After seeing Kazuma off, Senju Nawaki looked a little dazed as information about him surfaced in his mind.
The most loyal guard of the Daimyo now would meet a bad end.
He would become a traitor to the Land of Fire after trying to assassinate the Daimyo.
During the Night of the Nine-Tails, he would gather Tailed Beast Chakra and raise his son to become a fake Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, all in an attempt to destroy Konoha. In the end, he would be stopped by the Child of Destiny, Uzumaki Naruto.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had undoubtedly played some especially important role behind the scenes.
Recalling the shattered necklace and the chakra phantom of Senju Hashirama that had appeared, he felt a little more wary.
If Senju Tojian hadn't reacted quickly and been strong, then given Senju Hashirama's nature, he would surely have urged the Senju Clan to return to Konoha and put their differences aside. The end result would still have been the Senju Clan's destruction.
There were still many secrets behind this world. He needed to be more careful.
Senju Nawaki privately warned himself that he had been too arrogant before. There were too many unstable factors in this world.
Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, two dead Hokage, were protecting Konoha through their influence.
Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen was the strongest Hokage in name, he must have his reasons. For now, he was Senju Nawaki's greatest enemy.
Namikaze Minato had just graduated, and the future Uzumaki Naruto was like an anchor, as if Konoha's glory were inevitable.
For a moment, Senju Nawaki's thoughts raced in every direction. Knowing too much wasn't necessarily a good thing.
He breathed out, clearing the distracting thoughts from his mind, and his eyes grew clear again.
As long as he was strong enough and had enough friends, he could reclaim what belonged to him. Konoha would receive the punishment it deserved.
Sarutobi Hiruzen would pay the price.
He already knew how the world would unfold in the future and had seized the initiative. With the Bloodline Completion System he'd brought with him, he only needed to plan carefully to take control of Konoha.
His most important task now was to complete his own body and grow stronger. He set his sights on the Uzumaki Clan.
Next came the representative from Kumogakure.
He was a ninja of extraordinary build, with dark skin and blue markings tattooed on his arms.
Senju Nawaki rubbed his forehead. He couldn't help feeling he'd seen this man somewhere before.
"Fourth Raikage—A?"
He was sixteen? This tall? This muscular?
The envoy was none other than the future Fourth Raikage.
An odd expression came over Senju Nawaki's face.
"You know me?" A looked just as puzzled.
He rarely appeared in public, spending all his time training in the A-B combo. He was A, and Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, was B.
He had come out this time only because their training had hit a bottleneck and he was looking for a way to break through.
He had to make Killer B a Perfect Jinchuriki.
That would require the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu. Only by breaking the seal on Turtle Island could Killer B move on to the next stage of training; otherwise, he'd face almost certain death.
Senju Nawaki's words yesterday had given him hope.
"Son of the Third Raikage and future Fourth Raikage. I've heard of you," Senju Nawaki said, making up an excuse.
"Is that so?" A stared into Senju Nawaki's eyes, still full of questions. His instincts told him things weren't as Senju Nawaki claimed.
"Of course. I envy Kumogakure. The position of Raikage passes down through the family, so the Raikage's son becomes Raikage too."
Senju Nawaki nodded earnestly.
It was hard to tell whether he was mocking them or envying them.
Senju Tobirama had left the position of Hokage to Sarutobi Hiruzen, nearly causing the Senju Clan's destruction.
Senju Nawaki smiled bitterly to himself. He was unhappy about certain things because he wasn't the one benefiting from them.
"I don't like you. You don't speak plainly. I'm not going to beat around the bush, either.
"You said yesterday that we'd get what we wanted. I need the Uzumaki Clan's complete Sealing Jutsu. Do you have it? You name the price!"
A frowned, bluntly expressing his dislike.
He was a hothead by nature, with little guile, and he sensed that Senju Nawaki was scheming.
The thing Senju Nawaki remembered most about him was that Amaterasu had burned off his arm, and the fool had chopped it off, claiming it was for some grand purpose.
It was also the only battle that had demonstrated Amaterasu's power.
"The Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu? I have it." Senju Nawaki smiled. At least with a man like this, he didn't have to worry about being tricked. He only had to trick him.
He'd barely thought of going to sleep, and someone had already brought him a pillow.
Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were thorns in his side, too.
Namikaze Minato was a branch member of the Senju Clan, but now he was part of the Hokage's direct circle, influencing some of the Senju clansmen's choices.
Uzumaki Kushina was plainly a lovesick fool. She held an important connection between the Uzumaki and Senju Clans, and was gradually becoming part of Konoha.
He wanted to weaken Konoha by using the Uzumaki Clan's destruction to his advantage.
"What are your terms?" A asked, surprised.
Giving him what he wanted so readily seemed absurd.
"There are a few things I've been wondering about. Did Kumogakure have anything to do with the Uzumaki Clan's destruction? Was Konoha involved?"
Senju Nawaki sought confirmation again. This affected his plans to win over the Uzumaki Clan and weaken Konoha.
"You're trying to get me to spill information. I'll tell you outright: Kumogakure took part in the attack on the Uzumaki Clan, but we only got a portion of its legacy. Konoha was the real mastermind. You should've known the answer already."
A spoke as if it didn't matter.
People from Kumogakure, especially the Raikage, had to own up to what they did.
They hadn't done anything wrong in attacking the Uzumaki Clan. Each village had been securing its own interests. It was Konoha's actions that had been shameful.
Kumogakure and Kirigakure had attacked the Uzumaki Clan, but Konoha had stolen a large portion of the spoils.
Konoha had betrayed its allies, then sacrificed the Senju Clan to plunder the Uzumaki Clan's resources.
"So that's how it was." Senju Nawaki felt bitter.
Now it seemed that this supposedly well-known secret had only been concealed from the Senju Clan.
Most of Konoha's ninja clans knew the truth behind what had happened.
They had long been prepared to carve up the Senju Clan.
He recalled a kidnapping in Konoha earlier that year. A ninja from Kumogakure had kidnapped Uzumaki Kushina, only for Namikaze Minato to rescue her.
It might not have been because of the Nine-Tails inside Uzumaki Kushina. Perhaps they had been after the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu that she knew.
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