Before Konoha was destroyed, Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent people to demand Sealing Jutsu from him more than once.
They had simply been making their demands more frequently of late.
But a few words alone would hardly be enough to make Zō Uzumaki believe Ziyun.
The reason was simple: after what had happened, Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha Village had become sworn enemies.
Now, Hidden Cloud Village's hero, Yeyue Ziyun, had suddenly appeared and appealed to both reason and emotion. He might well have been trying to drive a wedge between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha.
When the Uzumaki clan head fell silent, Ziyun understood that a few words would never convince him.
But he had never intended to convince him with words alone.
"If you don't believe me, Uzumaki Clan Head, you can wait seven days. Within seven days, the Anbu sent by Konoha will come," Ziyun said with certainty.
His own predictions could be wrong, but the system would never make a mistake.
"Of course, I'm not giving the Uzumaki Clan this information for free. If the clan survives this calamity, I hope you'll join Hidden Cloud Village," Ziyun said, revealing the true purpose of his visit.
"But what if Konoha doesn't send any assassins?" Zō Uzumaki frowned, leaving his meaning unspoken.
After all, he didn't want to offend Ziyun.
"If they don't, you can pretend I was never here. We'll also be even for the favor of saving Kushina Uzumaki. What do you think, Uzumaki Clan Head?"
Ziyun smiled, then changed tack, a hint of menace entering his voice.
"Actually, Uzumaki Clan Head, you needn't worry that I've come to drive a wedge between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha. With my strength, there's no need for me to do that at all..."
As he spoke, Zō Uzumaki could hear peals of thunder from the sky and sense the faint flicker of lightning around Ziyun.
It was a threat.
Indeed, given the strength of a Kage Level powerhouse like Yeyue Ziyun, he had no need to drive a wedge between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha.
After all, he had the power to destroy Konoha. Destroying the Uzumaki Clan would be effortless, so why go to the trouble of sowing discord?
"All right. I believe you would never make baseless claims, Lord Ziyun, much less come all the way to the Uzumaki clan grounds to tell me such a thing."
"Seven days from now, if the Uzumaki Clan truly faces extermination, please lend us your aid, Lord Ziyun. The Uzumaki Clan will also be willing to join Hidden Cloud Village."
"If not, I also hope you'll keep your promise, Lord Ziyun, and act as though you never came to our clan grounds."
Zō Uzumaki was convinced.
Rather than saying he had been convinced, it would be more accurate to say he had been intimidated by Ziyun's strength.
After all, the Uzumaki Clan couldn't afford to offend a powerhouse like Yeyue Ziyun.
"The Uzumaki clan head really is a clever man..." Ziyun understood that too, of course, and smiled in satisfaction.
If Zō Uzumaki hadn't agreed to his request, the night of the Uzumaki Clan's extermination would probably have come early, today.
After all, Ziyun couldn't stand by and watch Konoha take the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu away.
"Mm..."
Zō Uzumaki understood what Ziyun meant as well, and cold sweat ran down his face.
At the same time, he also felt that the Uzumaki Clan really couldn't continue to hole up in a small place like the Land of Whirlpools. It was time to seek shelter with a major power.
After all, the Uzumaki Clan wasn't particularly strong. Any Kage Level powerhouse had the strength to destroy it.
If they continued to stay here, even if Konoha didn't act, sooner or later another village would.
A man was innocent, but possessing a treasure made him a target.
The Uzumaki Clan possessed the most powerful Sealing Jutsu in the Shinobi World, yet lacked the strength to protect itself. It also stood apart from the world, refusing to join any faction.
Those unworthy of their position were bound to suffer calamity.
Sooner or later, such a course would bring about their own downfall.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. Ziyun stayed in the Land of Whirlpools throughout, but he didn't stay on the Uzumaki clan grounds.
Konoha would surely keep sending people to demand Sealing Jutsu during those seven days, and Ziyun didn't want them to notice anything amiss. What if seeing him made them wary?
Sure enough, on at least five of those seven days, ninja sent by Konoha entered the Uzumaki clan grounds, and every visit ended on bad terms.
The last time, the two sides even broke into an argument.
Ziyun sensed all of this with his Observation Haki.
Of course, Ziyun hadn't been idle during those seven days. He used his spare time to train his Armament Haki.
With his Uzumaki Sage Body, Ziyun could train for fourteen hours a day without getting winded.
In just seven days, his mastery of Armament Haki had reached seventy percent, the highest level he could attain through training.
To advance further, he would have to rely on actual combat.
Although basic Armament Haki didn't do much to improve Ziyun's strength, the truly formidable ability was Advanced Armament Haki: Ryuo, which could attack directly inside an enemy's body.
Even so, Ziyun took it very seriously.
After all, one more skill meant one more trump card.
Besides, combining Armament Haki with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit did improve his destructive power to some extent.
After dark, Ziyun sensed unfamiliar presences that had infiltrated the Land of Whirlpools, and he immediately made his way to the Uzumaki clan grounds as fast as he could.
"Konoha's assassins have entered the Land of Whirlpools."
Without wasting time on pleasantries, Ziyun spoke as soon as he saw the Uzumaki clan head.
"Everyone, follow the plan we prepared!"
Zō Uzumaki's expression changed drastically, but he gave the order.
The Uzumaki Clan had long since prepared a plan to deal with this night.
Every Uzumaki clansman who knew the Shadow Clone technique used it. Their clones would appear on the clan grounds in their place, creating the illusion that everything was normal.
But not many Uzumaki Clan Members knew the Shadow Clone technique, so Ziyun also used Lightning Release: Shadow Clone to create a hundred Uzumaki Clan Members, then transformed them into their usual appearances to go about life on the clan grounds.
Fortunately, Ziyun had the Uzumaki Sage Body, so creating a hundred Shadow Clones didn't take too much out of him.
Swish, swish, swish!
Before long, dozens of Kunai shot out from the shadows of the Uzumaki clan grounds at different angles, killing dozens of clones in an instant.
These clones all had enough Chakra that they didn't disappear when struck by the Kunai. Instead, they fell to the ground, creating the illusion that they had died.
"Damn it..."
Zō Uzumaki, who was watching everything from the shadows, grew furious.
If Yeyue Ziyun hadn't warned him in advance, those stabbed to death by the Kunai would have been Uzumaki Clan Members, not clones.
The slaughter continued. Before long, most of the Uzumaki Clan Members on the grounds had been killed, leaving only a handful to be taken prisoner.
"Huh!? Was it that easy?"
"Looks like the Uzumaki Clan has lived in comfort for too long. Their guard was far too low."
The ninja in the lead sneered.
"Take all these prisoners back. Don't kill them all. One suitable candidate will be chosen to serve as a Jinchūriki."
"Next, find the Uzumaki Clan's secret techniques, then retreat."
He hadn't expected them to succeed so easily. At the leader's command, the more than twenty Anbu Ninja immediately began searching the Uzumaki clan grounds.
The weakest among them were Elite Chunin, and two or three were Elite Jonin.
Notably, all of them were disguised as Kumogakure Ninja.
"Interesting. Have they gone this far just to make the Uzumaki Clan resent Hidden Cloud Village?"
The Uzumaki clan head sneered. Of course, he didn't think these people were Kumogakure Ninja.
If Hidden Cloud Village had wanted to strike at the Uzumaki Clan, it would have been wiped out seven days ago, when Yeyue Ziyun came.
There was no need to go to all this trouble.
These were clearly Konoha Ninja disguised as people from Hidden Cloud.
Moreover, the Ninjutsu they used were the standard techniques practiced by Konoha Ninja, fundamentally different from Hidden Cloud Village's Nintaijutsu.
"Dealing with a clever person really does save trouble."
Ziyun was gratified to see that Zō Uzumaki didn't suspect Hidden Cloud.
Otherwise, he would have had to use his fruit's ability to take the appearance of Danzo Shimura or Hiruzen Sarutobi and make the assassins reveal their true identities.
Soon afterward, the dozens of Anbu Ninja all gathered in the room where the Uzumaki Clan's secret techniques were kept.
This was also something Ziyun had instructed Zō Uzumaki to prepare in advance.
They had piled all the secret technique scrolls together to draw in the enemy, then wipe them all out.
"This is it. Take the secret techniques and retreat!"
Greed shone in the leader's eyes. He had just reached for a scroll containing Sealing Jutsu when a golden chain bound him.
Zō Uzumaki had made his move.
"Sealing: Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Several golden chains flew out of Zō Uzumaki's body, binding the ninja leader tightly.
Kill!
Several elite ninja of the Uzumaki Clan leaped out of hiding and killed him.
"Not good, it's an ambush! Get the scrolls back, quickly! Forget the Uzumaki Clan Members for now!"
Seeing their boss killed, the other ninja realized they had walked into an ambush!
They immediately tried to take the Uzumaki Clan's scrolls away, even at the cost of their lives.