Chapter 24: The Vortex Clan Has Its Own Ideas
Staying with Danzo in the barrier made Yoru feel extremely uncomfortable all over.
As one of Konoha Village’s villains, getting close to him meant danger.
The entire Anbu’s style had distinct personal characteristics of Danzo.
Ruthless, disregarding subordinate casualties, extremely emphasizing loyalty and the Will of Fire.
Squads or squads continuously left the barrier, heading out to carry out unknown missions.
Yoru was lucky; after waiting a few days, the Kurozaru Squad was also dispatched.
At the critical moment of monitoring Hidden Whirlpool Village, the Kurozaru Squad arrived at the port at the Naka River estuary.
Finally, no need to stay with Danzo anymore.
When assigning the mission, the Kurozaru Squad Leader said that these few days they had to closely monitor all ships coming from the Land of Waves and the Land of Water, especially those with Leaf Ninja.
The squad members dispersed and hid in the piles of goods at the dock, carefully observing the Leaf Ninja.
A Konoha squad disembarked, their faces showing the relief and joy of returning to the Land of Fire.
Executing missions in other countries carried a much higher danger level than in the Land of Fire; returning to the Land of Fire felt like coming home.
Such Konoha squads were very normal and not among the Kurozaru Squad’s observation targets.
After squatting for three days, they finally saw a special Konoha squad disembark.
Two Leaf Ninja with faces full of panic hurriedly jumped onto the pier.
The two panicked and ran blindly, knocking down several porters as they fled toward Konoha.
The Kurozaru Squad Leader moved, and Yoru and the others hurriedly followed.
In the woods outside the port, the two Leaf Ninja raced along the Naka River at high speed.
There was a Leaf Ninja ahead on the road, blocking their path.
Yoru had long since removed his mask and put on a Konoha headband, disguising himself as an ordinary Leaf Ninja. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages with faint bloodstains, and he shouted:
“You’re safe! I’m a Leaf Ninja too! Can you help me change my dressing? My shoulder and arm are injured, and I can’t handle it myself.”
An older Leaf Ninja said:
“Sorry! This time we have important intelligence to send back to the village!
We spotted several ships on the sea loaded with large numbers of Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja! They’re heading toward the Land of Whirlpools!
Hidden Whirlpool Village is our ally; they might…
Ah!”
Several ninja suddenly burst out from the Naka River, their ninja swords flashing coldly as they flung strings of water droplets, slashing the two Leaf Ninja to death.
Yoru secretly clicked his tongue in amazement; as expected of Anbu, masters of Konoha’s dark side, killing their own for secretive purposes.
The massive mobilization of Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja couldn’t possibly go completely unnoticed; inevitably, some ninja would spot it by chance.
Anbu wouldn’t allow this news to reach the village; they wouldn’t imprison those ninja, lest investigations uncover something later.
After continuously cleansing three waves of Leaf Ninja who might pass on intelligence this way, the Kurozaru Squad Leader was finally satisfied and said, “Let’s go! Back to the Land of Whirlpools! To find Lord Danzo!”
Yoru estimated the distance from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools; given the position of the Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja fleet, even if Konoha received the intelligence today, it would be too late to dispatch support.
By the time the Senju Clan’s reinforcements arrived at Hidden Whirlpool Village, the village would long since have been destroyed.
When the Kurozaru Squad arrived at Hidden Whirlpool Village, it was already late at night.
In the direction of Hidden Whirlpool Village, flames shot into the sky.
Yoru was about to continue rushing forward but suddenly stopped.
By common logic, the alliance between Konoha Village and Hidden Whirlpool Village meant both had a mutual defense obligation.
Whichever ninja village faced danger, the other had a duty to provide aid.
But now, they couldn’t reason by common logic.
“Where are you going! Stop!”
An Anbu Ninja, following habitual thinking, accelerated toward Hidden Whirlpool Village but was called back by the Kurozaru Squad Leader.
Captain Kurozaru led the squad in turning around, arriving at the mountaintop barrier where they had previously lain in wait.
Entering the barrier, it was still crowded with many Anbu Ninja.
On the mountaintop, Danzo remained unhurried and composed, sitting coldly on a stone, gazing toward Hidden Whirlpool Village.
From here on the mountaintop, the full view of Hidden Whirlpool Village was laid bare.
Looking from afar, half of Hidden Whirlpool Village was shrouded in water mist, while the other half flickered with lightning like a dense swarm of fireflies.
Fires were everywhere in the village, with people systematically setting them from outside to inside, burning the village.
The Leaf Ninja who were intercepted and killed had seen the truth: large numbers of Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja were attacking Hidden Whirlpool Village.
Yoru idly pondered the situation himself.
Konoha Village now faced its greatest crisis since Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi took power: the change of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
This was during the Second Ninja War period; the wars in the Land of Hot Water, Land of Rivers, and Land of Rain were nowhere near as important as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki change.
Losing partial wars would cost Konoha at most a small country’s mission quota; there would be plenty of opportunities to take it back later.
But if something happened to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the village itself could be razed to the ground.
In the original story, the Nine-Tails rampaged, killing countless in Konoha Village, including the Fourth Hokage and innumerable villagers.
That disaster was also the beginning of the original plot.
Mito Uzumaki was too old, frail and declining, with waning chakra amount and an unstable seal.
For safety, Konoha prepared to select another genius Uzumaki Clan member like Mito Uzumaki to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
However, the Uzumaki Clan had their own ideas.
After two Ninja Wars, Konoha grew weaker with heavy losses, no longer dominating the ninja world like during the First Hokage’s reign.
Continuing to pin the clan’s village’s safety on the alliance with Konoha Village was growing increasingly dangerous.
For the Uzumaki Clan’s safety and legacy, they prepared to use their powerful sealing jutsu to seal a tailed beast.
This way, the Uzumaki Clan would have a lasting trump card to deter the five great ninja villages.
Therefore, Hidden Whirlpool Village rejected Danzo’s demand and did not send the Whirlpool Princess to Konoha Village.
The crack in the alliance between the two sides began from here.
Hidden Whirlpool Village dispatched a Sealing Squad, taking Kushina Uzumaki to seal the wild Three-Tails.
It was true that the Three-Tails had no jinchuriki, but the Three-Tails had always belonged to Hidden Mist Village; it just temporarily had no jinchuriki.
It was all the idealistic First Hokage’s fault for distributing the tailed beasts to each ninja village but not to Hidden Whirlpool Village.
Hidden Mist Village learned of Hidden Whirlpool Village’s intent to seal the Three-Tails and promptly dispatched several of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, frustrating Hidden Whirlpool Village’s action.
Hidden Mist Village was no pushover; not only did they thwart Hidden Whirlpool Village’s action, but they also angrily retaliated against Hidden Whirlpool Village.
The Cloud Ninja stuck their oar in too.
The Third Raikage was very strong; on the Land of Hot Water battlefield, Konoha was at a disadvantage, which was why large numbers of Cloud Ninja appeared here.
The number of Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja besieging the Uzumaki Clan was too great; the two ninja villages had prepared as if fighting a major battle against Konoha.
If the two ninja villages won, they could obtain the sealing jutsu they desperately needed from Hidden Whirlpool Village to control a tailed beast.
The Nine-Tails was one of Konoha’s foundations, and the two villages’ tailed beasts were theirs as well.
Unfortunately, Konoha would never send support.
What Konoha wanted was only Kushina Uzumaki.
Konoha absolutely would not allow the strongest Uzumaki genius princess to become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
Kushina Uzumaki was Konoha Village’s chosen next-generation Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; this matter allowed no failure.
For the Nine-Tails, Konoha was willing to pay any price.
There were no Senju Clan members in Konoha High Command anymore; no one valued that bullshit alliance, no one cared about the Uzumaki Clan.
Yoru looked at Hidden Whirlpool Village through the telescope and saw many scenes of disaster.
