The history of the Shinobi World was filled with ambitions, wars, treachery, blood, and the bones of promises never kept or fulfilled.
And yet, people could not help but take leaps of faith over and over again.
Be it the promises of greatness or the hopes for peace, they were nothing but sweet poisons to the minds of people, both young and old.
Even those who claimed and were believed to be wise were not immune to these poisons. Perhaps it was because such was the nature of people: primal, ironic, hypocritical, and contradictory.
One of the best examples of the treacherous nature of people was the incident related to the Rabbit Goddess, around a thousand years ago, who birthed and trusted her two children with immense power. When she asked for her powers back, she was betrayed by them.
Her eldest claimed that he sealed her to protect the world. Even if that was the case, he had still betrayed the one who had created him and blessed him.
However, it was a secret not known to the world. The Victors always wrote the history as they pleased.
During the same era, there was another key event, but its records were always kept just as secret as the rest of the circumstances related to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
It was the alliance between the Rabbit Goddess and a clan of red-haired people who called themselves Uzumaki. They, just like her, did not originate from this world.
Even her two children remained unaware of this detail, even after they married the daughters of that mysterious clan. It remained the case even after the children of Ōtsutsuki Ashura, grandson of Kaguya, married the red-haired ladies and men of the Uzumaki Clan over several generations. This eventually led to the creation of the Senju Clan.
To this day, except for the Pureblood Line of the Clan of Longevity, no one knows about their true origins.
The Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure was revered and feared around the world for their Sealing Arts, longevity, and curious Bloodline Powers, which included immense amounts of chakra, accelerated healing, terrifying sensory abilities, and their fabled Kekkei Genkai, Chakra Chains, which were unique to every Uzumaki whose blood was pure or almost pure.
Their powers earned them a lot of respect, fame, and wealth. And yet, they refrained from holding ambitions like the rest of the world. They were peaceful, respectful, and mostly minded their own business. They earned many friends motivated by interests, and a few who were sincere. They had enemies who were motivated by envy, fear, and ambitions, and people who disguised their true feelings behind smiles.
In the eyes of those who sought power, the Uzumaki were always an eyesore. They were a force that threatened their hegemony and always reminded them that they were not safe.
Wars were waged against them, threats poured from all around the world, and thousands died as their numbers dwindled. However, the Uzumaki never lost a war.
And over fifteen hundred years after their arrival in this world, a calamity finally struck them.
It was in Year 34 after the establishment of the Hidden Leaf, also known as Konoha, considered their closest ally, that Uzushio found itself up against five Hidden Villages, led by Kumo and Kiri. The enemies had gathered a force of 20,000 shinobi, who surrounded their main island after getting past the whirlpools.
The Uzumaki were not too worried about the enemies, since it was impossible for them to break past their defensive barriers, which were impregnable. However, to their disbelief, one night, the enemies suddenly appeared inside the village, and a bloody war erupted.
Due to their lack of ambitions and decades of peace, the clan did not have as many shinobi as they would have liked to deal with enemies, and odds showed that they were likely going to lose.
During the last hours of the war, the Uzumaki Patriarch, Uzumaki Nobuyuki, son of the late Uzumaki Ashina, finally figured out how the enemies had gotten past their defensive barriers.
Their closest ally had betrayed them and deliberately let slip the information to the enemies.
Konoha needed a war, as they and the Fire Daimyō intended to expand the borders of the Fire Nation and grab hold of more resources and wealth. For that, they needed to make sure that Kumo and Kiri, who were both just as strong as their village, would not be able to take part in the coming Second Great Shinobi War.
They needed Uzushio gone as well, because they intended to claim the resources, wealth, and territories of the nations and villages who were also allied to the Village of Longevity. The risk of Uzushio supplying them with their weapons, tags, and seals during the war was too great a threat.
It was yet another reminder of treacherous nature of people...
The Uzukage, with the help of his second and third sons, Raito and Arashi, managed to save some key people of the branch families and over a hundred children, whom they brought to the Hall of Sealings.
There, they activated the Space-Time Seal in the middle of the Hall, which was connected to a secret hideout in the Land of Tea, where his eldest son and heir, Kazuma, lived with his sister and wife, Akiko.
Nobuyuki tried to send his sister and wife, Hiyori, to the other side, entrusting their youngest daughter, Kushina, who was only two years old, to her care. However, his beloved refused to run away and made it clear that she was going to fight by his side, live by his side, and die by his side.
Both their sons, who were present with them, refused to leave as well, and their wives were determined to stay by their sides even if it meant death.
To the Uzumaki, nothing mattered more than the family, and no one wanted to live with regrets and blame themselves for the rest of their lives for leaving their loved ones behind.
In the end, Nobuyuki gave Kushina to his grandson, Fujin, who was only eight years old, already carrying his little sister Himari in his arms, and forced 36 adults of their clan, all from the branch families, to take away the Five Great Sealing Scrolls, the 110 children in the Hall, the oldest of whom was only twelve, and other important things inside the Space-Time Circle, which they held together with their chakra.
Only after Nobuyuki and his sons successfully teleported them away did the Uzumaki Patriarch take a sigh of relief.
With Kazuma, Akiko, and his little daughter Kushina, he was confident that his family's pure bloodline would survive. His eldest was his heir and the person he had trusted with all their family's secrets. There was no doubt in his mind that Kazuma would ensure the survival of their clan.
Now, he could fight with a peace of mind.
"For our blood, for our home, and for the dawn that awaits our family, let us show our enemies that Uzumaki never back down..."
Nobuyuki addressed his closest family and a few clan members one last time, and then rushed out of the Hall to meet the enemies, not waiting for them to come to him.
The war lasted for another four hours, and only 409 out of the force of 20,000 survived. The survivors belonged only to Kumo and Kiri, and everyone else was dead.
Uzushiogakure, the Village of Longevity, was in ruins, and thousands of bodies were littered all over. The enemies had made sure that no Uzumaki was left living.
However, nothing could comfort their hearts after the losses they had suffered in the last few hours.
The Second Raikage had fallen in the war against the Uzumaki Patriarch, and the Cloud shinobi quickly left with his body after they ransacked the Scroll Hall and the Treasury, no longer trusting the Third Mizukage and the other men from Hidden Mist, who had survived and outnumbered them.
Only a month later, Konoha made its move and its forces entered the Land of Storms.
In reaction, the Kazekage of Hidden Sand, Suna, declared an emergency and sent out his own forces, which eventually led to their full-scale participation in the war.
From the Land of Earth, the Third Tsuchikage personally led his own forces and entered the Lands of Stone, Storms, and Fields.
The Hidden Rain, Ame, was not going to sit behind as the enemies entered their land, and led by their leader, Hanzō the Salamander, they declared war against Konoha, who were the instigators of this chaos.
Even the Land of Sky entered the Second Great Shinobi War, and those prideful people declared war on everyone, which ultimately led to their destruction.
Three months after the start of the Second Great Shinobi War, a caravan of 148 people arrived at the gate of Konoha, undetected by everyone, and their presence immediately set the village on high alert.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, personally rushed to the gate to meet the mysterious group with some clan heads of the village, and he was stunned when he saw the man leading the caravan take off his hood.
Uzumaki Kazuma, now the leader of the Uzumaki Clan, asked the Hokage for entry into the village, now that their home was gone.
Their clan had helped the Senju and Uchiha build Konoha, and with members of different clans present there, the Hokage put on a bright smile and invited them inside with open arms and words of condolence and support.
Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the First Hokage, invited them to the Senju Compound, but Kazuma refused and instead took his clan to the land that the First Hokage had gifted to the Uzumaki Clan in a show of his gratitude and in hopes that they would join his village.
The land was forested, behind the Uchiha District, which was across the Naka River in the north. The forest was also bordered by the Nara Clan District, separated by a stream in the Eastern Zone of Konoha.
Kazuma thanked all the people who offered the Uzumaki help in building their district, but he politely refused their kindness.
Instead, much to the agitation of the Hokage, he secured the Uzumaki Forest inside a barrier, preventing people from entering the land, and stayed locked there with his clan for the next eighteen months.
Eventually, Hiruzen could not sit still, especially after his old friend and the Head of Root, Danzō, expressed his grim thoughts and questioned the real motives of the Uzumaki Clan. He personally visited the entrance of the forest, hoping that Kazuma would let him inside.
To his surprise, the Uzumaki did invite him inside and even showed him around the outer Uzumaki district, which was still under construction.
The Third Hokage then requested the Uzumaki Clan for their support in the war, and Kazuma agreed to help him with the supply of explosive, sealing, smoke, and barrier tags, and expressed his regret at not being able to provide manpower since their numbers were too low.
Given how much help the Uzumaki were offering, Hiruzen could not really ask for more.
A few months later, Uzumaki Mito came to see her second cousin, and she requested him to help her pass the Kyūbi to its next jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mizumi, who was ten years old and the daughter of his late brother, Arashi.
Konoha had requested for an Uzumaki to be the next jinchūriki, and since only someone who possessed the Chakra Chains could contain the terrifying Nine-Tailed Beast, Uzushio had sent Mizumi to Konoha three years ago.
As much as Kazuma wanted to take his niece away and save her from this fate, he could not do it without making the village an open enemy.
The girl had already been brainwashed by Mito and Hiruzen, becoming fiercely loyal to Konoha. She even dreamed of becoming a Hokage and protecting the village with her life.
With a heavy heart, he helped Mito pass the Kyūbi to Mizumi. He then requested the Hokage to let his niece stay with them, but Hiruzen flatly refused.
The Konoha Council, led by their Kage, expressed their reservations at letting a clan keep the jinchūriki with them.
Jinchūriki were the assets of the village, and the assets of the Kage alone. No one else was supposed to have authority or power over them.
To Kazuma's sadness, the Hokage even openly requested him and his clan to keep contact minimal with his niece.
In this way, Mizumi grew up under the eyes of the Third Hokage, and as planned, fell in love with a boy from the Namikaze family, who had descended from the Senju Clan.
Konoha had a fiercely loyal jinchūriki, and everyone was happy to see their biggest weapon secure and loyal to the core.