Ninja clans are a unique form of ninja organization that exists only in the Land of Water throughout the entire Shinobi World.
The reason is quite simple: the civil war that began with the rivalry between the daimyo of the current era plunged most of the Land of Water into war. In order to win, both sides not only used their private armies, but also began to deploy a large number of ninjas. All the ninjas of the Land of Water, including those from Kirigakure, had to form different camps based on their respective bosses and fight each other.
After this battle came to an end, the new Feudal Lord of Water had to face a cruel reality—the unified ninja organization system originally established by Kirigakure Daimyo's Residence and Land of Water, one of the five great ninja nations, had almost completely collapsed!
After the civil war ended, the entire Land of Water, outside of the Daimyo's Residence and Kirigakure, was filled with independent and semi-independent ninja organizations. Some were based on clans, such as the powerful clans of Yuki and Kaguya, but most existed as multiple clans gathered together, and these were called tribes.
If it were a family like Yuki 'Kaguya, it would be alright. Although they drifted between the Daimyo's Residence and Kirigakure, they were still relatively well-behaved. After all, these families had mature organizational systems, and after the civil war ended, they settled down. They just weren't very obedient to the orders of the Feudal Lord of Water or the Mizukage.
But those ninja clans were truly a menace. Even after the war ended, news of ninja clans raiding everywhere still came from all over the country.
If the new Feudal Lord of Water cannot resolve this issue, then it is almost certain that the Land of Water will split apart...
In this context, following the civil war, a purge targeting these independent and semi-independent ninja organizations was launched, and the Yuki clan, being the strongest at the time, was naturally the first to be blacklisted by the Feudal Lord of Water and eliminated.
This incident caused quite a stir at the time, and the "crime rate" of ninja clans scattered throughout the Land of Water began to drop sharply.
However, now that they had started, they had to finish. The Feudal Lord of Water didn't care whether these bastards submitted or not. With a single order, the entire Land of Water Prefecture Army, which had been indiscriminate during the civil war, was mobilized to cooperate with the Kirigakure Ninja army and begin hunting down these ninja clans throughout the country. By now, more than 90% of the ninja clans had either been wiped out or had submitted to the Daimyo's Residence or Kirigakure and joined his ranks.
Qi and Ogata left the Land of Water just as Kirigakure and the Daimyo's Residence were launching a full-scale attack on these ninja clans. This was their good fortune; had they been at a different time, they would never have escaped...
Although the Land of Water has been stabilized under the iron-fisted rule of the Feudal Lord of Water and the Mizukage, ninja clans still exist. Leaving aside those who have slipped through the net, the Feudal Lord of Water has not yet had time to reorganize some ninja clans after taking them over, which has left many clans with their original organizational structure.
The Feudal Lord of Water didn't dare to reorganize them casually. There was already hatred between ninja clans, not to mention the deep conflicts between families and clans. Although the Feudal Lord of Water wanted to subdue these ninjas, how to use them and avoid fierce conflicts between these people and the ninja families that were already under his command was a long-term task.
He can't just leave them alone, can he? What if another riot breaks out? The Land of Water is really in a precarious situation right now...
In the end, having grown accustomed to ruthless methods, the Feudal Lord of Water Sect made this decision: let those who disobey die!
But he absolutely couldn't be the one to carry out the deed; otherwise, he Yuki, the esteemed Feudal Lord of Water Yuki was already widely criticized, but at least the reasoning behind it was somewhat plausible. If he were to kill all these people as well, who would dare trust him or pledge allegiance to him in the future?
As the saying goes, when you're sleepy, someone brings you a pillow. Just when the Feudal Lord of Water was so annoyed that he wanted to quit, the Feudal Lord of Fire's negotiation request arrived.
If it were any other time, the Feudal Lord of Water's best reaction would probably be to throw the Land of Fire's messenger into the sea. How dare they try to poach his talent!?
But now, he was overjoyed to welcome the messenger into the mansion, treating him to good food and drink, and taking this opportunity to begin a detailed discussion with Feudal Lord of Fire.
What? They want to take Yuki away? Okay, no problem at all! Right now, he's holding onto that group of Yuki's remnants, and whether he kills them or not is also a problem. Now that someone wants them, it's perfect.
Wait a minute, you're going to take Kaguya away too? That won't do! Those muscle-bound idiots haven't even been "extermined" yet! If the entire clan leaves without losing a single hair, then the authority of the Daimyo's Residence that he painstakingly built up with blood and fire will be completely destroyed.
And so, for a whole month, the two lords used all their skills and talked until they finally settled on the final terms.
Yuki's entire clan was pardoned and allowed to be taken away by Konoha. As for the Kaguya Clan, Konoha could take away the younger generation for one month. After one month, Konoha would have to leave no matter how many people they had gathered.
In this process, the Daimyo's Residence of the Land of Water and the Kirigakure will not hinder any of Konoha's search operations, but Konoha must strictly abide by the agreement, otherwise the agreement will be null and void.
However, in addition to this, the two daimyo also made a secret agreement. That is, during this process, the Mizuki Daimyo's Daimyo's Residence would secretly encourage the remnants of the Yuki clan to gather together, and then spread the news to lure out those unruly ninja clans that outwardly submitted to the Daimyo's Residence but inwardly refused, and who also had a blood feud with the Yuki clan. The Konoha Ninja would then have to help him kill all of these ninja clans!
A conspiracy targeting the ninja clans of the Land of Water was thus completed by the two daimyo, and everything then unfolded as if it were a rehearsal.
The group of people that Qingtian saw was a ninja clan that had come after learning about the remnants of the Yuki clan.
This wasn't the first ninja clan to cause trouble for these Yuki descendants. In fact, these Yuki descendants had already fought many battles before arriving here, otherwise they wouldn't all be seriously injured. Fortunately, the old man of the Qingtian family was quite skilled and saved many lives.
As ninjas, these tribesmen were naturally very fast runners. Qingtian hadn't gone far with the trailer when the previously blurry crowd became clearly visible in their attire.
A face full of menacing flesh? A lewd expression? A fierce glint in his eyes?
Please, these outdated terms are hardly enough to describe these thuggish villains...
The ninja tribe, though they are ninjas, act like bandits; burning, killing, and looting are their professions, and they know nothing else.
"They really are a tribe! No, we can't let them into the village! Right, that child..."
After running only a few steps, the man who had just told Qingtian to walk faster turned back.
He simply couldn't stand by and watch these inhuman bandits storm into the village; the villagers had saved their lives!
Not to mention Qingtian, that simple and honest boy; if he were to die here, he simply couldn't forgive himself.
"Child! Come back!"
He moved with incredible speed, catching up with Qingtian in no time.
"Follow me! Into the valley!"
"Uncle?"
Qingtian stared at the man in astonishment.
"Didn't you tell me to go back to the village?"
"It's too late. They've already seen us. If you go back to the village, you'll lead them in, and that will be a disaster."
The man glanced coldly at the tribesmen in the distance, whose howls could already be heard.
"These people are inhuman bandits. They're after us. Once we're inside the valley, they won't be able to do anything to us."
"And what about the people in the market?"
Qingtian remembered the market; it wasn't far from here...
"With such a large commotion here, and our companions over there as well, they'll arrange for everyone to take refuge. No need for further words, just follow me into the valley."