Once Shanks departed, the Uzumaki siblings—though their wounds had been healed—were still drained from the clash against Hanzo. The exhaustion from both battle and tension pressed heavily on them. Deciding not to push forward recklessly, they chose to rest where they were. With the rain finally ceased and the oppressive storm lightened, the battlefield offered a rare moment of calm. They set up a modest camp on the damp earth, taking advantage of the lull to recover their strength before continuing their journey.
After a much-needed rest, the siblings resumed their task of escorting the Daimyo's son of the Land of Hot Water. The road ahead proved uneventful; no ambushes came, no hidden shadows lurked in the distance. Hanzo's defeat at the hands of Shanks had sent ripples throughout the watching world, ripples that spread faster than steel or poison ever could. Every hidden spy and scouting ninja had witnessed the outcome: Shanks stood victorious, while Hanzo had been driven back in disgrace.
The message was clear—anyone who dared to move against the Uzumaki Clan members would be risking not just a fight with them, but the wrath of Shanks himself. Word spread quickly of the siblings' strange summoning technique, a jutsu unlike any other. Where others summoned beasts, or weapons of war, the Uzumaki summoned Shanks Uzumaki himself. It was bizarre, even unsettling, yet when considered against the clan's unmatched mastery of sealing arts, it seemed less impossible.
Thus unchallenged, the escort mission continued without obstruction. At last, the son of the Land of Hot Water's Daimyo arrived safely to meet the Daimyo of the Land of Rain. The negotiations that followed were smoother than either side had anticipated. The Land of Rain's Daimyo, though wary of Hanzo's looming shadow, found reassurance in one undeniable fact: Hanzo had been bested, and not by rumour or trickery, but in front of countless unseen witnesses.
In truth, it was Shanks' overwhelming presence that tipped the balance. Though he was not formally bound to the Hot Water Daimyo, his decisive victory over Hanzo and partnership with the Daimyo of Land of Hot Water served as a shield of confidence. The Land of Rain's leader understood that if Hanzo dared attempt sabotage, there was now a countermeasure—an alliance, however indirect, with the Land of Hot Water that came with Shanks as its deterrent. That alone gave the Daimyo of Rain reason enough to proceed, making the meeting not only fruitful but transformative.
After the meeting concluded, the Uzumaki siblings returned with the caravan to the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Hot Water. The entire journey—from the moment Shanks had clashed with and ultimately defeated Hanzo, to their safe arrival at the Land of Hot Water Daimyo's residence—spanned nearly fifteen days.
By the time they reached their destination, word of Hanzo's defeat had already begun to spread like wildfire across the ninja world. Alongside this news came the revelation that the Uzumaki clan—once thought to be scattered, ruined, and all but erased from history—had produced not just one or two, but ten remarkable prodigies, each a formidable figure in their own right. And beyond those ten stood Shanks himself. Altogether, there now existed eleven members of the clan with the potential to become overwhelming powers in the shinobi world.
The implications were undeniable. To many, it no longer seemed like speculation but a certainty: the Uzumaki clan was rising again, and the restoration of their village was no longer a distant dream but a fate sealed in stone.
---
Far away, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, his pipe resting idle as he worked through a stack of paperwork. His focus was broken when, in a sudden blur of movement, an Anbu operative materialized before him, kneeling low.
"Lord Hokage," the masked shinobi reported urgently, "we have failed in our mission to keep Kushina isolated from the flow of information. Uzumaki Kushina has learned the truth—she now knows about the clan members who fought against Hanzo."
Upon hearing the Anbu's report, Hiruzen's expression darkened, the faint lines of age around his eyes deepening. He set down his pen, leaning back in his chair as silence filled the office. After a few moments of contemplation, he finally spoke, his voice calm yet heavy with inevitability.
"There is nothing more you could have done," he said. "The reputation of the Sannin alone ensures this matter was destined to spread. Remember, it was Hanzo who once stood above them, the very man who gave them their title. And now—someone has defeated even him. With such news, how could the villages remain silent? My students are revered throughout the shinobi world, and anything tied to their names will stir attention. The villagers' curiosity about the Uzumaki clan is only natural."
He paused, his gaze drifting toward the window as if watching the shadows of Konoha move with the wind. "I never commanded you to place Kushina under house arrest. You carried out your duty as best you could. But this matter was already far beyond your control. You need not burden yourself with guilt."
The Anbu's shoulders eased at his words, a faint relief seeping into his tone as he replied, "Understood, Lord Hokage. However… Kushina is already on her way here. And I can sense her presence—she's heading straight to your office."
Hiruzen gave a slow nod, the weight of inevitability pressing upon him. "You may leave."
The masked shinobi bowed silently, then vanished in a flicker of movement, leaving only the rustle of displaced air in the Hokage's office.
The moment the Anbu's presence vanished from the room, the Hokage's office doors burst open with a resounding bang. A girl with long, vibrant red hair—seventeen or eighteen at most—stormed inside, her steps quick and forceful. Storming was, in fact, the only way to describe her entrance.
"Lord Hokage!" she exclaimed, her voice brimming with barely contained excitement. "Did you hear about the Uzumaki clan members?"
Without hesitation, Kushina Uzumaki marched straight up to Hiruzen's desk, slamming both hands down on the polished wood with a thud. Her eyes shone with a mixture of disbelief and joy, her words tumbling out faster than her breath.
At that exact moment, the door creaked again, this time opening at a far gentler pace. A boy with short, bright yellow hair entered the office, his demeanor calm yet concerned. His blue eyes flicked between Kushina's brash display and the Hokage's composed figure.
"Kushina, don't be rude," Minato Namikaze said firmly, his tone carrying both rebuke and restraint. Almost instantly, he stepped forward, bowed deeply, and added respectfully, "My apologies, Lord Hokage."
Kushina, however, hardly seemed to hear him. Her excitement was far too overwhelming to be tempered by Minato's words. She pressed forward, her voice trembling with emotion as she continued,
"Lord Hokage, I want to meet them! I want to see my clan members with my own eyes. I can't believe it—Shanks-oniichan, Erza-oneechan, and so many of my brothers and sisters… they're alive. I thought they were gone forever. I thought the destruction of Uzushiogakure had taken them all from me. I never… I never expected I'd have the chance to see them again."
Her words hung in the air, thick with longing, disbelief, and an almost childlike hope.
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