Uzushiogakure (First Update, Please Bookmark)

Border of the Land of Whirlpools.

Takenaka Kaguya urgently used Geppo to race through the air. Though the distance was only ten kilometers, using Geppo truly consumed quite a bit of stamina.

Fortunately, Takenaka Kaguya was not worried about stamina at all. Even if he truly ran out of strength, he could enter Sage Mode at any time and recover quickly.

In less than ten minutes, Takenaka Kaguya had set foot on the land of the Land of Whirlpools.

The instant he landed, he felt as though someone had noticed him.

"Hmm, is that the Uzumaki Clan's unique reconnaissance ninjutsu, Mind's Eye of the Kagura?" Takenaka Kaguya muttered. Then he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had already activated top-tier Observation Haki.

In an instant, every movement of everyone throughout the Land of Whirlpools fell under the surveillance of his Observation Haki.

Ever since his Observation Haki had reached the top tier, its detection range could almost cover an entire small country.

Though it was not as practical as Enel's Observation Haki when paired with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the One Piece World, it was more than enough.

It could be said that throughout the entire Shinobi World, even until the end of Shippuden, no reconnaissance ninja's detection range could compare to his.

Very quickly, he discovered an Uzumaki Clan ninja five kilometers away, forming hand seals with both hands. When the ninja looked in his direction, cold sweat streamed down his face.

Takenaka Kaguya merely curled his lips into a faint smile and headed toward Uzushiogakure.

Although Uzushiogakure did not exist for long in the original work, according to Kushina's account, the Land of Whirlpools still existed before she arrived in Konohagakure. Thus, it could be inferred that Uzushiogakure was destroyed on the eve of the Third Shinobi World War.

There was also another possibility: the destruction of Uzushiogakure had been the fuse that ignited the Third Shinobi World War.

After all, Konohagakure was the greatest hidden village in the Shinobi World, and the Senju Clan, Konoha's most powerful ninja clan, was distantly related to the Uzumaki Clan.

Furthermore, considering the relationship between First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki, Konohagakure and Uzushiogakure could be considered doubly connected by marriage. By the same logic, diplomatic ties between the two nations should have been even stronger.

For example, the Uzumaki crest on the backs of Konoha ninja uniforms later on represented the friendship between the two countries.

Moreover, the two countries were not far apart, sharing a relationship where the fall of one would endanger the other.

Therefore, whether based on the relationship between the two nations or their geographical positions, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage who governed at the time, should not have stood by and watched the Land of Whirlpools be destroyed.

Furthermore, given Konohagakure's circumstances at the time, it should have possessed the strength to fully protect Uzushiogakure.

Yet in the end, Uzushiogakure was destroyed, and Konohagakure failed to bring even a single member of the Uzumaki Clan back to Konoha.

As for Kushina Uzumaki, if Konohagakure had not needed her to replace Mito Uzumaki as Konoha's second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they likely would not have brought Kushina to Konoha before Uzushiogakure was destroyed.

In other words, what exactly Konohagakure had done before Uzushiogakure's destruction was open to speculation. However, there was no doubt that Konohagakure had profited immensely from Uzushiogakure's downfall, raising its overall strength to another level.

That was also why, in the original work, some people called Hiruzen Sarutobi the strongest Hokage.

But now, to Takenaka Kaguya, even if the title of strongest Hokage included Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist and Seventh Hokage, Naruto's combat power might not necessarily surpass that of First Hokage Hashirama Senju, let alone Hiruzen Sarutobi.

That was nothing more than a joke!

However, Uzushiogakure's destruction had likely been caused by its Sealing Jutsu being too powerful, making other countries and hidden villages fear it.

As the saying went, the tallest tree in the forest would be the first to be destroyed by the wind.

In an era where ninjutsu and intellect coexisted, no one was invincible. Yet Sealing Jutsu was the most difficult to deal with; one moment of carelessness was equivalent to a ninja's death.

Therefore, from the fear inspired by the power of Sealing Jutsu to the destruction of Uzushiogakure, this war had actually been destined to happen long ago.

With Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju dying one after another, Konohagakure lost its powerful pillars of strength. With little left to fear, the other nations naturally sought to destroy Konoha's helper—Uzushiogakure.

Afterward, the great nations took advantage of Konoha's weakness to launch the Third Shinobi World War. Unexpectedly, when the war ended, it instead propelled Konoha to its peak.

Whether in overall strength or high-level combat power, Konoha was the strongest.

"The tallest tree in the forest would be the first to be destroyed by the wind?"

Thinking of this, Takenaka Kaguya mused inwardly.

A sharp glint appeared in his deep eyes.

Suddenly, a three-man squad of Uzumaki Clan ninjas appeared before Takenaka Kaguya. The moment they saw him, the leading Uzumaki ninja walked over while sizing him up from head to toe.

When the two sides were about ten meters apart, the leading Uzumaki ninja bowed to Takenaka Kaguya and asked, "Excuse me, are you Lord Takenaka of the Kaguya Clan from Kirigakure?"

"I am Takenaka Kaguya."

"Greetings, Lord Takenaka. We are patrol personnel from Uzushiogakure. Upon orders from the reconnaissance unit, we came specifically to escort you into the village.

In addition, the reconnaissance unit said that Lady Mito is already waiting for your arrival in the village."

Hearing this, Takenaka Kaguya smiled, nodded, and thanked them. "You've worked hard. Lead the way."

"Yes, please follow us."

Along the way, Takenaka Kaguya followed the three ninjas at high speed. Using Observation Haki, he also detected people whose Chakra reserves had reached the Jonin level.

As expected of the Uzumaki Clan. If we speak only of the Chakra reserves of ordinary clan members, not a single ninja clan in the entire Shinobi World can compare to them, Takenaka Kaguya thought in amazement.

In the original work, Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist, had always been the worst student at the Ninja Academy.

However, it was not that he was truly incapable. Because of the Nine-Tails inside him, the Chakra that should have belonged to him had become too chaotic, which was why he had always remained at the bottom of his class.

In truth, if one considered Chakra reserves alone, Naruto Uzumaki by himself could leave everyone else far behind.

Returning to the matter at hand, before long, led by the three Uzumaki ninjas, Takenaka Kaguya finally arrived at the gates of Uzushiogakure.

After a simple registration process, they smoothly entered Uzushiogakure.

The moment he entered Uzushiogakure, Takenaka Kaguya could not help but sigh inwardly. If Uzushiogakure had not been destroyed, the entire Shinobi World would probably have been much livelier.