The Uzumaki Clan Had Plans of Their Own

Being inside the barrier with Danzo made Yagami feel uneasy all over.

As one of Konoha's villains, getting close to him meant danger.

The entire ANBU had a style distinctly marked by Danzo's personal touch.

Ruthless, indifferent to his subordinates' casualties, and placing extreme emphasis on loyalty and the Will of Fire.

Teams and squads continuously left the barrier, though no one knew what missions they were carrying out.

Yagami was quite lucky. After waiting for a few days, the Black Gorilla Squad was dispatched as well.

At the critical moment of monitoring Uzu Hidden Village, the Black Gorilla Squad arrived at the harbor at the mouth of the River of Naka.

At last, he no longer had to stay with Danzo.

When assigning the mission, the Black Gorilla Squad Commander said that they were to closely monitor every ship arriving from the Land of Waves and the Land of Water over the next few days, especially ships carrying Konoha Ninja.

The squad members scattered and hid among the piles of cargo at the docks, carefully observing the Konoha Ninja.

One Konoha team disembarked, their faces filled with relief and joy at returning to the Land of Fire.

Carrying out missions in other countries was far more dangerous than doing so in the Land of Fire. Returning to the Land of Fire felt like coming home.

Such Konoha teams were perfectly ordinary and were not targets of the Black Gorilla Squad's surveillance.

After crouching there for three days, they finally saw a suspicious Konoha team disembark.

The two Konoha Ninja wore expressions of panic as they hurriedly leaped onto the pier.

In their panic, the two knocked over several laborers carrying cargo and ran toward Konoha.

The Black Gorilla Squad Commander moved, and Yagami and the others quickly followed.

In the woods outside the harbor, the two Konoha Ninja raced along the River of Naka.

A Konoha Ninja stood on the road ahead, blocking their path.

Yagami had removed his mask long ago and put on a Konoha forehead protector, disguising himself as an ordinary Konoha Ninja. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages, with faint bloodstains visible upon them, as he shouted:

"Hello! I'm a Konoha Ninja too! Could you help me change my dressing? My shoulder and arm are injured, and I can't treat them myself."

One of the older Konoha Ninja said:

"Sorry! We have important intelligence to deliver back to the village this time!

"We discovered several ships at sea carrying large numbers of Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja! They're sailing toward the Land of Whirlpools!

"Uzu Hidden Village is our ally. They might...

"Ah!"

Several ninja suddenly burst from the River of Naka. Their ninja swords flashed coldly as they flung streams of water droplets into the air and cut down the two Konoha Ninja.

Yagami clicked his tongue inwardly. As expected of ANBU, the force that controlled Konoha's dark side. For secret purposes, they would even kill their own people.

Such large-scale deployments of Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja could not possibly remain silent. Some ninja were bound to spot them by chance.

ANBU would not allow that information to reach the village. They would not imprison those ninja either, lest someone investigate and uncover something afterward.

After clearing out three waves of Konoha Ninja who might have delivered intelligence, the Black Gorilla Squad Commander was finally satisfied. "Let's go! Back to the Land of Whirlpools! We're going to find Lord Danzo!"

Yagami estimated the distance from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools. Based on the positions of the Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja fleets, even if Konoha received the intelligence today, it would be too late to send reinforcements.

By the time the Senju Clan's reinforcements reached Uzu Hidden Village, the village would already have been destroyed.

By the time the Black Gorilla Squad arrived at Uzu Hidden Village, it was already deep into the night.

In the direction of Uzu Hidden Village, flames soared into the sky.

Yagami was about to continue charging forward when he suddenly stopped.

Ordinarily, Konoha and Uzu Hidden Village's alliance required both sides to defend one another.

Whichever shinobi village was in danger, the other had an obligation to provide aid.

But things could no longer be judged by ordinary logic.

"Where are you going?! Stop!"

An ANBU ninja instinctively accelerated toward Uzu Hidden Village, but the Black Gorilla Squad Commander called him back.

The Black Gorilla Squad Commander led the squad in another direction, returning to the Mountain Top Barrier where they had previously been lying in wait.

Upon entering the barrier, they found the same sight of numerous ANBU ninja packed together.

At the mountaintop, Danzo still sat calmly on a rock, coldly watching the direction of Uzu Hidden Village.

This was the mountaintop, where the entirety of Uzu Hidden Village was visible at a glance.

From afar, half of Uzu Hidden Village was shrouded in water mist, while the other half flickered with lightning like a dense swarm of fireflies.

Fires raged throughout the village. Someone was systematically setting the village ablaze from the outside inward.

What the intercepted and slain Konoha Ninja had seen was true. Large numbers of Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja were attacking Uzu Hidden Village.

Yagami silently pieced together the situation.

Present-day Konoha faced its greatest crisis since Sarutobi Hiruzen took office as the Third Hokage: the replacement of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

This was during the Second Shinobi World War. The wars in the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rain were all less important than changing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Losing a local war would at most cost Konoha its share of missions from a small country. There would be plenty of chances to win them back later.

But if anything went wrong with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the village itself might be razed to the ground.

In the original story, when the Nine-Tails ran wild, Konoha suffered countless casualties. The Fourth Hokage and innumerable villagers all died.

That disaster was also where the original story began.

Uzumaki Mito was too old, frail with age. Her bodily functions had declined, her chakra quantity had dwindled, and the seal had become unstable.

To be safe, Konoha had prepared to select another gifted Uzumaki clansman like Uzumaki Mito to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

However, the Uzumaki Clan had plans of their own.

After two Shinobi World Wars, Konoha had grown weaker with every battle and suffered devastating losses. It was no longer like the era when the First Hokage was in power, when a single village could dominate the shinobi world.

Continuing to entrust the village's safety to its alliance with Konoha was becoming increasingly dangerous.

For the Uzumaki Clan's safety and survival, they had decided to use their powerful Sealing Jutsu to seal away a tailed beast.

That way, the Uzumaki Clan would possess a trump card capable of continuously deterring the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Therefore, Uzu Hidden Village had refused Danzo's demand and had not sent the Uzumaki Princess to Konoha.

The cracks in the alliance between the two sides began from that point onward.

Uzu Hidden Village sent out a sealing team and took Uzumaki Kushina to seal the Wild Three-Tails.

The Three-Tails indeed had no Jinchuriki, but it had always belonged to Kirigakure; it simply had no Jinchuriki for the time being.

It was all that idealistic First Hokage's fault. He had distributed the tailed beasts among the various shinobi villages but had not given one to Uzu Hidden Village.

When Kirigakure learned that Uzu Hidden Village intended to seal the Three-Tails, it promptly sent several members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and thwarted Uzu Hidden Village's operation.

Kirigakure was no pushover. Not only did it stop Uzu Hidden Village's operation, it also furiously retaliated against Uzu Hidden Village.

The Cloud Ninja also stuck their noses in.

The Third Raikage was powerful. Konoha was at a disadvantage on the Land of Hot Water battlefield; otherwise, so many Cloud Ninja would not have appeared here.

There were far too many Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja here to besiege the Uzumaki Clan. The two shinobi villages had prepared as though they were going to fight a major war with Konoha.

If the two shinobi villages won, they could obtain the Sealing Jutsu they desperately needed from Uzu Hidden Village to control tailed beasts.

The Nine-Tails was one of Konoha's foundations, and the tailed beasts of the two shinobi villages were foundations of theirs as well.

What a pity. Konoha would not send reinforcements at all.

All Konoha wanted was Uzumaki Kushina.

Konoha would never allow its strongest Uzumaki genius princess to become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.

Uzumaki Kushina was Konoha's chosen next-generation Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong with that.

For the Nine-Tails, Konoha was willing to pay any price.

There was no Senju Clan among Konoha's upper ranks. No one cared about any damned alliance anymore, and no one cared about the Uzumaki Clan.

Yagami watched Uzu Hidden Village through binoculars and saw countless scenes of disaster.