V.1-C.27│Ruins of Uzushiogakure I│

"So your telling me, that Gato has managed to set himself up a base of operations within the ruins of Uzushiogakure?" Kushina asked as everyone had rejoined with each other, meeting up at a rendezvous point near Tazuna's home.

This was only a temporary place for them to set up.

"Yes. Apparently, and here are the documents." Mei handed some papers to Kushina, she read it, before passing it on to the other two girls, Rin and Kurenai.

"I see..." Kushina said, trailing off. "It seems that they wish to get past the seals in place for the more secure areas of Uzushio. They will never be able to do so, not without the blood of an Uzumaki running through their veins."

"There are some treasures left behind?" Mei asked, interested, since this information may be crucial for her own personal goals, rather than the ones of the village. Of her village.

"I don't know. All I know is that it wont be treasure that we would find there, at least that is from what I know." Kushina wasn't given much information about her village, specifically because she was chosen to become the next jinchuriki of the Nine Tail's.

"So we don't know what we would find? Then why is Gato wanting to go there then? Especially since you said it is sealed." Rin asked.

"Yes. There are not only normal seals to lock away things, but from what I understand, there are also seals meant to keep people away. What I want to know is how he managed to get past the whirlpools that surround the entrance to the village." Kushina contemplated, and this made her further wonder just how enemy shinobi managed to breach the seals.

She was not ignorant enough to believe that they were unbreakable, but supposedly the entire village was destroyed. Everyone, or near everyone was killed, meaning that they had an easy time getting in and out.

"So we are going to go there?" Obito asked, as he had some level of attachment himself. He was once a part of the clan, in his previous life that is. He had no idea of their history, and he wanted to know more himself, given that he was raised in Konoha, twice.

"Yes. It looks like we will have to go there. They wont be able to enter, but that doesn't mean we should allow them to continue to do what they want. From what I gathered, Gato has also gone over towards the village ruins as well." Kushina stated, which would lead to all of them now knowing their location.

Whatever it was that Gato wanted, he was never going to get it.

Leaving their temporary camp, they would travel into the closely packed together islands that weren't really separate islands, heading towards one smaller island in particular.

It was slightly away, but one could clearly see that there were massive whirlpools designed all around the idea. Or at least that is what should of been in front of her, but Kushina would be surprised to find that the defense mechanism behind Uzushiogakure's defense was not working.

'Just what happened?' She was starting to grow a little more determined in finding out what had happened here.

She didn't even care about their current mission involving Gato, instead this only being a side note, as so far they have not come across any problems.

Kushina would use this as a chance to finally learn some more, or take this as a chance to gather some clues as to what might have happened.

Knowing that would need a boat, of course they would of sequestered themselves a way to get across, or at least that was originally the plan.

Instead, since the whirlpools weren't in place, they didn't have to worry about crossing the ocean over towards the island, especially with the fact that it was close enough for all of them to travel over the sea and not be tired.

Using the water walking technique, they would all cross, even Mei as she had learned of this chakra control exercise herself.

Running across the ocean, Kushina looked below, and it was clear enough for her to see her own reflection. She thought she had seen her parents in that reflection for a second, before the water passed her by.

Shaking her head, she continued as everyone would take around 30 minutes to go from the main larger island that formed the Land of Whirlpools, to the other small island that housed the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides, was the shinobi village of the Land of Whirlpools.

Its ninja were renowned for their fuinjutsu to the point that it led to its destruction in war. Those who survived the village's destruction scattered across the globe to seek refuge.

The people of Uzushiogakure were noted to have notoriously long lives, so it gained the epithet 'The Village of Longevity.' In terms of appearance, the village seemed to have been composed of several high-rise buildings.

A wide river seemingly ran through the village and was gapped by large bridges. The surrounding countryside was dominated by steep hills.

Uzushiogakure had close ties with Konohagakure, due to Uzushio's Uzumaki clan and Konoha's Senju clan being distant blood relatives.

Because of this, all flak jackets worn by the chunin and jonin-level shinobi of Konohagakure bear the crest of Uzushiogakure, symbolizing the strong friendship between both villages.

This symbol is also emblazoned on some of the shoulders of the outfits that the Konoha shinobi wear underneath the flak jackets.

The Uzumaki was a common name within said village, especially because the Uzumaki clan was a large one conglomerating within this village. Now they are nothing more than remnants spread throughout the lands.

Even those remnants were but a few people that could be counted on one hand, and if one is optimistic, that would be two hands.

"Right. From here, we should be careful. We don't know where Gato and his men are, but it is very likely that they have set themselves up in the main core of the ruins." Kushina explained to the four genin before her. "I don't know whether or not they have someone stronger than a chunin, but it is best to remain cautious just incase."

The four genin nodded their heads in response to Kushina's warning. "Any questions?" Kushina asked, wanting to get everything out of the way before they go any deeper.

"If we are spotted, do we engage?" Rin asked.

"Yes." Usually Kushina didn't like fighting, and retreating would've been a much more in character option, but she was especially impassioned by being here again.

Her memories weren't even that vague, given she was sent off to Konoha at the age of 8, meaning she had a few years in which she has clear memory of said home. But it was hard to remember a lot of it now, simply because she has officially spent more time in Konoha then here.

[]

Gato was a money hungry, power hungry man that wished for nothing more than to start taking over the world one step at a time. He was officially starting his triage into the ruins left behind in Uzushiogakure, knowing that there may be something of value left here.

That is if the others that did attack this place didn't already try and devour anything that was left behind, and any vultures, scavengers, had not been able to do so either.

"Get a move on with it! I thought I had hired the best of the best, but obviously you are all lacking in capability!" Gato said, and he wasn't afraid of said people under him going against him for the simple fact that he had others.

Say what one will about him, his short, rotund stature, but he has a good head that sits upon his shoulders when it comes to intrigue.

Without his perception into the world of politics, intrigue and business, he would never be able to rise to his current position.

Using others against each other, taking their hate and turning them on each other, he was easily able to control people. Of course, he had to be more cautious with the shinobi that have access to techniques, magic outside of his sphere of influence.

However, money seems to be the driving factor behind everything.

"Boss! I don't think we will be able to break through-" The man that came up to him, even getting on his knees as he spoke to Gato was immediately killed by the small gesture made by Gato, his, for now, personal bodyguard working in tandem with his wants.

"I don't like incompetence." Sure, fear was a good tool for securing loyalty, but he knew better than to use it all the time.

Instead, he would constantly switch between using money and using fear to have people under his thumb. Right now he is just saddened that it would take a few, no, a lot more years before he would be able to fully control the Land of Waves, where this was his main place of operations.

An opportunity that had arisen due to Uzushiogakure being wiped off the face of the planet, he wanted to capitalize on this tragedy.

"Get back to work! I want those... seals, or whatever it is to be taken down. With the treasures behind, I will be able to amass enough fortune to expedite my plans." Gato said aloud for everyone to hear.

Of course, he said this for the sole reason of wanting people to know. He would use whatever greed they had against them, killing them off once he has no more use for them.

Those that are loyal to him would probably think that they would get a pay rise once doing so, but he would kill them as well.

Watching them squirm and get back to work, Gato was most definitely satisfied with the results of his hard work.

Right now, Gato is in fact in his early thirties, being only 31 years of age this year.

"Gato." A voice spoke to him, and arriving in front of him was another man that he had gotten to know of.

Someone that would even go as far as to start messing with the information network of his own village, all so that he may also get some money. Or it may have been something else that he wanted from the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

After all, Gato had heard of the Uzumaki and their sealing techniques being the best of the best, so there may be some secrets hidden within that interested this shinobi in front of him. "What do you want, Naoki?" Gato questioned the man.

He was someone that was from Kirigakure, someone that came from the lower rungs of their caste system, but he was powerful enough to become a jonin. "I heard that there seems to be some people investigating things back in the cape town." Naoki replied.

He had short black hair, and brown eyes, with average facial features. "What of it?"

"It was shinobi from the Leaf, and it also seemed like my village is investigating here as well." Naoki replied, as he only teamed up with Gato because he wanted money, yes, but he had also discovered some hidden secrets that may make him powerful enough to avenge his family.

A family that was killed because of the whole rotten system within Kirigakure, within the Land of Water. "It doesn't matter. We should be done soon enough, and come up with an answer as to whether or not we can get anything from here." Gato replied, not to bother by this fact.

He is protected after all. "You don't understand. They investigated the increase in their supplies being dropped. Both villages seem like they are working together." If Mei was here, she would recognize this man, Naoki, as the supposed jonin leader of her team.

He had sent them out, and it seemed like he was acting as a double agent. "Again, that doesn't matter. My money shall settle things." Gato waved the man off, not worried, as he knows the corruption of the world would allow him to sway any that wish to harm him.

Even then, he could force his will, via his hired help.

"This is a problem because we don't know why they are here. In fact, we don't know what information they have discovered. I hope that you have not been taking anything down about my presence." Naoki said in a threatening tone, and Gato knew that he was being serious.

"Who are they then? Is this all the information you have?" Gato asked, wanting to know more so that he may get more information on just what might be happening, surrounding these 'shinobi.'

"You are lucky." Naoki muttered under his breath, before he would say to Gato. "No. But it seems like it was just some genin, maybe even a genin that was assigned under me."

"That's great then! You can use your status as a Kirigakure ninja and tell them to leave. Easy enough."

"It is not 'easy enough.' It simply isn't." Naoki didn't want his plans to come to an end, even when he was so close to achieving something that could empower himself.

"What are shinobi anyway? Look at you, you are supposed to be among the elite of the shinobi, yet you panic." Gato said derisively, and while Naoki was angered, he knew that he couldn't beat all of those working under Gato.

So he would hold back, just as Gato couldn't do whatever he wanted with Naoki as well. After all, he was a linchpin in the plan for Gato to access the treasures and get away scot free from the information networks of all networks.

"You have been warned." Naoki said before he would go away, disappearing from the despicable human being known as Gato.

"How useless." Gato spat, before turning his eyes greedily towards the place of where his treasures may be.

No one here realized just how badly things would go though, as they all went to work to satiate their greed for now.

Even Gato would not linger, and be forced to deal with some other things. Things that involved the black business within his front company, alongside all of the legitimate things he also has to do to keep up the front.

Rich as he was, that didn't mean he could do whatever he wanted in a carefree manner. At least not yet anyway.