Chapter 166: Uzushio Hidden Village
Sakumo Hatake is willing to not be the deputy commander and fight as a regular Jonin?
Konoha Village has its own hierarchy.
Sakumo Hatake served as a battlefield deputy commander, and any Konoha ninja would have to respectfully address him as “Lord.”
A deputy commander on the battlefield can decide the life and death of dozens of people with a single order.
He can request to go to the front lines as a regular Jonin, but the higher-ups cannot truly do that.
As long as he goes to the front lines, the higher-ups must give him the position of deputy commander, otherwise, it would be chaos.
Nara Shikaku said:
“Sakumo, the Hidden Stone Village is in continuous retreat under the combined attacks of our Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village, and the War of the Land of Earth is about to end.
The Hidden Cloud Village is extremely warlike, and once they are free from the Land of Earth, they might launch another war against Konoha.
We must reserve a certain strength to deal with the surprise attacks from the Hidden Cloud Village and the restart of the Land of Hot Water battlefield.
And you, Sakumo, are the village’s contingency plan against the Hidden Cloud Village.”
Hearing Nara Shikaku’s explanation, Sakumo Hatake had no choice but to sit down.
Hiruzen Sarutobi adjusted his Hokage’s Hat, preventing others from noticing his complicated gaze towards Sakumo Hatake.
After Sakumo Hatake killed the Hidden Sand Village’s genius Puppet Master, Tora, his prestige grew higher and higher.
Many ninjas who retreated from the Land of Waves battlefield expressed their admiration for Sakumo Hatake in various occasions.
Konoha’s bathhouses, izakayas, barbecue restaurants, and parks are all filled with Anbu surveillance.
The Anbu compiled these praises into scrolls and placed them on Hiruzen Sarutobi’s desk.
Sakumo Hatake’s prestige must not be allowed to grow any further, otherwise, he would become increasingly difficult to control.
The day after the Jonin meeting ended, Tsunade led 1,000 Konoha ninjas towards the Land of Whirlpools.
The Land of Whirlpools is a narrow strip of land located on a peninsula, over 300 kilometers long and 30 to 50 kilometers wide.
Mist ninjas can land on any coast, and after encountering Konoha’s obstruction, they can retreat to the sea surface or the Land of Waves.
After the Uzumaki Clan annihilation, the Land of Whirlpools belonged to the Land of Fire. The Land of Waves, which originally belonged to the Land of Whirlpools, became a vassal state of the Land of Water, managed by the Hidden Mist Village.
Near the sea, Water Style ninjas have too much of an advantage.
Konoha is fighting a very difficult battle.
Unlike the smooth progress on the Land of Waves battlefield, the Land of Whirlpools battlefield tends to devolve into a messy fight.
Konoha not only suffers heavy casualties but is also unable to effectively annihilate the main Mist ninja forces, with the initiative always remaining in the hands of the Mist ninjas.
While passing the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, Tsunade let the team proceed ahead, while she herself, with a few Senju clan members, stopped outside the Hidden Whirlpool Village.
Kiiroinu said to Yoru: “Fox, keep up with Tsunade, observe her mental state and facial details, and assess how much truth she knows.”
Yoru disappeared with Body Flicker.
He arrived at the highest mountain outside the Hidden Whirlpool Village and, using stones for cover, observed Tsunade in the distance below with a telescope.
The setting sun shone on the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and on the fallen walls on both banks of the Luo River, the broken Uzumaki clan emblem could still be seen occasionally.
The mountaintop where Yoru was located was where Danzo and the Anbu hid during the Uzumaki Clan annihilation.
When the Hidden Whirlpool Village was breached, the Anbu did not move.
The south bank of the Luo River was completely massacred, and the Anbu did not move.
Only after the Uzumaki Clan Head and the Third Mizukage annihilated each other did Danzo lead the Anbu down the mountain.
Through the telescope, Tsunade’s expression was desolate, her eyes lowered.
Almost every child of the Senju Clan had lived in the Hidden Whirlpool Village for a period of time.
The people of the two clans often visited each other’s families when they were young.
In the Hidden Whirlpool Village lived Tsunade’s maternal grandparents, aunt, cousin, and many others.
Those people together formed Tsunade’s childhood.
In the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, bushes had reclaimed the ground between houses, and human traces were becoming increasingly scarce.
Perhaps in a few decades, this place would be completely covered by forest.
Collapsed houses and pockmarked walls bore traces of ninjutsu destruction everywhere.
Weeds grew between the roof tiles, adding to the desolation.
Tsunade looked towards the street on the south bank, where she and her cousin had once queued up to buy dumplings.
Tsunade looked towards the wall of the Clan Head’s mansion on the north bank, where she and her cousin had once sneaked out to play in the middle of the night.
Her cousin was so lively, and in the end, her whereabouts were unknown.
Her cousin had liked Senju Kashi and wanted Tsunade to help, but unfortunately, Senju Kashi also died on the Land of Grass battlefield.
There were no corpses in the Hidden Whirlpool Village.
The Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village took the corpses of the Uzumaki clan ninjas as spoils of war.
Tsunade suddenly remembered the Konoha Anbu, who also possessed some Sealing Jutsu.
Hmph, the Konoha Anbu aren’t even pretending anymore.
The Anbu obtained quite a few Uzumaki ninja corpses and studied the Uzumaki clan’s Sealing Jutsu.
Especially Root, it is said that the Root Laboratory had rare materials and top-notch conditions, something even Orochimaru could not refuse.
The so-called ‘rare materials’ would include the corpses of the Uzumaki clan.
Tsunade had heard some fragments about the Root Laboratory from Orochimaru.
Root is truly the cesspool of Konoha, they research the Senju clan’s Secret Jutsu, the Uzumaki clan’s Secret Jutsu, and the Uchiha’s Sharingan.
Root has a strange persecution complex, as if many people in Konoha want to overthrow them, and they want to collect all of Konoha’s information and Secret Jutsu.
Tsunade’s gaze shifted away from the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool Village and towards the surroundings of the village.
She had once, from a distant seaside, used sand to build a model of Konoha Village for her cousin.
She had once on the mountain outside the village…
Huh?
Tsunade disappeared with Body Flicker, heading straight for the mountaintop.
More than ten seconds later, she landed on the mountaintop with Body Flicker. The powerful force of her landing caused the ground to crack, scattering earth and stones, but she found nothing.
Such fast Body Flicker Technique…
Yoru had already arrived at the foot of the mountain and disappeared into the distance of the river with Water Style.
If you can catch up to me from this far, doesn’t that mean Yoru’s strength has grown for nothing?
He had no plan to contact or confront Tsunade.
Uzumaki Yuka and the others were hiding well in the Land of Rain and were temporarily out of danger.
There was no need to reveal himself to Tsunade for the time being.
Uzumaki Yuka was easy to fool, but Tsunade was not. He was not a Senju clan member, nor an Uzumaki clan member.
Who knows if Tsunade, who was skilled in Medical Ninjutsu, might discover the abnormality in Yoru’s body.
After returning to Captain Kiiroinu’s side, Yoru whispered:
“It’s difficult to judge how much Princess Tsunade knows. She has been standing outside the village, reminiscing.
Captain, I feel that Princess Tsunade’s strength has increased. She discovered me from a great distance.
Her speed when charging was very fast, like a raging rhinoceros.”
“Yes, I understand,” Kiiroinu said.
“Let’s put Tsunade aside for now. Root is responsible for the aftermath of the Uzumaki Clan.
Gather information on the Mist ninjas as soon as possible. Our target is the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.”
Yoru was stunned, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?
No, Kiiroinu, Little Yellow?
I know you’re in a hurry and really want to be the Anbu Deputy Minister, but provoking the Seven Ninja Swordsmen is a bit too much, isn’t it?
Kiiroinu and his two Jonin are taking on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, isn’t that a bit overestimating their abilities?
