Seeing his subordinates being completely useless, dying one by one, filled Hanzo with dissatisfaction. Why could Danzo cultivate subordinates to probe and gather intelligence for him, while his own Ame-nin were barely stronger than ordinary samurai?
Hanzo, holding his scythe, began to test the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's strength. He used Water Body Flicker to close in beside the Jinchūriki, swung his scythe fiercely, only to see it blocked by a fox tail. Such fast reaction speed... Or perhaps, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki seemed to have some kind of premonition, able to predict his attack direction.
Two other fox tails lashed at Hanzo, forcing him to use Water Body Flicker to create distance.
Then, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki tilted her head back. Deep red and deep blue chakra appeared before her head.
Tailed Beast Ball!
Konoha's development of Tailed Beast abilities was already this proficient? Allowing a Jinchūriki to fire a Tailed Beast Ball while conscious?
A Tailed Beast Ball the size of a human head pushed aside all raindrops in its path, bent the ground before it, plowed a deep trench in the earth, and flew towards him. Hanzo hurriedly used Body Flicker to escape.
The Tailed Beast Ball exploded behind him. Just this single blast killed dozens of Ame-nin.
The strength of a Jinchūriki was indeed enviable. Only the top villages had the qualification to possess a Jinchūriki. The sole exception was Takigakure; that village was remote and also had a Tailed Beast.
Hanzo continued observing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and his eyes suddenly lit up. The bad news was that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki remained rational, freely controlling the immense Nine-Tails chakra. good news was that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki remained rational. After killing dozens in one go, her face actually showed hesitation and pain.
Heh. A delicate flower nurtured in the greenhouse of a great village, utterly ignorant of the shinobi world's cruelty.
Taking advantage of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's distraction, Hanzo used Body Flicker to charge beside her once more. Forming hand seals, he used his strongest technique.
"Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"
Explosive tags were summoned onto the ground, swimming towards the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki like fish in a shallow pond!
Yōkō shook his head and said to Minato, "Minato, Kushina is a woman. It's somewhat understandable if she's soft-hearted. But you are a ninja. You are a man. You must never hesitate when you kill in the future. Look, how troublesome hesitation is. Kushina actually became dazed and conflicted after a single technique killed dozens. Only women and children can afford to be soft-hearted. Men cannot."
Minato nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, Lord Fox. No matter how many I kill, I won't hesitate, won't show mercy, and won't have any emotional disturbance."
"Good, good. That's a qualified Konoha ninja."
Beside them, Uzumaki Kaichō thought to himself, Isn't Konoha's method of nurturing the younger generation a bit too harsh now? Ninja are human too; it's natural to feel compassion sometimes. Are there really ninja who can kill without blinking, and keep killing without ever blinking?
The explosive tags crawled onto Kushina's chakra cloak. She was on all fours, and the tags had climbed onto her knees and elbows. Hanzo's eyes gleamed fiercely; he was about to deal a heavy blow to the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared, standing between Hanzo and Kushina.
"Hanzo, give me face. Let it end today. I won't pursue your roadblock, and you don't pursue the Uzumaki clan hiding in the Land of Rain. We'll call it even. Do you agree?"
Hanzo, halfway through a hand seal, slowly lowered his hands. "So that's how it is... No wonder the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki could leave Konoha. It turns out Konoha's Fox is personally escorting her." Hanzo said, "If it's you, Fox, then no one can stop you from taking the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Seeing Hanzo lowered his hands, Yōkō nodded repeatedly, glad to avoid further trouble. He turned and took Kushina away, signaling that her real combat trial was over.
Kushina quickly dismissed her semi-transparent Nine-Tails chakra cloak. The explosive tags crawling on the cloak fell to the ground. During previous training sessions, Lord Fox had conducted experiments on the chakra cloak's defensive capabilities. A single explosive tag couldn't breach the Nine-Tails chakra cloak, but each tag produced a concussive force. During combat, she needed to avoid being hit by multiple tags; otherwise, the accumulated force could penetrate the cloak and injure her.
Hanzo led his remaining hundred-plus living subordinates and the dozens of corpses away.
Hanzo muttered to himself, "In the shinobi world, the weak get beaten, and getting beaten can lead to death. Over seventy people died, and the Fox just lightly says 'let it end,' and it ends..."
The Uzumaki clan group continued their journey.
They left the Land of Rain and entered the Land of Rivers. In the Land of Rivers, they needed to be wary of Sunagakure. Although the Land of Rivers was a vassal state of the Land of Fire under Konoha's protection, it was too close to Sunagakure.
Uzumaki Kaichō and the others were very tense, afraid of encountering Suna-nin. What they didn't know was that Sunagakure was currently internally unstable, with many opposed to Rasa, and temporarily lacked the energy to send people into the Land of Rivers.
After traversing the Land of Rivers, they entered the Land of Fire. The border outpost fortresses of the Land of Fire had already received orders from the village. The battalion commander of the fortress led his men to meet the Uzumaki group.
The Uzumaki clansmen stared nervously at the Konoha Jōnin, unsure of Konoha's true attitude, unsure if Princess Tsunade had managed to handle the numerous complications of the Uzumaki clan joining Konoha.
The Outpost Jōnin approached Yōkō and quickly bowed. "Lord Fox, it's a pleasure to see you bringing the Uzumaki clan back to the Land of Fire," he said. "The Hokage has ordered that all fortresses along the way must provide reception and supplies for the Uzumaki clan to ensure their smooth entry into Konoha Village."
Yōkō nodded repeatedly. It seemed Tsunade had made the preliminary arrangements. With Tsunade's current influence, especially after Nara Rokaku subtly aligned himself with her, there weren't many opposing factions left within the village. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans were now so weakened, having suffered heavy Jōnin losses, that they held little sway. As for the Uchiha and Hyūga clans, they were major clans from the early days like the Senju and naturally stood on Tsunade's side.
"Good. Then please provide some supplies. We will proceed directly to Konoha Village."
Several days later, the Uzumaki clan group saw Konoha Village in the distance.
Outside Konoha's main gate stood many people. All of Konoha's high-ranking officials, the heads of every department, the heads of all ninja clans, and all members of the Senju Clan had come outside the village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen hurried forward and took Uzumaki Yuka's hand. Hiruzen knew this young woman was the Uzumaki clan head. He said, "Dark clouds gather over the shinobi world; another great war is about to descend. Hearing from Advisor Tsunade that you wish to join Konoha Village fills me with great joy and relief. I am very happy the Uzumaki survivors will join Konoha. For you, for Konoha, whether in symbolic meaning or for the safety of both sides, this is a win-win choice!"
Amidst the lively welcome, Yamanaka Inson looked at Department Head Fox with a hint of resentment. The Yamanaka Clan was responsible for the Barrier Corps. Taking the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki out like this—Lord Fox could have given him a heads-up. He had been worried for so many days. Did he treat Yamanaka Yae poorly? No, even his own son Inoichi didn't have as good conditions as Yae when he was young. He needed to ask Yamanaka Ruri about it when he returned to the clan grounds, have her communicate more with the Fox.
The Senju clan grounds were very spacious. After joining Konoha, the Uzumaki clan would live directly within the Senju grounds. The Senju and Uzumaki clans had intermarried for generations, so living together was fitting.
***
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(End of Chapter)