Chapter 32: Too Late Is Too Late
Yoru accepted a reporting mission, and he was not in a hurry.
The pursuit and escape situation ahead was very complex.
Kushina Uzumaki was at the very front, followed by two Konoha Anbu Battalions, and finally the Cloud Ninja who wanted to seize the Scroll of Seals from Hidden Whirlpool Village.
The number of Cloud Ninja was approximately 3 battalions.
If Yoru moved too fast, he might run into a large number of Cloud Ninja and die without knowing how.
Outside Kyoto in the Land of Whirlpools, Yoru saw a battlefield.
There were many corpses on the ground, some Cloud Ninja, some Konoha Anbu, and five corpses that were particularly conspicuous, bearing the emblem of the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools as well as the clan emblem of the Uzumaki Clan.
The Guardian Ninja of the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools had died.
These Guardian Ninja were very strong; there were no corpses within a range of more than ten meters around them—they had been worn down to death by the Cloud Ninja using long-range ninjutsu.
Yoru split off a shadow clone, which was searching the corpses.
Some shadow clones died to mechanisms on ninja tool bags.
After spending quite some time, Yoru found 300,000 ryo in money, along with three exploding tags.
These ninja didn’t even bring more good stuff when they went out—stingy to search.
Continuing on the road, Yoru saw more than a dozen large and small battlefields and successively looted another 100,000 ryo.
He now had 1 million ryo in huge funds; to know, the remuneration for an S-rank mission was only about 1 million ryo.
With this money, he could splurge upon returning to Konoha.
Approaching the Land of Fire Border, Yoru became increasingly cautious.
Cloud Ninja would not easily enter the Land of Fire; there were many Konoha intelligence squads inside the Land of Fire.
Climbing to the mountaintop, Yoru looked around with a telescope.
He found them!
Under the distant hillside, the Cloud Ninja had already half-surrounded two Konoha Anbu Battalions.
Behind the Konoha Anbu Battalions was Danzo Shimura, who was holding Kushina Uzumaki.
Summoning Beasts such as Long Spear Egret, Yatagarasu, and Giant Eagle were all gone.
Kushina Uzumaki was trembling like a frightened little bird in Danzo Shimura’s hand.
There was not a single Whirlpool Ninja around, nor a single Whirlpool summoning beast.
Facing the Cloud Ninja’s encirclement, Danzo Shimura was completely unconcerned. His other hand was pressing on the Scroll of Seals from Hidden Whirlpool Village.
That Scroll of Seals recorded all the sealing secret jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan, including sealing forbidden jutsu—it was truly tantalizing.
Not to mention the Cloud Ninja; even Yoru, seeing the Scroll of Seals from afar, felt his heartbeat quicken a bit.
Danzo’s expression was ashen; he gave Kushina Uzumaki a venomous look with his eyes.
He did not actually hate Kushina Uzumaki, but rather hated Kato Dan.
Having obtained the Uzumaki Clan Scroll of Seals, Danzo planned to learn the sealing secret jutsu first.
However, Kato Dan used the Spiritualization Technique, crossing over a thousand miles to possess Kushina Uzumaki’s body.
Kato Dan spoke through Kushina Uzumaki’s mouth, saying that he, Kato Dan, was watching everything here.
Senju Clan Head Senju Rinki was beside Kato Dan.
With Kato Dan watching over, Danzo Shimura held the Scroll of Seals but could not look at it.
The Senju Clan remained strong, suppressing the Konoha High Command to the point they could hardly breathe.
The Senju Clan had many jonin, as well as elite jonin like Kato Dan who mastered forbidden jutsu.
Kato Dan was also Tsunade’s lover and was extremely loyal to the Senju Clan.
Many of Danzo’s previous arrangements had been disrupted by Kato Dan.
The Spiritualization Technique was too heaven-defying; Kato Dan alone could monitor many corners of the Ninja World and possess people thousands of miles away.
Thinking of Kato Dan, Danzo’s gaze grew increasingly cold.
Yoru hurriedly rushed down from the mountaintop.
Not because he was eager to join the Anbu’s battle, but because in the forest behind, a large number of Konoha Ninja had appeared!
Konoha’s reinforcements had arrived!
Konoha Village and Hidden Whirlpool Village were allies; how could Konoha stand idly by when Hidden Whirlpool Village was in trouble?
Yoru quickly jumped down the hillside, heading straight to the side of the battlefield.
He saw a big shot in the support troops from afar.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had personally led the team to support Hidden Whirlpool Village.
Besides the Third Hokage, Mito Mon’en from the high command had also come.
Yoru also saw many clansmen of the Senju Clan; their clothes bore the Senju clan emblem.
Even Senju Clan Head Senju Rinki had come.
Senju Rinki was the son of First Hokage Hashirama Senju and also Tsunade’s father.
At this time, Tsunade had not yet earned the title of one of the Sannin; most of her honors came from being the Senju Clan princess and disciple of the Third Hokage.
Closest to Senju Rinki was his favored son-in-law, Kato Dan.
“Uncle!”
Kushina Uzumaki saw Senju Rinki and became excited; she flailed her arms, trying to pull her hand free from Danzo Shimura’s grasp.
Danzo Shimura glanced at Senju Rinki, then at Kato Dan.
Senju Rinki frowned—what did Danzo mean by this?
Danzo had no choice but to release Kushina Uzumaki’s hand, letting her run toward Senju Rinki.
Senju Rinki put his arm around Kushina’s back and gently patted her.
“Uncle! Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja sneak-attacked the village. Grandpa Clan Head and the Third Mizukage perished together, and the village was destroyed!”
“What? The village was destroyed?”
“What? The Third Mizukage died?”
Senju Rinki and Mito Mon’en each exclaimed.
This news was too shocking.
Hidden Whirlpool Village was not a small ninja village; it had thousands of Uzumaki Clan members, many small ninja clans absorbed into the village, and civilian ninja it had trained itself.
The number of ninja exceeded three thousand, ranking second among ninja villages below the five great ninja villages.
In addition, the Uzumaki Clan had many large summoning beasts and nearly unsolvable sealing jutsu; no ninja village dared say they could take Hidden Whirlpool Village easily.
Mito Mon’en and Hiruzen Sarutobi exchanged a glance, feeling both joy and sorrow in their hearts.
The joy was that Konoha’s next-generation Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had a landing spot. Danzo had successfully brought back the Whirlpool Princess and the Scroll of Seals from Hidden Whirlpool Village.
The Third Mizukage had also died, meaning Konoha had one less formidable enemy on the eastern battlefield.
The sorrow was the extinction of an allied ninja village, which evoked sympathy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, signaling all the Konoha Ninja behind him to charge and exterminate the pursuing Cloud Ninja.
He himself walked toward Kushina Uzumaki, his tone full of regret:
“I’m sorry, Whirlpool Princess. Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja sealed off the intelligence; Konoha Village mobilized two thousand ninja to rescue Hidden Whirlpool Village, but we were still too late.”
What more could Kushina Uzumaki say.
She was surrounded by a large number of Konoha Ninja; Konoha’s investment was not small.
But being late meant it was late—everything was over.
Senju Rinki’s expression turned pale.
Hidden Whirlpool Village had many Senju Clan relatives.
Kushina called him uncle, and he also called the Uzumaki Clan Head uncle.
His mother, Mito Uzumaki, was the older sister of the Uzumaki Clan Head.
There were also many of his nephews and nieces who had married into the family.
Hidden Whirlpool Village was not just an ally; it had many Senju Clan in-laws.
Inter-clan marriages among ninja clans could ensure the purity of bloodline limits but would accumulate bloodline diseases over time.
The Uzumaki Clan was an important allied ninja clan for the Senju Clan; mutual marriages not only prevented bloodline weakening but also eliminated bloodline diseases.
Without the Uzumaki Clan, what would the Senju Clan do?
With two thousand Konoha Ninja making a move, the three Cloud Ninja battalions had no chance even to escape and were miserably killed on the border within minutes.
Senju Rinki looked toward Danzo Shimura.
“Danzo Advisor, give me the Scroll of Seals. Kushina is still young; I’ll hold it for her.”
Danzo glanced at Kushina; this was a critical period for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki handover, and Danzo did not want any accidents regarding the jinchuriki matter or for Kushina to develop resentment.
He handed the Scroll of Seals to the Senju Clan.
Yoru found the Kiiroinu Captain and reported the situation encountered by the Kurozaru Squad to the captain.
After hearing it, the Kiiroinu Captain did not decide himself but took Yoru to see Danzo Advisor.
Since it involved a Whirlpool elder, let Danzo Advisor decide.
As he approached the Konoha High Command, Yoru heard the Senju Clan Head and Mito Mon’en arguing fiercely.
