章 37: 37. The Temple of Uzushiogakure
Three days after leaving Konoha, the merchant caravan, led by Anko, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Dosu, arrived at Akita, a port town on the coast of Hi no Kuni. Immediately, Anko rented a boat to carry the caravan, along with the shinobi, the remaining way to Mizu no Kuni.
The various merchants boarded the ship nonchalantly and cheerfully, excited to be on their way back to their homeland. The Konoha shinobi, on the other hand, were a lot more anxious to board.
"You know… I've never been on a boat before." Hinata commented as she looked out into the water.
"I haven't even seen the sea before." Shikamaru added.
"Are you two anxious?" Dosu questioned.
Shikamaru shook his head in response. Hinata, on the other hand, seemed a little hesitant to respond. It took her a few seconds before she sighed and finally nodded her head.
"My father had a relatively bad experience on-water the first time he had to do a mission out this far from Konoha. He got really sick and could barely perform during the rest of the mission. If he, of all people, could get that bad from a simple boat ride, what hope do I have to have a good experience?" Hinata sighed.
"Heh." Shikamaru started to chuckle to himself. "Hyūga Hiashi getting seasick… that's actually pretty hilarious. Just imagining your father bent over on the side of the boat, begging to see land… my dad would probably find it hilarious."
"D-Don't say anything about that to him!" Hinata begged immediately. "M-My father would not want anybody to know something like that happened to him!"
"Our fathers don't talk unless they have business with each other. As if my dad would say anything to him about the topic." Shikamaru scoffed in response. "… Unless he was drunk or something."
"Shikamaru-kun! Please!" The Hyūga heiress, once again, pleaded.
"Heh." Dosu laughed quietly to himself. "You two have an amusing dynamic."
"Did you say something?" Shikamaru questioned as he and Hinata turned their attention to their third teammate.
"Nothing of worth." The former Oto genin replied with a shrug. He then made a hand gesture, encouraging them to talk.
Shikamaru sighed in response. He and Hinata had tried to talk to Dosu a couple of times during their mission. He would answer any questions they had for him about the mission or his capabilities, but whenever they tried to bring up simple small talk, he would quickly try and end the conversation or give simple answers. He was a blatant introvert. The only people that could compare to him were Shino or Han, but even then, they at least had their moments. Dosu seemed to always be content with just simply watching people and only occasionally chiming in.
'And Naruto is somehow is friend and gets him to talk?' The Nara questioned in his head. The thought made him chuckle slightly. 'Typical Naruto. I don't think there's anybody immune to his charisma.'
"Hey, you all getting on board the ship?"
The three Konoha shinobi turned to the sound of the voice. Anko was standing with her hands on her hips at the entrance to the boat. She was giving the three of them a look, urging for them to get on board.
Shikamaru, Hinata, and Dosu nodded wordlessly at her question and got on board the ship. As they finally got on, one of the merchants walked over to them.
"Excuse me, Anko-san, but I have a question for you. Do you know how long it will take before we arrive?" The merchant questioned.
Anko immediately studied the merchant, trying to recall her name. She looked young; barely older than Hinata, Shikamaru, and Dosu. She had long, straight black hair, pale skin, and dark brown eyes. She wore a pink, sleeveless kimono with red edges and a white obi tied around her waist in a bow. The young girl looked at the shinobi with a bright smile on her face. It took Anko a few seconds before she finally got an answer to her question.
"Haku, was it?" She questioned. The merchant nodded. "Sorry about that. Yeah, it should only take us two days on boat before we disembark. Once we arrive, it should only take a half a day. We'll be arriving nearby the town where you guys are supposed to get to."
"That'll be a relief." The merchant, Haku, replied. "I have business with an old friend that I need to get taken care of quickly."
"Rest assured, madam. We will be there shortly." Dosu spoke up to her.
"Thank you very much." Haku faced the bandage-wearing shinobi. Her smile seemed to gain a teasing-glint to it. "… However, I am a boy."
Silence filled the area between the group. Anko, Dosu, Shikamaru, and Hinata looked at the merchant in shock, trying to process 'his' words.
"… What?" Shikamaru finally found his voice and summed up the Konoha Shinobis' thoughts.
"Hehehe." Haku chuckled to 'himself'. "Don't think anything about it. It happens all the time. Anyway, I just wanted to ask my question. I will leave you all be for now."
With those words, Haku walked off to join the rest of the merchant caravan. The four Konoha shinobi continued to stare blankly at the boy as he left.
"… He was pretty. Much prettier than any girl I had ever met." Dosu mumbled to himself softly.
"I-I would agree." Hinata blushed to herself. She recalled seeing Haku for the first time during the mission and feeling slightly jealous at 'his' natural looks. '… I was jealous of a boy!'
"… Disregarding that shocking revelation…" Anko commented, gathering attention to herself. "Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know about how these next few days are going to work."
Shikamaru, Hinata, and Dosu seemed to immediately get over their shock and give the jōnin their full attention.
"Basically, we are mainly going to be on the edges of the boat trying to keep an eye on any threats. The main common threat would be piracy, which we will handle like any bandits. Be warned, though: pirates are more likely to actually know jutsu and be shinobi, so be extra careful. We need to be alert every moment while the boat is in motion to make sure we don't get the merchants injured." Anko explained. "… After we land the boat in Mizu no Kuni, the real mission begins."
"Taking them back to their village, right?" Hinata questioned.
"Mhmm. But… in my opinion, the real mission is to avoid any contact with the Mizukage's shinobi or the Kirigakure rebels." The jōnin explained.
Instantaneously, the other three shinobi swallowed deeply. The Kirigakure Civil War was infamous throughout the Elemental Nations. The war between the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, and the Kirigakure Rebels, led by Terumī Mei. It was a bloody conflict with many civilians have been caught in between.
"… Just out of curiosity, is a B-rank an appropriate level for this mission?" Dosu questioned. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that this mission has a strong possibility to end badly."
"… No, the mission is ranked correctly. We can't make every mission involved with Mizu no Kuni an A-rank. This is what the merchant caravan paid for and, in theory, we shouldn't have to worry about anything. We won't be on land in Mizu no Kuni for too long and none of the merchants have a background that would cause either side in the civil war to hunt us. We also benefit from the fact that Konoha has never taken a side in the conflict. Neither Yagura nor Mei would risk killing Konoha shinobi and causing our village to side against them." Anko explained. "… I'm just talking in general about worse-case scenarios. We're shinobi, so we need to be prepared for them. Understood?"
Her three subordinates nodded in understanding. Anko, pleased with their response, proceeded to walk off.
"I'm going to do a head-count and make sure everyone is accounted for. Once that's done, I'll signal the boat driver to take us off. We'll be on the way to Mizu no Kuni in no time!"
Jiraiya and his squad walked slowly through the ruins of Uzushiogakure. There was too much for the three Uzumaki cousins to absorb. There were so many destroyed buildings and so little nature. Everything seemed as if it was just recently destroyed and burned to the ground. The village as a whole gave an eerie feeling to the entire group.
Every few moments, the group would stop to examine a particular building or ruins together. Each time, they would find nothing of worth. Everything that was buried in certain areas seemed to have either been destroyed or already taken. It added to the feeling of the area; as if not a single soul had walked the grounds of Uzushiogakure in decades.
"… And this place was a former hidden village?" Naruto mumbled the thought.
"Oh yeah. One of the more populated ones, too." Jiraiya answered blankly. "Its population rivaled the five major villages. It certainly had more than Kiri and Suna at the time, at least."
"And everyone who lived here was either killed or scattered…" Karin stated quietly as tears filled up in her eyes. She quickly took off her glasses and brushed them away. "This is horrible…"
"This is why nobody in Konoha likes to come here. And this is why your Mom never took a step back here after the invasion, Naruto." Jiraiya answered sadly. "… The destruction was too much to bear for her. I think her parents died during the invasion, too."
"My grandparents…" The Uzumaki continued to mumble. He closed his eyes, as if he was resisting the urge to cry at the thought.
The group continued to walk throughout the village in silence. After about thirty minutes of aimless walking, they stopped in front of a large, green brick building. There were certain holes in the building and columns toppled over that showed destruction, but the overall building seemed to still be standing. Jiraiya, upon arriving at the building, gestured at a brown, wooden door at the front of the building.
"This is one of the few sites in the village that remain standing. And you see that seal above the door?" He questioned them. Naruto, Karin, and Tayuya looked closely and noticed a tag with the seal that resembled the Uzumaki Clan symbol. "I've done some investigation of it: that's a blood seal. Only somebody with the blood of the castor can enter the building that it is protecting. I'm certain that's part of the reason why the building has remained standing."
"… So the castor was an Uzumaki. Only members of our clan can enter." Tayuya commented as she walked closer to the door.
"If you guys are going to find anything about your clan that would be worthwhile to you, it would be in there. I can't follow you inside, so as the Hokage ordered, Naruto will be leading." Jiraiya informed them.
"You sure you can't come in with us, Jiraiya?" Naruto questioned, taking a moment to not use his newly appointed 'Ero-sennin' nickname. "You are an expert in fūinjutsu. Surely you know how to get passed the seal."
"Kid, I am an expert in the art, yes, but I couldn't hold a candle against some of the fūinjutsu users of your clan. I've seen people try to get in there and get themselves burned to the ground immediately for trying. I'm not risking it." The Sannin informed them with a shrug. "Just go in without me. I'll entertain myself while you are all observing the inside of the building."
"… Got it." The blonde Uzumaki nodded in understanding. He then turned to face his cousins. "Are you two ready to go inside?"
Both Karin and Tayuya nodded in response.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto walked forward to the building's entrance with Tayuya and Karin close behind. Hesitantly, he brought his hands to the wooden door and pushed it open with ease. He then entered the building, followed closely behind by his cousins.
Upon entering the building, the three Uzumaki cousins were greeted with the sight of a small, simple room with three corridors. The corridor on the left was completely covered in rubble and seemed to head to the outside, suggesting that there was nothing to be found in that direction. The corridor to the right and the corridor straight forward, on the other hand, had doors at the end.
"Let's… start with the one on the right?" Naruto questioned his partners.
"Doesn't make me any difference which way we go." Tayuya shrugged in response. "Just be careful of any traps. I know we're Uzumaki and we were able to get in, but that doesn't mean that there may not have been anything set up for any intruder that somehow got in."
The blonde nodded in response. He then led his cousins straight down the corridor to the ride. As they approached the wooden door at the end, they noticed the Uzumaki clan symbol directly above the door in red. Once they arrived, Naruto pushed open the door and the trio entered the room.
"Whoa…" Naruto, Tayuya, and Karin mumbled.
The room was wide, open, and completely intact. None of the bricks seemed out of place on the wall and appeared as if nothing had happened to it in contrast to the rest of the village. There wasn't a single window in the room. A few sealing tags on the walls generated the light that illuminated the room for the trio to see the room.
On the walls and ceiling of the room, however, was what really gathered the attention of the Uzumaki cousins: a genealogy. At the top of the ceiling was the name 'Rikudō Sennin'. Drawn down from that name in a red line were two clan names: 'Senju' and 'Uchiha'. Another line was drawn from the Senju and created a new name: 'Uzumaki'.
From the 'Uzumaki' name, the lines moved off the ceiling and on to the four walls. Various names of Uzumaki clan members were written. It showed the names of who they married, who their children were, and who their children had children with. Underneath their names, in addition, were a date of birth and a date of death for nearly every Uzumaki. Only a handful names did not contain that information next to them.
"This… This was our clan?" Naruto questioned. "Is this… every Uzumaki in the village?"
"Whoever the leader of the village was must have had to keep this up to date." Tayuya mumbled as her eyes moved from name to name. They were wide in surprise as she tried to process everything. "This is incredible…"
Almost immediately, an idea entered Naruto's head. He quickly looked through the various names on the wall, looking for one in particular. It took him nearly a minute before he found the name: Uzumaki Kushina.
"Mom…" Naruto spoke quietly as he rubbed his hand on her name. He knew this wasn't her grave, but it was still the closest place he had ever felt to her. His eyes immediately started to water. "… This was your home, huh?"
The blonde's eyes wandered up and noticed the names of 'Uzumaki Sanpei' and 'Uzumaki Junko' connected to his mother's name. "So… these must have been my grandparents then…"
Tayuya and Karin went over to Naruto's side to see his own mother's place on the genealogy. Tayuya's eyes started to wander after taking a peek. They then widened exponentially at two nearby name.
"… Wait, are you kidding me?" She gasped as she pointed to the names. "Those are my parents!"
Naruto and Karin both turned their attention towards Tayuya's finger. She was pointing to the names of 'Uzumaki Arashi' and 'Uzumaki Ami'. The chart didn't show that they had a child, but it did show that they were married together. It also showed a line that connected 'Uzumaki Arashi's' father with 'Uzumaki Junko': a line that revealed that Naruto's grandfather and Tayuya's grandmother were siblings.
"My mom and your dad were first cousins!" Naruto exclaimed.
"You're shitting me." Tayuya actually managed to chuckle to herself. "… I guess we are literally cousins after all, Naruto."
"That's… incredible." Naruto brushed away the tears from finding Kushina's name and looked at Tayuya with a broad grin on his face. "Guess I really can call you Tayuya-nee."
"Heh. I suppose it's still fitting." Tayuya returned his grin with a smirk of her own. "But don't expect me to start calling you otouto. I'm not doing any of that shit."
"Hehehe." Karin giggled to herself. "I'm glad you two found out about your connection. That's really coincidental!"
"You're telling me!" Tayuya exclaimed excitedly as she turned to face the other Uzumaki. "Did you look for you parents' names?"
Immediately, Karin's face fell slightly. "I… I grew up in an orphanage and was told I was an Uzumaki. I honestly don't know the name of my mother or father."
Naruto and Tayuya remained silent for a moment. The blonde Uzumaki, in particular, sympathized with her, knowing the pain of not knowing who your parents were. He opened his mouth to console his cousin, but the Kusa genin shook her head for a moment and smiled.
"But… I'm certain their names are on this wall somewhere, and that's all the comfort I need." She said proudly. "They're here somewhere. They are."
"Damn straight they are." Tayuya nodded in agreement. "And who knows? Maybe we'll find out some clue about who your parents were in this place after all."
"Maybe." Karin nodded in agreement.
The group remained in the room for a moment longer, still reading the names on the wall. After thirty minutes passed, the group decided to leave the room and continue their exploration of the building.
… As the trio left the room, they were seemingly unaware of the mole that peeked its head out of a tile on the ground.
"Hmm…" Masakado mumbled to himself as he finished a stroke with his pen.
The red-haired man looked deeply at the seal he had finished working on. He placed it on the ground and began running through hand signs.
"For the love of God, work this time." He grumbled to himself as he started to make hand signs. "Fūinjutsu: Reversal-"
"Masakado-sama!"
Choropū jumped out of a hole in the ground directly in front of Masakado and his seal. The surprise entrance started the Uzumaki, causing him to fall backwards in surprise. This caused him to finish the fūinjutsu with the incorrect hand signs, causing the seal to fail. It immediately lit itself on fire.
"Argh…" Masakado hissed as he pulled himself on the ground. He looked up just in time to see the seal burn away. "Wait! No! Come on!"
The red-haired man rushed over quickly to put out the fire. It was too late, however, and the seal turned into a pile of Ash. Masakado looked intently at the ashes for a few moments in silence before he shook his head.
"Fucking hell! That seal was perfect!" He shouted in frustration. He then turned angrily towards the mole that had startled him. "What the fuck Choropū? You know how important this seal that I'm working on is to me! Please, for the love of everything holy, DON'T INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF EXPERIMENTATION! GODDAMMIT!"
"Forgive me Masakado-sama, but I believe you would like to know that of the four shinobi that had entered Uzushiogakure, three of them have stepped foot in the temple." Choropū informed the man calmly, seemingly ignoring the man's anger.
Masakado's anger faded immediately and turned into pure shock.
"… So they do have the blood of Uzumaki." He mumbled to himself. A few seconds passed by before his eyes started to see red. His grip on the pen in his hands tightened. "… The descendants of traitors have finally come to see how the village they fled from is doing. How absolutely insulting!"
Masakado immediately pulled himself up to his feet. He reached his right hand into the left sleeve of his jacket and pulled out a scroll.
"I'll be waiting here for them. I'll let them explore the rest of the temple. Let them see more of their people: the people they let die!" Masakado hissed to himself. He then turned to face the mole standing next to him. "Choropū, you said that only three of the four shinobi entered? The fourth one must not have Uzumaki blood… but he is still variable that may need to be dealt with. Dispose of him."
"… I can do that." The mole nodded his head. "However, I must ask you: are you sure about this Masakado-sama? You haven't fought in decades and your physical strength has weakened. You've grown a lot older. Do you think you'll be capable to handle three of them at once?"
Masakado shook his head, dismissing the mole's concern. He made a hand sign, causing the scroll in his hands to release a cloud of smoke. When the smoke disappeared, the scroll was replaced with a bronze shield marked with the Uzumaki Clan symbol on it.
"I wouldn't worry about my condition. Even in age, I'm still one of the greatest fūinjutsu masters the Uzumaki clan has produced. I'm more than capable to kill any punks that step foot in this room.'
"As you say, Masakado-sama." Choropū nodded his head in understanding. "I will return here once the other shinobi has been eliminated."
With those words, Choropū proceeded to return through the hole he had come in from. Masakado was now left alone in the room.
"… And now, I wait." Masakado stated as he took out his pen. He moved it towards his shield and began slowly drawing an ornate seal on the shield around the Uzumaki Clan symbol. When he finished, he used a piece of rope to tie the shield to his back. He then began to walk around the room as he pulled out seals from his jacket's sleeves."Take your time, traitors. The second you all walk through the door to this room, you're all dead!"
Naruto, Tayuya, and Karin quickly opened the door at the end of the other available corridor by the entrance. They then entered a new, large room with a lot more complexity… and a lot more destruction.
The room was large and open with ten wooden doors along the walls of the room with equal distance between each of them. Along the walls were various different fūinjutsu seals and symbols. The ceiling to the room was destroyed in the invasion, causing sunlight to fall into the room and illuminate more than any of the other previous rooms. At the very center of the room was a large, circular base. The base was surrounded by large pieces of marble.
"That must have been part of a pretty big statue." Naruto commented with a whistle as he examined one of the pieces. The piece alone was bigger than his body. "Wonder what it was when it was still standing."
Karin walked over to the base and noticed an inscription written on it. She quickly adjusted her glasses and read it. "Our holy ancestor, the man who create ninjutsu: the Rikudō Sennin."
"Did our clan actually believe in the myth of the Rikudō Sennin?" Tayuya questioned with a sigh. "It seems as if the people here worshiped him like a god or something."
"I don't know." Naruto shrugged. He then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I actually don't know much about the myth. I just know the name Rikudō Sennin."
"It's not worth looking into. It's a bunch of bullshit if you ask me." She replied with a snort. "Anyway, let's keep looking around here."
Tayuya went to the first door she could find in the room and opened it. She walked inside and entered a long, narrow hallway with scrolls sticking out of the wall. The red-haired girl pulled out one of the scrolls and read the title.
"'Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Whirlpool Devastation.'" She read. Her eyes then widened as realization dawned on her. "Naruto, Karin: I think I found a library of jutsu!"
Her cousins quickly rushed over to her side and entered the room. They then pulled out more scrolls and started to read the titles.
"Yeah, this is a jutsu library alright. Wow!" Naruto looked absolutely giddy as his eyes wandered from scroll to scroll. "I don't think I've ever seen this many jutsu scrolls in one place!"
"Bigger than anything Kusa had…" Karin commented in disbelief as she pulled out another scroll.
'Heh, Orochimaru would have pissed himself if he saw this place. A collection like this would be like a wet dream for him. Thank fuck he didn't know about the stuff here.' Tayuya snickered to herself.
"It seems like everything in here is fūinjutsu." Naruto commented after looking at his fifth scroll in a row.
"I'm willing to bet there's some other stuff here too, but yeah, most of it is probably fūinjutsu." Tayuya replied. "It's what our clan was famous for, after all. They could spam the art in a way that nobody else could."
"There were even rumors that the Uzumaki had a bloodline that gave them a predisposition to fūinjutsu." Karin added.
Naruto nodded his head in understanding at the words of his cousins. He then pulled out another scroll and looked at its title. "Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Hurricane Manifestation."
'This is what the Uzumaki were known for. This was the style of jutsus my mom used.' Naruto rationalized in his head. '… I need to talk to Ero-sennin when we leave this place. Once I get the Rasengan down, I need to ask him to help me get started with fūinjutsu."
"Anyway guys. We should probably keep looking around." Karin suggested as she walked over to the entrance. "We can come back here after we explore the rest of the place."
Tayuya nodded her head and followed Karin out of the room. Naruto remained motionless, still thinking about his plans to learn fūinjutsu.
"Oi, Naruto. You good?" Tayuya called out to him. "You're technically the leader, y'know? We can't leave without you."
Tayuya's words pulled Naruto out of his thoughts. He nodded his head and quickly stuffed the 'Hurricane Manifestation' scroll into his backpack before rushing over to his cousins.
"Yeah, let's keep moving." He agreed as he left the room.
The Uzumaki cousins then moved on to the next room in the temple.
"What's in here?" Naruto mumbled to himself as he opened a door.
After checking three more doors and being greeted with empty, destroyed rooms, Naruto, Tayuya, and Karin opened a fifth door and were greeted with the sight of a small circular room. The room had a wooden floor that was painted red that had the image of the Uzumaki clan symbol along the floor. The walls were covered with red bricks that matched the color of the room. There was also a wooden desk in the center of the room that was surprisingly not destroyed. The desk, however, was covered in dust and looked as if it had not been touched since the invasion.
The room had two pictures along the wall behind the desk. One was a picture of an elderly woman with long, light red-hair that had 'sealing tags' sticking out of her hair. The other picture was of an elderly man that was bald. Both pictures depicted these people wearing the same outfit: purple robes that resembled the robes of the 'Hokage' with a matching purple hat with the Uzushiogakure 'spiral' symbol on it. The phrases 'Uzumaki Rei, Shodaime Uzukage' and 'Uzumaki Kanji, Nidaime Uzukage' were printed in gold underneath the pictures.
"Uzukage?" Naruto repeated the phrase in surprise.
"… This building I think also doubled as the general government building for Uzushiogakure. This must have been the office for the leader." Tayuya commented as she walked forward to examine the pictures.
Karin and Naruto followed behind and examined the pictures in closer detail. As they approached the area closer, Karin noticed something on the wall nearby the picture of the Nidaime Uzukage; a brick was sticking out.
"Hmm?" She mumbled to herself as she went over and gripped the brick tightly. She then pulled on it, taking the brick out of the wall, revealing a hole. "Ah!"
Karin quickly reached inside the hole to see what was inside. She then pulled out a scroll.
"Guys, look at this." She called out to her cousins.
Naruto and Tayuya, who had been busy examining the portraits of the leaders of Uzushiogakure, turned their attention to Karin. The Kusa shinobi quickly blew dust off the scroll as she unraveled it. Unlike the scrolls they found in the library, this one contained writing. At first glance, it appeared to a report of some sorts.
"Do you think there's any more in here?" Tayuya questioned as she examined.
"You two check the walls. I can read the scroll out loud to you both." Karin suggested.
Naruto and Tayuya nodded in approval as they quickly moved to the walls, looking for loose bricks. As they started to look, Karin began to read the letter out loud.
Log 14
Huh… only fourteen of these in my lifetime since I received the title of Uzukage. I suppose I should have written more of these to keep as records, but I'm not much of a writer. My previous logs should suggest that. Regardless, I am writing here to get my last thoughts written down before tomorrow: the day that I will most likely die.
I have received reports from some of our spies that Kumogakure is planning an invasion on our village. This plan has been apparently underway for the past year. Now, the village's army is approaching and is being led by the Raikage himself. According to what I have heard, they should be here by tomorrow.
I have called back all shinobi that were on missions and plan on leading the defense myself. I will be the village's shield and do my role to keep the village safe. I will most likely have direct combat with the Raikage. From all that I heard of him, he may have the skills needed to kill me. I am now an old man and much weaker than I was years ago. Still, I know I have enough strength in me to take him down with me. I know that much of myself!
Thankfully, I have already chosen my successor. Even better: he is the greatest seal master Uzushiogakure has produced. At this very moment, he is currently working on perfecting a seal to keep all non-Uzushiogakure shinobi out of the village and thinks that he may be finished by tomorrow. If he can achieve this, then we can actually avoid this battle all together! I consider myself a realist and, therefore, will not allow myself to rely on his seal to be made. Having said that, if there is one man I trust is able to create such a seal, it is him.
Regardless, I am prepared to die tomorrow. I will do what I can to keep Uzushiogakure alive and my people protected. Long live Uzushiogakure! After tomorrow, whether I live or die, my successor take over once this conflict with Kumo is over. May the village's reign be even grander under the rule of the Sandaime Uzukage!
Uzumaki Kanji – Nidaime Uzukage
"… And there it ends." Karin concluded the scroll.
Naruto and Tayuya looked downward at the words. They did not know anything about 'Uzumaki Kanji' beforehand, but hearing his words on the scroll brought sadness to their hearts. The man died the day after he finished writing that scroll and the village that he was going to sacrifice himself for would die with him. He was certainly unaware that it wasn't just Kumogakure that invaded Uzushiogakure that day; it was also Kirigakure and Iwagakure. The three villages came together to completely destroy the village and the Uzumaki Clan. He had no knowledge of any of this.
"… It's a shame that successor of his wasn't able to finish that seal." Naruto finally spoke up.
"It is. But that's history. That's… how things happen." Tayuya mumbled in response.
"… Did you guys find any other scrolls? This one did suggest that the Nidaime wrote more… and maybe even the Shodaime has some written."
"We checked, yeah, but we couldn't find any bricks. If there were other scrolls, they're gone now." Naruto replied with a frown.
"Hmm…" Karin closed the scroll after hearing Naruto's words. She then gave the scroll a curious look as she returned it to its hole in the wall. 'If the other scrolls in the office were destroyed… why wasn't this one?'
After putting away the scroll, the group finished their work in the room. They then walked out, heading towards their next destination.
As the Uzumaki cousins investigated the temple, Jiraiya was left alone in the destroyed village. The sight of the destruction and the thought of all the lives that had been lost was a depressing thought, especially to a man like Jiraiya who wanted more than anything to find a way to create peace around the globe. He needed something to get his mind off the depressing thoughts of being in Uzushiogakure.
Therefore, to focus on something else, Jiraiya sat down on the ground, pulled out a notebook and pen, and started to write his next book in the 'Icha Icha' series.
'Hehehe…' The Sannin blushed as he put his thoughts onto paper. 'Oh, this one is going to be good. This one is going to be my best selling work yet! Take that Rōshi!'
The man continued to write to pass the time while waiting for the Uzumaki cousins. He seemed as if he wasn't paying attention to anything else around. Just as he was finished with the first four pages of the book, he started to hear something.
"What?" He mumbled to himself as he quickly put the book away and stood up.
The sound was faint, but he could definitely hear something. The sound was also gradually becoming louder. Jiraiya continued to wonder himself what was creating the noise when the ground underneath him started to fall apart.
"Fuck!" He cursed to himself as he jumped.
The Sannin managed to move fast enough in time to avoid falling into the hole. He then immediately landed on another segment of ground. The ground underneath his feet, once again, began to falling apart. This time, Jiraiya jumped directly above it as the ground fell apart, creating a hole. He made a series of hand signs and brought his hands to his face, causing him to spit out oil into the hole. He then quickly ran through another set of hand signs.
"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
The fire made contact with the oil in the hole, igniting it and creating a conflagration underneath the earth. As a result, Choropū jumped out of the hole and landed on the ground. Jiraiya landed on the ground directly across from the large mole.
"A summoning animal?" The Sannin questioned. "Who are you? And where is your summoner?"
"My name is Choropū, and I wouldn't concern yourself with my summoner." Choropū shook his head. "I've been ordered to dispose of you. I'd suggest leaving the area immediately, before I kill you."
The mole spoke the threat with such a nonchalant, calm tone-of-voice that it almost took Jiraiya by surprise. There was no tension or emotion whatsoever in his words. It was a disturbing revelation to the Toad Sage. Regardless, Jiraiya shook his head and ignored the feeling as he glared at the mole in front of him.
"You and your summoner must feel rather confident if you think that you alone can take me." He replied as he bit his finger. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Jiraiya immediately slammed his hand down, generating a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the Toad Boss, Gamabunta, appeared. The toad stood directly in front of Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, you just summoned me a few weeks ago against Manda! What the hell do you need me for now-" Gamabunta's rant died on his tongue as he noticed the mole of nearly equal standing across from him. The toad's eyes widened. "… Well, I'll be damned. It's been a while since I've seen a mole. That you Choropū?"
"… Indeed it is." Choropū nodded his head. The mole's eyes were narrowed in deep thought as he studied Gamabunta. 'So… He summons toads. Clearly, this is Jiraiya from Konoha. This… could be problematic.' The mole then proceeded to shake his head. 'It doesn't matter. Masakado-sama ordered his removal, so that's what I will do. It only means I will have to work harder to do my task.'
"Feels weird to see you on the battlefield again. I really thought you moles were only summoned by Uzushiogakure shinobi." Gamabunta commented as he reached for the dagger at his side. "You all prided yourself on your loyalty and how it went with you to the grave. I really thought you would not dare let another shinobi sign your contract once Uzushiogakure went down."
For the first time, Choropū's face lit with emotion: anger. He glared at the Toad Boss and seemed prepared to charge. "Do not doubt the loyalty of the moles, Gamabunta-san. Masakado-sama is still alive and I, along with my kin, will remain loyal to him until the end of time."
Jiraiya's eyes widened in horror at the name of Choropū's summoner. Sweat started to roll down his face and he could feel a lump develop on the back of his throat.
"Masakado… as in Uzumaki Masakado. He's… still alive?" The Sannin realized.
"That is correct, but he is currently involved with the three Uzumaki in the temple. He is no concern to you." Choropū informed him sharply. "I am your only concern at this moment!"
'If Masakado's in the temple and against us, than that means…' Another wave of horror washed over Jiraiya's face as he quickly turned his head towards the entrance to the temple. 'Shit! I need to get in there fast before he kills them!'
"Earth Style: Rock Bullets!"
With Jiraiya's back turned, Choropū dug his claws into the ground and brought them upward. Immediately, large clumps of the earth were flung directly towards Jiraiya. The Toad Sannin turned his head just in time to see the incoming attack. Before he could react, however, Gamabunta pulled out his dagger and proceeded to cut the rocks into tiny pieces.
"Jiraiya, I don't know what you're thinking about right now, but this mole should be your only concern right now." Gamabunta advised.
"…" The Sannin sighed to himself as he jumped onto Gamabunta's head. He knew the Toad Boss was right. However, that wasn't stopping him from being worried. 'Naruto, Tayuya, Karin… stay safe. I'll find somewhere in there as soon as I'm done with this mole.'
With that thought, Jiraiya managed to push his worries to the side. He then prepared himself for a fight with Choropū.
"Only two more rooms left…" Tayuya noted absent-mindedly.
Naruto didn't say anything as he opened up the second-to-last room available to them. He then entered a room that looked entirely bare and dark. There were no windows or seals to illuminate the room; a small hole in the ceiling was the only source of light. Rubble and bricks were lying on the ground, suggesting that whatever was present in the room was no longer in existence.
"There's nothing in here." Naruto commented.
"We don't know that yet." Karin responded. "Let's do some examination."
With those words, Tayuya and Karin entered the room behind Naruto. Once they entered the room, a seal tag above the door was activated. A brick wall then developed in the doorway, sealing the exit.
"Huh?" Tayuya gasped at the sight of the sudden brick wall.
"What the hell happened?" Naruto questioned loudly. He started making hand signs, preparing for a jutsu that could blow down the wall.
"Enjoy the tour of the Uzushiogakure Temple, traitors?"
The three Uzumaki cousins quickly turned their heads towards the sound of the voice. From the shadows of the rooms, Masakado stepped out and revealed himself. The man had a scowl on his face as he studied each of the three Uzumaki in front of him.
"You three look so very young…" He hissed quietly as he approached them. "You must be part of the newest generation of shinobi. How fortunate that you all were able to be born! It's a shame that the Uzumaki who stayed loyal to Uzushiogakure weren't able to live to your generation!"
"Wh-What the hell are you rambling about?" Tayuya demanded. "Who are you?"
"Are you an Uzumaki?" Naruto questioned. He then shook his head. "I-I don't know what you are talking about! If you're an Uzumaki, then we are family! We didn't betray anybody!"
"BULLSHIT!" Masakado yelled. "Our village needed every helping hand to withstand the invasion of Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa! All shinobi, regardless of rank and mission, were called back to keep the village safe! Your parents decided to take the coward's way out and not come back. Maybe with just a few seal masters, we could have survived. We could have had more minds working on barrier and protective seals… WE COULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING!"
"S-Sir…" Karin mumbled to herself in fear. The man standing in front of them was starting to really scare her. Every word he spoke was filled with so much hate and anger. He was emitting killing intent with every fiber of his being. "W-We didn't do anything. Y-You're not making sense."
"I'm not making sense? Am I not thinking logically to you?" Masakado snarled.
"No, you aren't!" Tayuya hissed bluntly. "I don't know about Naruto's and Karin's parents, but I listened to my parents talk about the invasion. They did not betray or leave the village when it needed them. They were not fucking traitors! How dare you insinuate such bullshit!"
"HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME ABOUT FACTS!" The man yelled back in response.
"Who… Who are you?" Naruto questioned.
"I am Uzumaki Masakado, the chosen apprentice and successor to Uzumaki Kanji. I am the Sandaime Uzukage of the ruined village of Uzushiogakure!" The man shouted angrily as he gripped the pen in his hands tightly. "… And as Uzukage, I declare the three of you, the children of traitors, guilty of treason yourself! I sentence the three of you to your own personal executions!"
With those words, Masakado charged directly towards the three cousins.
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