On the battlefield—
Members of the Uzumaki clan had set up an isolated sensory barrier around Uzumaki Mito, allowing her to evade Kirigakure's sensory units while also giving her enough time to fully condense a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even so, after releasing just one Six-Tails–level Tailed Beast Bomb, Mito's face was already filled with exhaustion, her breathing noticeably ragged.
"War…
It should be over now, shouldn't it?"
Step, step, step—
"Thanks to Lady Mito's appearance, and under the command of Jōnin Shikajī, we were able to end this battle with minimal losses."
Uzumaki Ryōta landed nearby and spoke. Seeing how fatigued Mito looked after witnessing the power of the Tailed Beast Bomb, a trace of greed flickered in his heart.
"Lady Mito, why not go rest inside the city for a while? The Cloud Village invasion force has already been completely wiped out. The city is very safe now."
Mito glanced at Ryōta and replied calmly, "No need."
"Yūya!"
Whoosh, whoosh—
Hyūga Yūya's unit had been assigned to prioritize Mito's protection. Hearing her call, they immediately abandoned their corpse-checking duties and rushed to her side.
"Lady Mito."
Yūya cast a guarded look toward the Uzumaki ninja. With the enemy defeated, it was still unclear whether the Uzumaki might harbor hostile intent toward Mito.
"Haha—don't worry. How could I ever harm Lady Mito?" Ryōta scratched his head. "But it's already late at night. It really is time to rest."
Mito gave a slight nod, faint disappointment flashing across her face, but said nothing more.
"Let's go, Yūya."
Yūya nodded and signaled to the rear, calling the Konoha forces over as quickly as possible.
At the same time, both the Uzumaki ninja and the Konoha ninja were exhilarated. Being able to fight side by side again after so long was a rare experience.
Yet beneath that excitement lay sorrow—many of their own comrades had fallen in this battle.
The cool night breeze unique to the evening brushed across Uzumaki Ryōta's face as he stood among the trees, watching Mito depart.
Soon after, a red-haired young jōnin arrived atop a nearby tree trunk and bowed.
"Leader!"
"Makoto. I have a task I want to entrust to you."
Having just survived the joint assault by Kirigakure and Kumogakure, Uzumaki Makoto felt deeply fatigued. A strange look flickered in his eyes as he raised his head to look at Ryōta's back.
"Leader, please speak."
"I want to—"
"..."
"…Forget it."
Ryōta hesitated for a long time. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it, nor did he have the confidence. His gaze shifted toward the corpses of Kirigakure ninja on the battlefield.
"Have you gotten any information about my daughter?"
Makoto fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Leader Ryōta…"
"…Forget it. Let it go."
A desolate look crossed Ryōta's face as news resurfaced in his mind—his elderly father had died on the battlefield earlier that day.
"From today onward—
You are the head of the Uzumaki clan."
"From today onward, the Uzumaki clan will fully join Konohagakure."
"What?!"
Ryōta's words stunned Makoto.
Around two hundred chūnin-level Uzumaki ninja had been deployed to the battlefield—nearly half had died, many of them from the new generation.
At this point, even if all the genin stationed at the Land of Fire's border returned, the Land of Whirlpools could no longer be defended.
And this time, Kumogakure hadn't even sent a main force. If they attacked again next time, would Konoha still be able to provide such overwhelming support?
Ninja growth takes time.
And the great villages are best at one thing—crushing talent while it's still weak.
"I'm going to establish an organization," Ryōta said.
"One dedicated to finding my daughter—and avenging this hatred against Kirigakure."
The reason Ryōta had once set his sights on Mito's Nine-Tails was because he wanted the Land of Whirlpools to have a powerful ninja guarding it—true peace could only exist that way.
—but he couldn't bring himself to commit such madness.
"Then I'll go with you, Leader Ryōta!" Makoto said immediately.
Ryōta shook his head.
"The clan and the village both need an outstanding jōnin to hold things together. I can't take you with me."
"In the future, I hope to hear of a powerful Uzumaki ninja from the Land of Fire, one whose name resounds throughout the shinobi world."
"That will be your repayment to me."
"Ryōta…"
"Makoto. You understand how a man feels after losing his daughter—and then his father—not long after, don't you?"
Ryōta turned around, his tone serious.
"While you protect the Uzumaki clan, don't fail Jōnin Seiichirō's final wish—help him protect the Tsuchiya clan as well. And don't forget the help the Mizuhara clan has given our Uzumaki…"
Their entire conversation was captured by Hyūga Yūya's Byakugan. Through lip-reading, he relayed the contents to a Konoha intelligence ninja nearby, who carefully wrote everything down.
Once the two men parted, Yūya finally nodded slightly, and the chūnin stopped recording.
Yūya took the paper from the chūnin's hands and reviewed its contents.
After reading it, his back—pressed against the tree trunk—was damp with sweat as he let out a slow breath.
"Thank goodness…
The Uzumaki leader didn't harbor rebellious intentions. Otherwise, we'd be in real trouble."
This time, Konoha had sent out nearly all of its border forces—less than a hundred ninja remained behind. It was an enormous risk.
Meanwhile, the Konoha ninja stationed within the Land of Whirlpools, including Yūya's remaining guard unit, numbered just over seventy. Nearly fifty had died in battle.
As for Baixing's Squad One, they had already taken advantage of daylight to escort the first batch of Uzumaki children toward Konoha under cover from allied forces.
A shadow clone, having observed the battle from afar, dissipated.
Camping outside a border town, Baixing absorbed the clone's memories and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"High-tier Kage-level battles are completely unreasonable. They start with pure energy bombardment—no finesse at all. Scary as hell."
Good thing he had cheats.
Otherwise, he'd just be cannon fodder for those monsters.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The Land of Whirlpools' "temporary relocation plan" became a full integration into the Land of Fire.
After stepping down as clan leader, Uzumaki Ryōta personally led a group consisting of one jōnin, two special jōnin, and five chūnin, wandering the shinobi world to search for Kushina and other missing Uzumaki clan members.
At the same time, they frequented bounty stations, taking on Kirigakure-related assassination contracts exclusively.
They would become the living legacy of the Uzumaki.
Their mark:
a single slash carved across their Uzumaki forehead protectors, symbolizing rogue ninja.
The fall of the Land of Whirlpools may have been destiny.
Possessing immense wealth coveted by countless ninja, yet lacking the strength to protect it—such a nation could only survive by attaching itself to a greater power.
Within Konoha's ninja structure, manpower was still tight. A small number of chūnin, special jōnin, and even jōnin slots were allocated to Uzumaki ninja.
Even so, this sparked dissatisfaction among several major clans' upper echelons.
Under Mito's cold gaze, however, all of Konoha's clan leaders instantly backed down.
—After all, no one's war achievements compared to killing the Third Mizukage, who hadn't even managed to properly enter the battlefield.
Mito wasn't unreasonable either.
The Uzumaki clans' new district would be built on the outer perimeter of the village, a location well-suited for defending Konoha—
the same place where the Uchiha clan compound would later be established.
As for rank quotas, Mito made herself clear:
In the next Chūnin Exams, all Uzumaki, Mizuhara, and Tsuchiya clan ninja—except those already possessing true jōnin-level ability—must participate in the exams to earn chūnin rank.
Jōnin and special jōnin would also need to complete Konoha-issued promotion missions. Until then, they would only hold temporary jōnin or special jōnin status.
—Fail the mission, and they'd all be sent back to take the chūnin exams.
As a result, Konoha's battlefronts against Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Sunagakure eased considerably.
The Mizuhara clan's water-style jōnin decided to lead their chūnin teams to the Fire–Rain battlefield after the exams.
Likewise, Uzumaki jōnin planned to head to the Fire–Wind battlefield.
Many Uzumaki and Tsuchiya ninja also volunteered to guard the Land of Fire's coastline facing the Land of Water—one of the evaluation criteria for jōnin and special jōnin promotion.
For Uchiha Hazuki, who had nearly lost half an arm to Kirigakure's assassination squad while rescuing Hyūga Chiya during the attack on Outpost No. 1, this influx of manpower was more than welcome.
Among the families of the Land of Whirlpools, there were also those unable to become ninja. Using the wealth left behind by their fallen nation, they chose to build a city within the Land of Fire together with fellow citizens—a city to record the history of the Land of Whirlpools.
Its name: Enka City (Flame Whirlpool City).
Combining the "Fire" of the Fire Daimyō, the "Fire" of the Hokage, and the "Whirlpool" of the Uzumaki clan, the name was born.
The Fire Daimyō was delighted.
After all, the people of the Land of Whirlpools had effectively given up a nation's title, instead using that nation's wealth to build a city within the Land of Fire.
Taxes, construction materials, mission commissions—
everything stimulated the Fire Country's economy, fattening the purses of the Daimyō and the nobility alike.
Why wouldn't he welcome it?
At this very moment, the future of the shinobi world subtly shifted.
On Mount Myōboku, a massive orange-skinned elder toad;
in Ryūchi Cave, the White Snake Sage who liked disguising herself as an old woman;
and in Shikkotsu Forest, the Slug Sage whose true form resembled a fully mature young woman—
all opened their eyes at the same time.
"The future… has been changed!"
[Author's Note: In this story's setting, the White Snake Sage can transform into human form. The Slug Sage should be able to as well—after all, it's essentially a transformation-type senjutsu.]
Mid-June arrived, and the Ninja Academy was nearing summer break.
The registration office for the Chūnin Exams was completely deserted.
Aside from the occasional chūnin from the Tsuchiya, Mizuhara, or Uzumaki clans coming by to ask about exam dates, all other clans—and recent graduates—quietly gave up on this exam.
—All the candidates are already chūnin-level. What the hell are genin supposed to test for?!
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