The Traitor

"I've finished making all the rubbings!"

Kakashi walked over with a scroll and casually tossed it to Yemo. Yemo gently caught it, unrolled it, glanced at the words on it, and put it away. Yemo trusted Kakashi's abilities.

"What's next? Should we stay here and continue searching for something, or..."

"No need, let's go back first. It's getting late, and if we don't go back soon, we'll be discovered," Yemo thought for a moment, but he didn't know that his actions had already been known to Minato and Kosuke, and that his actions were even part of their plan.

They already knew everything they knew about this place, and all that remained were a lot of questions. Kakashi also felt that there was no need to stay any longer, and this place was too eerie. Although there was only one tree, it was this tree that almost caused the two of them to die here without their knowledge.

The two leaped onto the passage they had just jumped down from. Just as they were about to leave, a faint yet clearly audible sound of footsteps suddenly echoed in the empty space.

Yemo's expression changed simultaneously. He turned his head and saw Kakashi, whose expression had also changed, turn his head as well. The two of them stopped in their tracks, walked to the cave entrance, and poked half their heads out to look down.

Under the watchful eyes of the two, the four clan elders, whom they had not noticed until now, emerged from a passage at the bottom of the space below. There was not only one elder, but also the other three clan elders. In other words, all four elders in power in the Uzumaki Clan were here.

"As expected, it's related to them..." The appearance of the four of them just confirmed Yemo and the others' guesses. The entire Blood Sacrifice and even the current situation faced by the Uzumaki Clan was caused by these four elders.

The four elders walked in the middle, saying angrily, "How much longer until this plan can be implemented? We've persisted for so many years, and last time we thought it was about to succeed, but it has failed."

The eldest elder glanced at the fourth clan elder and said coldly, "Fourth elder, don't think I don't know what you're thinking. This matter concerns the future of our Uzumaki Clan. Don't let your personal feelings get involved. It's just that we lost face during the day, what's there to argue about?"

Hearing the leader's reprimand, the fourth clan elder said unwillingly, "Elder, it seems that I lost face, but in fact, those Konoha guys look down on us. Even if that brat Uzumaki is from Konoha, he is still a member of our Uzumaki Clan. As clan elders, it is only right for us to discipline our clan members. What does it have to do with Konoha? We..."

At this moment, the second elder chimed in, sharing the same view as the fourth elder, "Elder, I also think we should teach those guys from Konoha a lesson, let them know whose territory this is. In our Uzumaki Clan's little corner of the land, even a dragon has to coil up before me."

The second clan is always a Taijutsu fanatic, his whole life has been about Taijutsu, he likes to solve problems with force, and is commonly known as all brawn and no brain.

The eldest patriarch did not reply, but his narrowing eyes flashed with a hint of anger. The fourth patriarch's words struck a chord with the eldest patriarch. It would be a lie to say that the eldest patriarch was not angry at being humiliated on his own territory.

Stopping in his tracks, the eldest elder turned around and sternly warned the fourth elder, "Even so, you need to behave yourself these next few days. Our plan is about to succeed, and I don't want any unforeseen changes at this crucial moment. Once the plan succeeds, our Uzumaki Clan will rise to power, and Konoha will be nothing to us."

The conversation below was clearly heard by Yemo and Kakashi above. Upon hearing this, Kakashi looked at Yemo with a questioning gaze, but Yemo shook his head to indicate that he did not know.

Yemo was completely unaware of what the four old men were talking about. He was still full of questions. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, he had never heard of any secret within the clan that could make the Uzumaki Clan surpass Konoha.

"What exactly are these old guys plotting?"

Konoha is now the largest village, with the emergence of the Legendary Sannin, the Sannin Third Hokage in his prime... It's teeming with powerful ninja, and the new generation led by Minato is also exceptionally outstanding. Who in the Shinobi World doesn't know this? Not to mention Konoha, even the other four great ninja villages wouldn't dare claim to surpass Konoha.

Yemo was very curious about what gave these old guys such confidence that they dared to say they were superior to Konoha.

Thinking about it, Yemo subconsciously looked at the huge 'God Tree' in front of him. This matter was definitely related to this tree.

Concentrating intently and listening carefully to the warning from his leader, the fourth elder reluctantly nodded. He knew his leader's methods well; though he appeared all smiles, his methods were extremely ruthless. If he didn't follow his lead, his leader would definitely not let him off the hook.

The eldest elder withdrew his gaze from the fourth elder and looked at the third elder, asking, "Third elder, how is the God Tree? Have you figured out the strange phenomenon from last month?"

Under questioning from the eldest clan elder, the third clan elder, who had barely spoken until now, finally spoke up, "After these days of research, I've roughly figured it out. The main problem lies in our bloodline. Over time, the bloodline of our Uzumaki Clan has become very diluted. To change this, we must find a clansman with pure blood for a blood sacrifice."

Upon hearing the third elder's explanation, the eldest elder pondered for a moment, then instructed the fourth elder, "Fourth elder, you are responsible for this matter. I will not interfere. If you fail to resolve this issue before the blood sacrifice the day after tomorrow, I will hold you solely responsible."

"Yes!"

The eldest clan elder didn't give the fourth clan elder a chance to postpone, and directly sealed the deal, leaving the fourth clan elder with no choice but to agree.

After speaking, the elder suddenly turned to look at the large tree behind him, paused, and his tone revealed a faint killing intent. "Three years have passed since we discovered this place. In these three years, we have paid too much for the rise of the Uzumaki Clan. At this critical moment, we absolutely cannot give up. We must succeed. We must eliminate everything and everyone that stands in our way."

"I think our most important problem right now is how to deal with those Kekkei Genkai families outside," the second elder suddenly said from the side.

He has been in charge of the defense of the Uzumaki Clan recently. Although they have used some powerful seals to resist the attacks of multiple clans, he is well aware that these clans are not attacking each other individually. However, now that each clan has failed, these clans will inevitably join forces. At that time, no matter what he does, he will not be able to withstand the combined attack of many Kekkei Genkai clans.

Upon hearing this, both the Fourth Elder and the First Elder showed anger on their faces, while the Third Elder remained completely calm, as if nothing in this world could change his expression.

The elder snorted coldly and said angrily, "Don't let me find out who secretly instigated those Kekkei Genkai families to cause us trouble. If I catch them, I will never let that guy off the hook."

"This person must be from our Uzumaki Clan, otherwise how could he know about the blood sacrifice, and even secretly tell those Kekkei Genkai families about it, causing the situation we see today?" The four clan elders were both angry at the clansman who betrayed them in the dark and helpless at the stupidity of those Kekkei Genkai families, who would actually believe such a thing.

Everything was going according to plan, and their years of planning would soon be successful. At that time, their Uzumaki Clan would become the most powerful force in the entire Shinobi World. But now, because of the attack by the Kekkei Genkai clan, all the plans have changed.

In the shadows, Yemo and Kakashi exchanged a glance, each seeing shock in the other's eyes. According to them, the entire incident was actually caused by a traitor from the Uzumaki Clan.

This left the two even more confused. They thought they were getting closer to the truth, but they had only fallen into another vortex.