Perish Together

Uzumaki Yuka quickened her pace and came up behind the Uzumaki Elder.

"Elder, I've thought it over, and there are too many suspicious things about tonight. Our Reconnaissance Squads along the coasts of the Land of Waves and the Land of Whirlpools were wiped out at the same time. Not a single piece of intelligence was sent back.

There's only one possibility: the Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja obtained accurate intelligence and killed every reconnaissance ninja simultaneously.

Either there's a spy in our village leaking information, or Konoha deliberately gave them the intelligence!"

The Elder was advanced in years, and her eyes had always been somewhat cloudy. Yet upon hearing Uzumaki Yuka's speculation, her eyes suddenly brightened.

Too many strange things had happened around Uzu Hidden Village lately. Everything had begun after Shimura Danzō came to the village.

After Danzo arrived, he first made two unreasonable demands. One was for Princess Kushina to go to Konoha, while the other was to share their secret Sealing Jutsu.

Both demands had been rejected by the Clan Head. Princess Kushina should have become Uzu Hidden Village's Jinchuriki. Princess Mito had spent decades guarding Konoha, only for Uzu Hidden Village to gain nothing in the end.

As for their secret Sealing Jutsu, there was even less chance they would give it to Danzo.

Danzo later claimed that the Konoha Anbu needed to investigate the Cloud Ninja in the Land of Waves, so he took the distribution map of the Reconnaissance Squads in order to coordinate with Uzu Hidden Village's reconnaissance squads.

If... if Konoha...

She did not dare imagine it. She could not believe it.

The Elder suddenly felt chilled to the bone.

"No! It could also be that a spy has emerged within our village! Or that someone has betrayed us!"

That was all the Uzumaki Elder could say, and all she could allow herself to think.

Princess Kushina was flying toward Konoha. Kushina was the future of the Uzumaki Clan, their only hope.

Within the village, Uzumaki Kushina possessed the greatest talent. She had the ability to inherit and carry forward the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.

As long as Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu remained, the Uzumaki Clan would eventually survive this low point.

Uzumaki Yuka did not know why the Elder insisted that Konoha was innocent. She tried asking, "Elder, how about we test them?

I can have my White Spear Heron change direction, right? Should we still send the White Spear Heron to Konoha?

Konoha's intelligence capabilities are stronger. Yet Konoha failed to notice such a large-scale ninja deployment by the Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja. That was already strange enough.

And now, all the Konoha Anbu are following Princess Kushina, yet they have not offered us any assistance.

We..."

The Uzumaki Elder had originally insisted on safely delivering Uzumaki Kushina to Konoha. But after hearing Uzumaki Yuka's suggestion, she too felt uneasy.

She wanted to know the truth as well.

"Yuka, try having your White Spear Heron change direction. Don't have it return, but don't send it directly to Konoha either."

"Alright."

Uzumaki Yuka summoned an arm-length White Spear Heron. The heron was incredibly fast, and it departed carrying Uzumaki Yuka's orders.

Half an hour later, Uzumaki Yuka, who was fleeing with the others, suddenly froze.

"Elder, my Giant White Spear Heron... is dead!"

The Uzumaki Elder closed her eyes in anguish.

After it changed course, the Konoha Anbu had killed the Summoned Beast.

Danzo's Wind Release was extremely powerful. He was fully capable of killing a flying Summoned Beast.

"Elder, are we still going to the Land of Fire?"

The Uzumaki Elder hesitated only briefly before making up her mind.

"Yuka, listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

Uzumaki Yuka hurriedly nodded.

"We cannot go to the Land of Fire.

I will choose eight Uzumaki clanswomen, with you as their leader.

The rest of us, myself included, will stay behind to cover your retreat.

You must escape. Go somewhere else.

You must do everything you can to contact Kushina, who has been taken by Konoha.

Kushina knows nothing right now. She does not know the truth behind the Uzumaki Clan's destruction.

You must also be careful. Konoha will absolutely not allow Kushina to come into contact with any Uzumaki clansmen.

She cannot become Konoha's tool without knowing anything. The Uzumaki Clan cannot be so tragically exterminated by the three great ninja villages.

Lord Tobirama died for the sake of his six disciples, yet those six disciples destroyed the very foundation he built.

Konoha used to be an open ninja village, maintaining allied relations with Uzu Hidden Village and Takigakure.

The Konoha of today is weak, and it has become conservative and cruel.

Yuka, you are just as important as Princess Kushina. You must be careful of the Konoha Anbu's pursuit.

The truth behind the Uzumaki Clan's extermination is now in your hands."

Tears streamed uncontrollably down Uzumaki Yuka's face.

The Elder took out a scroll and handed it to Uzumaki Yuka. "The Scroll of Seals from Uzu Hidden Village was brought to Konoha by Princess Kushina. This contains my research notes on Sealing Jutsu, and it can be considered part of the Uzumaki Clan's inheritance.

Yuka, you are not even twenty, yet you must shoulder such an enormous responsibility.

I hope that, like the great ancestors of our Uzumaki Clan, you can lead the Uzumaki Clan through this crisis.

Go to the Land of Waves first. There are still Guardian Ninja there, as well as some Uzumaki Ninja carrying out missions. Join them and find a way together.

Uzumaki Kanon, who specializes in healing techniques, will go with you as well. She does not need to stay with me."

Uzumaki Kanon possessed a special bloodline ability. As long as someone bit her arm, their injuries could recover.

The Uzumaki Elder selected eight female Uzumaki ninja and ordered them to flee across the sea to the Land of Waves with Yuka as their leader.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The Uzumaki Elder used a Summoning Jutsu. After a cloud of white smoke dispersed, the Yatagarasu appeared above them.

"Elder, the Yatagarasu is here. Then what about Princess Kushina..."

"Don't worry. Danzo will not let anything happen to Kushina. Kushina is all alone, so Danzo will protect her well. Go. Climb onto the Yatagarasu's back and leave quickly."

The Uzumaki Elder led the others to a halt, then turned to face the Mist Ninja.

The Black Gorilla Squad Commander was somewhat surprised. He ignored the Uzumaki Elder and instead led Yagami and the other man in a wide detour, avoiding the Uzumaki Remnants and heading for the Yatagarasu.

There had to be something very important on the Yatagarasu and Uzumaki Yuka. Otherwise, the Uzumaki Elder would not be using her life to buy them time.

The Uzumaki Elder was about to fight to the death. They had to stay far away.

After circling far around the Uzumaki Elder, Yagami turned and watched her from afar.

The elderly female ninja, whose white hair was streaked with red, formed Hand Seals.

Enormous Chakra surged around her, warping even the air before her eyes.

More than a hundred Chakra chains suddenly burst from her abdomen.

Of the several squads of Mist Ninja opposite her, more than half were pierced through by the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Those Adamantine Sealing Chains contained tremendous sealing power. The pierced Mist Ninja could not move at all. Those struck by the chains became sluggish and found it extremely difficult to break free.

The remaining female Uzumaki ninja threw Kunai and Exploding Tags one after another, killing the Mist Ninja suppressed by the Sealing Jutsu.

Within a dozen seconds, more than a hundred Mist Ninja had died.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains weakened, snapping one by one as their Chakra dissipated into the air.

Yagami clicked his tongue inwardly. It was fortunate they had stayed far away. Otherwise, he would definitely have died.

The Uzumaki Elder slowly collapsed onto her back.

Her hair had turned completely white.

The remaining twenty-odd Mist Ninja stood at a distance, hesitating, intimidated by the Uzumaki Elder.

Only three minutes after the Uzumaki Elder had completely died did the Mist Ninja cautiously rush forward.

The Uzumaki Ninja were all killed by the Mist Ninja.

The Mist Ninja carried off the Uzumaki Elder's corpse to dissect it and analyze the intelligence it contained.

The Black Gorilla Squad Commander did not even turn his head. He knew neither the Mist Ninja nor the Uzumaki Ninja would meet a good end.

After chasing the Yatagarasu for over ten minutes, the Black Gorilla Squad Commander turned and said, "We can't catch up. It's roughly heading toward the Land of Waves.

Fox, go find the Yellow Dog Squad Leader and report what happened here.

The Yatagarasu took away eight female Uzumaki ninja. Among them are Uzumaki Yuka, whom the Uzumaki Elder favored, and Uzumaki Kanon, the Uzumaki Clan's unique medical ninja.

There are still quite a few Uzumaki Remnants in the Land of Waves. The captain of the Land of Waves Daimyo's Guardian Ninja is an Uzumaki Ninja.

Ask the Yellow Dog Squad Leader to decide and dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible to hunt down the remaining Uzumaki Ninja!

I'll write you a set of tracking code signals now, so the ANBU can pursue them later."

Once the Squad Commander finished writing the coded scroll, Yagami turned and ran toward the Land of Fire.