Chapter 24
Nawaki then said, "So what does this mean? Are we going to save the Uzumakis?" Hiruzen sighed and said, "That is what I hope to do. The Uzumaki clan is a priceless ally for us. I know we have to do something but I don't know what that is yet. I hope to explore those options with the Uzukage."
Team Jiraiya understood the stakes of the mission. An entire village and clan was on the line. One mistake could result in the lives of thousands being lost. This had to be done with perfection.
Hiruzen then said, "If you guys accept this mission, you will leave in one hour. I will personally deliver the scroll to you at the village gates to avoid complications. This mission needs to be done in utmost secrecy. No one can find out. Understood? If so, you are dismissed."
Team Jiraiya stood tall and said, "Hai Hokage sama." The four of them flickered out of the office and rushed to gather supplies. They would need to prepare enough to be away from the village for more than a month. Aside from the looming stress that shrouded this mission, there was also excitement. The three chunin had never been to another hidden village before. They couldn't wait.
Nawaki and Minato went to the weapon smith that makes their kunai for them. They wanted to restock on their flying raijin kunai. Before making the order, the craftsman created the grips for the kunai so that they could inscribe the flying raijin seals. Their order was ready today.
It was now 10 minutes before the meeting time. Thus, the two made their way over to the village gates after packing away their things. On their way, they met up with Fugaku and Jiraiya. Fugaku had his tanto strapped to his back Kakas.h.i.+ style and Jiraiya had his signature large scroll on his lower back. One they arrived, Hiruzen and a few ANBU were waiting for them.
The four of them bowed before Hiruzen as he said, "This mission needs to be completed quickly. Head out immediately. Try to avoid situations where you need back up but contact the village if you need it. We will do our best to get help to you. Good luck."
Team Jiraiya headed out of the village after retrieving the scroll. Once outside of Konoha, Uzus.h.i.+ogakure was a straight shot to the east from there. They traveled through the forest by foot. The journey would take 3 days.
They were two days into their journey. After one more night, they would arrive in the morning. Nawaki was able to sense for miles around them because of all the dense forest. He was able to keep sage mode active for the whole journey. They repeatedly snaked their path to avoid bandit groups. There was no time to deal with them.
As they crossed the border into the Land of Whirlpools, Nawaki sensed a small group of ninja waiting up ahead. He focused on their chakra signature. After some careful thought, he determined that they were suspicious. He knew what an Uzumaki's chakra felt like and this was not that.
He spoke up to his team, "There are some ninja up ahead. I don't believe that they are friendly." The three nodded as they continued. Once they were close enough, they stopped. Jiraiya turned to Nawaki and they both nodded. After a few seconds, Nawaki said, "10 ninja, 3 jonin, 7 chunin." They all turned to each other and nodded. Minato then spoke up, "Can I handle this myself? I have been itching to try out a new technique."
Fugaku scoffed and said, "As usual, keeping all the fun to yourself." The four of them laughed and then Jiraiya said, "Just this once I'll allow it. We will keep an eye out to intervene if it is too much for you." Minato let on a toothy grin and said, "I'll be off then!" He disappeared in a burst of speed.
The 10 ninja lay in wait. 5 of them wore Kiri headbands and 5 word k.u.mo headbands. There seemed to be a certain amount of underlying distrust between them. Their mission was to keep tabs on travel to and from Uzus.h.i.+ogakure. Having been there for a few weeks, they were all bored with the lack of action.
Out of nowhere, a kunai flew by and landed in the ground behind them. As they all turned to where it came from, several more kunai landed into the ground around them. They were now surrounded by kunai. The group tensed up as
After a few moments, one of them spoke up saying, "Someone is toying with us." As he finished his statement, there was a series of flashes. With each one, a ninja dropped. Within 15 seconds, all 10 of them were dead. In another flash, a blond ninja stood over the bodies twirling a kunai around his finger.
Three more ninja jumped down from the trees as he said, "Well, that was easier than I thought." One of the other ninja ran forward with an amazed face and said, "Minato! What was that?!?!" Minato chuckled and then said, "I call it the Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three."
Upon hearing this, Team Jiraiya bursted into a fit of laughter as Minato's face went red. Through the laughter, Fugaku said, "You really do suck at naming things." Minato pouted and said, "Well I think it sounds cool."
After teasing Minato for a bit, they investigated the bodies. Jiraiya called his team over and said, "It seems the rumors are true. I'm sure that I don't have to say it, but we should hurry. Let's go." With that, the team took off. After a few hours, Nawaki sensed another team of ninja.
He said, "Another group of ninja. I think these ones are Uzumakis. Let's keep going." Soon enough, they were intercepted by the team of Uzus.h.i.+o ninja. Nothing was said but it seemed that they were expecting them. After about 10 minutes, they approached a clearing.
It was truly a sight to behold. Before them, a sprawling valley with rolling hills of green gra.s.s stretched towards the coast. A large mountain range hugged the outer borders of the valley. From the mountains, a huge river snaked through the hills and dumped into the ocean.
Looking out to the coast, there was a huge village. There were several high rise buildings that towered over the rest. A huge wall surrounded the village so not much other than the towers.
The group arrived at the gates and sped through with no delays. They made a turn onto a wide road that resembled a city's main street. A huge estate sat at the end of the road. It had a traditional j.a.panese construction. It was red on the sides with black roofing. Whirlpool symbols dotted the walls that surrounded the property.
Once the group reached the building, all but one of the Uzus.h.i.+o ninja remained outside. The last one escorted Team Jiraiya through the building and led them to a large set of wooden doors. He knocked and an elderly voice called from inside, "You may enter."
This appeared to be an office. There were countless scrolls that were neatly organized in bookshelves that covered the walls. At the other end of the room, a large wooden desk sat with papers scattered in various piles. Behind the desk sat an old man with white hair and a long beard.
The Uzus.h.i.+o ninja bowed and Team Jiraiya followed suit. The Uzus.h.i.+o ninja then said, "Uzukage sama, these are the Konoha ninja that you were expecting." The Uzukage then nodded before saying, "Thanks, you are dismissed." The Uzus.h.i.+o ninja then left the room.
The Uzukage then said, "Welcome to Uzus.h.i.+ogakure, my name is Uzumaki As.h.i.+na and I am the Uzukage." Jiraiya then stood up and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Uzukage sama. I am Jiraiya and these are my teammates Uchiha Fugaku, Namikaze Minato, and Senju Nawaki."
Upon hearing this, As.h.i.+na smiled and said, "Ah Nawaki. Would you happen to be related to Uzumaki Mito?" Nawaki perked up when he heard this and said excitedly, "Yeah, she was my Obaa san." As.h.i.+na then smiled and said, "Then we are family. Mito was my cousin. It is great to finally meet you. She has told me a bit about you in her letters. It was tragic when I heard of her death."
Nawaki was stunned. He then said, "So would that make us cousins?" As.h.i.+na laughed and said, "Something like that. We can talk about that later. There are more pressing matters at hand." Seeing his cue, Jiraiya took out the scroll and handed it over to As.h.i.+na.
As.h.i.+na sat down and read through it before saying, "I don't understand. We have always maintained a stance of neutrality. Why would we be targeted?" Jiraiya said nothing. He was not sure how to answer the question.
Nawaki knew the answer but he felt guilty. He realized that this event was not supposed to happen yet. The third war should not take place for at least another 10 years. He felt responsible for speeding up the timeline but knew he had to do something.
Nawaki then said, "If I may, I could try to explain." Jiraiya turned to Nawaki wearing a thankful expression. As.h.i.+na then said, "Go ahead. I'd like to hear what you have to say so speak freely."
Nawaki then started, "While what you say about your village's neutrality is true, the other villages do not see it that way. You appear to favor Konoha with the amount of business that is done. The many discounts and friendly relations.h.i.+ps boosts our strength. The other villages see this as a threat. Tension is rising and there will without a doubt be a war. Sadly, this war is set to start quite soon. In order to gain an advantage in the coming conflict, the other villages have banded together in an effort to reduce Konoha's strength through the elimination of your village and clan. Fortunately, Hokage sama has taken notice and has decided to take action with your permission of course."
As.h.i.+na sighed and wore a large frown. He then said, "I never would have thought that it would come to this. From what I know, even with a.s.sistance from Konoha, we would not be able to hold off the combined might of four great nations." He then went into deep thought as he stroked his beard.
He then looked up and said, "Please send word to your Hokage. I wish to meet with him as soon as possible. I would come to Konoha but there are many things I must attend to quickly with the looming threat. I request that he come here as soon as he can. It is unfortunate that we can not meet immediately but one can only travel so fast."
Upon hearing this, Minato and Nawaki turned to each other and grinned. Seeing this, As.h.i.+na said, "What is so funny you two?" Nawaki turned to As.h.i.+na and said, "What if we told you that there was a way to have the meeting this afternoon?"
As.h.i.+na raised his white bushy brow and said, "Continue." Nawaki chuckled and then said, "Minato and I have a teleportation technique that can theoretically be used over an infinite distance. The only drawback is that the amount of chakra used scales linearly with the distance."
As.h.i.+na laughed and said, "I'm intrigued. How does this technique work?" Minato then stepped forward after taking out one of his kunai and handed it to As.h.i.+na. His eyes widened as he said, "This is quite the advanced seal. I have to say that I'm impressed. I'll have to show you guys around our sealing archives at some point. You'll be able to make good use of the knowledge there. Anyways, get to work. The sooner we can have this meeting the better."
Nawaki turned to Minato and said, "I'll do the honors. We don't know how much chakra this will take so I'll test it out." Minato nodded. Nawaki then looked for a good place in the office to meditate.
As he looked around the office, he looked through a large window that spanned the wall behind the Uzukage's desk. Out the window, one could see the bustling main street that ran through the village. They didn't get a chance to look around when they sped through the village so Nawaki soaked in the sight.
Under the high rise buildings, countless smaller structures lined the side of the road. They looked like smaller versions of the tower. They were made of the same concrete but were only a few stories tall. On ground level, canopies covered all types of shops and food stands. The flow of people was endless as they shuffled in and out of the businesses and down the streets. With most of the people being of the Uzumaki clan, it looked like a sea of red heads flowing chaotically.