This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 187 The Tribulations of Wochao Village (Please subscribe and add to your favorites)

The city of government offices.

Temporary meeting room.

Ebizo pointed to the map and said, "We just received intelligence that the Hidden Mist Village is being led by the Third Mizukage himself, with Yagura Karatachi, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and six thousand elite troops under his command..."

He paused, looking at Ryuji sitting in the main seat.

Seeing him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, seemingly not having heard, she took a deep breath and raised her voice, continuing, "With this kind of lineup, even if Uzushiogakure has a barrier, it won't hold out for long. If we're too slow, I don't think Kirigakure will leave anything of value behind, so why not go full speed ahead?"

By the end, Ebizo's tone had turned into an interrogation.

The meeting room fell silent.

Yekura, Kurenai, Gin, Marie, Kuro, and even Tsuchiya and Iwata from the puppeteer unit all looked at Ryuji without saying a word.

Because Ebizo is absolutely right.

The mechanical castle was built precisely so that it could arrive before the other ninja villages completely devoured Uzushio Village, in order to participate in the division and even the seizure of Uzushio Village.

However, after setting off, Ryuji drove at a leisurely pace, a puzzling behavior that left everyone puzzled.

Sensing everyone's gaze, Ryuji opened his eyes, sat up straight, and faced the crowd.

"Hoo~" He took a deep breath and sighed, "No matter how fast the Mechanized City is, it won't be able to catch up."

Sunagakure is the village in the ninja world most skilled at raising ninja hawks.

The ninja hawks raised in Sunagakure are not only faster than those from other villages, but also have greater endurance, often delivering intelligence faster than others.

But no matter how fast it is, it still takes half a day for the information to be received from the intelligence personnel and then transmitted back.

Even at the fastest speed, it would still take half a day to reach the Mechanical City.

This round trip took almost a whole day.

However, a single day... the gap between the Kirigakure's forces and Uzushio Village's strength was enormous. No matter how fast they rushed, they couldn't possibly arrive before Kirigakure breached Uzushio Village, collected their spoils, and left.

Upon hearing Ryuji's explanation, the conference room fell silent once again.

After a moment of silence, Ebizo took a deep breath and said, "...It seems that Lady Ayaki knew all along that things would develop this way."

"I didn't anticipate the specifics, but I did anticipate the fate of Uzushio Village."

Upon hearing this, Ebizo gave Ryuji a deep look and continued, "Since Lady Ayaki seemed to have foreseen this, yet still suggested sending the Mechanical Castle to the Land of Whirlpools, there must be a deeper meaning behind it!"

"It doesn't have any deeper meaning, but it definitely had another purpose this time."

Ryuji didn't say what it was exactly.

But it's not hard to guess that they were survivors of the Vortex clan.

The Uzumaki clan lives in seclusion overseas and is detached from worldly affairs. The outside world's understanding of the Uzumaki clan is limited to the various powerful sealing techniques they provide for Konoha, so they are not taken seriously by this clan.

But compared to the sealing techniques left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, the Uzumaki clan itself is the greatest treasure.

With their vigorous vitality, immense chakra, and secret techniques etched into their bloodline, the Uzumaki clan is born with the potential to become powerful, even more so than the Senju clan.

If Sunagakure could introduce the Uzumaki clan's bloodline, it would be of immeasurable help to the village's long-term development.

At least with the Uzumaki clan, Sunagakure will no longer have to worry about finding vessels for Jinchuriki.

Furthermore, receiving a survivor of the Uzumaki clan is the correct way to unlock the clan's sealing techniques.

In the original story, the various countries of the ninja world were terrified of the powerful sealing techniques possessed by the Uzumaki clan. After failing to learn the sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan, Konoha launched an attack and destroyed the Land of Whirlpools, attempting to seize them by force.

But everyone failed.

Although the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, no one was able to obtain the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan.

Ryuji guessed that the Uzumaki clan's sealing technique was probably destroyed before the enemy breached Uzumaki Village.

To obtain sealing techniques now, the only options besides targeting Konoha are to obtain them from the surviving members of the Uzumaki clan.

However, Sunagakure is a brother village and does not allow them to form groups.

Ryuji didn't want Sunagakure to experience the class conflict between ninja clans and commoner ninjas like Konoha had, so he couldn't rush there too soon.

If I go too fast and Wochao Village hasn't been destroyed yet, should I save it or not?

If we stand by and watch someone die, it will become very difficult to absorb the survivors of the Uzumaki clan.

If we save them... they already have their own country and home, so why would they want to join us?

Only when the Land of Whirlpools is destroyed and the Whirlpool Village is wiped out, and he reappears to save the survivors from the pursuit of the major ninja villages, will it be possible to persuade them to voluntarily remove their surnames and join the Sand Village.

Although this might not save many people, and those who are saved may not necessarily possess sealing techniques.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Ryuji's hope this time was to at least save one member of the Uzumaki clan, then recruit them into Sunagakure and let them flourish.

Every single gain beyond this was a pleasant surprise.

This plan was clearly something the Uzumaki clan couldn't know about, so Ryuji didn't mention it at the meeting. Although these operational meetings were classified, it was unlikely they would leak out.

But just in case, it's best not to say anything.

After all, many storylines feature similar melodramatic plots of characters turning against each other.

……

The Land of Whirlpools is an island nation located on the west coast of the Land of Fire.

Despite its small land area, the country benefits from a favorable climate and fertile soil, resulting in highly developed agriculture. Furthermore, with the protection of the Land of Fire and Konoha, there is no war, and the people enjoy a relatively prosperous life.

But now, this once beautiful and peaceful country is littered with corpses and engulfed in war.

Countless Hidden Mist ninjas secretly set foot on this land, heading towards Uzushio Village. Along the way, they slaughtered every pedestrian village and town they encountered, leaving no survivors, in an attempt to launch a sneak attack without their plans being leaked.

But it ultimately failed.

When they arrived at Wochao Village, the village had already erected a powerful protective barrier.

However, facing an enemy many times its size, Uzushio Village was far too insignificant.

Thousands of people threw kunai with explosive tags attached, and the sheer number of them engulfed the small village, which covered an area of ​​only 0.3 square kilometers. If it weren't for the five-layered barrier that completely covered the village, it would have been destroyed in the explosion in an instant.

Even so, it won't last long.

The villagers of Wochao Village gathered outside the ancestral hall, their faces filled with despair as they awaited the clan chief's orders.

Suddenly, shouts came from outside.

"Clan leader, clan leader, the Konoha rescue team has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction from which the sound came, overjoyed.

A red-haired youth led more than twenty ninjas wearing green vests and Konoha headbands over. The leader was a young man with messy hair and somewhat sloppy clothes.

Upon seeing this, Ashina, with his full head of white hair, frowned.

He also knew that Konoha's main force was fighting Iwagakure in the Land of Earth and couldn't spare any resources to rescue the Land of Whirlpools.

However, the fact that the rescue team sent was led by such a young and slovenly guy suggests that Konoha was just sending people as a symbolic gesture.

Thinking of this, he glanced at his assistant behind him.

The assistant understood immediately, nodded, and turned to enter the ancestral hall.

He was going to destroy all the sealing techniques data of the Uzumaki clan.

This was planned from the beginning.

The enemy outnumbered them by more than ten times, and many of them were highly skilled; Whirlpool Village was no match for them.

Therefore, they never intended to win. Instead, they wanted the young people to lead the women and children to escape through the secret passage, thus preserving the bloodline of the Whirlpool Clan.

However, since the enemy has come for the sealing technique, there is no way we can let them succeed.

Therefore, they planned to destroy all the information related to the sealing technique before the village was destroyed, and the people who stayed behind were also sealed with a seal that would destroy their memories after death.

However, for the sake of his clansmen who had escaped, Ashina Uzumaki planned to leave the information on sealing techniques to Konoha.

Although they have already taught Konoha many powerful sealing techniques, how could a ninja village possibly teach its very foundation to outsiders without reservation?

Even if the other party is Senju Konoha, with whom they have a blood connection and deep friendship since the Warring States period.

However, as the clan leader, Ashina Uzumaki also kept a watchful eye on things.

He knew that there were no permanent allies, only permanent interests.

The interests of Uzushio Village and Konoha are based on the blood ties and long-standing friendship between the Uzumaki and Senju clans.

Now that the Senju clan has withdrawn from the center of power in Konoha, it remains to be seen whether the new power center will maintain the same friendship with Uzushio Village as the First and Second Hokage did.

Thus, the decision we have made today came about.

If Konoha values ​​the friendship between the two villages and sends an elite team and skilled fighters to rescue them, then Ashina Uzumaki will give the survivors the information on sealing techniques to join Konoha.

If no one is sent, or if only a few people are sent to deal with it perfunctorily, it means that Konoha no longer values ​​its friendship with Uzushiogakure. Naturally, the sealing technique information will not be handed over to Konoha, and the escaped clansmen will scatter to various parts of the ninja world, living in anonymity.

If there's an opportunity in the future, then we can talk about revival or resurgence!

While he was lost in thought, the people of Konoha had already arrived in front of Uzumaki Ashina.

"Lord Ashina, I am very sorry, but Konoha is currently..."

"You don't need to feel guilty." Uzumaki Ashina looked at the young man in front of him with a gentle smile. "I also know the current situation of Konoha. I am very grateful that you were able to send a rescue team under these circumstances."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Ashina." After saying this, the disheveled young man changed the subject and said, "Lord Ashina, we only have twenty people, and we can only escort a small number of people to escape. Please select the people who want to escape, Lord Ashina."

"The people have been chosen." Uzumaki Ashina looked at the thirty people on the left side of the crowd. "They are all ordinary people who do not know the village's secrets. They are not worth the enemy's relentless pursuit and will increase your chances of escaping."

"Then Ashina-sama..."

"The enemy will not let me go."

Ashina's words dispelled the slovenly youth's desire to persuade him.

He bit his lower lip tightly, his fists clenched so hard they cracked.

Ashina Uzumaki glanced at him in surprise, then smiled.

"What's your name?"

"I asked the whirlpool-like Lu Ming," he replied.

"Mukai, my name is Kohinata Mukai."

"Kohinata Mukai, huh..." Uzumaki Ashina nodded slightly. "When you escape with your people, if you encounter danger, you can abandon some of the Uzumaki clan members to gain a chance to escape."

"I won't……"

"I'm not thinking of you, but of all of you. Only in this way can you possibly escape from the encirclement."

Kohinata Mukai clenched his fists even tighter.

He raised his head and looked at the old man with a firm gaze. "I swear, no matter what happens, I will not abandon Lord Ashina's people and run away alone. I will definitely lead them to escape the enemy's pursuit."

Upon hearing this, Ashina Uzumaki smiled slightly.

The original manga explicitly states that the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed during the Third Shinobi World War, without specifying the exact date. Therefore, Nagato's mother was a member of the Uzumaki clan who had been living in exile before the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools. When Naruto was training in Nine-Tails Mode, Kushina Uzumaki appeared and talked to Naruto about her past (I forget if it was mentioned in this particular scene). In the flashback to the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, she cried and buried her face in Minato's arms.

At that time, Minato was already a 20-year-old young man, and Kushina Uzumaki was also around 20 years old. It was during the worst period of the Third Shinobi World War.

According to the original timeline, this period in the story is roughly during the Kikyoyama Battle between Konoha and Sunagakure, and even if there are some discrepancies, they won't be too far off.

(End of this chapter)