'What the hell is going on?' Naruto asked himself as he looked at his surroundings. All he could see was red. Everyone around him, whether they are children or adults, all have vibrant red hair.
For a second, Naruto wondered whether he had started daydreaming. After all these years, he had never seen so many people other than his mother with such red hair at once.
Wait a minute, red hair, could it be…?
Suddenly thinking of a possibility, Naruto looked around his surroundings more carefully. And sure enough, he found the clues in the surrounding building.
It was the symbol that was shaped like a red spiral within a circle. It was a familiar symbol that he usually saw in Konoha. And he clearly remembers both his mother and big sis Izanami talking about the origin of this symbol.
"The Uzumaki clan, " Naruto muttered as he finally looked at himself. Long gone was his short blonde hair; instead, he now has long red hair just like his mother.
The Uzumaki clan is famed for their sealing jutsu and enormous chakra. In the Sengoku era, they were a major clan that could contend with both the Uchiha and Senju clans. And what's more, the Uzumaki clan is a great ally of the Senju clan, which had frequent marriage alliances. Even the wife of the first Hokage was from the Uzumaki clan. But despite this, when Konoha village was formed, the Uzumaki clan didn't join them. Instead, the Uzumaki clan created their own ninja village in the Land of Whirlpools named Uzushiogakure.
But despite this, the Uzumaki clan was still an ally of Konoha. One could even say that these two were like a newlywed couple in their honeymoon period. Their friendship was so strong that even now, Konoha jōnin have the Uzumaki clan symbol on their flak jackets.
But after a decade or so, the Uzumaki clan was wiped out, leaving only a handful of survivors. According to big sis Izanami, all four great ninja villages under the orders of the Daimyos united and destroyed Uzushiogakure. And in this battle, the one who got the bigger part of the pie was Uzushiogakure's strongest ally, Konoha.
A large part of the sealing jutsu scrolls and other artifacts were brought to Konoha. In addition, at that time, the people also brought a living Uzumaki clan member to Konoha. And that person was none other than his mother, Kushina Uzumaki.
Although at that time, Konoha claimed that they only managed to bring Mom, according to what big sis Izanami said, the truth was that at that time, to protect their clan bloodline, the Uzumaki clan sent out various small parties that escaped during the battle. And his mom's party was just one such party.
But unlike the other parties, his mom managed to survive because this party was sent specifically to Konoha under the guise of sending the next nine-tailed Jinchuriki. And what's more, this small party was also the one that took away most of the Uzumaki clan's treasures.
When Naruto first heard about this, he was completely stunned. Even as a small child, he definitely knew this was not normal.
After all, why would the Uzumaki clan, who, after knowing their demise was imminent, place all their clan treasures on one small party instead of distributing them to every party equally, as that way their chances of survival would be increased?
And when he asked this question, big sis Izanami had an uncomfortable expression as she answered,
"Well, at that time, the Uzumaki clan knew that their biggest ally, Konoha, would never come to their aid. After all, every time they send a message for help, the messenger either ends up dead or there is no reply.
And helplessly, they could only make a final gamble. And that is to place that Konoha would still protect their next nine-tailed Jinchuriki and be satisfied with 40% of the clan treasures. They also gambled that Mito Uzumaki would not ignore the last bloodline of her birth clan.
This was a risky gamble, as this contains too many variables. But for the Uzumaki clan, they had no choice. Even if their bloodline and clan treasures were to be stolen by Konoha, they knew they would at least let Kushina live. As she was the last known Uzumaki bloodline holder. They gambled on the fact that Mito would protect Kushina until she grew up to be an adult.
And just as fate would have it, they won the gamble. Kushina came to Konoha under the protection of the Konoha ninjas, who coincidentally arrived. And she lived a relatively normal life in Konoha and even managed to spread the Uzumaki bloodline. "
When she spoke the last part, there was a hint of gloom in her eyes. Naruto was so scared by this that he didn't dare ask any further about it.
"Mother, do you recognize this place? " Naruto asked, looking around once again.
"Yes, although things are exactly as I remember, I still feel nostalgic seeing these familiar surroundings." Kushina's voice came inside Naruto's mind as she watched everything through the spiritual link.
Seeing this place brought Kushina many forgotten memories that brought tears down her face uncontrollably. Minato, seeing this, could only hug his wife tightly to show his concern.
Kurama, seeing Kushina like this, uncharacteristically didn't say any taunts. As much as he hates her for imprisoning him, he still knows when not to do the unthinkable. After all, a literal death god was sleeping on top of him.
Izanami, the spiritual projection left by the main body, was also silent. Although she knew all this was just an illusion the main body created, she couldn't help but fall into memories, seeing the familiar surroundings again.
Just like Kushina, she too once stayed in this place for quite some time. In fact, she had once stayed with all of the clans that had Otsutuki blood in their bodies. This also included clans like Uchiha, Senju, Kaguya, and Hyuga.
In the past, Izanami, with nothing left to do, wanted to see the lives of her juniors. So using various identities, she went undercover. If one looked closely in each of these clans, one would find small records of Izanami's appearance in each clan's hidden archives.
And what's more, currently, all the students are actually living inside Izanami's memories.
Each student was sent to various time periods in the Sengoku era. For example, clan children with great talent are thrown into the eras close to Madara's and Hashirama's births. And those from civilian backgrounds—these guys are thrown into the beginning of the Sengoku era, where they could shine and gain experience. Like each student would be sent to various timelines where they would gain the best experience.
This is also true for the three of Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke. Sasuke was thrown into the same era as Madara, while Naruto was thrown into an era a bit earlier than Sasuke. As for Hinata, one could say she travelled to an era that is far more troublesome than the other two.
It was none other than the era where ...
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