1 The Annihilation of a Great Clan
(A/N: Sigh... Literally hundreds of funny and interesting paragraph comments were deleted by this website, just now, when I edited something in their Inkstone editor. It wasn't my fault, I swear! It's this weird writing platform again...)
(A/N: I also used those paragraph comments when I needed to explain something about this fanfic, and now it's gone too! I'll try and remember some of those things and write them down at the bottom of the chapter...)
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The shinobi world was full of war ever since that very term was first coined during the Warring States period of this world. The countries of the world were uniformly small, constantly battling each other for land, power, and opportunity.
To fight these battles, countries hired one or more clans of mercenaries, formally called shinobi to represent their interests, the shinobi's loyalties ultimately going to the highest bidder.
The constant warfare, in turn, led to constant death, creating an average lifespan of only thirty years.
Children were the greatest victims of the era, forced to fight for their clan no differently than an adult would and, more often than not, being killed by older and more skilled opponents.
Only the strongest of those shinobi clans prevailed in the end. They joined each other to form something called hidden villages.
Those were villages specialized for providing the finest shinobi services, their whole economy based upon that.
Thus, they effectively formed monopolies for shinobi services in their vicinity.
That was precisely when the, one country and one shinobi village, system was first formed.
The political power of a whole country laid in the hands of the so-called Daimyo, the leader of that country. Nonetheless, the sole military power of that nation laid in the hands of a hidden village of that specific nation.
The leaders, or better said managers of hidden villages were called Kages.
They formally had all the power in their hands inside their villages. However, having to balance the interests of all the various clans and other interest groups residing in their villages, it was a very tough job to do in reality.
Over time emerged five exceptional shinobi villages and great countries employing them. Relying on their strong geographical advantages and powerful shinobi forces under their hidden villages, they became the most powerful countries in the world.
The Land of Fire, employing Hidden Leaf Village.
The Land of Lightning, employing Hidden Cloud Village.
The Land of Earth, employing Hidden Rock Village.
The Land of Water, employing Hidden Mist Village
The Land of Wind, employing Hidden Sand Village.
They had power never seen before. Other smaller countries had to bow in fear of offending them. They became the winners of the Warring States period and the true rulers of the world.
With great power comes great responsibility as well. Nevertheless, the great nations didn't manage to suppress their interests, and soon started another war for benefits and hegemony.
This was was unlike any other war before, with such a scale and intensity never seen before, that it was called the First Shinobi World War.
The experiences of this war led to the birth of the tactics that still form the cornerstone of warfare.
It ended with an armistice treaty, but only after all of the Five Great Nations had been seriously damaged.
In that period of history once existed a truly special existence. It was a country ruled by only one shinobi clan. That clan formed it's own hidden village and even had the power of their whole country, where they resided in, in their hands.
Outside of the usual shinobi services, their whole livelihood was based upon the powerful seals that they were making and then selling to other shinobi forces.
Even more so in creating seals, rather than the usual shinobi services. As they were a little bit weaker in actual combat than other clans, and being a peaceful clan of not liking violence themselves. Fortunately, they were best at creating as well as using them in the whole world.
Seals are a powerful tool made for shinobi. They are made of chakra and they could store all kinds of items inside, thereby providing a lot of convenience for the shinobi who had them. They could also be used for a lot of other purposes like defense, or attacks.
Chakra is a powerful force of magical capabilities. It is said that everyone in the world has it, though there were cases when a person isn't able to extract it outside their body.
Chakra is the main reason why some shinobi clans failed and other succeded. It is said that the amount of chakra you have is directly linked to your bloodline. Therefore, only clans with the strongest bloodlines actually succeded in the end.
Such a clan was Uzumaki. They had an enormous amount of chakra in their bodies relative to other shinobi clans.
They lived longer lives, and their wounds healed faster compared to other shinobi. This is why their hidden village was once called "The Village of Longevity".
The only clan that could compare to them in this department was the Senju clan of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Senju and Uzumaki clans had an extremely good relationship throughout the whole history of their individual existence.
Every generation was closely interlinked to one another through arranged marriages and other various means. They were really close to a real family in that way,
Following the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village at the end of the Warring States Period, the Senju chose to symbolize their clans' friendship by adding the Uzumaki's emblem to Konoha's flak jackets.
Konoha and the Uzumaki's own Uzushiogakure hidden village remained close allies over the following decades, with the Uzumaki providing fuinjutsu (seals and expertise in seals) to Konoha whenever a need arose.
Despite being widely considered the strongest of the smaller hidden villages, and their country a contender for the status of a great nation, they still didn't participate in the First Shinobi World War.
Outside their unconditional help for Hidden Leaf Village during the war of course.
The Hidden Leaf Village bought their seals at half a price, other big hidden villages usually paid, which earned them a huge advantage in the war.
Other big hidden shinobi villages didn't take this too kindly, understandably, later when the war was over and they found out, they were truly furious.
Earning the resentment of the four of five big ninja villages, simultaneously, certainly wasn't a good decision to make politically speaking.
Nevertheless, considering their relationship with the Senju clan, now in the form of the Konohagakure, and their sincere, somewhat naive, and very peaceful nature, they still choose to help their long-lived ally in the end.
- - -
Land of Whirpools, Uzushiogakure.
In terms of appearance, this 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.
Children were running across the streets smiling, some were playing by the river or nearby hills.
Adults present watched them with gentle smiles on their faces as they passed by.
Some shinobis patrolled around the hills and the gates, as well as in the village.
Other adults were quietly working on making seals in their homes and workshops, showcasing their deep knowledge and love for fuinjutsu.
The whole village gave a very peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
In one of the buildings, by the window of his home sat a very young boy.
Judging by his overall size and his face, full of baby fat, he was seemingly only around two years old. He had short and noticeable red hair alongside light purple eyes.
He was looking through a window at his village while deep in thought.
He was looking at the river, the hills, and the tall almost modern-like buildings, while thinking about something, 'It's almost like a paradise.'
'But, I still can't believe this really happened to me...' The boy thought then.
It was as if it was yesterday that he transmigrated into this recognizable world. Two years passed by in a flash. However, they were mostly spent on sleeping.
The fusion of his old soul to this new body was a long and tiresome process. But finally, he could feel that it was all over. He could finally face reality again,
Nonetheless, this new reality was very much different from his old reality that he knew.
He remembers that he was just sleeping, two years ago, on the planet called Earth. Then, all of a sudden, he began to periodically wake up in this strange house from time to time.
Sometimes, he saw the faces of a young man and a woman whenever he woke up. They both looked ecstatic, when they saw him awake, and wanted to say something to him then, but he soon promptly fell back asleep again without hearing it in the end.
The only thing he managed to see and remember was their distinctive red-colored hair.
Presently, looking at the people down below, through the nearby window, they all had that same red hair. Adding up those strange symbols everywhere around the village as well, he soon realized his true situation. And, he even slowly accepted it,
'Naruto world, Uzumaki clan...' In his past life, he was always very serious, almost cold-like, as long as he can remember, he was like that.
He also always had the ability to stay calm under very stressful situations, analyze people well, and see things and opportunities there, where the other people didn't look.
Those traits made him very successful in his field. He didn't have a job, but he lived of trading on stock exchanges and other markets, making money in that way. Never had any friends, parents died early. Lived for himself, died for himself.
He always felt that that world wasn't really made for him. That's why he often escaped in the world of fiction through various books, movies, mangas, and anime. Therefore, he is currently very familiar with this one, 'So, my new name is Yoshi Uzumaki, huh?'
'I wonder how much time is left until this village is destroyed...'
Strangely he wasn't that particularly worried,
'I will surely find a way to live!'
That was his self-confidence obtained through many years of constant grinding on the markets in his previous life. In almost impossible-like situations he always managed to find a way to make money in the end. That and... 'What is this fire burning inside of me now?'
That was the first time he felt it. It's almost like he looks forward to something. He looks forward to this world, 'Isn't this what I always dreamed of? I feel like this is the world truly made for me!'
'I can't wait to fight those strong enemies. I feel so alive right now!'
Looking at the tranquility of the village bellow he thought then, 'I'm sorry, I really can't save you now, my clansmen...'
He was looking at their red hair and then looking at his own hair through the mirror in his room.
'I finally found a new family, a place where I belong, and it has to end like this?' He thought indignantly.
Reading the original series he, of course, knows what kind of fate awaited them and who betrayed them in the end as well, 'No matter what, I have to live and take revenge on everyone who wronged my clan!' Clenching his little fist tightly, he thought.
'I will make them pay. Then, I will revitalize my clan after I've finished with all of them!'
Looking at the gentle and kindhearted people down bellow on the streets, he finally made up his mind, 'But, first things first. Let's try to feel my chakra for now.'
He fell into meditation, and sure enough, after a while, he felt a huge amount of some kind of weird energy swirling inside his body, 'Is this the so-called chakra?'
'Let's try to get it out of my body, into my hand for now!' He thought that since he can't train his body, for now, he will try to exercise his chakra control a little.
However, as soon as that little amount of chakra exited his body, he felt like his whole body is drained out of energy. His eyelids dropped down and he fell back asleep again promptly.
- - -
One month later. Uzushiogakure. In the same room as the last time.
A young man and a woman, both having red hair and in shinobi uniforms, who both looked to be in their late twenties were currently talking about something in front of the bed where their child was sleeping in, "Yes, I heard about that too, not too long ago."
"Patriarch's granddaughter Kushina left the village to become the next Nine-Tails container of Hidden Leaf Village."
"Sigh. I don't know what to think about this. She was the second most talented person from our village after Lady Mito, and both of them had to go to another village..."
"They are our allies, after all, so we should help them. It would be really bad if the Nine-Tails was set free at this time. The whole ninja world would probably be in great chaos!"
"Yeah, you're right. I don't want anything bad happening to Konoha neither!"
The red-haired man thought of his old friend from Konoha for a moment.
"When will our son wake up again, darling, what do you think?"
The women asked worriedly. Looking gently at her son while moving her hand through his hair.
But, all of a sudden, after a few seconds after that sentence, the boy gradually opened his eyes, revealing their purple color, and started looking at his parents curiously.
His parents also looked at him curiously also full of joy.
"Yes! My son finally woke up!" The man said excitedly and held him in his hands then.
"Wait, what are you doing, you fool, put him down fast, what if he falls back asleep again!"
"Haha, no, I feel like he won't fall asleep again this time around. Let's take him outside for a bit, I want to show him off to my friends, haha.."
"Wait, slow down!"
The three left the building, with the boy having a helpless expression on his little face.
- - -
After a whole day of pestering and adults rubbing his face like he was a pet. He finally had some privacy and free time on his hands once again.
Soon, his little white face turned serious, 'So Kushina left the village already? Damn, that means that it won't be too long before this village gets destroyed and the Second Ninja World War begins.'
'So that means, all my plans go down the drain just like that?'
'Sure enough, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face!'
'Then, there is only that way left!'
'But first, let's try exercising some chakra control more!'
.
And just like that, a year passed by in a blink of an eye.
Other than exercising his chakra control and then recovering through sleep. Yoshi also started doing things that other kids his age do as well.
He learned how to walk, so he regularly walked around the village. He learned to talk, so he talked to his parents and villagers, often acquiring valuable information.
'Sure enough, fiction is different from reality.'
He finally managed to solve all the pieces together.
It turned out that Third Hokage already sold this village. He got Kushina Uzumaki for his next Nine-Tails container now, so he won't have a reason to help this village anymore in the future.
In his estimates, it was a matter of months until this village gets destroyed. And, around a year until the Second Ninja World War starts.
He's still very weak, only doing basic chakra control at the moment. His body currently can't bear any heavier stress than that.
Being able to complete "Leaf Concentration Practice" is already a very maximum for him.
Moreover, that is probably only because of his strong spiritual power from his previous world, and the fusion of two souls, one being an adult one as well.
That is why he was able to complete that exercise at the age of three.
But, "Chakra Tree Climbing" and "Water Surface Walking", he didn't even try those yet.
He doubts he could finish those before another year passes.
The only way out of this peculiar situation is to successfully convince his parents to escape this village before big hidden villages deploy their troops to destroy it.
He already talked to his parents about this. They are not stupid, through their own reasoning and his opinions, they already more or less understood the current situation.
Regarding his maturity and intelligence, they didn't find it too weird. After all, there are many geniuses constantly rising in the shinobi world every day.
Understanding the situation doesn't mean that they will desert the village that raised them both.
Nonetheless, they also can't be selfish and let their three-year-old son die along with them and this village. Therefore, they made a plan unbeknownst to Yoshi.
Turns out that Yoshi's father, Daichi Uzumaki, is a big man in the Uzumaki clan. He's one of the four elite jonins of the Uzushiogakure, also the strongest and the most famous of all of the four.
While others in the clan were mainly focused on sensory jutsu, medical jutsu, or fujintisu, he mainly focused on ninjutsu and attack power. Only the clan patriarch is probably currently stronger than him, looking at the whole village,
All of the shinobi community knows him as the "Uzumaki Chainmaster"!
That was the nickname he earned for himself throughout his entire ninja career.
While he was younger, he once met a man that will be his lifelong friend and a sworn brother in the future. That man was the Konoha's famous "White Fang", Sakumo Hatake!
Turns out that this famous man would die at that time if not for his father's intervention.
As allies, the two villages often sent their shinobi on the same missions.
That mission was one of them. Turns out that Sakumo Hatake was fatally injured, but was timely rescued by his old father. By letting him bite his skin, he saved his life then.
Sakumo is a person who cherishes his comrades and friends, so ever since then, the two men remained in contact regularly via letters and other means of communication.
Yoshi's father Daichi recently sent a very special letter to his old friend,
He explained the situation to him clearly, pleading him to come to the Land of Whirlpools, at the specified date, at a specified location, later in the month.
And, take his son to Konoha with him! Only in that way will his son get the chance to survive what will happen next. Daichi knows that; He doesn't want his son to run homeless across the vast world without any protection or care in the future.
Even though Konoha betrayed them, and he sees that. They will still accept his son, he is sure of that. As a backup container of a tailed beast, as the last breath of a dying clan with a powerful bloodline.
He's also just a little kid whom they could mold into whatever they want, with no fear of malice coming from him, in the future. The possibility of true integration of the Uzumaki bloodline into Konoha is very possible then.
Not to mention the elite jonin of their village and the strongest and most famous person in their village outside the Hokage, the "White Fang", will personally take care of him.
'This is the only way!' Daichi thought, looking at the unopened letter in front of him. His wife Yui Uzumaki was right beside him, looking at him anxiously.
She is just an ordinary medical ninja, so she knows that in this situation she can only just listen to her husband and nothing more.
They are in their bedroom while Yoshi was still 'playing' in the other room.
The letter came from Konoha and the address was to his home. The sender was Sakumo Hatake.
He took a deep breath and opened the letter, then started reading it.
After reading it carefully for some time, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and handed the letter over to his wife.
She took it hurriedly and started reading it as well. After reading it for some time, she made the same expression as Daichi.
"It seems though Sakumo is truly my only brother in this life. I shouldn't have doubted him for a second! It also seems that Konoha really abandoned our village this time!
He says it was a high-level decision, meaning ordinary people, or even most of the shinobi in the Konoha, don't even know what will happen to our village next.
He says he doesn't agree to that decision at all and is prepared to fight to his last breath for the Uzushiogakure, Uzumaki clan, and his friend, he will go alone if needed."
"Men like Sakumo are truly rare in this world, but doesn't this mean deserting his village actually?"
"He was always like this, he always put his comrades and friends first instead of the village. I guess he's one of a kind shinobi. People like him are truly rare..."
He said with a smile, reminiscing of his old days with Sakumo.
"But, taking our son to Konoha with him is already enough. I don't want to make it any more difficult for him nor affect him with our current problems anymore!"
"Give me a pen. I will now write a new letter thanking him for everything, and arranging a location and date for our next meeting."
- - -
Land of Fire. Hidden Leaf Village. Hatake Clan Estate.
Sakumo Hatake looked at the opened letter in front of him at the table while thinking about something.
This man currently has the strongest reputation and the most resounding name in the whole shinobi world outside the Five Kages,
Everyone currently knows who the Konoha's "White Fang" is in the shinobi world!
Merciless to his enemies, and kind to his comrades and villagers. A true carrier of the famous "Will of Fire" philosophy!
However, that doesn't mean that he respects every single decision that Konoha's high-level authorities make.
Konoha's Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his two advisors.
As well as the Root leader Danzo Shimura, nicknamed the "Darkness of Shinobi".
He and that man often clashed with words, their philosophies being not compatible with one another. A time like that was right now as well,
Some time ago, high-level personnel of Konoha got the information that the other four big hidden ninja villages prepared a plan to dismantle and destroy their allied village called Uzushiogakure.
He got that information first-hand immediately after it came to Konoha, because he's the Anbu Commander of the whole village, serving only under the Hokage.
Every village has its own Anbu force nowadays. They are usually the strongest and the most experienced shinobi in the whole village, usually doing hundreds of difficult missions in their lifetimes.
Unlike the ordinary shinobi who often do lower-risk mission, every mission of Anbu personnel is classified as being of a high-difficulty.
They are mainly tasked with assassinations or disturbances in foreign countries.
The assignments that they conduct to protect the village from exceptional threats include high-risk infiltration into enemy territory, dealing with extremely strong ninja, tracking, surveillance, interrogating enemy ninja to learn information and missions requiring specially trained ninja.
Besides Sakumo's own Anbu force, the Hidden Leaf Village has another special Anbu force called the Root.
Existence like the Root is truly special and unprecedented existence in the whole ninja world. Being unique only to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Root carried out missions that their founder and the leader Danzo believed would benefit Konoha.
Because of its core views as "The unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth", some of these missions were truly less than respectable.
Root was an extremely strict, and secretive group and as such each member of the organization had a cursed seal imprinted on the back of their tongues by Danzo, which when activated, would paralyze their entire body if they tried to speak anything about Danzo or the organization, rendering them unable to speak or move.
It was truly a village within the village. Despite formally serving the Hokage, Root members in reality only listened to Danzo. It was like a modern-day paramilitary force.
Everything steems from the fact that Danzo is the Third Hokage's most important friend in life and former comrade in arms. They were like brothers since they were little boys.
When Hiruzen was made into the Third Hokage, Danzo was left devasted.
To amend his old friend, Hiruzen allowed him to form his own shinobi force called the Root, which then evolved into the behemoth that it was today.
Despite being called the "Shinobi Professor" and possessing an enormous amount of strength, Hiruzen was often lenient and somewhat meek towards his friends and other beloved people.
Now that the other four big ninja villages ganged up together to destroy the Uzumaki clan and their village, he was hesitant to help due to his somewhat meek and a bit calculative nature.
Despite them being close allies and iron brothers for decades, he was still irresolute in helping them. He doesn't believe his village can go against the other four big ninja villages at the same time, which he is sure will happen if they try to defend the Uzushiogakure.
Not to mention that Danzo Shimura and his two close advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane also all strongly oppose helping the Uzumaki clan now and incurring the wrath of the other four big ninja villages at the same time.
Now that they got another container for the Nine-tailed beast, Kushina Uzumaki, they believe that they don't have any more reasons to help them with that of a great price to pay.
Ignoring the fact that basically Uzumaki clan incurred the wrath of those big villages only because they helped Konoha in making them seals and selling them at half a price other villages paid in the First Ninja World War, thus allowing them a fairly easy victory,
But as they say, there are no friends in politics, only benefits. And the great Uzumaki clan didn't manage to grasp that!
If the Senju clan was still standing strong in the Konoha today as they did in their heyday, then the Konoha would plausibly help them. But they mysteriously vanished during the last couple of decades, with only a handful of them remaining alive in the village at this time.
If Lady Mito, the wife of the First Hokage, the legendary "God of Shinobi", was still alive, with her great influence and Jinchuriki status, then they would also plausibly help Uzumaki clan as well,
But pity, neither of these two conditions is true at the present!
Sakumo Hatake thought of all of that in a moment and finally let out a long sigh, his facial expression looking tired, 'Fine Daichi, if that is your only wish, then I will listen to you.'
'Also, be sure Daichi. With me here, no one will ever touch your son in Konoha!'
'I will take care of him like he is my second son,' Sakumo thought of his own first child named Kakashi, 'I hope they will be good brothers in the future.'
Thinking of Kakashi, he soon overheard footsteps coming towards his room.
There entered a three-year-old child with a mask covering half of his face. But, a bright smile could still be seen on his face whilst he was looking at his beloved father.
"Father!!" He yelled happily as he jumped into his arms.
Sakumo held him in his arms high and asked gently, "Kakashi, how are you doing today?"
"Also, didn't I tell you not to wear that mask anymore?"
"But, father it was all because of you! You teased me that I look like a girl before!"
Sakumo coughed a little, in fact, feeling a bit embarrassed and helpless right now,
He once teased his son that he looked like a girl because of his very cute and good-looking face.
But, his son misunderstood him, then stole his shinobi Anbu mask, and now won't stop wearing it no matter where he goes. Not taking it off for one minute except when eating and bathing.
"Father, you promised to teach me the swordsmanship of our clan when I turn three. I'm now three years old remember? "Hatake clan was a clan specialized in kenjutsu, it was one of kind clan in Konoha.
They were famous for their swordsmanship ever since the shinobi Warring States period, or even before that, during the Samurai Age,
There was even a legend that they immigrated into the Land of Fire long time ago from the Land of Iron, the only remaining samurai heaven nowadays in the world.
Their family heirloom was a weapon called the "White Light Chakra Sabre",
The "White Light Chakra Sabre" is a straight-bladed tanto with a small, circular hand-guard.
It gave off a white streak of chakra when it was swung, thus earning Sakumo his title of "Konoha's White Fang".
The only remaining members of this legendary clan currently are Sakumo Hatake and his son Kakashi,
Through the hundreds of years of their clan's history, only these two remained alive presently!
Sakumo smiled a little, remembering that he promised his son to start teaching him his famous kenjutsu once he turns three-years-old.
Everything before that would stunt his son's development and growth, so he didn't bother trying to teach him, no matter how much his son urged and pleaded with him.
However, it's different now. Once they turn three-years-old, the children could start learning a few of the shinobi skills here and there freely, without stunting their growth.
It could even prove advantageous for their growth!
The same is true for all the other clans like Uchiha and Hyuga for example. Everyone starts teaching their children at that time, around three-years-old.
That's why children from ninja clans usually have a clear advantage when going to the Ninja Academy at five-years-old, compared to the other civilian children.
An age at which children can enter the Ninja Academy varies according to the situation village is in at that time.
If it's during wartime, or around the time when the village is expecting a new war when ninja village needs combat power fast, children will enter the academy at just five years old.
That's the current age limit set by the Hokage at the moment.
Everyone in the shinobi world can see a new war is currently brewing on the horizon.
Once the big four hidden villages successfully destroy the Uzumaki clan, they will probably turn their sights against one another, some inevitably going against Konoha as well.
That's why Sakumo Hatake is in an urgent hurry to make his son stronger quickly.
So, that his son doesn't become just another common cannon fodder on the battlefield who gets killed easily in the troubled times coming ahead.
"Fine, Kakashi. I will finally start teaching you our clan's kenjutsu, two weeks later!"
"Yess! But why waiting another two weeks, I'm already three years old now!"
Sakumo smiled mysteriously, "That's because I'm preparing a big surprise for you."
"What is it!? Tell me please!"
"No, I will tell you when the time comes," After spending some time with his son. Sakumo left his clan estate and headed towards the Hokage's office.
When villagers saw him on the street, they all looked excited and stopped to greet him with a look of worship in their eyes. He just smiled kindly and spoke a few gentle words with them.
It was hard to think that this white-haired demon on the battlefield was being so kind in the presence of his villagers. But, such a man was Sakumo Hatake, a man of two opposite sides.
Soon, he arrived in front of the famous Hokage building in the center of the Leaf Village.
Nodding a little to the guards, he knocked on the Hokage's office door and soon entered.
There was a middle-aged gentleman sitting there in the center of the room on a comfortable chair, while looking at some documents, smoking a pipe.
Just by looking at his eyes, you could tell that he was very tired at this time. Looking at Sakumo in his jonin uniform, and without his usual Anbu mask and attire on, he looked a little surprised.
"Sakumo, is there anything?" He asked lightly first.
"Lord Hokage, as a jonin of this village, I request a leave permission on the date which is two weeks from today. I will be gone for that whole day, as well as two more days after it, and then I'll come back promptly after I finish my business. My assistant, and the second in command of Anbu black ops, will fill in for my duty for that specific time-frame."
Sarutobi was even more surprised right now. This was the first that Sakumo asked for a leave permission in his whole shinobi career spanning through many years.
But, looking at the situation of Konoha, and the whole ninja world right now, with a war on the horizon brewing and everything, he still had to ask for his purpose first, "What is the purpose of this leave, may I know?"
"Lord Hokage, in fact, you already know my stance on our current decision of abandoning the Uzumaki clan during these hard times,
Not only because they're our strongest ally, not because of the enormous amount of favors we own them, but also because I have my own best friend and a sworn brother living inside that village right now,
He clearly realized what will happen to his clan and his family in the coming months, so he asked me, his best friend, to go and pick up his son from there, bring him to Konohagakure, and to take care of him like he's my own second child,
So, I decided to do just that, even though I can't help his whole clan in this situation. I still have to do what he asked of me! This is the bare minimum I can do, This is my decision and I hope you will agree!" After he finished his speech, Sakumo even knelt down with his one knee bending on the ground.
Hokage looked surprised and stood up, his whole face was also covered with the looks of guilt, remorse, and shame all of a sudden. After a while, he just sighed, sat down, and asked again.
"How old is the boy, may I know Sakumo?"
Sakumo realizing his purpose promptly responded, "He's exactly three-years-old right now, Lord Hokage. Same age as my son Kakashi. I plan on making them sworn brothers and enrolling them into the Ninja Academy at the same time."
Hokage started thinking deeply with one of his hands rested on his chin, 'No matter what, I have to agree to this request.
Whether it is because giving a face to my strongest and most valuable subordinate,
Or, the potential that the young Uzumaki child survivor could bring to this village.'
"Alright, Sakumo. Your leave permission has been granted. Remember to bring the child for me to see after you bring him to Konoha!"
"This is the leave permission document. I'll start writing Konoha documents for the young boy too, it will be done before you come back after two weeks..."
Sakumo stood up looking delighted, then he bowed again, "Thank you, Lord Hokage, you won't regret this decision! I'm sure he will be an excellent Konoha shinobi in the future!"
"Well, with you training him personally, I'm already sure that will be the case,
But, please remember this, avoid talking about any sensitive topics like the destruction of his clan in front of him in the future. I'm pretty sure you already know why I tell you that,
Only in this way will the kid truly integrate into our Konoha and carry out our "Will of Fire"," Hokage replied solemnly.
"I understand, Lord Hokage. Please rest assured that under my careful teachings, the kid definitely won't go astray and end up on the wrong path!"
After saying this, Sakumo thanked the Hokage again, promptly took the leave permission document from the table, and then left the office swiftly.
- - -
Land of Whirpools, Uzushiogakure.
Two weeks passed by in the blink of an eye.
Yoshi Uzumaki was still only practicing his chakra control ability back in his room, still under pretense from his parents that he was just playing. His entire days were passed in that way.
As the days passed by, he was getting more and more anxious. He also realized that his parents behaved somewhat weirdly during these two weeks.
They would sometimes look at him happily, other times sad, with a little dose of melancholy in their looks always being present.
Even a fool would realize something was wrong with them, not to mention, him.
While he was thinking about all of this, his father was currently somewhere else.
In a big, spacious room that could only be described as an ancestral hall, there were only two people present.
An older man was facing a younger man in front of him, who was currently kneeling down on one knee, behind him was an enormous Uzumaki clan logo engraved on the wall,
That man was the current patriarch of the Uzumaki clan!
Having been on this position for quite some time already, and having listened to everything his strongest subordinate in front of him told him right now, he suddenly had a look of realization on his old and tired face.
He let out a deep breath and said then, "Alright, Daichi, I will agree with your plan."
But, soon he asked another question, "But, are you sure that he can carry out this heavy burden all alone on his shoulders by himself? He's just a mere three-year-old boy after all..."
He didn't manage to finish his sentence, because Daichi already interrupted him, "Please, don't look at him like he's just another three-year-old boy, Lord. His intelligence in some areas even surpasses mine! You wouldn't believe it, but he talks just like an adult now,
He intuitively learned to extract and refine chakra at the age of two. Now he can even exercise chakra control at the age of three. His chakra reserves are way bigger than Lady Mito's and Kushina's at his age,
Genius is a small word to describe him, Lord Patriarch! I'm pretty confident he's the biggest genius our clan ever produced to this date. I'm truly confident that in the future, his strength will be in the ranks of the likes of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha!"
Daichi explained passionately, with a hint of pride on his face, it was his own son after all.
"Sigh...
Truly a pity, a monster like that appeared in our clan at this time...
If only he appeared before this situation...
But, now everything is too late...
Too late...
If Konoha doesn't help us this time, our clan of hundreds of years of glorious history is doomed to be destroyed and perish..." Uzumaki patriarch replied with a sorrowful look on his face.
"No! Everything is not too late right now, Patriarch!
Our plan this time is spotless. In the next couple of days, we will send all of our Uzumaki clan's children in various locations around the world scattered,
Some of our non-shinobi clansmen and sensory types shinobi will go with them as an entourage. We will give them money, and basic Uzumaki clan training procedures,
Some of them will inevitably die on their ways regrettably, but some of them will also successfully manage to get into hiding,
Later, when Yoshi gets to Konoha and rises through their ranks, allowing him to form an official clan in the village, our second part of the plan will start,
We will give him a map of the secret locations where those young Uzumaki clansmen were supposed to be scattered around the world,
Coupled with his excellent Uzumaki bloodline sensing ability, he would surely find those survivors and bring them back to Konoha with him, thus reviving our clan in an essence!
Only in this way will our Uzumaki clan assuredly manage to survive. Who knows, maybe Yoshi manages to bring it to even higher and more unimaginable heights than before in the future!
I fully believe in him, I fully believe in my son! Yoshi Uzumaki!
Hahaha..." Daichi said fanatically, spitting a bit while talking and then laughing aloud in the end.
"Alright, hurry up then. Can't make your friend from Konoha wait, can you?
Explain everything to your son on the way clearly, and then get back here, we have our hands full of hard work right now,
Also, don't forget to give him these books!"
Patriarch said while smiling lightly and giving him a couple of large, almost ancient-looking, rusty books. Those were the:
"Uzumaki Clan Training - Standard Model",
"Uzumaki Clan Basic Fūinjutsu",
"Uzumaki Clan Advanced Fūinjutsu",
and finally the "Forbidden Book of Seals"...?
"What is this last book, Patriarch? I haven't seen it before..."
The patriarch smiled mysteriously and replied, "You don't need to know about that, just give it to your son. Tell him that he won't be able to open that specific book until he has enough chakra control and the fuinjutsu mastery to pass its hidden barriers,
Also, don't forget to tell him to keep those books hidden in seals, and to never show it to any outsiders! Give him the map of the supposed location of Uzumaki survivors, don't forget that as well,
Hurry up, Daichi, we don't have much time left right now. We all need to work very hard on strengthening our village's defensive seal barrier as well as making many offensive mini-seals to fight those fools.
We won't go down without a fight, that's for sure. These four so-called great ninja villages will have to pay a hefty price to destroy us," There was a dangerous light in the patriarch's eyes flashing after he finished the last sentence of his speech.
"Alright Lord, I will don't worry! See you later then!"After saying that, Daichi disappeared swiftly from the Uzumaki clan ancestral hall.
- - -
Yoshi was still 'playing' chakra control in his room when all of sudden someone abruptly entered!
It was his father, accompanied by his mother who was also slowly entering the room from behind,
Looking at their faces, Yoshi hesitated a bit and wanted to say something, but was soon stopped by his father's speech, "Yoshi, my son, I know that you understand many things. You always had your own ideas and thoughts, always being very intelligent,
You're not a normal three-year-old boy by any means. You are truly a genius in my eyes, a genius like this world hasn't seen once before,
I know you love this clan, this village, and us, your parents, from the bottom of your heart! That's why you must step up now and take upon your responsibility!
As a pride of our Uzumaki clan, you must take the responsibility and behave like the pride of our Uzumaki clan should!"
Yoshi looked at his father with eyes wide open, somewhat guessing what his father wanted to say next.
"We already talked about this before. You know in what situation our village and the clan are right now,
S, I, and the Patriarch made a plan. And you're the most important part of our plan, it could even be said that everything depends on you next,
You remember that old friend of mine from Konoha I mentioned to you before?
So, it goes like this, Yoshi ..."
Yoshi was currently listening to his father's plan with wide eyes, not missing any word out of it. His whole expression was really shocked by the time his father finally finished speaking,
'I didn't know my father was this smart, what else were you hiding from me, father?'
"This is the master seal scroll where are all those books and documents are placed in. It was made so that only people with a strong Uzumaki bloodline could open it. Remember, don't show it to anyone, okay?"
Seeing that his father finally finished the speech, he opened his mouth to say something. The rest of his face was expressionless, no one knew what he was thinking at the moment, "Okay, father, I agree. But there's something that you and mother must do before we leave to meet Mr. Hatake..."
They immediately turned to look into one another, his mother gave a sad smile and then asked him lovingly, "Say it, Yoshi, no matter what, your mother and father will fulfill you this request!"
"I want the both of you to cut a large chunk of your hair, then carefully seal it, and then finally put it inside this master scroll you gave me!"
Seeing that both his mother and father looked at him a bit strangely, he explained quickly. His tone was a bit sad and melancholic, his cute eyes blinking and looking like they could start crying at any time, "In fact, I know this is probably the last time I will see both of you. So I want to keep a memento..."
His father and mother looked at him sadly and also choked a bit. They also being at a point when they could start crying at any time,
Seeing this situation, his father wiped his eyes a little and exclaimed resolutely, "Alright Yui, let's do it and then go! The future of our whole clan is at stake right now!"
After cutting large chunks of their hair and then carefully sealing it inside the scroll, they resolutely left their village.
- - -
Land of Whirpools. At an unspecified location.
A white-haired man whose whole face was covered with mask and eyes closed was patiently waiting for someone. All of sudden he opened his eyes,
At the same time, a woman and a man carrying a child on his back appeared before him. All three of them had that distinctive red hair, and the adults were wearing Uzushiogakure shinobi uniforms.
The white-haired man disappeared from his original place and instantly appeared before the couple.
The red-haired man put down his son and opened his arms. The two grown men quickly hugged one another. Their eyes conveying everything quickly.
"So, Daichi, this is your wife Yui? And this is your son Yoshi?" The white-haired man asked while reaching down and patting the child on the head.
"Yes Sakumo, I'll leave my son in your care!" After saying that he looked at the Sakumo carefully and then stated, "It seems that I don't need to worry about Yoshi anymore. He'll be pretty safe in your hands. You grew even stronger since the last time we met!"
"Haha," Sakumo smiled embarrassedly and put his hand onto his hair in an embarrassed manner.
But the next second, he nodded and turned serious while looking at Yoshi, "You can rest assured, Daichi. As long as I'm alive, nothing bad will happen to him! I promise!"
"That's great to hear," Daichi replied emotionally, his eyes full of gratitude towards his old friend.
Yoshi also looked curiously at this white-haired man. He doesn't remember much about him from the previous world's original series, other than him being Kakashi's father, and his unfortunate death of course.
Exactly how strong this man is, he doesn't know, 'But he must be pretty strong!' He thought.
At this moment, his mother who was usually a very quiet woman suddenly spoke very sorrowfully, "Yoshi, listen to your mother and remember this well. Even though you have a heavy responsibility laying on your shoulders, please be sure to don't get lost in it,
Remember, both your mind and body need rest. Don't overwork yourself and stunt your growth potential!
Don't get blinded by your responsibility, and forget about your basic human needs! Everyone still needs love whether its friends or a girlfriend, please find them,
Remember, your mother will always love you, no matter what you do in the future," She said with tearful eyes and then kissed him softly on a cheek.
"I will listen to you, mother!" Yoshi replied also tearful, then he clenched his little fists and silently promised himself and his parents in his heart, 'Father, mother... No matter what happens, if you die in the upcoming battle, I will find a way to revive the two of you!
What is the point of crossing into this world if my parents are going to die, and disappear forever just like that?'
Daichi realizing that the situation turned sorrowful once again, winked to Sakumo quickly, "Alright, Yoshi my son, this is the goodbye for now. Remember, I fully believe in you! I believe in everything I told you!"
He resolutely took his wife's hand and started going back towards the village. He kept going forward with tears already falling down his face, and only his back facing Yoshi,
His wife looked at Yoshi a little bit longer until she too started crying, eventually, she turned her back against him as well.
Watching the backs of his parents for the last time in a long time, Yoshi started crying too.
He remembers everything clearly now...
His father's proud laughter and his boasting about himself towards his fellow shinobi and villagers...
His mother's silent care and love for himself...
They started going faster and faster, eventually becoming only two silhouettes in the dark.
Sakumo was just watching him silently, his eyes full of pity.
He remembered that beautiful, harmonious, and peaceful village. When he first woke up and looked through the window of that apartment, he thought he was in paradise.
Looking at the backs of his parents that were slowly dissipating, in his highly emotional state, he felt a big change within himself.
He closed his eyes for a second and felt a magical world appearing in front of him all of a sudden.
Next to him stood a big blue humanely-shaped aura of chakra. Carrying both gentleness and ruthlessness within itself.
But right now that aura was transmitting only the gentleness towards himself.
In the distance, there were two, similarly, humanely-shaped blue chakra auras as well. They were running in the direction of their village,
Judging by their chakra fluctuations, they were clearly in a state of emotional distress.
'Father, mother...' He focused even harder, wanting to explore even further,
He soon started seeing things farther and farther.
On his mental road, he found many other auras like that, but minuscule in comparison to the three ones he saw first. And they were all soundingly sleeping judging by their chakra fluctuations, 'They are probably only ordinary civilians of the Land of Whirpools.'
He tried increasing his mental speed a bit more, wanting to see the auras of his clansmen again for the last time, wanting to feel the breath of his village again,
But, when he felt like he got halfway there, he suddenly felt extremely tired, his eyes closed involuntarily and he fell back asleep finally.
- - -
The bright sun made him wake up. He slowly opened his big purple eyes and looked around groggily.
The first thing he noticed, when he fully opened his eyes, was that he was currently moving very fast, someone was holding him on his back, and his surroundings were full of endless rows of trees.
He must admit that he hasn't seen this amount of trees in one place in his entire life. It's like he was currently sifting through an endless ocean of green trees,
Looking at the white hair in front of him, he already guessed his situation.
"Finally, woke up? Great, that means I don't have to bring you to Tsunade-hime to patch you up," The white-haired man smiled, his aura full of genuineness.
That's when he realized that the strange ability he previously acquired still accompanied him right now, having those effects on, even without him closing his eyes and concentrating hard.
"You really got me worried there, buddy. Your father entrusts me with your care in one moment, and then you fall unconscious in the next moment, haha..."
As for why he didn't bring Yoshi back to his parents immediately after he went unconscious. It was because his leave permission was only for a limited amount of time, and he couldn't wait for there too much.
Of course, realizing that the boy somehow exhausted a chunk of his chakra, which he will soon replenish with his amazing Uzumaki vitality, helped.
"Thank you for your care, Mr. Hatake. May I know how long was I unconscious?"
He smiled and answered lightly, "Around two days, and just call me uncle in the future. We're now currently in the Land of Fire if you're curious. We will enter the Konoha soon. You slept through the whole time we were on the ship while crossing the sea."
And, after hearing that and nodding, Yoshi got lost in his thoughts again.
'I won't go that far into my mindscape for a long time again probably. But, thanks to that little mental expedition, I learned my limits for that ability pretty well. It will also get better, and I could go further, with age, so I don't need to worry,
Covering whole countries with my sensory ability as Tobirama Senju did in the original won't be a problem for me. This is sure a magical and undoubtedly pretty useful ability for a shinobi to have,
It's called the "Mind's Eye of the Kagura" If I remember correctly. Only Karin Uzumaki had it in the original series.'
'A totally unexpected gain really, and the next step in my journey.'
Then he soon thought of something really unpleasant and changed his face a little, "All of them will have to pay!!
Not only will I revitalize my clan, but I will also take revenge on everyone involved in the upcoming attack on my clan,
Not only that, but I will also take revenge on everyone who took advantage of our clan's kindness!' He thought angrily while looking at the direction of Konoha, but not before masking his aura with his ability.
With this ability in his hands now, no one will ever be able to tell his true thoughts and inner feelings again in the future.
He will be a good boy that they want him to be in front of them, carrying the accursed "Will of Fire", but plan their destruction behind their backs.
"Hang on now, Yoshi, I will speed up a little," Knowing that Yoshi was better now, Sakumo decided to speed up a little and get to Konoha faster. He had no idea what the three-year-boy behind his back thought in just a moment ago.
'That stupid village truly doesn't deserve you, Mr. Sakumo,
Those stupid villagers drove you off to commit suicide after you saved their asses who knows how many times in the past?
But, not only them, knowing the original series, high-level Konoha leaders like Danzo probably also wanted you dead and have had a hand in your death too for God knows what reason,
I hope I get the chance to prevent that, this time around!'
Soon, they arrived near the famous Konoha entrance,
Along the way, they talked mostly about general information on Konoha, such as the way of life there, customs, rules, famous places, and other things.
Sakumo didn't ask him how he exhausted his chakra or what kind of technique did he use, after all, unless it's absolutely critical, shinobi won't share information about their special techniques to one another, it's like a taboo to them,
He just warned him to be careful next time, to which Yoshi nodded earnestly.
He felt a lot of chakra auras there ahead of him, some were stronger and some weaker. His Kagura's Mind Eye could cover the entire Konoha at this time.
Shinobi, ordinary people, merchants, and all kinds of other laborers were currently going in and out of Konoha through that main entrance.
'This shinobi village isn't called the richest one in the whole world for nothing'
The gigantic green gate engraved with Konoha symbols stood wide open. On top of it, there was the biggest Konoha symbol to top it all off, 'It looks really big by Naruto world standards.'
He noticed people were staring at them as they were getting closer,
There was respect in those eyes, as well as some curiosity, which was probably directed at him.
After all, it's not every day that you see the Konoha's famous White Fang personally carrying an unknown red-haired little boy into their village.
The guarding shinobi also looked at them both respectively and curiously.
"Lord Hatake!" They all shouted in unison and at the same time.
"Here's my leave permission, I hope I made it in time, haha," Sakumo joked a bit with them.
After checking it for a minute, the guarding shinobi started looking at Yoshi next.
Realizing the situation, Sakumo added quickly, "Ah yes, these are his papers, personally signed by the Lord Hokage. This guy is now a full-fledged citizen of Konoha," Handing them the papers, Sakumo smiled plainly.
They checked those papers too while looking really surprised, 'Uzumaki, huh?'
They both thought the same thing, at the same time, but soon returned them the papers and let them into the Konohagakure.
Now walking through the village and still receiving those looks from nearly all the people they passed by,
A tall silver-haired man and a short red-haired boy were talking about something and walking side by side. The man often pointing at various locations around the village with his finger and explaining something.
The shorter kid just repeatedly nodded his head and asked some questions from time to time.
He didn't find nearly any of those locations familiar with his memory from the other world, which is understandable, considering the obvious difference in timelines.
He also saw a few people wearing what appeared to be some kind of police uniforms, walking up and down the whole village, appearing to be patrolling it. He instantly realized that those were the members of the famous Uchiha clan and the so-called "Konoha's Military Police Force",
Believed to have been founded by the Uchiha, in actuality, the "Konoha's Military Police Force" was founded by the Second Hokage, and was given to the Uchiha as a sign of trust and good faith between the Senju and themselves.
However, Yoshi, who watched the original series, believed, however, that this was just a method of ostracising them from the village; having built the prison in the organization's building which was also located on the Uchiha's compound, as well as distancing the Uchiha from taking part in the actual governing of Konoha since the police force would require them to be neutral parties.
The Konoha Military Police's purpose was to maintain the law in the village, regarded as the "Elite shinobi who monitor fellow shinobi". They did not have the authority of arresting Anbu members without a warrant, as Anbu directly report to the Hokage.
Unlike in his imagination, Konoha people didn't seem to show any repulsion or hostility towards them, even showing them a faint dose of respect when looking at them.
Soon, they arrived at the center of the village. There stood a majestic orange-like building in front of him. The same old symbol of the Land of Fire engraved at the top of it. Surprisingly, it was exactly the same as he remembered from his old memory.
But, even more, fascinating were those large Hokage rocks on the mountain behind the Hokage's building and the entire village,
Overlooking the whole Konoha, that mountain has all the faces of the previous Hokage carved into the stone. It was envisioned by Hashirama Senju as a symbol that the Hokage would always watch over the village.
Looking at these familiar faces, he suddenly remembers watching them as a kid in his previous life on TV in awe, and now he's watching them as a kid in this life as well, but just in the first person. The feeling was pretty surreal, to be honest.
Sakumo watching his expression, looked up at the majestic monument as well, then solemnly and somewhat gratefully started speaking, "The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he literally built this whole village from the ground up and gave it a breath of life with his exalted Mokuton ninjutsu release,
Due to his enormous powers, he was nicknamed the "God of Shinobi", many people today still regarding him as the strongest shinobi of all time!
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, made the first shinobi village system we still use today. He experimented and created many powerful jutsu for Konoha's future generations of shinobi to use. He gave this village a law and order to follow, igniting that life completely,
Due to his extensive knowledge and mastery of shinobi arts, he was nicknamed "The Technician" of Konoha!
And finally, The Third Hokage, he carried on the Will of Fire from his teacher The Second Hokage onto the next generation of Konoha's shinobi. His students and himself being the current backbones of the Konoha today!
His mastery over all of the five ninja elements, as well as knowledge of combining them together in a form of cohesive attacks, earned him the nickname of "Ninja Professor"!"
After finishing his speech he coughed a little and said, "Alright, that's enough history lessons for now. Let's go in, please remember to be courteous in front of the Lord Hokage!"
After passing guards and knocking on the office door, they soon entered the Hokage's office,
But, before entering inside, he already felt Hokage's chakra signature through his Mind's Eye ability.
It was really large in quantity. Only Sakumo's chakra aura being currently comparable to his, in size, in the entire Konoha, right now.
After seeing them, Hokage suddenly stood up from his chair and smiled like he was expecting them, "Great work Sakumo, was the journey too hard for you? Is this your friend's child, Yoshi Uzumaki?" He smiled and asked while looking at Yoshi curiously next.
"The journey was pretty comfortable Lord Hokage, thanks for asking. My name is Yoshi Uzumaki, nice to meet you, sir." Yoshi answered instead of Sakumo and bowed a little in the end.
"What a smart and well-behaved child," Hokage nodded approvingly and then asked again, "What do you think of our village so far Yoshi, is it to your liking?"
He smiled and asked kindly, but only he knew what he was thinking inside.
'His chakra aura is full of deceiving intentions towards me. It's exactly as I thought, this old geezer is just a crook...'
Yoshi thought of that in a second, but still smiled and enthusiastically responded in the next one, "This village is really to my liking, sir. It radiates an amicable and harmonious vibe. People are polite to one another, and it could be seen that they truly like this village from the bottom of their hearts!"
"Great observation, Yoshi, In fact, everyone in this village treats one another as a real family member and they treat this whole village as their big home,
This is called the "Will of Fire". A philosophy that people of this village live and die by,
That's what sets this shinobi village apart from the other ones, and this is why some people call our Konohagakure the strongest shinobi village in the world. This is the simple secret of our great success!"
The Hokage smiled after finishing his speech and then said afterward, "Alright, Sakumo, Yoshi, you must be pretty tired, go and rest a bit for now. Sakumo, come to report to me later."
After exiting the office, Yoshi finally let out a big sigh of relief inwardly, 'Good, It seems like I passed his test for now...'
'But one more second of that brainwashing and I would've gone crazy!'
'It seems like he mastered it! No wonder Itachi betrayed his birth clan in the original series. It's simply too hard to resist the brainwashing of that level if you don't guard against it and see the bigger picture! He really appears like a kind old man that cares about you...'
'Will of Fire, my ass...'
While he was thinking that, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also thinking about something in his office with a serious face as well. No traces of smiles and kindness still remaining on his partially wrinkled face.
'Pretty smart and well-spoken kid, strong potential, but still honest, good-natured, and moldable.'
That was his current evaluation of Yoshi Uzumaki.
Yoshi would probably laugh like crazy if he heard it.
'With Sakumo's teachings, I don't have to worry about him going astray, too.'
'A really good seedling,' Finally, he let out a smile, but it was not a gentle smile he was displaying a few minutes ago,
It was a pretty realistic smile that one leader should have!
It was as if he found a new valuable tool, just waiting to be used by himself!
After a few minutes of walking, Sakumo and Yoshi finally managed to reach the Hatake clan's residence. On their way there Sakumo kept praising him in regards to his mature behavior he showed in the Hokage's office.
It was a smaller, but yet simply elegant residence. But, it felt like not many people lived there.
As soon as they opened the door of the building, they heard the sound of running footsteps.
"Father! Did you come back?" They first heard the sound of a child's voice, before a silver-haired three-year-old boy with a mask on his face appeared before them, apparently a little out of breath because of running fast towards there.
He wanted to go up and hug his father but stopped when he saw the other kid standing beside his father. He had a little longer red hair and purple eyes, also looking at him curiously, 'Kakashi Hatake?'
They looked at each like that for a while awkwardly, when Sakumo coughed a little and said.
"Kakashi, he's the child of my good friend. His name is Yoshi Uzumaki, who only just now first came to our village. He will also live here with the two of us in the future. I hope you will treat him like he's your own brother in the future! He's also the surprise, I said, I prepared for you!"
Sakumo explained and smiled in the end, "Yoshi, this is my son, Kakashi. Please take good care of each other in the future!"
But outside of his expectation, Kakashi just folded his arms around his chest protectively and said, "Hmm, father I don't want a brother! Why does he need to live here with us? Where are his parents?"
Kakashi said jealously, as a normal three-year-old would do when they find out they have to share their most important parent in the future with another kid their age.
Sakumo sighed helplessly and finally said, "Kakashi, you may want to treat him a little better in the future. After all, his father once saved my life while on a mission several years ago. If not for his father, I fear, I wouldn't be alive right now!"
Kakashi looked surprised, he thought about something, and finally looked at Yoshi a little more softly, "Hmm, I don't care, you do whatever you want!"
"But two weeks already passed father, when will you teach me kenjutsu?
"You promised, remember?"
"Alright, I will show you some basics for now. The Hokage probably has another mission for me later today, so after I come back from that mission, I will evaluate your progress and maybe include some new exercise in your regiment at that time too..."
"Yoshi, are you interested in learning the sword art together with Kakashi too? I will also give him some basic body exercises to follow."
Yoshi began thinking about it. In fact, up until now, he didn't exercise his body at all, mainly because he couldn't. Learning the sword art from this world-famous master also wasn't that harmful, "Yes, I want, uncle!"
"Great, after showing you your room and after eating launch we will officially start with your first exercises!"
- - -
Konohagakure. The Root secret compound, training grounds.
The existence of this base was very well hidden from the general part of Konoha's population.
Villagers often walked directly above the base on the Konoha's streets, not even realizing that there was a massive hidden underground compound system laying quietly there beneath them.
The man in charge of this mysterious underground compound system was presently watching the masked shinobi while training, and battling each other down below, from the podium above them.
The man extruding an aura full of darkness had a very satisfied look on his face while watching them.
The man's name was Danzo Shimura. Born into the Shimura Clan to his shinobi father, Danzo went onto joining the Academy, where he was amongst the first few hundred students to graduate.
From his early genin days, he was well acquainted with Hiruzen Sarutobi, whom he later became a rival and a friend with.
In his youth, Hashirama Senju's Will of Fire burned brightly within his heart, and he would sacrifice anything to protect his village and his friends.
However, as time passed and his jealousy of Hiruzen, a man he once considered a brother, festered, something else took root, something dark.
Over a lifetime of conflict, he grew jaded and disillusioned, and so he began to obsessively pursue power.
His "Will of Fire" becoming twisted, and dark.
The shadows cast by the Root, by his Foundation today reach far and wide, and not even the bravest and most driven of souls dare try to uncover what lies within the deepest of its shadows.
Like most of the Konoha's regular shinobi forces adhere by the "Will of Fire" ideology, his Foundation Anbu black ops, also adhere by one principle too.
"Without the Roots, the Leaves won't grow."
This is their deepest and most sincere conviction.
They believe that without someone taking on the responsibility to guard Konoha's interests from the dark, Konoha won't continue to grow in the light.
They're willing to give everything, their freedom, and even their lives towards that conviction.
All of a sudden, a masked man appeared behind Danzo, on the podium. He whispered something into his ear and waited patiently for the response.
'Sakumo Hatake? A red-haired child?'
Danzo changed his face all of a sudden, he looked very shocked and angry.
"Why wasn't, I, Danzo Shimura notified of this?"
"Hiruzen, you old fool, what were you thinking?"
He left the Root compound expeditiously, going straight towards the Hokage's office.
He thought about something along his way there. Then, after he arrived at his destination, he immediately kicked the Hokage's office door wide open and stormed inside furiously.
But, there were already a few people seated inside discussing something. These were the Hokage's advisors, precisely, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Although the Hokage always has the final say in the matter, the advisors are there to give their opinions and advice, thus making sure the decisions made are fair and take into account all possibilities and viewpoints.
They both have decades' worth of experience and knowledge and hold a social position similar to that of the Hokage.
They exert great influence over the governing of Konoha and have garnered wide support from the village's shinobi and are regarded with the same respect as that of the Hokage.
Along with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Root leader, Danzo Shimura, they form what is called the Konoha Council.
Danzo ignored them and directly went to Hokage's desk and slammed it down with his hand, "What is the meaning of this, Hiruzen?"
The Third Hokage sighed and exchanged helpless looks with both Homura and Koharu.
"Sarutobi, when will you sanction this behavior? He must learn that he can't behave like that in the Hokage's office already!" Koharu said indignantly and then sighed, knowing that no matter what she says, Hokage will still be absolutely lenient towards his old friend.
"What's the matter, Danzo?" As expected, Hokage just looked at Danzo curiously and asked, ignoring his previous behavior.
"You know very well what I'm talking about, Hiruzen," Danzo exclaimed angrily, then continued.
"That red-haired little boy Sakumo brought into the village. Who the hell is he!? Is he from the Uzushiogakure?"
"Sigh, yes, he was originally from there. But now, he's a new citizen of the Konohagakure."
"Fool, you know very well what bringing a new male descendant of a dying bloodline into our village now means!"
"Yes, I know. That is the part of a reason why I brought him here."
"Did you really lose your mind, Sarutobi? We already have enough shinobi clans in our village as it is, we certainly don't need any more of them! It's already very chaotic as it is right now!"
"Sigh, Danzo, when will you learn? The more varieties of shinobi and shinobi clans appear in our village, the more powerful and safe our home village will become! This is what made this village so great in the first place,
The Lord First Hokage, envisioned for all kinds of shinobi clans, of all kinds of backgrounds, to join this village, make it their home, become a family, thus making us both stronger. This is how our village was first formed, how it gained all its strength, and how it will continue to be!"
Sarutobi explained patiently, full of confidence in his words.
"Fool, you're not the First Hokage! He had a great strength up his sleeve to back up his unrealistic ideas. But you, on the other hand, Sarutobi, don't have that kind of strength!
Diversity is a weakness, not a strength, remember that! Our biggest enemies aren't the other big shinobi villages, our biggest enemies are the snakes hiding in plain sights!"
He finished his sentence and then seemingly looked at the direction of the Uchiha clan compound.
More than the clash of their ideologies, this was also the clash for their personal power and benefits.
More shinobi clans in the village mean more power in the Hokage's hands and less power in the Danzo's own and his Foundation's hands.
Coupled with him truly believing in his own judgment, that the big shinobi clans were the greatest threat to his village, it's no wonder that Danzo was currently so outraged.
Bringing a new young male Uzumaki descendant into the village makes it very probable that he will establish his own shinobi clan in the future in Konoha,
Or simply put, to carry out the dying Uzumaki clan from the Uzushiogakure to the Konoha.
Both the Third Hokage and Danzo knew that.
"The only way the boy stays here is if he joins my Root, and then forswears his Uzumaki surname for the rest of his life!" Danzo said determinedly. His old friend and rival Hiruzen already had three world-class disciples to be his swords and carry out his philosophy in the future.
Jiraiya, the holder of the important summoner's contract of the Mount Myoboku, being able to summon giant toads to assist him during a battle, was already known as the "Toad Sage" by enemy shinobi villages.
Orochimaru, a prodigy seen only once in a whole generation. Rivaling only his teacher in the number of sheer jutsus he could perform during the battle.
He was also the holder of the special snakes' summoning contract from the Ryuchi Cave, the only owner of that contract in the whole world. Known only as the "Snake Master", he made his enemies' blood run cold when they were facing him on the battlefield.
And finally, Tsunade, the most astounding medical ninja in the shinobi history, an owner of the Slug summoning contract, was revolutionizing the field of shinobi medicine daily, bringing even more power and cards to the hands of the already pretty prosperous Konohagakure.
As the granddaughter of the legendary first Hokage, her status in today's Konoha was truly hard to match indeed. In the minds of young kunoichi all around the village, she was already regarded as their idol and the biggest target to surpass.
But he, Danzo Shimura, didn't have any marvelous disciples like these,
That's why he decided to personally train and brainwash the young Uzumaki clan descendant into being his own sword and a successor in the future!
"I'm afraid that is impossible, Danzo," Koharu who quietly watched their verbal confrontation suddenly spoke.
"What do you mean by that!? You mean to tell me that after everything I've done for this village in my life, you can't even give me one little boy to train as my successor?" Danzo yelled on the verge of exploding.
Both the advisors and the Hokage turned very surprised then. They didn't expect that Danzo was even planning to personally train the boy as his successor!
"Sigh, that boy is Sakumo's adopted son right now, Danzo. He is the biological son of Sakumo's old friend from the Uzushiogakure, this is the second part of the reason why I allowed him to come to Konoha so easily," Hokage said meaningfully, hoping that his old friend gets the message next.
Danzo looked stunned for a second, then finally recognized the truth of the matter completely.
'Damn, that troublesome bastard again!'
'He's becoming a bigger and bigger nuisance lately...'
'I'll make that bastard meet his maker someday,' Danzo thought fiercely all of sudden.
In fact, the reasons why he hates Sakumo so much are very simple. Not only he regularly clashes with himself during nearly every high-level Konoha meeting,
He also serves as the strongest tool under his main rival Hiruzen Sarutobi! If not for him, Danzo's words would undoubtedly carry more weight inside the village right now!
"Then will he carry out Hatake's surname in the future?" Danzo asked again inquiringly.
"No, we already decided to allow him to formally establish a new Konoha's Uzumaki clan once he turns eighteen," Koharu replied pretty matter-of-factly.
"Are you all crazy!? Why didn't anyone ask me anything about this!?" Danzo shouted then.
"Enough, Danzo, you don't have any say in this matter anymore! We voted three-to-one in favor of that decision," Homura who remained silent during the whole time suddenly spoke.
Danzo, seeing that even Homura accepted this idea, grew even more surprised, but before he managed to squeeze out another sentence, Homura stopped him in his tracks and continued speaking.
"Seeing that the Uchiha clan is gradually getting out of our control, we must do something to counter it fast. In the past, there was the Senju clan who countered it, and that balance was working perfectly fine at that time. But now, there is practically no Senju clan left in the Konoha today."
Danzo flinched a little when he heard how there is no Senju clan left in the Konoha today.
"Hyuga clan was ultimately proven to be too weak to control the Uchihas. Not to mention other Konoha clans; who added up all together don't even come remotely close to the Uchihas in terms of raw power!
That's why we must introduce a new clan that will manage to suppress the Uchihas in the future,
That clan is precisely the Uzumaki clan. Only they have a bloodline strong enough to compete with Uchihas. Not to mention, their good history with our village. There will be no problem for our villagers to accept them wholeheartedly,
We will also use this chance to start looking for Uzumaki orphans, that will inevitably scatter around the world once their village gets destroyed when Yoshi Uzumaki turns eighteen.
Hiruzen already judged the character of the boy, he believes him to be full of potential as well as knowing right from wrong. Not to mention his mentor will be a true shinobi who carries the Will of Fire, Sakumo Hatake!"
Homura finished speaking with deep wisdom reflecting from his eyes through his glasses. His position in this village wasn't earned by chance, it was earned through his exceptional intellectual ability alone.
"There are other ways to get rid of the Uchiha clan problem, why do you always have to complicate it so much?" Danzo sighed and finally asked.
In fact, the Uchiha clan was truly getting more and more arrogant recently. Now that there is no Senju clan to counter their arrogance and hold them back, they are getting more aloof and pretentious as days go by,
Their clan's recently emerged genius Fugaku Uchiha joined their own power, Konoha's Police Force, directly after graduating from the ninja academy. Now in the position of the captain of that whole organization, he was being groomed as the next patriarch of their clan as well.
He is the most talented Uchiha member ever since the late Kagami Uchiha. But, unlike Kagami, he isn't in the Konoha's shinobi forces, but in the Uchiha's own forces, first the Police Force and later will become directly their next patriarch,
From all of this, it could be seen that he cares more about his clan than the whole village and that he doesn't carry the Will of Fire as his predecessor Kagami did once in the past.
He also happens to be the direct descendant of the infamous Madara Uchihas's branch of the Uchiha family. So, people like these are really dangerous in the minds of Konoha's council considering all of these factors.
Nevertheless, it still didn't reach the point of mutual destruction and no reconciliation between the Uchiha clan and them. After all, that point was reached only many years later in the original series after the Nine-Tails fierce attack.
"Alright Danzo, it's enough. I know what you are thinking about, but Uchiha people are part of this village too, a part of our family!"
"Hm, Sarutobi, you all will regret this decision you made today. Mark my current words now!" Danzo exclaimed and left the office indignantly.
However, even he didn't know just how much will these few words be proven to hold true in the future!
- - -
Later that day. Hatake's clan residence.
Two little boys stood in front of an adult in an elegant-looking courtyard.
"Now, I will explain to you the essence of our Hatake clan's kenjutsu. This style of kenjutsu was developed to allow a single person to defeat numerous foes single-handedly.
The two main principles of this style are slashing efficiently and effectively, with a minimum amount of energy being expended at the maximum speed possible while striking opponents' weak spots. Eliminating an enemy fast then moving onto the next one.
This technique can be greatly enhanced by using chakra, whether through the use of chakra flow in your sword or by enhancing your movement speed by sticking it onto the soles of your feet.
High-level practitioners of this technique are able to kill the enemy shinobi even before giving them the chance to finish their seals and perform ninjutsu," The man patiently explained to the end.
"But father, what was that white flash of light you showed to me before when I was little?" After listening patiently to his father's previous explanation, Kakashi asked a question all of a sudden.
"Haha, I can't believe you remembered that, Kakashi! Well, that was the flash afterglow of the chakra wave I channeled through my blade."
"Can you show it again, father? I wanna see it!"
"Okay, look carefully here now!"
Kakashi and Yoshi looked carefully thereafter.
All of a sudden, Sakumo skillfully swung his blade.
A vertical white chakra flash wave going straight at the back of their courtyard.
But, instead of hitting it and destroying it as they thought, it suddenly flew upwards into the atmosphere and then disappeared after a few moments.
Both of them had their mouths wide open right now in awe.
"Well, what do you think of my attack?" Sakumo asked a bit proudly.
"It was amazing, father! Will I be able to do it too?" Kakashi asked quickly with stars in his eyes.
"Of course, but before that, you must learn, practice, and perfect all those things I mentioned a few moments ago!"
"I will, I will work hard father!" Kakashi replied full of motivation, that technique really left him in awe, and he can't wait to be able to do it as well.
"Uncle, but why did the wave suddenly go upwards after it nearly hit the fence?" Yoshi asked curiously, still in awe as well. This was the first time he saw a technique like that in real life, after all, it truly looked very enchanting.
"Well, let's just say, I calculated the wind perimeters around here, so before I launched my attack, I made sure to optimize it so it could create the needed friction against the wind after its launch to complete my intent."
'Amazing, so in a sense, he could control that attack to the extreme.'
'No wonder, no wonder this man's reputation will exceed the Sannins' in the future, this man is truly strong...'
'My gut feeling tells me, his strength is probably around the Hokage's level.'
"Alright guys, let's start exercising right now..."
Later when Sakumo left to meet with the Hokage, Yoshi and Kakashi still remained exercising rigorously in the courtyard.
They both were panting hard, and their faces were full of sweat, but they still persisted in the end.
They didn't talk to each other, but there was some kind of mutual encouragement and rivalry hidden in their eyes.
After a while, Kakashi couldn't carry on any longer and collapsed on the ground. Both his will and his body were somewhat lacking in comparison to Yoshi's.
He was laying there on the ground, but his eyes silently looking at Yoshi who was still exercising.
After a while, Yoshi collapsed down as well. It was also already dark outside by now.
"Why are you exercising so hard, Yoshi?" Kakashi asked all of a sudden, this was the first time that he said Yoshi's name.
"I have a responsibility and a personal wish to complete," Yoshi replied weakly laying on the ground panting.
"Alright, I rested up already, let's go inside now, it's getting cold," Kakashi said, then picked up Yoshi, and carrying him on his shoulder went inside the house.
- - -
Two weeks later, the whole ninja world was shaken to the core,
This incident is surely bout to be included in every future history book of the world,
Uzushiogakure, Uzumaki clan - destroyed, practically overnight!
Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Rock Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Hidden Sand Village.
These four big ninja villages finally ganged up and prepared to destroy the Uzumaki clan once and for all. But there were many obstacles awaiting them there,
The Uzumaki clan has worked tirelessly on making as many seals as humanely possible these days, trying to give their enemies a really warm welcome. But only this time around, those weren't the seals of a defensive nature like they were in the original series.
Now realizing that Konoha certainly betrayed them, they made sure to make only attack-type seals, this time around. Because, if they are going to die anyway, they better take as many enemies as possible with them and go down in history with a bang.
After allied forces finally managed to enter the Uzushiogakure and passed the onslaught of the seals outside, there, inside, awaited them an even bigger surprise!
A horde of furious red-haired Uzumaki shinobi ran towards them, fighting them while disregarding their life and death, only wanting to take as many of them down as possible.
There were two exceptional and truly remarkable shinobi who emerged and shined in this battle.
The first one was the Uzumaki clan's patriarch, who used some kind of devilish technique to successfully suck the souls out of ten unlucky enemy jonins.
Their comrades just managed to hear them shouting "Devil!", and "Demon!", right before their souls left their bodies forever.
But what they didn't know was the name of that technique. It was called the "Reaper Death Seal", a truly dangerous and demonic Uzumaki clan fuinjutsu!
Unlike the Third Hokage in the original series, the current Uzumaki clan patriarch managed to release this technique to its fullest potential, mainly thanks to his amazing Uzumaki constitution.
The second one was even more astonishing,
The man they called the "Uzumaki Chainmaster", unleashed his illustrious jutsu as soon as the battle started, killing many of his enemies instantly.
Then, after being encircled by twenty different enemy jonins from the allied forces, he managed to create another miracle.
He managed to slay all twenty of them by himself before perishing in the battle,
Everyone who saw that technique, on that day, used the same word to describe it, "magnificent"!
He brought that A-level jutsu to an even higher level, making it impossible to rate now considering that everyone who saw it died shortly after. The man truly entered the realm of legends that night!
Majority of people around the world now regarding him as the most powerful Uzumaki of all time, and even a Kage-level strong shinobi.
The Uzumaki clan was ultimately destroyed in end, but its enemies paid a very hefty price!
Nearly every single one of those shinobi who came to destroy them, died alongside them that night. The shinobi they sent on this mission were already a fourth of their total village combat power.
And with the Uzumaki clan wiping out nearly all of them; It became apparent presently that the Uzushiogakure has already joined the level of big shinobi villages, long before it was destroyed.
"... so it basically went like that, Lord Madara."
In an underground system of caves and tunnels was a really strange tree. It appeared to be stretching out its tentacles and connecting them with an old human in some kind of weird way.
The man was seated on his frigid stone chair with those tentacles connected behind him. He looked very ancient, his long white spiky hair reaching towards his feet.
In front of him was a humanoid white creature kneeling on the ground while narrating something.
The whole cave they were in looked very desolate and gloomy, giving off a depressing and chilling vibe.
The place they were based in right now is located directly below the "Mountains' Graveyard".
It's a mountainous region located in the north-most region of land between Takigakure and Otogakure. It has dense forestry and the bones of many giant creatures can be seen jutting out of it. Madara Uchiha is the old man's name.
Even though many years passed already, his name still lingers around, just like a ghost that won't die. Most shinobi of today still remember his legend very well.
Only one man in history managed to go against him in a shinobi battle. And that's not only once, but multiple times.
That was his childhood friend and rival, Hashirama Senju. They founded the Hidden Leaf Village together with the intention of beginning an era of peace.
Nevertheless, when the two couldn't agree on how to achieve that peace, they fought for control of the village, a conflict which ended in Madara's death.
Madara, however, rewrote his death and went into hiding to work on his own plans.
Over the years, Madara had perfected his plans for peace in what he called the "Eye of the Moon Plan". That brings us to the present time.
The white creature speaking to him was called Zetsu, it was created by him with a goal in mind to help him in carrying out his plans in the future.
"I must admit it, I wasn't expecting the Uzumaki clan to put up a fight like that. This was honestly an unanticipated surprise to me..."
"But, this doesn't change our plans by much regardless. The Second Ninja World War will probably be delayed only for a few years at most because of this, and Konoha will obtain an easier victory than we expected."
"A noble clan of hundreds of years of existence disappears in one day, just like that."
"It's just as I thought. This whole world is crumbling down really fast and it needs an everlasting peace delivered to it swiftly!"
- - -
- - -
(A/N: The reason why Hiruzen is allowing Danzo's somewhat insolent behavior, is that he is his childhood friend, of course. Also, by making Danzo feel more important than he actually is, he could control him better! And, he needs Danzo to do the dirty deeds for the village, so he could keep his own bright image in the hearts of the people, allowing him to manipulate them better!)
(A/N: If you feel like Danzo's current behavior differs from the original too much, keep in mind a few things; This is a YOUNGER version of Danzo! And was he truly that different here? After all, in the original, he ordered an assassination on Hiruzen, just out of spite, knowing that it will surely fail! So he's not that shrewd machine type of a guy, who doesn't have any emotions (anger, etc.), that some of you make him out to be!)
(A/N: The MC doesn't hold responsible the little girl Kushina! He holds responsible the older twenty-four-year-old Kushina, from the original, who didn't do anything for the Uzumaki clan in the end! He has that opinion because he clearly watched the original series and knows the future!)
(A/N: This is a more realistic and logical approach to the Naruto world, so defeating twenty different jonins, all by yourself, is a great feat here!)
