"So, if we go to Konoha to seek help, we will likely be refused."
"But Lady Mito is your daughter. With her status in Konoha, as long as she speaks, Konoha will surely send troops to rescue the Land of Whirlpools."
"So, for the sake of the children of our country, Lord Ashina, please make a trip to Konoha!"
"Lord Ashina, I beg of you!"
"That's right, Lord Ashina. We were the ones who refused to support Konoha. It has nothing to do with the children."
"Please, Lord Ashina, for the sake of the children, go to Konoha for help!"
"Our sins will be paid for by ourselves, but the children are innocent…"
After this ninja knelt, the others in the room immediately followed suit, pleading with Ashina Uzumaki.
"Sakurazuki, you—"
"And all of you…"
Ashina trembled as he pointed his finger at the people kneeling before him, too angry to speak.
He never would have imagined that his own clansmen would use the children of the Land of Whirlpools to threaten him.
But this was indeed his weakness.
As these Uzumaki ninjas had said, the decision to refuse to support Konoha was theirs, and they were willing to bear the consequences.
But the children were innocent.
In fact, because of the education in the Land of Whirlpools, which had always promoted the idea of Konoha and the Uzumaki clan being one family, many children born after the country's founding also yearned for Konoha, wanting to visit when they grew up to see what this village, which had almost become their second home, was like.
"Hoo…"
After taking a deep breath, Ashina's straight back stooped a little, and his personal spirit seemed to wither.
He looked as if he had aged another ten years.
"Alright, I will go to Konoha."
"However, if Konoha refuses to provide support, or if the Land of Whirlpools cannot hold out and is destroyed before their reinforcements arrive…"
"Then we will have only brought it upon ourselves!"
Although Ashina was over sixty years old and his physical fitness had declined considerably, and in terms of endurance, he certainly couldn't compare to the younger generation, he was still the strongest of the Uzumaki clan.
In fact, because he primarily practiced sealing techniques, even with his advanced age and declining strength, his skills were even more refined than before.
With him present, the Land of Whirlpools had a Kage-level powerhouse in charge. Even in the face of attacks from the other four great ninja villages, they could hold out for a while longer.
If the other four villages knew he was not in the country, they would probably swarm in and devour it completely.
And this was only because the Uzumaki clan mastered advanced sealing techniques that were a strong counter to the Tailed Beasts, which had led the four villages to not dispatch their Jinchuriki.
It was also because of this that there were no Kage-level powerhouses among the ninjas besieging the Land of Whirlpools.
After all, in the current ninja world, Kage-level powerhouses were the highest combat strength. In the great villages, only the "Kage" of each village and the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki could be considered as such.
A village like Konoha, which, in addition to its Hokage and Jinchuriki, had two other "Kage-level" existences in Sakumo Hatake and Li Anshi, was the only one of its kind.
"If that is the case, then I will take Michio and Fusō with me."
"If you fail to wait for Konoha's rescue, with them, the bloodline of our Uzumaki clan can continue."
"I'm counting on you, Lord Ashina!"
None of the Uzumaki ninjas objected to his choice.
After all, even they were not certain if Konoha would come to their rescue.
By taking Michio Uzumaki and Fusō Uzumaki with him to Konoha, he could also leave a glimmer of hope for the clan.
That night, the ninjas of the Uzumaki clan launched an attack on the four-nation ninja forces surrounding the Land of Whirlpools.
Although the attack was repelled, Ashina Uzumaki successfully broke through the encirclement with the two children.
Without multiple Jonin, it was impossible to stop a Kage-level powerhouse.
Furthermore, the Jonin of the four villages, apart from those guarding their respective camps, were all tied down by the Uzumaki Jonin.
Under these circumstances, even with two children in tow, these ninjas could not stop him!
Three days later, Ashina Uzumaki entered Konoha village with the two Uzumaki children.
…
"What's wrong, Tsunade?"
That day, Li Anshi saw a rare look of confusion on Tsunade's face and asked.
"Oh, it's you, Anshi…"
"How did I get here?"
Startled by his question, Tsunade realized that she had, without knowing it, come to his woodcarving shop again.
"Ha, you're already here and you're still saying that? How heartbreaking."
After ushering her to a seat, Li Anshi put down the dagger and carving in his hand. "If the problem that's confusing you now doesn't involve the secrets of the village or the Senju clan, I don't mind being a listener."
"Perhaps I can even answer some of the questions that are puzzling you."
"So, Tsunade…"
"Are you going to tell me a story?"
"Sigh…"
Tsunade sighed, her still-childish face seemingly tinged with the sorrow of an adult.
"Anshi, yesterday, my maternal grandfather came."
"Maternal grandfather?"
Li Anshi was surprised. He silently tried to deduce who her maternal grandfather was from her relatives.
Her maternal grandfather was Mito Uzumaki's father, which meant he was the former head of the Uzumaki clan, Ashina Uzumaki.
Judging from Mito's age, Ashina had to be at least in his fifties or sixties.
During the Warring States period, even for the Senju and Uchiha clans, the average lifespan of a clansman was less than forty.
At that time, ninjas were either fighting or on their way to a fight. No one knew whether tomorrow or an accident would come first.
Therefore, the children of the ninja clans began to refine chakra and master ninjutsu from a young age to form the greatest combat power in the shortest possible time.
In addition, there was no such thing as "medical ninjutsu" back then. Injuries were simply endured.
However, after entering the era of the ninja villages, over a decade of peace and fewer battles had greatly increased the average lifespan of ninjas.
But even so, being in one's fifties was still considered a ripe old age.
After remembering Ashina's identity, Li Anshi was also curious about what he was doing in Konoha.
He knew that the Land of Whirlpools would be destroyed in the future, and the Uzumaki clan, with the exception of a few, would be nearly wiped out.
And of these scattered Uzumaki, the one who had it best was Kushina Uzumaki, who became the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
The others either hid their identities and lived as commoners, or, if their identities were exposed and they were captured by a great village, they would become reserve Jinchuriki.
Even worse, like Karin Uzumaki and her mother in the Grass Village, they would become the village's "blood bank."
But he also remembered that the crisis of the Uzumaki clan was supposed to happen after the Second Great Ninja War.
At that time, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had already earned the title of the "Three Legendary Sannin," and Minato Namikaze, who was the same age as Kushina, was already a fourth-year student at the Ninja Academy.
For Ashina Uzumaki to come to Konoha now, could it be that the crisis of the Uzumaki clan's extermination had come early?
"Yes, they arrived yesterday."
Tsunade rested her chin on her hands.
"Last night, when my grandfather came out of the Hokage's building, he was in a very bad mood."
"When he was talking with my grandmother, I eavesdropped outside the door. They even argued."
"Oh?"
Li Anshi's eyebrows shot up.
For Mito and Ashina to argue, it could only really be about the crisis of the Uzumaki clan's destruction.
If he remembered correctly, Konoha had not extended a helping hand when the Uzumaki were in crisis.
After the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, only Kushina was brought to Konoha, and along with her, the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan.
In terms of sealing techniques, the Uzumaki clan dominated the ninja world.
The Tailed Beast Jinchuriki of the great villages, before the destruction of the Uzumaki, all had many flaws and were very prone to rampaging.
But after the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, the stability of the Jinchuriki of the great villages had suddenly improved several times over.
When one whale falls, ten thousand things are born!
Previously, Li Anshi had also suspected that Konoha had played a dishonorable role in the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools.
It was even possible that Konoha had a hand in it.
Could this speculation be true?
At this thought, his interest was piqued.
"Tell me more."
Giving him a sidelong glance, Tsunade continued, "I didn't hear what they said at the beginning."
"Later, I heard that the Land of Whirlpools was facing a crisis of destruction, and my grandfather had come to Konoha to ask for help."
"My grandmother seemed to want to go to Master Hiruzen and ask him to support the Land of Whirlpools."
"But my grandfather stopped her, saying that this was the Land of Whirlpools' own doing, and they had to bear the consequences."
"Oh?"
Li Anshi's eyes lit up.
There was an inside story to this?
"Tsunade, isn't that backward?"
"Shouldn't the Uzumaki clan head, as a father, be pressuring Lady Mito to influence the Third Hokage to support the Land of Whirlpools?"
"Why is it that when Konoha refuses to provide support, the Uzumaki clan head isn't anxious, but Lady Mito is?"
"That question, I do know the answer to."
Tsunade sighed.
"Anshi, do you remember after my great-granduncle sacrificed himself, our Konoha started a war with the Stone, Sand, and Cloud?"
"Yes."
Li Anshi nodded.
It was precisely because of the Second Hokage's death that Konoha had conscripted ninjas, and he had become one of them, eventually shining on the Cloud battlefield and making the ninjas of the world re-evaluate their understanding of "ninja tools."
Before him, throwing tools like kunai, shuriken, and senbon were artifacts for bullying the weak.
Those who could be killed by them were either Genin or ordinary Chunin.
Even the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, and the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, had no record of killing a Jonin with throwing tools.
For Jonin, the flight speed of such tools was too slow, and their lethality too low.
They posed no threat at all.
Even if they were attacked by hundreds of kunai thrown at once, a Jonin could release a defensive ninjutsu before they hit, blocking the attack.
But after Li Anshi appeared, the ninja world had made a distinction between his flying daggers and the throwing tools of ordinary ninjas.
It couldn't be helped; the battle record of his flying daggers was simply too dazzling.
It was a reputation built on the lives of thousands of ninjas.
How could he forget the war that had made his name?
"Anshi, did you know?"
"Originally, the Uzumaki clan was also a ninja clan of Konoha."
"Yes, I know that."
Li Anshi nodded.
After all, the forehead protectors of Konoha's ninjas still had the Uzumaki clan's crest on them.
This was an honor that even the Senju and Uchiha did not have.
"Later, for some reason, the Uzumaki clan did not live in Konoha, but returned to their ancestral lands and established their own country and ninja village."
"That is the Land of Whirlpools and the village of Uzushiogakure."
"Since the Uzumaki clan established their own village, they were naturally no longer ninjas of Konoha."
"But Konoha and Uzushiogakure also signed an alliance."
"Both sides agreed that if one was in trouble, the other would provide unconditional assistance."
"But a few years ago, when Konoha was attacked by the three great villages, Uzushiogakure broke the treaty. They did not send their ninjas to support Konoha."
"So that's how it is!"
Hearing this, Li Anshi instantly understood.
Thinking back, when Konoha was fighting the other three great villages, he had indeed not seen any Uzumaki ninjas on the battlefield.
"So, this time, with the Land of Whirlpools in crisis, Konoha is not going to provide support?"
"Yes."
Tsunade nodded, her sadness evident.
"Sigh…"
Li Anshi stood up and patted her shoulder.
He didn't find anything wrong with Konoha's choice.
If you're not there at sunset, who are you when the east wind rises again?
Since the Land of Whirlpools had chosen to violate the alliance and stand by when Konoha was in peril, why should Konoha help you when you are in crisis?
"My grandfather had already anticipated this result before he came."
"He said that he came to Konoha this time, firstly, to apologize to Konoha and admit the fault of the Land of Whirlpools in breaking the treaty."
"Secondly, to ask my grandmother to take care of the two Uzumaki children he brought with him, saying they were the seeds of hope for the clan."
"In the future, they will grow up in Konoha and represent the Uzumaki clan's return. From then on, the Uzumaki will all be ninjas of Konoha."
Li Anshi nodded, his respect for the head of the Uzumaki clan growing.
Whether it was admitting his mistake or having the Uzumaki return to Konoha, it was clear that Ashina Uzumaki was a person with a love that transcended his clan, just like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
"Your maternal grandfather is a very remarkable ninja."
This was his judgment of Ashina Uzumaki.