The Land of Whirlpools' Predicament

The afternoon sun warmed the Hot Spring Street, and the shops lining both sides of the stone-paved road were lined up one after another, with the aroma of roasted dumplings and the sweet fragrance of Hot Springs steamed buns mingling together.

People came and went on the street. Tourists wearing colorful yukatas and Geta Earth Flow slowly on the stone path, their faces showing the relaxed smiles that only come after soaking in the Hot Springs.

But as Izuna walked down the street, in addition to the sounds of people and Geta clogs, there was background music in his ears.

He's been playing this song non-stop since he entered this area. To be honest, it's quite nice, but playing this kind of song in such a leisurely place is a bit inappropriate.

However, this is a passive skill, and he cannot turn it off.

Ugh... what a mess this is.

Just then, a man wearing a yukata, who looked no different from an ordinary tourist, walked past him.

Great, a human-shaped speaker.

Izuna stopped and looked at him. When the man realized he had been noticed, he immediately sped up and fled.

What a coward.

Oh well, if I'm not going to do anything, I'll just pretend I didn't see it.

Izuna turned off the map, calmed himself down, and then bought a skewer of grilled fish cakes from a street stall.

The fish cakes were fresh out of the oven, their surface golden brown and slightly charred. One bite, and the sweet, savory juices burst in your mouth. He stood by the stall, finished the whole skewer, and then bought another.

He came out alone.

Because he didn't want to approve the documents.

Yes, the documents were approved. Tobirama's claim that he couldn't travel back and forth was a complete lie. After being forced to drink the milk, Tobirama decided to make everyone here, including himself, miserable.

So he activated the Flying Thunder God and summoned the entire stack of scrolls and documents that had been placed in the summoning Formation beforehand.

By the way, Hashirama's screams were so awful that even Madara couldn't stand them and punched him into silence.

However, my part was unexpectedly small, Izuna thought. There was only a little bit. After watching it, it wasn't even dark yet, so he thought he'd go out for a walk.

He was mentally prepared to haggle.

Given his brother's tendency to want to keep him glued to his belt, he would either refuse outright or stand up expressionlessly and go out with him.

Ban only glanced at him, said "Come back soon," and then continued to organize his documents.

Izuna stood at the entrance of the Inn, squinting in the afternoon sun, still a little dazed.

He was prepared to be entangled with his personal Stoka, but surprisingly he wasn't; it was truly unbelievable.

However, it's also possible that Madara had something to attend to. He opened the map and, sure enough, saw Madara and Hashirama's marks moving rapidly towards the border.

Two small dots side by side glide across the edge of the map, almost outside the Hot Spring Street area.

I don't know what they're going to do.

Since Brother Ban didn't call him, it probably wasn't something that required his involvement, or perhaps he thought he should rest after soaking in the Hot Springs. In any case, the fact that Brother Ban let him out on his own shows that he trusts him much more than before.

Sigh, that's Strength.

He couldn't help but smile, turned off the map, and strolled into the depths of the Hot Spring Street with his hands behind his back.

Just then, he heard a conversation coming from the street.

Let's leave that aside for now and continue.

"Let's all flourish, Enma! You know I want to talk business with you, don't you?"

"Oh yes, that's right."

Izuna couldn't help but pause, because he saw that the person named Enma had red hair, which meant that this person was a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

I never expected to see members of the Uzumaki Clan here. It seems they're used to receiving guests here, rather than in their homeland.

Interesting.

"How are things?"

"Uh, you know, Luotai, this... anyway..."

"Ah... I'm sorry I brought this up, you haven't been having a good time lately."

"Let's go inside and talk." Enma clearly didn't want to discuss these things here, and led the group up to the second floor of the Tea Room.

Izuna was curious about what they would say, after all, that guy was an Uzumaki Clan, and it was necessary to find out the inside story discreetly.

It's definitely not because he wants to hear gossip, absolutely not.

"This proposal is really too poor in terms of the standards we hoped this project would meet, Luotai."

"It is indeed somewhat poor."

"Let's be frank," Enma said, her tone somewhat impatient. "There's practically no technique in this world that can rival the Sealing Jutsu of our Uzumaki Clan. I don't believe your Land of Lightning can find a substitute."

"Yes, I understand, but that's the problem," Luotai sighed. "Recently, my maritime merchants have been unwilling to do business with you."

"Why?"

"Ah, it's not that I don't want to work with you, but let's make this clear first. After all, your Sealing Jutsu are extremely profitable, and high-end goods are high-end goods, that's for sure. But the problem is that they need to be able to get out to turn them into money, you understand?"

Enma couldn't help but rub his temples.

Luotai couldn't help but sigh, "It's not that I want to lower the price, it's just that you..."

"But our scrolls have never been this cheap!"

"Calm down... calm down..."

"Luotai." Suddenly, a man walked over. "The merchant has arrived."

Luotai immediately stood up, leaving Enma behind, and went to greet the approaching man. "What brings you here? Oh, by the way," he looked at Enma, "Can we talk about this another time? Let's discuss it carefully, see you later."

Enma simply couldn't believe that he, as a supplier, was inferior to those maritime merchants—those were merely transporters!

However, he couldn't stop Luotai, because he knew just how terrifying the waters around the Land of Land of Whirlpools had been lately. When he came here, he had to wear a black cloak, travel from the Land of Bears to the Land of Fire, and then come here.

He was so exhausted from all the trouble he went through on the way that he lost his temper.

Moreover, he spent a lot of money; the fees for bribes and checkpoints alone were comparable to those for Sealing Scrolls. He was doing all this on his own, so it's understandable that Luotai didn't want to take the job.

Moreover, the attitude of the Land of Lightning has become increasingly strange recently... First, they refused to issue travel permits, and later even patrol ships were dispatched to patrol the area, as if a war was about to break out.

With whom? The Land of Whirlpools? How is that possible? Don't they need Sealing Jutsu?

Enma looked at the people; they had already gone into another hidden compartment, and he couldn't hear what they were saying clearly.

The paper door was closed tightly, allowing only a blurry figure and intermittent breathing sounds to pass through.

Just then, he suddenly felt someone leaning close behind his ear.

His breath was so light, almost blending into the air of the Hot Spring Street, that instant closeness made the hairs on the back of Enma's neck stand on end.

He turned around abruptly in fright and saw a beautiful face.

She had black hair, fair skin, and bright, dark eyes. She wore a loose-fitting yukata and held a fish cake in her hand.

Because this face was so beautiful, Enma was stunned by its owner for a moment.

The man glanced towards the cubicle, then turned back and whispered, "Hey, wanna come with me to eavesdrop?"

Enma thought she had misheard, "What?"

"Bring it on."

Before Enma could react, Izuna pulled him away.

Enma's mind: This isn't good, why should I listen to him, and who exactly is this person?

But he was extremely curious about the conversation between Luotai and the merchant, so he kept quiet, concealed his presence, and squatted in the corner with Izuna.

The paper door to the cubicle was thin, and with the two people pressed against the wall, their voices could be heard intermittently coming from inside.

"... It's not that I don't want to help you, Brother Luotai, but that route is blocked now."

The speaker was the merchant, his voice hoarse and rough, carrying the scent of the sea breeze. "The Land of Land of Lightning has set up checkpoints along the coast. Ships are checked as soon as they dock, and if it's found that the goods are from the Land of Whirlpools, they're immediately seized, and the people and the ship are detained for Half a Month."

"Why?" Luotai's voice rose. "When did they do something like this?"

"It's only been a month." The merchant paused, then lowered his voice, "I heard from the old man at the port that it was an order from above: stop anyone who sees the Uzumaki Clan's emblem."

Enma frowned. Why? Why were they blocking the ship from the Land of Land of Whirlpools?

The Land of Whirlpools is a peaceful country that only does business. Didn't the important figures used to like the Land of Whirlpools a lot? Why are they suddenly going to seize their goods?

Izuna stood beside him, munching on a fish cake.

Enma glared at him.

Izuna blinked and handed over the fish cake.

Enma shook his head, so Izuna ate the last bite himself, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and then leaned back against the wall.

"... So who exactly did you offend?" The merchant's tone carried a hint of pity. "What we merchants fear most is this kind of invisible hand. Look, this ship has been sailing for twenty years, and this is the first time it's been stopped. Forty years of experience have been useless. You can imagine how big a fuss this is."

Luotai was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I'm just a middleman. Things haven't been going well for his family lately; there's a lot of trouble at sea, and things are also..."

"Didn't you tell him about this?"

"How am I supposed to tell him?" Luotai smiled wryly. "The area around the Land of Whirlpools is completely sealed off. He must have emptied his pockets to make it here alive. My friend doesn't know anything about Sealing Jutsu. He's really naive, but he's always been lucky. Judging from his behavior, he probably still doesn't understand what kind of situation his family is in."

Enma gripped her sleeve tightly and widened her eyes slightly.

Even the most obtuse person should have figured it out by now.

A major incident has occurred in the Land of Whirlpools.

Before he set off, his father gave him the best Sealing Scrolls he had ever drawn, saying he could exchange it for money on the way.

He changed two copies along the way, and couldn't bear to touch the rest, keeping it close to his body.

But does this mean the Sealing Jutsu is no longer working?

How could that be?

Enma squatted against the wall, his mind a complete mess.

Doesn't everyone say that as long as the Sealing Jutsu are firmly in their grasp, the Land of Whirlpools will be set for life?

Sealing Jutsu are unique skills that Capital needs, and no one dares to truly turn against the Land of Whirlpools. From childhood to adulthood, every word he'd heard about the future of the Land of Whirlpools had been the same.

But why is the Land of Lightning now blockading the sea routes? Even his old friend Luotai is finding this troublesome and is unwilling to take the job.

Did the Land of Whirlpools offend someone? But they clearly haven't done anything; they've just stayed on the island, living peacefully.

Izuna squatted down next to him, placed the fish cake skewer she had finished eating on her knees, and made a thoughtful "hmm".

He thought about things more deeply than Enma.

So that's how it is. The Land of Whirlpools really was destroyed because of Sealing Jutsu.

This issue has been discussed in previous analysis posts. The Uzumaki Clan holds a monopoly on Sealing Jutsu. "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime"—this is a path to death in any era. But it's not just this one reason.

He quickly went through the events of the past month in his mind.

Konoha was established Special Administrative Region, Ninjas gained autonomy. Hashirama displayed absolute power and magnanimity at the Appointment Ceremony, as well as his duel with Isshiki.

These events shattered all the Envoy's understanding.

The Envoys from the Four Nations submitted their documents to stay not because they were reluctant to leave, but because they had discovered the true nature of the matter.

However, those at the higher levels were probably the most insightful; they figured out why Yuan Yusheng wanted to relinquish power soon after sending the Envoys.

That's because Yuan Yusheng had to be released, otherwise his life would be in danger.

So the nobles panicked.

The Ninjas of their own country have already gathered. These ordinary people are no match for Ninjas who know Ninjutsu, but they must do something to stop this momentum.

So what should we do? The best way is to find a country with Ninjas and destroy it in front of all the Ninjas.

Let all Ninjas see this clearly: no matter how strong or united you are, this is what will happen if you dare to stand alone.

By shifting internal conflicts to external forces, allowing those who are unruly to fight each other abroad, and then inciting hatred towards foreigners within the country, internal conflicts can be transferred to external forces.

This tactic sounds so familiar. Isn't this the same method used by America in my past life? It's really effective.

However, it would be unwise to go to war with any major power right now. But then again, among the small countries, only the Land of Whirlpools has Ninjas...

"Hiss..." Izuna murmured, "What an undeserved disaster..."

Enma couldn't help but look at him, "What?"

The conversation inside continued, but Izuna had already obtained the information he wanted, so he pulled Enma away from there.