After parting in the Land of Waves, Yōkō and Uzumaki Yuka hadn't seen each other again.
Yōkō was busy with Anbu missions, while Uzumaki Yuka led her clansmen in fleeing from place to place.
"Long time no see," Yōkō said. "Yuka, did you follow my suggestion and warn Young Master Nawaki to be cautious of danger?"
Last time, they only conveyed the truth about the Uzumaki clan's extermination via scroll. In this life, Yōkō added a more crucial piece: someone intended harm towards Senju Nawaki.
He hoped Senju Nawaki could survive.
"We did. We left not only the truth about the Uzumaki clan's extermination but also a warning message," Uzumaki Yuka asked:
"Fox, would the Konoha Anbu really harm Young Master Nawaki?
He's the Young Master of the Senju clan, a genius of Konoha."
Yōkō nodded and said:
"Don't underestimate the resolve of the Konoha higher-ups.
They are ninja with exceptionally strong wills, who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
If the truth is exposed and the Senju clan breaks with the Konoha leadership, it would be Konoha's greatest disaster.
And judging by the Senju clan's nature of valuing family, a break is highly likely to happen.
In this Great Ninja War, Konoha would suffer heavy losses due to civil war.
Right now, they are only fighting Iwagakure, but by then, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure would all pounce and tear into Konoha fiercely.
Lately, Konoha has been strictly guarding against Lady Mito, Princess Kushina, and the Senju clan.
My routine mission in the Anbu is to monitor the Senju compound.
When I warned you in the Land of Waves not to contact the Senju clan for now, it was to wait for this storm to subside a bit before making long-term plans.
Senju Kashiwa learned the truth. He tried to tell the Senju clan leadership, but was discovered early by the Anbu."
Uzumaki Yuka lowered her head and said sadly:
"I met my cousin Kashiwa by chance in the Land of Grass. He was shocked that I was still alive.
Under his persistent questioning, I revealed some facts. Cousin was very smart and immediately guessed the truth.
He was also unbelievable, and worried about Konoha tearing itself apart. He said he would find a proper way to handle it after returning to the village.
The Konoha higher-ups don't cherish Konoha, but my cousin Senju Kashiwa had to consider Konoha in everything.
Do kind-hearted people deserve to be bullied?
I never thought my cousin would be discovered by the Anbu, and he sacrificed himself again to buy a chance to deliver the intelligence.
And thank you for risking fatal danger to help us as an insider."
In the power struggles within Konoha, those who cherished Konoha the most were the easiest for the higher-ups to control.
In contrast, someone like Orochimaru, who didn't really care about Konoha, was someone the higher-ups had no way to handle; they could only coax him. Even experimenting on Konoha children resulted in no consequences.
A weakness – Konoha was the Senju clan's weakness.
An invincible person with no parents, no children, no attachments, no concerns – that was the person everyone feared.
Even if a villain was utterly malicious, would they dare provoke such an invincible person?
Once resolved to fight, it meant death. They were the ones with nothing to lose, while others had everything to lose.
It started raining heavily outside.
The two found a tree hollow and crawled inside.
"Yuka, how many people are left in the Uzumaki clan?"
"Thirty-two."
Hearing this number, Yōkō fell silent.
He never imagined the once-renowned Uzumaki clan was now reduced to only thirty-two people.
"Why choose the Land of Rain?"
"The Land of Rain is a battlefield for four sides. Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Konoha, and Hanzo of Amegakure, plus rebel organizations that don't submit to Hanzo – the situation here is the most chaotic," Uzumaki Yuka said:
"The more chaotic it is, the better it is for us to hide.
We were previously in the Land of Grass. The Land of Grass is under Iwagakure's sphere of influence, and their control over every village is relatively strong.
After being exposed in the Land of Grass, they captured an Uzumaki clan member, Uzumaki Kaon, who is skilled in medical ninjutsu.
I wanted to rescue her, but unfortunately, I couldn't manage it. It was also while trying to rescue Kaon that I met my cousin Senju Kashiwa."
Yōkō estimated that Uzumaki Kaon was the mother of Karin from the original story.
He said, "When I find an opportunity, I will inform Young Master Nawaki and have him rescue Uzumaki Kaon."
Yōkō added mentally, if Senju Nawaki survives...
Uzumaki Yuka had been very tired lately, almost on the verge of collapse.
If not for the help from her cousin Senju Kashiwa and Fox, she felt she wouldn't have been able to go on.
Seeing Fox now felt so friendly.
Outside the tree hollow, the rain fell steadily.
Inside the tree hollow, Yuka gently kissed Yōkō's neck, then quickly removed her clothes, soon becoming covered in fragrant sweat in the passion.
"Fox, how has your physique improved so much?"
Yuka thought to herself that Fox's Senju Bloodline was growing stronger with practice.
An hour later, Yōkō couldn't help but sigh; the Uzumaki clan's physique was very strong.
No wonder the Senju clan formed marriage alliances with the Uzumaki clan; only then were they well-matched.
"Yuka, the Nine-Tails transfer seal is imminent. I came this time to learn about the Nine-Tails seal. To your knowledge, what techniques can affect the Nine-Tails seal?
I have a feeling the Nine-Tails transfer won't go smoothly. I'm very worried about Lady Mito and Princess Kushina."
Uzumaki Yuka slowly dressed and said:
"Techniques that can affect the Nine-Tails seal?
As far as I know, there's only one sealing technique that can affect the Nine-Tails seal: the Contract Release Seal. It's a secret technique of the Uzumaki clan, rarely passed on to outsiders.
Another thing that can affect the Nine-Tails seal isn't a sealing technique; it's the Uchiha clan's Sharingan."
Yōkō thought for a moment and said:
"The Uzumaki clan's Sealing Scroll is in Clan Head Senju Rinoki's hands, so the risk of the Contract Release Seal being leaked is very low.
Then we must be careful to guard against the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha clan has a long-standing feud with the Senju clan. Perhaps the Uchiha clan will hit someone when they're down and act against the Nine-Tails seal.
Yuka, you should hide for now.
Lady Mito is very old. Since the battle at Ushiga Mountain, she has been conscious for very little time each day.
Once Princess Kushina grows up, everything will get better."
"Okay, I understand. We will wait for Princess Kushina to grow up."
Yōkō left the tree hollow, stepped into the curtain of rain, and disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique.
Uzumaki Yuka leaned against the wooden wall of the tree hollow, feeling the lingering warmth from Fox.
Fox was right. As long as they waited for Princess Kushina to grow up, everything would get better.
Uzumaki Yuka returned to the rainforest where the Uzumaki remnants were hiding.
They had built tree houses here, living a precarious existence.
3 children, 26 women, 3 men – this was the entirety of the Uzumaki clan.
According to the customs of the ninja world, women change their surname to their husband's after marriage. The women of the Uzumaki clan had already agreed that after marriage, they would not change their surnames, and their children would take the Uzumaki surname.
The Uzumaki clan must not be exterminated; they were the last spark of the Uzumaki clan.
Uzumaki Yuka thought Fox's Senju Bloodline was quite good. It would be nice if she could conceive a child with Fox.
"Really, only twice in an hour... I shouldn't have let him leave so soon if I'd known..."
Thinking this, Uzumaki Yuka laughed to herself.
A woman leading a child by the hand happened to pass by and asked, "Yuka, did something good happen?"
"Oh, no, no." Yuka teased the little boy and said, "Has Nagato been eating properly lately?"
(End of Chapter)