Kill or Spare?

The masked ninja who had fallen to the ground appeared to be the squad leader, and upon seeing this, the other masked ninjas scrambled to flee.

"Trying to run? It's not that simple. Yashiro, Reto, stop them."

Naraku spoke in a flat tone, his words as cruel as his actions, as he watched the masked ninjas attempt to escape.

The ninja furthest from Naraku leaped directly from the stern of the boat, preparing to dive into the water to make his getaway.

However, no sooner had Naraku finished speaking than he flashed to the stern, and seeing the ninja in mid-air, he unceremoniously gifted him several shuriken.

The ninja was pierced through the body by the shuriken while still in the air; he spat out blood, struggled twice, and then went silent.

Yashiro and Reto had also completed their tasks, leaving all four masked ninjas dead.

Naraku created a shadow clone and ordered it to remove the masks of these assailants to identify which faction they belonged to.

As it turned out, even after the shadow clone stripped all four of them bare, it could not find any insignia of their affiliation.

Naraku decided not to dwell on it and turned his gaze toward the red-haired man.

"Are you from Whirlpool Village? What happened there?"

"Konoha ninjas! Please, save Whirlpool Village! We were attacked by unknown assailants! I beg you, please save Whirlpool Village!"

By this time, the boats had neared the shore. The reinforcements had also arrived, bringing the total number of Uchiha elites, including Naraku and his two companions, to seventeen.

The Uchiha ninjas were spread across three boats.

The red-haired man noticed the atmosphere shift and could not help but feel a sense of unease.

"Lord Sen!" X3

Naraku and his two companions bowed to Uchiha Sen.

Uchiha Sen, forty years old, was the captain of this ninja squad. After Yashiro reported the sequence of events, Uchiha Sen nodded.

"Naraku, come here," Uchiha Sen called out, beckoning Naraku toward him.

"Naraku, what made you think of rescuing the Uzumaki clan?"

Uchiha Sen sighed, then continued, "You are still too young and do not understand the history of the Uchiha. Don't do this again. When you see these red-haired ones in a place like this where no one is watching, just kill them."

Uchiha Sen's expression was cold; his earlier words had the air of a mentor, but his later ones were incredibly cruel—more so than the masked ninjas themselves.

He then cast a glance at the ninjas behind him. They nodded in succession, their hands moving toward their sword hilts and ninja tool pouches.

"Wait!" Naraku shouted upon seeing this.

Everyone froze and looked toward Uchiha Sen. Uchiha Sen pondered for a moment, his expression softening, and he raised a hand to signal a pause.

Seeing the situation, the other ninjas held their fire.

Naraku pulled Uchiha Sen a short distance away and said:

"Lord Sen, I am well aware of the Uchiha's history, but it has been thirty-five years since the founding of Konoha. We cannot keep clinging to the past."

"Killing these Uzumaki survivors is easy, but the Police Force has yet to earn a single merit on the East Coast! There are no signs of the Mist Village mobilizing, and the Hokage placed us here specifically to ensure we don't gain any credit!"

"And this opportunity to rescue our allies, the Uzumaki clan—isn't this a gift from the heavens?"

"Besides, when the war ends, I intend to compete for the position of clan head, and I need exactly this kind of merit!"

Uchiha Naraku appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him, speaking in a low, private voice to Uchiha Sen.

Uchiha Sen pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"Gouka, take your squad and escort them back to Konoha," Uchiha Sen commanded a young ninja in the squad.

"My lord! Please, save Whirlpool Village!"

The red-haired man had been nervous, sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere.

Hearing that they were to be sent to Konoha, he felt a slight sense of relief, but could not help but plead once more.

Uchiha Sen frowned, feeling a bit impatient. He looked at Naraku and asked:

"Naraku, what do you think?"

"I suggest we rescue them!" Naraku replied after a moment of contemplation.

"Very well. Gouka, send them back to Konoha. You," he pointed at the red-haired man, "lead us to Whirlpool Village."

The red-haired man was overjoyed to hear that the squad had agreed to the rescue.

"Yes, my lord!"

Of the fifty-plus people on the three boats, nearly half had been killed by the ninja ambush; now, only twenty-odd children and teenagers remained.

One of the three Uzumaki ninjas accompanied the young survivors of Whirlpool Village toward Konoha.

The other two served as guides for the Uchiha squad.

By now, Naraku had realized why the Uzumaki clan was scattered across the world, despite the Uchiha clan being a legitimate, established force within Konoha.

These lucky survivors of Whirlpool Village, who had escaped the enemy, were not destined to die at the hands of their foes, but rather at the hands of the ninjas of Konoha.

The main refugee caravan was annihilated, while the remaining scattered clansmen were dispersed across the world.

No one knew of this, and no one was aware.

All that was known was that Whirlpool Village had been destroyed by an alliance of multiple nations.

By the time Konoha learned of the situation and sent reinforcements, it was already too late.

At this moment, because Naraku's small butterfly effect had flapped its wings, the trajectory seemed to have shifted slightly.

The Uchiha ninja squad did not ruthlessly slaughter these Uzumaki clansmen; instead, they escorted them toward Konoha.

Naraku was currently competing with Uchiha Fugaku for the position of clan head, a seat that had been vacant for quite some time.

The Uchiha were preparing to elect a leader to restore the clan's former glory.

Furthermore, they intended to select from the young, rising stars rather than the elders.

Naraku raised both hands in favor of this; there were only three young men who met the requirements: Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Yashiro, and Uchiha Naraku.

Naraku's father, Uchiha Sanzang, served as the captain of the Police Force, holding significant weight not only within the clan but also wielding great power within the village. Uchiha Sen was Sanzang's right-hand man, which was the only reason he took Naraku's opinions so seriously.

Uchiha Fugaku's father was the Great Elder, Uchiha Okura, who adjudicated many matters within the clan and held a position of immense authority.

Uchiha Okura and Uchiha Sanzang were biological brothers, making Fugaku and Naraku cousins.

The so-called clan head selection was, in reality, just a matter of choosing between members of the same family.

As for Uchiha Yashiro, he was merely there to make up the numbers.

Perhaps it was because Uchiha Naraku was too mediocre in the anime and lacked character development, allowing Uchiha Fugaku to become the clan head and simultaneously serve as both the leader and the captain of the Police Force, truly holding absolute power in his hands.

At this moment, Naraku, who had transmigrated into this body, had taken over the nest; at thirteen, he was already renowned, even earning the title of "Copy Ninja."

Given these conditions, Naraku was determined to fight for the position of clan head to avoid being slaughtered by Fugaku's "great son" twenty years later.

While Naraku's thoughts drifted, the ship arrived at the Land of Whirlpools.

The Land of Whirlpools was a small island nation off the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.

It had been on friendly terms with Konoha for generations, and the backs of the flak jackets worn by Konoha ninja bore the symbol of the Uzumaki clan.

The group of Uchiha ninja, led by a red-haired man from Whirlpool Village, headed straight for the village.

Inside Whirlpool Village, there were only broken walls and ruins, a scene of utter devastation. There was no sign of life anywhere.

The Uzumaki, like the Uchiha, were a clan with a thousand-year history; to see them meet such an end could not help but make one sigh.

The red-haired man led everyone to the center of the village.

The once-towering leader's building had vanished, and in its place on the ground was a massive crater about fifty meters in diameter.

It could be surmised that the leader of Whirlpool Village must have unleashed a powerful ninjutsu, taking both the enemies and the building with him.

Uchiha Sen, surprisingly, did not gloat; he remained silent, moved by the destruction of a thousand-year-old clan.

The red-haired man kept calling out the names of his clansmen.

With a voice choked by sobs, he wept as he called out...