For a moment, all the Uzumaki ninja on the front lines froze.
Uzumaki Kushina, the princess of the Uzumaki clan, granddaughter of the previous clan head... The vivid red hair and the Adamantine Sealing Chains behind her were so familiar, so nostalgic, as if legendary Uzumaki ancestors had come to save them.
As one Uzumaki ninja turned his head, distracted, a Suna-nin puppet erupted from the accumulated water at his feet. A tentacle mechanism extended forward, a sharp spike protruding from its tip.
Namikaze Minato appeared with a Body Flicker, his Chakra Short Sword slashing out fiercely. The Vacuum Sword technique learned from Hayama sliced through the puppet smoothly.
Looking at the shattered puppet, Minato thought, Just as recorded in Sensei's notes, Puppetry is too weak. The crystallized Wind Release chakra blade effortlessly cut through the yellow hardwood and iron rods.
Uzumaki Yuka shouted, "Fight alongside Princess Kushina! Destroy the Iwa-nin and Suna-nin! Don't let the tragedy of Uzushiogakure repeat itself!"
Uzumaki Kaichō, Uzumaki Genchō, and the others turned their heads, their hearts filled with immense excitement. They had welcomed back Princess Kushina! The kunai in their hands felt more powerful.
From behind Uzumaki Yuka, a little girl charged out. This little girl, with delicate features like carved jade, had shining white hair and looked about four years old. She held a kunai, which seemed as large as a longsword to her.
"Mom! I'm here too!"
Uzumaki Yuka was stunned, not knowing how her daughter, Uzumaki Yayu, had tricked the Stone Panda Hakuyū and managed to run here. "Go back!"
"I won't! I want to fight with my uncles and aunts too!"
A tall man scooped up Uzumaki Yayu with an arm around her waist. Yayu turned her head and saw it was the weird uncle with the fox mask.
"It's you again! Weird uncle! The weird uncle who always takes Mom away!"
Yōkō hurriedly covered his daughter's mouth. For secrecy's sake, he hadn't revealed his true identity to her. She almost gave away the secret.
Seeing the Fox had arrived, Yuka was completely reassured. The inexplicable exposure of the Uzumaki clan's hideout had terrified her. She feared their pitiful remnant would be annihilated once more. Now, Princess Kushina had come, and the Fox was here. The Uzumaki clan's crisis was over.
Yōkō disappeared with his daughter using Body Flicker, handing her over to Hakuyū at the rear. Hakuyū was a Stone Panda and didn't sweat, or he'd be sweating bullets right now. Little Yayu had actually tricked him and run out.
Seeing Lord Fox leave, Hakuyū quickly grabbed hold of Uzumaki Yayu. "Miss Yayu, you can't run off like that! Watch carefully, learn well. You're about to see the Uzumaki clan's theoretically strongest ability!"
Uzumaki Yayu was puzzled, not knowing what ability could be called the Uzumaki clan's strongest.
Soon, she saw a semi-transparent chakra fox claw surge forth. The claw was over a hundred meters long, instantly dividing the battlefield. Ahead of the claw was a high-speed spinning chakra sphere. The several hard Earth-Style Walls created by the Iwa-nin were instantly destroyed. Uzumaki Yayu had just started learning chakra extraction; this was the first time she had seen such a terrifying attack.
So strong.
Six chain-like fox tails lashed at the Iwa-nin and Suna-nin. Before the Nine-Tails chakra, ordinary ninja were sent flying dozens of meters by a single tail swipe. The combination of the fox claw and the Rasengan was simply unbeatable.
Hakuyū said, "Your mother said that the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu, sealing a Tailed Beast to become a Jinchūriki and using Tailed Beast chakra, is the clan's strongest state. It's a pity only the five great villages have Tailed Beasts."
While Uzumaki Kushina attracted attention head-on, a ghostly blond figure flitted between the Iwa-nin and Suna-nin with Body Flickers from time to time. In Wind Release Crystallized Chakra Mode, Minato left afterimages everywhere. Every swing of his blade unleashed a deadly Vacuum Sword.
Yōkō nodded repeatedly from a distance. Minato was indeed a born ninja. Enemies were being slaughtered in squad-sized units. Minato killed with no sense of hesitation, as casually and simply as waving his hand, each slash delivered at a clever angle to kill multiple foes.
Compared to these two elites carefully nurtured by Konoha, the Uzumaki clan ninja's killing efficiency was much slower.
The overall commander of the Iwa-nin and Suna-nin forces was the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Roshi. A few days ago, spies had suddenly received unexpected news: they had discovered the hiding place of the Uzumaki remnants. The appearance of this intelligence was suspicious, but to enhance the alliance's strength and the Jinchūriki's control over Tailed Beast chakra, Ōnoki had still sent people to contact Sunagakure to capture Uzumaki ninja together.
Roshi had been confined by Ōnoki for four years, not allowed to leave the village. Now that he had finally received a mission outside the village, he had actually encountered the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
A familiar pressure appeared in the distance—a Jinchūriki gathering a Tailed Beast Ball. Roshi quickly dropped to the ground, instantly entering Chakra Cloak Mode. Reddish-brown chakra coursed over his body, burning all his skin. Three tails appeared behind him as he also condensed a Tailed Beast Ball.
The two Tailed Beast Balls collided in mid-air. Roshi thought, The Nine-Tails' power is nothing special. I blocked the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Ball. After feeling smug for a second or two, Roshi's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly leaped backward.
From the thick smoke of the two exploding Tailed Beast Balls, two more Tailed Beast Balls shot out.
Three consecutive Tailed Beast Balls? So effortlessly? Roshi refused to accept it, refusing to believe the Nine-Tails was stronger than the Four-Tails.
Just as he prepared to fight again, the heavy rain pressed down the explosion's dust and smoke. Out of the corner of his eye, Roshi spotted a person! At the side of the battlefield, that person wore a fox mask!
The Fox?
Roshi had been confined by Ōnoki for four years precisely because Konoha's Fox had the power to kill Tailed Beasts. On second thought, Roshi realized it made sense. How could Konoha possibly allow the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki to travel far from the Land of Fire and appear deep in the Land of Rain? Konoha must have provided the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki with a sufficient guardian. That guardian was Konoha's Intelligence Division Chief, the Fox!
While still in mid-air, Roshi released his Chakra Cloak Mode and urgently ordered, "Retreat! Run!"
Roshi had no intention of facing the Fox alone here. When facing a powerful enemy like Konoha, Iwagakure would never surrender, but that didn't mean they should throw their lives away.
The Iwa-nin and Suna-nin scattered in retreat.
Roshi reached the rear and found Sunagakure Advisor Chiyo, who was holding the line.
"Advisor Chiyo! Mission failure! The Uzumaki clan has deep ties with Konoha; they were never abandoned by them! The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the Intelligence Division Chief Fox are both here!"
Having said that, Roshi didn't wait for Chiyo's reply and continued his escape.
Seeing the Suna-nin retreating in disarray, Chiyo said, "Hmph, I knew cooperating with Iwa-nin wouldn't yield good results. Rasa is still too immature. His decisions will only drag Sunagakure into the abyss."
Pakura beside her also said, "Advisor Chiyo, let's go. We should return to the village quickly and clearly explain the situation here at the Jōnin Commander meeting. The idea of cooperating with Iwagakure to deal with Konoha is too naive."
Yōkō watched Pakura leave from afar. He had heard Rasa had already succeeded as the Fourth Kazekage. It seemed Rasa's power was significant, able to command Chiyo and Pakura to leave the village on a mission.
Yuka appeared beside him, following the Fox's gaze. She wondered why the Fox's gaze seemed strange. "Fox, what should I say to Kushina?" Yuka asked. "How much of the truth can I reveal? Are there any demands from Konoha Village?"
Yōkō withdrew his gaze and said, "The full truth."
"The full truth?" Yuka glanced at Kushina in the distance, who was recognizing clansmen one by one. "Aren't you afraid it will affect the Nine-Tails seal?"
"No, I'm not. I've communicated with the Nine-Tails several times. That fox isn't stupid."
"Alright, I understand."
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(End of Chapter)