Entering the Village

Not long after, we arrived at Uzushio Village. The two guards at the village entrance spotted us from afar and immediately tensed up, raising their weapons and aiming them at us as if facing a formidable enemy.

Seeing this, Jiraiya quickly stepped forward to explain the situation to the two guards.

"Gentlemen, please do not be alarmed. We have come today because we have business with your village chief. We ask for your cooperation."

Upon hearing this, the two guards exchanged glances, seemingly confirming something through their eyes.

A moment later, they noticed our Konoha headbands and seemed to realize we held no malice. One guard remained in place to keep watch, while the other turned and headed into the village to find the chief.

As time ticked by, the guard who had gone to report finally returned, carrying an elderly man on his back.

At the same time, he was followed closely by many red-haired members of the Uzumaki Clan, clearly drawn by the commotion to see what was happening.

The old man slowly climbed down from the guard's back, pulled a pair of worn-out reading glasses from his sleeve, and tremblingly perched them on the bridge of his nose.

Once his vision cleared, the old man turned his gaze toward us and asked with a puzzled expression.

"People of Konoha, what business do you have with me?"

Seeing this, Jiraiya did not hesitate; he quickly pulled a letter from his backpack and handed it to the old man.

After taking the letter, the old man carefully removed his glasses, breathed on the lenses, wiped them clean with the hem of his robe, and put them back on to read the contents.

As he finished reading, the expression on his face gradually softened.

It turned out that Uzumaki Mito had sent these people to retrieve that girl. Understanding the situation, the old man smiled, signaled for the guards to lower their weapons, and cheerfully invited everyone into the village.

"Um, Grandpa Chief, do you have anyone here who knows medicine? My friend seems to be suffering from severe seasickness."

When Jiraiya had stepped forward to speak with the guards earlier, he had entrusted Nawaki to the care of Hyuga Shinichi.

Now, seeing that there was no conflict between the two sides, Hyuga Shinichi checked on Nawaki's condition. He was so weak he couldn't even stand and had already passed out, so Hyuga Shinichi asked the chief of Uzushio Village.

"Yes, yes, just wait a moment."

After responding to Hyuga Shinichi, the chief immediately shouted aloud.

"Michiko! Are you here?"

No sooner had he spoken than a girl who looked to be in her teens stepped out from the crowd.

"Chief, I'm here! Did you need something?"

The girl called Uzumaki Michiko replied.

"Yes, yes, Michiko, could you please take care of this guest? He is feeling unwell from seasickness."

The chief requested with earnest words.

"Very well, Chief, please leave it to me."

Uzumaki Michiko readily agreed and walked up to Hyuga Shinichi, saying softly.

"Let me handle it."

However, Hyuga Shinichi did not hand Nawaki over, saying instead.

"I'll carry him myself; you just lead the way."

Seeing this, Uzumaki Michiko did not insist and stepped forward to lead the way.

Hyuga Shinichi quickly turned his head and shouted loudly to Jiraiya.

"Brother Jiraiya, you go ahead. I'm taking Nawaki to get medical treatment and will find you all later."

With that, he adjusted Nawaki on his back and followed closely behind Uzumaki Michiko. Meanwhile, the others followed the chief toward his home to rest and regroup.

On the way, Hyuga Shinichi kept observing the surroundings, as the situation here felt strange to him—the population was far too low, seemingly only a hundred people or so.

How could such a large village have so few people? Furthermore, there were very few men, with women making up the majority. Uzumaki Michiko, walking in front, noticed Hyuga Shinichi's behavior and asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..."

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Uzumaki Michiko."

"I'm Hyuga Shinichi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Once they had introduced themselves, the conversation opened up.

"Um, Miss Michiko, why are there so few people in the village? Did something happen that caused them to leave?"

"Sigh..."

Michiko sighed, fell silent for a moment, and then continued.

"Our village used to be very populous, and everyone lived a happy and fulfilling life. In recent years, many unknown forces suddenly appeared, coveting the sealing techniques we possess and launching repeated attacks to seize them."

"In these cruel and intense battles, although we always managed to repel the enemy, many of our kin were killed or wounded."

"As time passed, the village's population gradually dwindled. Nowadays, most of our people have been sent to patrol the coastlines..."

After hearing this, a deep sense of sympathy welled up within Hyuga Shinichi.

He recalled the plot from his past life; it seemed the Land of Whirlpools had perished without much description. On the internet, some blamed the fall of the Land of Whirlpools on the inaction of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Since arriving in this world, Hyuga Shinichi knew full well that Uzumaki Mito held immense influence and power within the village. If she had the will, she should have been perfectly capable of ordering Sarutobi Hiruzen to take action.

The most likely reason, then, is that Konoha itself was facing its own problems at the time and simply could not spare enough troops to aid the Land of Whirlpools.

According to a series of intelligence reports, the Land of Whirlpools had already begun its decline, leading to its eventual destruction, even before the outbreak of the Second Shinobi World War.

As everyone knows, the Second Shinobi World War did not erupt into a full-scale conflict without warning; it went through a considerable period of pre-war preparation.

During this period, every village successively dispatched large numbers of ninja to border regions to carry out reconnaissance missions and gather information regarding hostile forces.

In fact, the Eye-Nose-Ear Team has now also begun to receive many missions to collect intelligence at the borders.

The truth is that the high-ranking officials of the villages in every nation were well aware that under the long-standing peace of the shinobi world, an imbalance in development between nations was inevitable.

When this imbalance accumulated to a certain degree, even the smallest incident could trigger a war.

Once the horn of war sounded, Konoha would have two critical fronts urgently needing troops, while simultaneously having to retain enough personnel to remain vigilant against other nations not yet involved in the fighting.

Given this, would Konoha still have sufficient human resources available to be deployed in support of the Land of Whirlpools?

Furthermore, various signs suggest that the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was linked to Kumogakure and Kirigakure, neither of which participated in the Second Shinobi World War.