Uzumaki Survivors

Although he had heard from his father, the Third Raikage, that Kumogakure had been searching the Shinobi World for surviving Uzumaki, he had not paid attention to it these past few years. Yet today, he had actually seen a living one. If Kumogakure could get an Uzumaki Clan member to join them in the future, wouldn't that be insanely awesome? Like adding wings to a tiger? Would they be able to go toe-to-toe with Konohagakure someday?

As long as he had the talent to become a ninja, an Uzumaki could at least grow into a jonin, right?

No, no, calm down. Although the Uzumaki were ridiculously gifted too, Konohagakure's cheats seemed even more absurd...

Still, no matter what, this was an Uzumaki!!!

As long as he was not completely useless, his potential ceiling would not be low.

Who knew how the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed back then...

As the son of the Third Raikage, Dada felt that he had to help the village secure this opportunity. It was necessary to get closer to him.

"Are you really one of the legendary Uzumaki Clan? Wow, I actually got to see one in person!" Dada immediately put on a starry-eyed expression—thirty percent cute, thirty percent curious, thirty percent innocent, and the final ten percent simple-minded.

That old pie-chart acting routine made the maid behind him, Meizi, curl her lips. Young Master was about to start fooling people again. This was how he usually dealt with those elders in the clan who doted on him...

Sure enough, Dada's looks did not just work on old people; kids his age fell for it too. Uzumaki Hirohiko instantly took the bait, scratching the back of his head as he said against his true feelings, "Haha, the legendary Uzumaki? You're embarrassing me, haha. Actually, I'm pretty ordinary. Ah ha, ahahaha..."

Dada continued, "elder brother Hirohiko, do you live in Kumogakure Village? I've never seen you before."

Whether you belong to Kumogakure or not, after today, you definitely will. Even if you were just passing through, don't think you'll be leaving again.

"Maybe it's because I just got here. My family only just moved to Kumogakure Village, haha." If one sentence had to describe this Uzumaki Hirohiko, he was like a total goofball.

He gave off the overwhelming vibe of some random passerby in a shonen manga covered in death flags...

An entire Uzumaki family had come over. Good news.

Dada continued making small talk. "Welcome to Kumogakure, elder brother Hirohiko. I've often read in books that when members of the Uzumaki Clan become ninjas, they're incredibly powerful. Are you planning to become a ninja too?"

Dada wanted to know whether this Uzumaki family had the talent to become ninjas. Even ordinary Uzumaki clan members were highly valuable, after all; there would always be descendants capable of becoming ninjas. Still, it would naturally be best if the entire family could become ninjas.

"I entered the Ninja Academy yesterday! I'm definitely going to become an outstanding ninja, earn lots and lots of money, buy a big house in Kumogakure Village, and let Father, Mother, and my little sister live good lives!" Uzumaki Hirohiko suddenly launched into his life plan as though he had been injected with chicken blood. He was only one line short of declaring, "This is my ninja way!"

Dada chatted with Uzumaki Hirohiko for quite a while longer. His family came from the Land of Grass. He had not even been born when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, so he knew nothing about it. Ever since he could remember, he had been a survivor of a destroyed nation.

His family had been half-drifting throughout the Shinobi World, unable to truly settle anywhere. The Uzumaki Clan's traits were far too obvious, and they were known even in the underground world. They did not dare stay anywhere for long, and life had been extremely difficult.

In Hirohiko's eight years of life alone, he remembered already changing countries three times and moving through five different places.

A few months earlier, his family had originally planned to settle in the Land of Grass for a while. They reclaimed wasteland, caught fish, chopped firewood, and struggled just to stay fed and clothed. Ever since Uzumaki Hirohiko could remember, that was how they had lived.

Then his family was spotted by Cloud Ninja carrying out a mission. Finding surviving Uzumaki was an important part of the Fire Stealing Plan, so after promptly completing their C-rank mission, the Cloud Ninja went looking for Hirohiko's family.

Although the whole family were ordinary people and possessed no Fuinjutsu records, which disappointed the Cloud Ninja carrying out the mission somewhat, there were still Hirohiko and his sister. They might yet become ninjas.

At first, Hirohiko's father had not wanted to come to Kumogakure Village. However, Kumogakure had recruited quite a few people across the Shinobi World in recent years and had accumulated some experience. Seeing that the family was so poor they did not even have spare pants, they immediately started with their living conditions and directly promised basic support for their livelihood. By the time Hirohiko's parents had reached this point, they were not in a position to be picky. After hesitating again and again, they agreed.

Thus, Hirohiko, his parents, and his younger sister—four people in all—came from the Land of Grass to Kumogakure.

It was worth mentioning that after Kusagakure received the news, they adopted the attitude of, "I may not value them, but if you want them, I'll still stop you." They tried to intercept Hirohiko's family and detain the Uzumaki family. But after a Kumogakure jonin stepped on the Kusagakure leader's head and had a friendly exchange with him, the Kusagakure leader declared that Kusagakure had always been understanding and reasonable...

Once Dada learned that this nest of Uzumaki was secure, he relaxed. After chatting about some more trivial matters, they exchanged addresses and became friends. Then he skipped away, buying Hirohiko a huge bag of candy from the display window before leaving.

Hirohiko watched Dada's retreating figure, the candy in his hands feeling heavy. If he ate it sparingly, it would last him a long time. He had originally felt it was wrong to take things from others like this, but Hirohiko's family had been poor since he was little. How could they have ever eaten such colorful candy? When he thought of Father, Mother, and his little sister at home, none of whom had ever tasted something this good, he could not bring himself to refuse.

But in his heart, Hirohiko already thought Dada was truly a wonderful person!!!

Although Dada had avoided him when he tried to touch him... That made him a little sad...

After leaving Hirohiko, Dada found a sushi shop for dinner. As he ate, he grumbled inwardly, I wonder if I'll get the chance to eat Ichiraku Ramen in this life.

Come to think of it, Ichiraku Ramen might not even exist yet. Should he register the name first? If he registered Ichiraku Ramen in Kumogakure, what would Konohagakure's Ichiraku Ramen become? Would it change its name to Otsutsuki Ramen?

Just thinking about it was amusing. Hehehe.

"Sister Meizi, let's go take a look at the Orphanage."

"Certainly, Young Master. This way, please. The Orphanage is in the northern part of the village, near Training Ground Seven."

The group set off in grand fashion. Naturally, someone stayed behind to pay the bill.

Kumogakure's Orphanage had only recently been established, but the building itself was not newly constructed. It had previously been a warehouse used to store relatively unimportant supplies, and it had now been converted into an Orphanage that could hold around fifty children.

When Dada arrived, he happened to see someone organizing the orphans into lines outdoors.

"Numbers one through fifteen, stand on the left. Numbers after fifteen, stand on the right." A ninja who looked rather weak issued orders while holding a small notebook.

Several dozen children obediently lined up as instructed. In his previous life, dozens of children could have turned the heavens upside down, yet in this Naruto world, they were unexpectedly orderly.

An oppressive, wary atmosphere permeated the Training Ground.

Dada looked at the children, who were about the same age as him, and found no childish innocence in their eyes—only caution and indifference.

The weak ninja continued, "Pair up for taijutsu practice. The last ten places get no food today."