Frowning and casting a puzzled glance at his eldest nephew, who had managed to calm himself down, Uzumaki Ashina did not press further. Instead, he spoke.
"Kumogakure will use ships to evacuate a portion of our clansmen by sea, but out on the ocean, the Kirigakure ninja are the absolute masters."
"We need to join forces with Kumogakure to thoroughly wipe out Kirigakure's ninja army this time around. Only then can we ensure the children safely reach Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning by sea."
He laid out the battle plan agreed upon with Dodai—there were no intricate tactics or grand strategies, merely ensuring the escape route remained secure.
Once they dealt with the ninja army dispatched by Kirigakure, the remaining ninja from Sunagakure and Iwagakure would be nothing to worry about; those people were mere landlubbers after all.
"I've made an agreement with them: if we can hold out this time, we'll continue living in the Land of Whirlpools; if we can't, we'll transfer the underage children and unmarried clansmen over to Kumogakure."
"At the same time, we'll hand over the portion of our Sealing Technique heritage that non-clansmen can also practice as compensation for inviting Kumogakure into battle."
He revealed the deal struck with Kumogakure. Expecting someone to work for free was unrealistic, so they had to offer sufficient chips, which left only the Sealing Technique heritage passed down through their clan.
"Very well!"
After a brief silence, Masahiko Uzumaki gritted his teeth and nodded. At this point, there was no other choice.
Damn it all, if the old man survives this war, the moment I get to Kumogakure I'll strangle that cursed brat first thing.
Seeing the clan head give his consent, the four elders had nothing further to say.
Given their current plight, having one more option and an exit route was already a blessing.
At the same time, Dodai caught up with Tamura Hiroshi and the other three—or rather, five of them—at the designated meeting spot.
"What have you done?"
Staring at the cluster of ANBU ninja around him, along with two oversized scrolls and the red-haired girl who had suddenly appeared, Dodai was utterly bewildered.
He had been gone for less than an hour, yet this kid had already managed to stir up trouble?
Tamura Hiroshi explained with an expression of supreme innocence. "It's not my fault. Shortly after you went inside, the Son of the Hokage came out of Uzushio Hidden Village, and things almost turned ugly."
"I had no choice but to impersonate someone from the Senju Clan and trade verbal blows with them, and then I took a stroll inside Uzushio Hidden Village. I ran into the Uzumaki Clan Head, had a brief chat with him, and he ended up entrusting this girl and all the heritage and foundation of the Uzumaki clan to me."
"Oh, right, this girl is the designated Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
As he spoke, he couldn't help a quiet mental sigh. Master Lu was truly right: since ancient times, pure sincerity never won hearts, and only tricks won the day.
Playing the honest card had no future in this day and age; in the end, you would only end up being conned out of everything, down to the very spare parts on your body. Only schemes and tricks could win you the world.
This crude explanation made Dodai's eyelids twitch violently. The sheer volume of information packed inside it was so overwhelming that even with his sharp intellect, he struggled to process it all at once.
"Acting so recklessly is extremely dangerous."
With a dark face, Dodai deeply regretted bringing this brat along.
He was just too good at causing trouble!
"I thought about it. The danger to us is minimal. At worst, if the Uzumaki Clan Head discovered the truth, he'd detain Lord Dodai for not leaving in time. Given the current situation in the Land of Whirlpools, Uzushio Hidden Village wouldn't dare kill Lord Dodai and completely sever ties with Kumogakure."
Tamura Hiroshi wore the look of someone who had everything under control. He had figured this out long ago, which was why he had dared to take the risk and bluff.
"Thought about your head!"
Beyond endurance, Dodai slammed a fist down onto the boy's head. He had nearly ended up a political prisoner because of him!
"You lot, make all haste back with the scrolls and that girl. You must bring all three back completely intact. This is vital to the village and must be accomplished."
Glaring at the bruised boy, Dodai issued his orders to the ANBU ninja.
The ones he had brought along were his absolute most trusted confidants, and their combat prowess was unquestionable—not to mention they had this hidden tunnel. Making a safe return shouldn't be much of a problem.
"Yes!"
The men acknowledged the command. Three of them shouldered the scrolls and the young girl respectively, and together they entered the tunnel. Bringing up the rear, an Earth Release ninja collapsed the tunnel behind them to prevent anyone from using it to give chase.
After twisting and turning through several corridors, Tamura Hiroshi and Dodai diverted into a side passage, followed closely by the three ANBU ninja, who had already stripped away their Konoha ANBU uniforms.
After pressing forward for a distance like this, they finally broke out onto the surface and accelerated toward the designated rendezvous point.
Just as they were about to reach the agreed-upon location, Dodai halted his steps, glared fiercely at the young man, and then instructed his three subordinates.
"Keep a sharp eye on this brat. Don't let him cause any more trouble for me."
"Understood!"
The three readily agreed, though inwardly they held no ill will toward Tamura Hiroshi—in fact, they felt a deep sense of admiration and gratitude.
That haul from earlier should easily count toward a collective S-rank mission record for them, shouldn't it?
Such effortless windfalls were always welcome in as large quantities as possible. If necessary, making Lord Dodai suffer a little grievance along the way was hardly a problem.
Tamura Hiroshi felt a flash of inward resentment at being singled out, but he knew better than to argue, simply filing the grudge away in his mental ledger.
The five of them slowed their pace and soon arrived at the rendezvous point, which was situated in a secluded patch of woods.
The people from the other three factions had already arrived and were staring uniformly at the five figures of Dodai and his group.
"Does Kumogakure have nobody left? They're sending nothing but brats!"
Hozuki Jagetsu, leading the Kirigakure faction, offered a wicked, mocking smile loaded with undisguised contempt.
"Indeed, far too young. Unreliable!"
Chiyo, representing Sunagakure, nodded in agreement, her heart harboring irritation over the late arrival of the Kumo representatives.
If they had sent someone of the same generation, it would have been one thing, but this was merely a junior, followed closely by a little squirt who looked like nothing more than a toddler.
"It looks like Kumogakure still hasn't recovered from the civil war of years past. Why don't they simply withdraw from this war in the Land of Whirlpools?"
Gari, representing Iwagakure, chimed in, and the three factions collectively exerted pressure on the five Kumo members.
By contrast, Rasa and his two companions standing behind Chiyo stared at the youth behind Dodai. Although his hair color and style had changed, his build was awfully familiar—especially that set of light armor.
Pakura, in particular, shot him a venomous glare, cursing the little pervert in her heart.
Faced with the targeted hostility of the three factions, Tamura Hiroshi remained silent, but he silently marked each of them in his mind, wondering if an opportunity might arise to wipe all three groups out.
Old Tamura never held grudges; he simply paid them back immediately.
"It seems there's no need to talk. Tonight, everyone relies on their own methods!"
Dodai possessed a spine of steel. With a cold snort, he turned and walked away.
He had arrived right on schedule—half an hour early, in fact—yet he was still being targeted.
Evidently, the other three factions had already struck an agreement prior to their arrival, intending to freeze Kumogakure out entirely.
Fine. Since they didn't want to play with Kumogakure, they shouldn't blame Kumo for showing no courtesy.
Without wasting words, Tamura Hiroshi and the other three followed Dodai as he leaped away at high speed.
Before leaving, Tamura Hiroshi cast a glance back at Rasa standing behind Chiyo; the boy's hostility was far more intense than it had been last time.
The three factions showed no surprise at Dodai's clean and decisive departure. That was simply Kumogakure's style—unyielding and aggressive to a fault.
"Too young, as expected!"
With a light chuckle, Chiyo brushed the incident aside.
Now that their three factions were allied, it mattered little how angry Kumogakure became. Besides, operations would begin tonight, leaving Kumo no time to rearrange their dispositions.
Originally, she hadn't been entirely on board with allying with Iwagakure and Kirigakure to squeeze out Kumogakure, but the intelligence Rasa brought back had given her pause—especially since Rasa rated Kumogakure so highly, viewing them as the greatest threat to Sunagakure.
That being the case, she would take this chance to strike at them; if the opportunity arose, she wouldn't mind wiping out Kumo's deployed ninja army entirely.
Before you continue