Uzumaki Hisana

Land of Whirlpool, Uzushiogakure.

It was a brand-new village built by expanding outward from the Uzumaki Clan's ancestral homeland.

Though it was called a village, unlike ordinary ninja villages, it was also the political center of the Land of Whirlpool.

The Uzumaki Clan chief was not merely the head of a ninja village, but also the nation's sovereign.

Moreover, unlike the ninja villages of great nations such as Konoha, Uzushiogakure, led by the Uzumaki Clan, could not be considered grand in its overall layout. Its territory did not reach the scale of a city, barely qualifying as a small town.

That was because neither its land, economy, population, nor labor force was sufficient to support the Uzumaki Clan in developing a city-sized village like Konoha.

Even so, among the smaller nations, the Uzumaki Clan's national strength was still quite considerable.

Many small nations were still mired in brutal internal strife, causing their populations to steadily flee while their domestic economies and political landscapes were shattered by war.

Though the Land of Whirlpool, led by the Uzumaki Clan, was poor, it was at least free of chaos and able to settle down and develop peacefully. As long as they endured some hardship in the early stages, the nation's strength would naturally rise with time.

At that moment, Uzumaki Shrine.

It was a secluded place within Uzushiogakure, deliberately set apart from the rest of the village, and home to the Uzumaki Clan's immensely important ancestral shrine.

This shrine held the same status within the Uzumaki Clan as the Naka Shrine did within the Uchiha Clan. It was one of the Uzumaki Clan's most vital symbols.

Not only did it enshrine the memorial tablets of the Uzumaki Clan's ancestors throughout the generations, but deep within the shrine, it also safeguarded sealing jutsu scrolls of immense importance to the clan.

Likewise, the name Uzushiogakure had originated from this shrine.

Those Uzumaki Clan members who could serve as priests or shrine maidens here were all outstanding young talents with exceptional gifts in sealing jutsu.

The chief priest who oversaw the shrine's daily operations was likewise one of the Uzumaki Clan's foremost sealing jutsu experts.

Even Uzumaki Ashina, the current chief of the Uzumaki Clan, had served as chief priest at this shrine before becoming clan chief. It could be said to be an essential step toward becoming the chief.

"Haah... Staring at torii gates and shrine halls all day is so boring."

The girl was petite, with skin as fair and lustrous as jade. She wore a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit: a long white robe with wide sleeves and a vivid crimson hakama skirt.

Beautiful red cords had also been woven along the cuffs and lapels of her white robe.

Part of her beautiful, vivid red hair rested quietly upon her shoulders, while the rest fluttered gently in the breeze. Her entire bearing possessed an elegant, distinctive, and ancient charm.

She set down the broom in her hand and sat on the steps of one of the shrine halls.

A white shimenawa rope hung beneath the eaves, adorned with ema plaques and bronze wind chimes.

When the breeze blew, the ema swayed, and the wind chimes followed, producing clear, ethereal metallic notes.

She spread her limbs and stretched lazily, then looked over the scenery that never changed year after year and could not help muttering a sigh.

The wooden buildings were complemented by white walls and blue-green roof tiles, while the paint on the bright red torii gates bore cracks from age.

She had served as a shrine maiden here since she was six years old. Nearly ten years had passed, yet the place had not been renovated even once.

Ancient and worn-out—those were her fixed impressions of this place.

Yet on the other hand, this was also the most important place for their Uzumaki Clan.

As the Uzumaki Clan's sole shrine, it not only preserved vital sealing jutsu inheritances, but was also the sacred place where clan members worshipped their ancestors each year.

Within the shrine's main hall stood an enshrined deity known as the Uzumaki Great Wisdom King.

But rather than a god, he was better described as the ancestor who had first founded the Uzumaki Clan.

Legend said that he possessed boundless power. With his right hand, he slew demons and vanquished evil; with his left, he saved the common people.

During a great calamity, he had single-handedly defeated an apocalyptic demon god with nine tails.

After his death, he was guided by celestial beings and ascended to become one of the gods of heaven.

For countless centuries, this Uzumaki Great Wisdom King had protected the Uzumaki Clan.

"No matter how wonderful a story is, hearing it hundreds of times gets tiresome. The demon god with nine tails was probably the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, right? And the Great Wisdom King only drove Nine-Tails away, then coughed up blood and died three years later. What celestial guidance and ascension to godhood..."

Smack—

The back of her head suddenly hurt.

A white paper fan had struck her hard on the head.

The girl turned around and saw a red-haired man in blue-and-white priestly robes, his expression stern.

Though he looked middle-aged, the girl knew he was already over fifty.

Uzumaki Dōmei, the current chief priest of Uzumaki Shrine.

"Disrespecting the ancestors warrants punishment."

The red-haired man, Uzumaki Dōmei, withdrew the white paper fan and shot the girl a fierce glare.

"That really hurt, Chief Priest. What if you damage my head and make me stupid?"

Faced with the red-haired man's fierce glare, the girl was not afraid in the least. Instead, she worried that getting hit on the head might make her stupid in the future.

"Hisana, have you finished cleaning here? If you keep slacking off like this, there will be no dinner for you tonight."

The red-haired man pointed toward the courtyard ahead, where a great many fallen leaves remained uncleared.

"I know, I know. It's not like I won't clean. I'm just cleaning gradually, cleaning slowly, cleaning with layers and rhythm."

The girl rubbed the back of her head, which still throbbed faintly, then reluctantly picked up the broom and rose from the shrine hall steps.

"...You." Chief Priest Uzumaki Dōmei sighed helplessly. "If you remain this lazy, you won't be able to find a good man."

"That's still far too early. Besides, if I can't find a man, I'll just freeload at the shrine for the rest of my life."

Hisana, dressed in shrine maiden robes, puffed out her chest with perfect confidence.

Uzumaki Dōmei: "..."

Had she already resolved herself to freeload for the rest of her life?

With such outstanding sealing jutsu talent, could she not be a little more ambitious and earn her meals through her own ability?

"Speaking of which, I suddenly feel a little hungry."

Hisana halted her cleaning, reached through her shrine maiden robes with her right hand to rub her flat little stomach, and glanced at Uzumaki Dōmei in the distance with pitiful eyes.

Uzumaki Dōmei kept a straight face, maintaining an all-business attitude.

"If you want to eat, finish your work first. Otherwise, endure going hungry tonight. You won't die from it anyway."

"...Demon."

Hisana gritted her teeth and gripped the broom tightly, as if she were holding an enemy with whom she shared a blood feud.

Then, as though she had thought of something, her crimson eyes spun around.

"Ah, Chief Priest, I suddenly remembered that there are some parts of the Uzumaki Great Wisdom King's story that I don't understand. Could you tell me about the Great Wisdom King's deeds again?"

The gritted expression vanished from her face, replaced by one of boundless admiration and reverence. Smiling brightly, she edged closer, wanting to hear the myths and legends of the Uzumaki Great Wisdom King once more.

"Didn't you say you were already tired of this legend?"

Uzumaki Dōmei gave the girl a sidelong glance.

"Oh, that never happened. Even though I've heard it hundreds of times, I still love listening to it. And I know the earliest version of the story so well that I can recite it backward."

Hisana slapped her chest hard and swore solemnly, expressing her infinite reverence for the Uzumaki Great Wisdom King.

"Is that so?" Uzumaki Dōmei paused, then slowly said beneath the girl's expectant gaze, "Then recite it backward. If you can do that, I'll let you skip cleaning, and you can have dinner tonight too."

"..."

Hisana's smile froze.

Even her toes, hidden inside her white tabi socks, curled awkwardly against one another.

She had only exaggerated a little because she wanted to eat sooner. Why was this old fox taking it seriously?

Was it really so amusing for a grown man to tease a young girl like her?

"Dōmei, Hisana, you're both here."

A voice arrived, rescuing the girl from her predicament.

"Grandpa, why are you here?"

Hisana turned her head and looked curiously toward the newcomer.

The newcomer was a white-haired old man nearing sixty, though a few strands of red still remained amid his white hair.

He was none other than her grandfather, Uzumaki Shumei, one of the Uzumaki Clan's senior elders.

Uzumaki Dōmei also nodded to Uzumaki Shumei.

Though he was not an elder, he controlled the Uzumaki Clan's Uzumaki Shrine and was also a figure of real authority within the clan.

Still, he was quite curious why Uzumaki Shumei had come to the shrine.

As chief priest of Uzumaki Shrine, he had to guard it year-round and rarely went out. He had not attended the Uzumaki Clan's earlier elders' meeting either, so naturally he did not know what had happened.

"How should I put this... Not long ago, the clan chief convened an elders' meeting and decided that we would form a marriage alliance with the shogun of the Land of Night."

Uzumaki Shumei hesitated before revealing the outcome of the elders' meeting.

"I see."

The moment Uzumaki Dōmei heard this, he understood. When he looked at Hisana, there was a trace of reluctance and melancholy in his gaze.

"It seems you will be leaving the shrine before long, Hisana."

Though she was not his biological granddaughter, Hisana had stayed at the shrine all these years, and Uzumaki Dōmei had treated her as though she were his own granddaughter.

He had known that Hisana would marry someday, yet he had never expected that day to come so soon.

"Ah? Why do I have to leave the shrine? I only got hungry last night and snuck a few dozen meat buns and several roast chickens from the shrine kitchen. You're not going to be this heartless over that, are you? Besides, I was only half full."

Hisana was instantly dumbfounded and unconsciously blurted out the embarrassing fact that she had stolen buns.

If she were kicked out of the shrine, she would be finished.

Though her grandfather was an elder and both her parents were high-ranking members of the clan, they lived extremely frugally.

When she was little, she had been sent to the shrine because her appetite was too large.

Her talent for sealing jutsu had only been discovered afterward.

"..."

So this girl was responsible for the shrine suddenly losing so much food last night? Uzumaki Dōmei had finally caught the culprit, yet he could only shake his head helplessly.

Under normal circumstances, he would have lectured her a little, but he was not in the mood for it now.

"Hisana, the higher-ups have decided to marry you to the shogun of the Land of Night."

Looking at his granddaughter, who was still utterly confused and had yet to process it, Uzumaki Shumei was somewhat speechless.

Could this slightly airheaded granddaughter of his really become a bridge between the Uzumaki Clan and the Land of Night?

Clatter.

Hisana's body went rigid. The broom fell straight from her hand to the ground as she widened her crimson eyes in disbelief and pointed at herself.

Me? Get married?

"I know this is a little sudden for you, but among the girls in the clan who are close to marriageable age, there is only you, Hisana. However, if you don't like it, Grandpa can refuse it for you..."

Seeing his granddaughter's eyes suddenly turn vacant, Uzumaki Shumei panicked and felt his protective instincts rise.

Though the marriage alliance with the Land of Night was important, he would not force Hisana if she was unwilling.

Compared to the clan's interests, his granddaughter's happiness and joy were equally important to him.

"I can help too. If you don't want this, Hisana, no one can force you."

Uzumaki Dōmei also stepped forward, expressing his firm stance at Hisana's side.

"No, that's not it..." Hisana's mind was in complete chaos. She seemed unable to figure out how to speak, falling silent before finally gathering her courage and looking at her grandfather, Uzumaki Shumei, with anticipation. "That shogun... is he very rich?"

Uzumaki Shumei: "..."

Uzumaki Dōmei: "..."

So that was what she had been hesitating over?

(The female leads in this book will all be original characters unless something unexpected happens. After all, most of the original female characters have not grown up yet. Even Chiyo, the oldest, is not yet ten, and Tsunade has not even become an embryo.

Besides, original female leads allow for more freedom. People are probably tired of seeing the original female characters, since there is nothing new about them. It is always Tsunade, Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata, Ino, Tenten, and the like. Though Sakura as a female lead is quite rare—do you all not like my bro Sakura?

Uzumaki Hisana is a fiery-haired, sharp-eyed shrine maiden with a huge appetite and an airheaded personality, though she occasionally has a little cleverness.)