but he couldn’t. Morgan was a kid. For the first time, he had not followed shinobi protocol, and he decided not to report it. He would make Morgan explain it when he saw her next time. He rubbed his head, frustrated.
He hoped that Morgan would be okay. Though she had said she was visiting friends, she never mentioned they lived off-planet. The Elemental Nations didn’t have the technology for space travel, so how could she—Fūinjutsu? He shrugged, still worried, but prayed she would return safely.
With that, Morgan unknowingly gained someone who knew her secret.
Morgan finally arrived at Milchidan, landing safely at the airport as her iridescent magic signal spun on the ground, making her float elegantly as her red hair-like flames streaked behind her. People looked at her with smiles and shrugged, probably waiting for a plane or shuttle to their destinations. It was normal for mages to travel in space via their devices. Using a shuttle required more people, and if you were on your own, you’d better use some spells. She was relieved by the normalcy of the huge display of power, but she shuddered when she recalled how her class with Hayate-sensei had been scolded by a civilian for using chakra in a peaceful park for training, forcing them to choose a training field just a week ago.
"Oh well," she muttered. Walking into the bustling street, Avalon, in an iridescent light flash, floated beside her, blinking with its familiar A.I. metallic feminine voice, now with a heavy Milchidan accent: "Such a busy street! Where to first, Captain?"
"Vivio's school, I remember it’s called... what was it... Milchidan Milddel? No, that's not it... it was—St. Hilde Academy of Magic!" Morgan mumbled, trying to recall. She was relieved when she remembered, and it was just a matter of minutes before she arrived.
Standing outside the school after running around the busy streets and window shopping, Morgan was relieved that Avalon also had a map function. It was a small computer, basically so useful as an Intelligent device—not just for combat but for daily life tasks. Plus, Avalon knew Vivio’s magical energy signature. The 11-year-old Uzumaki, with her red hair fluttering, stood outside the school gates. Unlike Morgan, who had a free week thanks to the Fox Festival, Vivio and her friends had school.
She wore a standard Kunoichi outfit, a shoulder-free yukata with long sleeves that hid her hands well, a belt, and her ninja tools attached to it, with a casual pullover. She looked like a mini-ninja. While it was late night on her planet, it was mid-day on Milchidan. The school bells rang. They had school bells? Inconceivable. The civilian school back in Konhagure had them, but a ninja school? Nope. The academy had to be hidden and inconspicuous to avoid letting enemies know or annoying civilians. She watched various kids with uniforms run out. Einhard was two years above Vivio as she skipped grades. The kids in her grade had white shirts, and green skirts that were longer than the first year’s, but they shared a red ribbon. The underclassmen, which Vivio and her friends, Corona and Rio, were in, had brown skirts with yellow overalls and a white shirt underneath. As the kids walked out, they noticed her peculiar figure.
"Who is that cute red girl?"
"She looks like a ninja, so pretty!"
"Nene, should I talk to her and link up with her cool device? Look, her intelligent device looks like a sword!"
Morgan was good at suppressing her emotions, so she didn’t flush at the stares and murmurs around her. Avalon beside her flashed humorously, "Popular, eh, Captain?"
"Wow, her intelligent device has a Milchidan accent, and it's cool!" a kid swooned.
That’s when she saw Vivio arrive looking exactly as she remembered, and her eyes landed on Morgan’s deep purple eyes. "What's going on, Ah... MORGAN?!" The girl ran up and clomped her, followed by her friends Rio, Corona, and Einhard. This was her first official meeting with Rio, Corona, and her re-meeting of Einhard and Vivio. She returned the hug with a smile that could light up the sun. "I wanted to surprise you. Let's hang out a bit. I also have souvenirs, Dattebayo!" Her verbal tick at the end came out cutely, which the other girls were used to as they laughed.
Vivio released the hug. "It's good to see you again. Souvenirs? Really? From that Fox Festival thing?" Vivio furrowed her brow, tapping her forehead with a finger as if she could summon the information before her, trying to recall the trivia Morgan had told them before. Her heterochromatic eyes sparkled. "Right! I remember! From your village, Konoha no Sato, or Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves, was it? It's to celebrate the survival and defeat against the Nine-Tails. Your festival is nice to memorialize such a sad and tragic thing and make it uplifting!"
Einhard, mint-colored hair in twin tails fluttering, suggested with a smile, "Let’s go to Yunoo-san’s Infinite Library. There are nice places to read books, eat snacks, and also talk. Yunoo-san would love to make us warm milk!"
"Yep, it’s huge and tall, but it’s fun in there!" Rio grinned. Her purple hair and smile reminded Morgan of her Senpai, Anko.
Corona, more reserved, akin to Kabuto, added, "Nice to meet you officially, Morgan Lefay Uzumaki!"
The girls giggled before taking off to the library, happy to exchange words.