The next day dawned—a rare overcast day without rain.
All members of the Uzumaki clan gathered beneath Yōkō's tree house. The ground was full of standing water. Living in the rainforest meant dwelling in the trees.
Yōkō stepped out of the tree house. With a wave of his hand, he used Wood Release to create a platform and addressed the over forty Uzumaki ninja below:
"The Uzumaki clan's hideout has been exposed. The Land of Rain is no longer safe. Princess Tsunade of the Senju Clan is now the sole advisor beneath the Hokage in Konoha Village. The great shinobi war is about to begin. I know your feelings towards Konoha are complex, but survival comes first. You must live to have a future, to have everything. Please enter Konoha Village. This is my wish, and also Princess Tsunade's. I promise you, I will ensure your safety in Konoha. Princess Tsunade will resolve your identity issues."
Older members like Uzumaki Kaichō could accept the Fox's reasoning. "Survival comes first" was a fundamental truth in the shinobi world. Younger members like Uzumaki Genchō wore expressions of unwillingness on their faces. If we just join Konoha like this, what does all our hiding these years count for? What does sustain the constant dampness and rain deep in the Land of Rain amount to?
Uzumaki Kaichō placed a hand on Genchō's shoulder and said, "Do not object to Lord Fox. Advisor Danzo is already dead. Without Lord Fox's care these past few years, we could not have survived in the Land of Rain. During the Second Great Shinobi War, Konoha couldn't save Uzushiogakure in time. Now, with the Third Great Shinobi War upon us, Konoha would be even less able to save us deep in the Land of Rain! Without the protection of strong individuals like Lord Fox and Princess Tsunade, we would be targeted by other villages like yesterday, picked clean until not a bone remained."
Uzumaki Genchō closed his eyes, forced to accept Kaichō's logic.
Uzumaki Kushina also stepped forward and said, "Everyone, please believe me! I am a woman who will become Hokage! If the Uzumaki clan enters Konoha, our lives will surely be better than hiding deep in the Land of Rain!"
Yōkō glanced at Kushina. You're still going on about becoming Hokage? Is being Hokage so easy?
Uzumaki Yuka took charge, held a vote, and agreed to the decision to join Konoha.
The Uzumaki clan group left their hideout and began the journey towards Konoha.
Yōkō could have used the Flying Thunder God to transport them all to Konoha, but it wasn't necessary to be that fast. Tsunade, upon receiving the news of the Uzumaki clan's return, would need to communicate with the village. If Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed, that would be for the best. If he didn't agree... wouldn't that be even better? For over four years, Hiruzen had been behaving rather tamely, making people forget the things he had done before. A new point of conflict was exactly what was needed to stimulate Yōkō and Tsunade.
Aside from the high council, the villagers' attitude was also important. Tsunade needed some time to handle these matters.
The group traversed the rainforests of the Land of Rain. With so many people, concealment was impossible.
As they traveled from the southeastern part of the Land of Rain to the south, Uzumaki Kushina suddenly turned her head. A large number of ninja were charging towards them from the side.
"Be careful! Hostiles at 1 o'clock!"
The Uzumaki clan had to stop. Over two hundred ninja blocked their path. Leading them was Hanzo of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure.
Yōkō thought to himself, Hanzo's control over the Land of Rain is far too weak. Iwa-nin and Suna-nin came through the Land of Rain, and he knew nothing. After being defeated by Nagato, Hanzo's strength and resolve are far from what they once were. His spine was broken, and he is no longer the ninja who dared to call himself a demigod in his youth.
Hanzo stood upon his salamander, glaring at the Uzumaki before him. "So many Uzumaki remnants have been hiding in my Land of Rain? Do you think the Land of Rain is a place you can come and go as you please?"
He couldn't do much against the powerful subordinates of Uchiha Madara, that was understandable. But how dare some Uzumaki remnants openly traverse the Land of Rain like this? He had heard the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki had sent people to deal with the Uzumaki remnants, but for some reason they hadn't succeeded and the Iwa-nin had withdrawn from the Land of Rain. If he could capture some Uzumaki remnants and give them to Ōnoki, helping Iwagakure perfect their sealing jutsu, surely Ōnoki would allow him a share of the spoils in the upcoming Third Great Shinobi War.
Yōkō's cloak hung low, preventing the Ame-nin from seeing him. He said to Kushina beside him, "Princess Kushina, you've trained for over four years. Go test the results of your training. The Iwa-nin and Suna-nin you encountered earlier had weak fighting spirit and didn't truly test your combat power. What you're about to face is Hanzo, the self-proclaimed 'Demigod of the Shinobi World,' a speed-type ninja. Defeat him and clear the path for the Uzumaki clan's escape from the Land of Rain."
Uzumaki Kushina nodded, stepped through the puddles, and walked towards Hanzo.
Hanzo was surprised to see a young woman walking towards him. The Uzumaki clan had fallen so low that they sent an underage ninja to negotiate? However, what greeted him was not negotiation, but a fox claw.
Kushina's body was instantly cloaked in Nine-Tails chakra. The semi-transparent chakra hadn't even formed tails yet, but it formed a claw first. Before the claw was a massive Rasengan over a meter in diameter. Kushina's control over the Nine-Tails chakra was becoming increasingly refined.
Yōkō nodded repeatedly. The village had kept Kushina far too sheltered. This was her first time facing a powerful enemy, and she showed no fear, immediately unleashing her strongest attack.
Beneath his gas mask, Hanzo's breathing suddenly became labored.
Who is this? Where did this genius come from? Not even an adult yet, but already this strong?
He quickly tapped his foot on the salamander, signaling it to evade. The salamander dropped down, and Hanzo used Water Body Flicker to disappear.
The Ame-nin behind him were not so lucky. Their leader fled from a strong enemy, leaving his loyal subordinates to take Kushina's Rasengan head-on with their flesh and blood. The Rasengan enveloped the upper body of one Ame-nin. His body twisted and stretched as the Rasengan sucked him backward. The two Ame-nin behind him also had their flesh and blood shredded and flung away by the spiraling force. Ame-nin.
Hanzo, who had appeared in the distance using Water Body Flicker, looked at the power of the Rasengan with shock. Does the Uzumaki clan still have such a genius? When he turned his gaze back to Kushina, his pupils constricted sharply. Kushina's chakra had taken a complete form... that was... a fox? Hanzo said in disbelief, "The... the Nine-Tails!"
The shape of that semi-transparent chakra cloak was unmistakably the Nine-Tails! Konoha's Nine-Tails! Hanzo had never fought the Nine-Tails, but he had heard of its appearance.
"Konoha actually let the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki leave the village? With the great shinobi war about to start, aren't they afraid other villages will hunt the Jinchūriki?"
His question received no answer. In the next instant, Kushina in her six-tailed chakra cloak state was already charging towards him. Nine tails embedded with chains took turns lashing at Hanzo. The fox tails could extend at will and, reinforced with Adamantine Sealing Chains as a skeleton, were exceptionally powerful. Every swipe left a deep trench in the rain-soaked earth. Not only that, kunai and even explosive tags thrown by the Ame-nin at the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki were all blocked by the fox tails! Just six tails provided both offense and defense. Combined with that terrifying chakra sphere before the fox claws, Hanzo's heart sank with bitterness.
Ōnoki never shared intelligence with him. If he had known what the Iwa-nin encountered when dealing with the Uzumaki remnants, he wouldn't be in such a passive position. Since witnessing the strength of the rogue ninja organization, the Akatsuki, Hanzo had become increasingly conservative, terrified that the Akatsuki would replace him as the primary military force in the Land of Rain. This growing conservatism had made his intelligence network sluggish.
Hanzo was forced to use Water Body Flicker repeatedly to evade the attacks of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Minato, watching Hanzo's ghostly Body Flicker, turned with a puzzled look.
Yōkō explained to him, "Water Body Flicker. A one-handed, one-seal Body Flicker technique that can be performed with the naturally hanging hand forming the seal. It allows instantaneous movement using rainwater or other water surfaces. Aside from the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Raikage lineage's Body Flicker, Water Body Flicker is the strongest Body Flicker technique. Watch carefully. See how Hanzo utilizes his Body Flicker."
***
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(End of Chapter)