More than ten days later, a Uzumaki kunoichi rushed into this remote rainforest, crying as she ran: "Yuka! Yuka! Something terrible has happened!"
Yuka jumped down from the treehouse.
The other Uzumaki kunoichi, hearing the shrill cry, also rushed over.
After a few words, the women of the Uzumaki clan slumped one by one, sitting down in the rain.
Only Uzumaki Yuka remained standing with difficulty, her face tilted towards the sky, allowing her tears to flow continuously, mingling with the rainwater and falling into the mud at her feet.
The young clan head of the Senju, Senju Nawaki, was dead!
Fox was a Senju spy in the Anbu. He had clearly uncovered the intelligence and had warned the young clan head.
Yet, the young clan head was still dead.
It was said that Iwagakure claimed responsibility for the incident, proudly declaring that they had killed the young clan head of the Senju, eliminating Konoha's most dazzling genius in the past ten years, as an equivalent retaliation for the Ushiga Mountain trap.
The young clan head Nawaki was protected by an experienced jonin like Orochimaru; how could he possibly be killed by an Iwa-nin assassination squad?
Only then did Yuka deeply realize why Fox had emphasized not to tell the truth to the Senju clan for the time being.
After Lord Tobirama's sacrifice, Konoha had become strange and cold-blooded; everything was different.
The Uzumaki clan's desire for Princess Kushina to become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki had angered Konoha, leading to Uzushiogakure being ruthlessly abandoned by the Konoha higher-ups.
The Senju clan was the same; they also had conflicts with Konoha over the matter of the Second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and now they, too, had encountered misfortune.
The Konoha higher-ups could not tolerate any opposing forces; the village had to be under their autocratic rule.
Even if the Senju clan challenged the authority of the higher-ups, they would face ruthless suppression without the slightest mercy.
Konoha was now the Konoha of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, no longer the Konoha of the past.
—
After Yōkō left Uzumaki Yuka, he first found his own squad in the Land of Rain.
Purple Cat hurried forward and asked, "Captain, are you alright?"
She had been terribly worried when she saw Captain Fox being carried away by the Yatagarasu. She circled Yōkō, checking his condition.
"I'm fine. I was captured by the summoning creature of the Uzumaki remnants, but I also obtained intelligence on them," Yōkō said. "Let's go, we're returning to the base camp in the Land of Grass to report the intelligence we've obtained."
Halfway there, a major piece of news spread throughout the Land of Rain.
Even ordinary people knew that something major had happened among the shinobi: Konoha's genius, the young clan head of the Senju, was dead.
The Iwa-nin were everywhere, proclaiming that they had killed the Senju young clan head.
Yōkō immediately understood that this was Ōnoki trying to take credit for himself.
Of course, Ōnoki wanted to kill Senju Nawaki; he wanted to kill all of Konoha's talented youths.
However, if he wanted to kill Senju Nawaki, sending too few troops wouldn't succeed, as Nawaki had Orochimaru personally protecting him.
Sending too many troops would inevitably attract the attention of Konoha's front-line camp, escalating into a major battle and causing even greater losses.
Yōkō roughly guessed the truth.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog, after learning the urgent intelligence that the Senju shinobi at the front had contacted the Uzumaki remnants, returned in a rage, disguised himself as an Iwa-nin, and personally laid a trap.
The front-line commander, Mitokado Homura, had customized a mission for Nawaki's squad, and Battalion Commander Yellow Dog knew all the details of this custom mission.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog set a trap on the road and blew Senju Nawaki to death.
The person who designed the trap was not much weaker than the current Orochimaru in terms of skill.
Even though Yōkō had warned them, Senju Nawaki was still dead.
Yōkō himself had designed the mission to track Spear Egret, which allowed him to avoid being used as bait for the trap – being the bait was certain death.
After returning to the front-line camp, Yōkō saw Orochimaru and Jiraiya from a distance, each standing on one side, guarding the tent where the body was kept.
Inside the tent was Tsunade, kneeling on the ground and weeping.
Nawaki had been dead for several days, but Tsunade remained by his body.
Outside the tent, Orochimaru leaned stiffly against the tent's wooden post, his eyelids lowered.
Jiraiya stared at Orochimaru indignantly, as if Orochimaru had just said something unpleasant to Tsunade.
Nawaki's death had a significant impact on Orochimaru; he was far from as indifferent as he appeared on the surface.
There were many other bodies on the ground inside the tent; it was unknown how many Senju shinobi from the front lines had fallen victim.
Upon making some inquiries, Yōkō heard that the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Danzo had both come to the front line.
During a small jonin meeting at the front, Tsunade angrily proposed adding one medical-nin to each squad.
If there had been a Senju medical-nin in Nawaki's squad, and not a Sarutobi and a Shimura, perhaps Nawaki wouldn't have died.
Those two, Sarutobi and Shimura, were completely useless individuals forcibly assigned to Nawaki by the higher-ups to create bonds.
It was said that the trap Nawaki encountered was a two-stage explosive tag trap.
One explosive tag exploded first, launching a bundle of explosive tags to waist height, and then the large bundle exploded at waist level, blowing away all of Nawaki's internal organs.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog's trap was indeed exquisite.
Among all the jonin, only Kato Dan supported Tsunade. Their relationship grew closer, and after Nawaki's death, Kato Dan became one of Tsunade's emotional pillars.
Amidst the chaos, Yōkō found the Anbu tent.
Entering the tent, Yōkō saw that both Danzo and Battalion Commander Yellow Dog were inside. He stepped forward and reported:
"Lord Danzo, Battalion Commander, I have investigated and obtained intelligence. The Uzumaki remnants are moving between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, and their tracks are elusive."
After speaking, Yōkō lowered his head and waited.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog waved his hand, signaling Yōkō to leave first.
Yōkō withdrew from the tent.
The Anbu around the tent were all unusually solemn, as if Danzo had just flown into a rage.
The Anbu had no choice but to kill Nawaki.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog had made a huge mistake by allowing the Uzumaki remnants to make contact with the Senju young clan head, forcing them to act decisively and execute the young clan head before the Nine-Tails transfer sealing.
For the Anbu, the cost of this action was enormous.
If Orochimaru or Tsunade were to discover anything, the consequences would be extremely dire.
Furthermore, Nawaki was backed by the huge Senju clan.
Late at night, Team Fox was on duty, guarding outside Danzo's tent.
Yōkō saw Orochimaru approach and enter the tent.
Yōkō pricked up his ears, listening for sounds from inside the tent.
He listened for over ten minutes but heard nothing. A barrier must have been set up to prevent sound from leaking out.
Inside the tent, Orochimaru stared at Danzo with his vertical pupils.
Danzo's face was expressionless, not indicating that he had ever given the order to kill Senju Nawaki.
Orochimaru was silent for a few seconds, then said:
"Human life is so fragile, Lord Danzo.
I had such great expectations for my student, Nawaki. I never thought a few explosive tags would blow him to pieces.
That trap was too clever, so clever that even I might have died. It's unbelievable.
Since when did Iwagakure have such a powerful trap master with such exquisite control over explosive tags.
Nawaki's potential was certainly higher than mine. What a pity, he died just like that.
Lord Danzo, I agree with the proposal you discussed with me before: to initiate research on life constitution aspects such as transplantation, enhancement, and modification for Konoha."
(End of Chapter)