Hearing the man's words, Arata finally smiled.
It seemed things were proceeding smoothly after all.
With the sinking of Uzushiogakure, the deaths of the clan's two Kage-level powerhouses, and even the loss of their greatest pillar—Uzumaki Mito—the Uzumaki clan had truly been beaten down.
The pride of a once-great clan had finally been set aside; they had bowed their heads completely.
Of course, even in this state, the Uzumaki clan was not willing to submit to just anyone.
If the person they were pledging themselves to was someone like Arata—a peak powerhouse of the shinobi world—they had no objections whatsoever.
But if they were being asked to submit to Sarutobi Hiruzen, a man who loved scheming behind the scenes and tripping others up from the shadows, they would almost certainly refuse.
After all, Hiruzen's strength was only on par with Uzumaki Suikyō.
What right did he have to lead the Uzumaki clan?
Although Arata was satisfied with their answer, the system offered no response.
The reward had not yet been issued.
Which meant his chosen option had still not been fully completed.
After a moment of thought, Arata quickly realized the problem.
The Uzumaki clan had agreed to join Konoha, but in truth, they were pledging loyalty only to him, not to Konoha as an institution.
And Arata was not yet the Hokage.
In practical terms, Konoha was still under the control of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the sitting Hokage.
Likewise, the real authority of the Land of Fire was still firmly in Hiruzen's hands.
Which meant that unless Hiruzen officially approved it, the Uzumaki clan could not truly be considered part of Konoha.
Worse still, if Hiruzen took offense, he could outright brand the Uzumaki clan as hostile ninja and issue a bounty.
At that point, the Uzumaki would have no foothold left in the Land of Fire at all.
In the past, Hiruzen might have hesitated out of respect for Uzumaki Mito.
But now that Mito was dead, Arata could not be certain Hiruzen wouldn't do something so ruthless.
Arata's strength undoubtedly surpassed Mito's—but he didn't believe Hiruzen had the insight to recognize that.
After all, Hiruzen was, at best, only a mid–Kage-level shinobi.
And more importantly, Arata and Hiruzen were political rivals.
It was entirely possible that, in order to weaken Arata's growing influence, Hiruzen would refuse to allow the Uzumaki clan to join Konoha.
Having thought it through, Arata found that he didn't particularly care.
His strength had already surpassed the level where schemes and politics could determine victory or defeat.
At his current level, he didn't need to concern himself with Hiruzen's opinions at all.
Even if Hiruzen truly tried to interfere, Arata could simply eliminate him outright—and with his overwhelming power, still seize absolute control over the Land of Fire.
Having made up his mind, Arata decided not to travel alone any longer.
He spoke calmly,
"In that case, you'll come with me."
The reason was simple: the Uzumaki clan was currently far too weak.
Their overall strength was now roughly on par with the Uchiha clan, which meant they needed protection along the way.
If they were spotted before officially joining Konoha—especially by Hiruzen's people—there was no telling what might happen.
This also gave Arata an opportunity to recover some of his stamina.
Although rescuing civilians had allowed him to regain more energy than he spent, he was still not fully back at peak condition.
Hearing Arata's decision, the ANBU member had no objections at all.
A force of this size moving freely within Land of Fire territory already violated existing agreements.
If Hiruzen chose to accuse them and order their execution, it would technically be justified.
But with Arata escorting them, everything changed.
He simply didn't believe Hiruzen could defeat Arata.
The rest of the Uzumaki clan was equally relieved.
With someone like Arata guiding them, joining Konoha felt all but guaranteed.
Their future status within the village would likely not be too harshly marginalized either.
At this point, Arata finally asked the ANBU member's name.
"What's your name? They seem to be treating you as the new clan head."
The middle-aged man immediately replied solemnly,
"My name is Uzumaki Yūki. My father was Uzumaki Suikyō…"
Arata nodded.
So he was the former clan head's son—no wonder he had succeeded him directly.
Judging by his age, Yūki was likely around thirty-seven or thirty-eight, while Suikyō had been well into his sixties.
It seemed the old man had fathered a child late in life.
An elite jōnin at that age, Yūki's talent was respectable but not exceptional by Uzumaki standards.
His future ceiling would likely stop there.
Reaching Kage level might be possible, but even then, it would probably take until he was around fifty.
By that point, his strength would already be on the decline.
Among the remaining Uzumaki, Arata sensed no one stronger than Yūki.
In fact, most of the clan's strongest remaining shinobi—those at elite jōnin level—were women.
This made Arata wonder whether the Uzumaki bloodline was naturally more inclined to producing powerful female shinobi.
Thinking back, most of the well-known Uzumaki in the original history had indeed been women.
The only famous male exception was Nagato, whose appearance was somewhat androgynous.
As for Uzumaki Naruto, he was a special case—his bloodline was diluted, given that his father was only distantly related to the Uzumaki clan.
Strictly speaking, Naruto couldn't fully represent male Uzumaki lineage.
After learning Yūki's name, Arata brought up the matter that concerned him most.
"Mito-hime and Suigetsu-hime are dead. I wasn't able to save them…"
A wave of sorrow passed through the Uzumaki clan.
Fortunately, after experiencing so many emotional highs and lows in a single day, they quickly steadied themselves.
Yūki, in particular, seemed to have already come to terms with it.
He said quietly,
"We realized that as soon as we arrived. I only hoped… that you might have been able to bring back the bodies of our elders."
Arata's return without them already answered that question.
He shook his head, confirming that the bodies could not be preserved, then added,
"The Uzumaki clan's sealing technique scrolls were also destroyed in the battle. I'm afraid…"
Part of him grieved the loss of knowledge that might now be lost forever.
Another part remembered his agreement with the Land of Craftsmen—Yoshida Eiichi was still waiting for those sealing techniques.
If they were truly gone, the Seven Ninja Swords might never see the light of day.
But Yūki surprised him.
Shaking his head, Yūki said,
"The true scrolls were never kept on Suigetsu-hime. For many years now, all of the Uzumaki clan's recorded ninjutsu and sealing techniques have been sealed within my father's body."