(A/N):
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The sea breeze moved quietly across the battlefield. Bodies floated. Broken swords drifted.
Smoke from destroyed boats curled into the sky.
Yet in the center of it all, the moment felt strangely still.
Shigure and Raizen stood unmoving.
"...."
"...."
Leo's hand remained extended.
Neither jinchūriki moved toward it. Not yet. Their minds were heavy.
Because the offer before them was not small.
It was everything.
For years they had lived like ghosts inside their own villages.
Guards watched them like prisoners.
Children were dragged away when they passed.
Meals were thrown to them like scraps.
Shigure still remembered the day he became Isobu's vessel.
The cheering when he survived the sealing.
The silence that followed the next morning. No one congratulated him.
They just avoided him. Raizen had it worse.
Saiken's corrosive chakra often leaked from his body.
Villagers whispered that he was cursed.
Some even said he was less human than the beast inside him. Both of them had learned the same lesson.
A jinchūriki was not a person. Just a weapon that breathed.
But now—A stranger stood before them.
A man strong enough to destroy armies. A man who could see the beasts inside them.
And he was offering something impossible.
A life. Not as tools. Not as monsters. As people.
Shigure's throat tightened.
Raizen's fingers trembled slightly. Neither spoke.
"...."
"...."
Their eyes had begun to sting.
The emotion surprised them.
It had been years since either of them allowed themselves to feel anything beyond survival.
For a moment—They both simply stood there.
Water rippling softly around their feet.
Then Shigure looked sideways.
Raizen was already looking at him.
No words passed between them. They didn't need them.
Both of them understood the same thing.
Even if this was a lie… Even if it ended badly…
They could not walk away from the first hand that had ever been offered to them.
Slowly—They turned back to Leo.
And dropped to their knees on the water's surface.
-Thud. -Thud.
Their heads lowered. Their voices were rough.
"…We accept."
"…If you truly allow us to live as humans…"
Raizen continued quietly.
"Then our loyalty belongs to you."
Shigure added. "From this day onward."
The ocean breeze carried the words.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Behind them, Kazuma and the Uzumaki shinobi watched silently.
Even Beru paused.
Leo did not react dramatically. He simply lowered his hand. Then placed it lightly on Shigure's shoulder.
"Stand."
His voice was calm.
"You are not slaves. You are citizens."
Both men slowly rose.
Leo looked between them.
"Your first order is simple."
A faint smile appeared.
"Stop kneeling to people."
Then he glanced briefly toward their seals.
Leo's gaze settled on the seals.
Not the ink. Not the ritual patterns etched across flesh.
But the deeper structure beneath them.
To most shinobi, a seal was simply a technique.
To Leo, it looked more like a cage woven from chakra threads.
Within Shigure and Raizen—Two enormous presences stirred.
Isobu.
Saiken.
Leo spoke calmly.
"I meant what I said."
Both jinchūriki stiffened slightly.
"...."
"...."
His voice was no longer aimed only at them.
It went deeper. Through the seals. Through the chakra.
Straight to the beings inside.
"I will release you."
The ocean breeze quieted again.
Inside Shigure's inner world, dark water rippled as the Three-Tails lifted its massive head.
Isobu watched through a single enormous eye.
Inside Raizen's seal, Saiken's gelatinous body shifted slowly within the cavern of chakra.
Both beasts paused.
"...."
"...."
Neither answered immediately. They had heard promises before.
From shinobi. From villages. From sages.
All of them ended the same way.
Chains. Weapons. War.
Leo continued without pressing them.
"You will be free. But not abandoned."
His eyes softened slightly.
"You will live in my territory. As citizens. Just like your hosts."
The words echoed through the seals.
Isobu's tail moved slowly.
"Freedom… without exile?"
Saiken's voice followed.
"Humans rarely separate those ideas."
Leo simply nodded going with the flow.
-Nod
"I know."
That was all. No persuasion. No bargaining. Just certainty. The tailed beasts fell silent again.
They studied him. Not as enemies. Not as prey. But as something unfamiliar.
A being who could see them. And speak without fear.
After a moment, Leo looked away from the seals.
"If you are unsure," he said calmly, "then watch."
Shigure and Raizen looked at him.
"Watch how your hosts are treated. Watch how my people live. Watch whether I keep my word."
He stepped back slightly.
"I am not in a hurry."
The tailed beasts remained silent. But their chakra had changed.
The hostility had faded. Something else replaced it.
Caution. Curiosity. About the proposal which was the first time they had heard.
Maybe even the smallest fragment of hope.
Leo glanced toward Kazuma and the Uzumaki forces.
"...."
The battlefield was ending even through it was temporary.
Mist survivors had fled.
Shadow soldiers dissolved back into darkness.
Beru stood nearby, wings folded.
Leo turned back to the two jinchūriki.
"For now," he said lightly,
"Welcome to Uzushiogakure."
The words felt strange to Shigure and Raizen.
After a Day...
Konohagakure...
Hokage's office...
Inside the Hokage's office in Konohagakure,
The atmosphere could not have been more different from the battlefield at Uzushiogakure.
Sunlight slipped through the open window.
Smoke curled lazily from Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe as he leaned back in his chair.
In front of him sat a polished crystal viewing orb, a small surveillance tool often used by the Hokage for village observation.
At that moment—The image inside it showed one of the public onsens around the village.
Steam drifted across the water.
Women relaxing in the hot springs chatted peacefully.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the scene. A crooked grin tugged at his lips.
-Grin
"Ah… peaceful village life,"
He muttered, sounding far too satisfied with his "inspection duties."
Then—
-BANG!
The office door slammed open so hard the walls shook.
Hiruzen jerked upright.
"...."
The crystal orb rolled off the desk and the image vanished instantly.
Standing in the doorway was Tsunade Senju.
Still young.
Still years away from becoming one of the legendary Sannin.
But already terrifying.
Her golden hair swayed slightly as she marched forward with a storm brewing in her eyes.
"HOKAGE!"
Her fist slammed onto the desk.
-THUD!!!
The thick wooden table groaned. Then split straight down the middle.
Paperwork, scrolls, and the cracked crystal orb dropped to the floor.
Hiruzen stared down at his destroyed desk.
"...."
"…That was imported wood."
Tsunade leaned forward, veins visible on her forehead.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"
Her voice echoed through the tower.
Outside, several ANBU quietly decided not to enter the room.
They had learned that intervening between Tsunade and the Hokage was a short path to the hospital.
Hiruzen sighed slowly, rubbing his forehead.
-Sigh
"I assume this is about Uzushiogakure."
Tsunade's glare sharpened.
"...."
"You assume correctly."
She pointed accusingly at him.
"You knew the Mist were preparing an attack. You knew the Uzumaki were vulnerable after the war. And you still did nothing."
Hiruzen remained silent.
"...."
The pipe smoke drifted upward.
Tsunade continued, anger rising with every word.
"The Uzumaki are our allies. Our family. My grandmother is an Uzumaki!"
Her voice cracked slightly at the last sentence.
"You told the council help was coming. But nothing was sent."
Hiruzen's eyes hardened.
"You know the political situation."
Tsunade slammed her fist into the broken desk again.
-BOOM!!!
"I don't care about politics! The Uzumaki helped Konoha since the village was founded! Grandfather trusted them!"
Her eyes burned with frustration.
"And now they're being slaughtered while we sit here doing nothing?!"
The room fell silent.
"...."
Hiruzen slowly removed his pipe from his mouth.
"You're late."
Tsunade blinked caught off-guard.
She went to Shikkotsu Forest for training for a month.
But when she returned she heard the complaint about the recent decision of Konoha's decison to stant by and let the shamless mist to bully Uzumaki clan.
So as soon as she heard it she was enraged and thought how worried her grandma must be and came straight here to demand explanation from her sensei.
But now hearing it's already over made her pause her eyes widden in shock.
"What?"
Hiruzen stood and walked toward the window.
"The battle already happened."
Tsunade frowned while her body was shaking in anger.
"What are you talking about?"
Hiruzen opened a scroll lying nearby.
"The Mist's first assault force was annihilated."
Tsunade's eyes widened. Once again caught off-guard by the response.
"...."
"What?!"
"Witness reports confirm something unusual."
He glanced at her.
"...."
"A man appeared in Uzushiogakure. Along with two women capable of flight. Unknown creatures were also seen. Several Mist elite units were destroyed. Even the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were reportedly defeated."
Tsunade stared at him.
"...."
"That's impossible. Uzumaki clan elite members all were still recovering from the First Great Ninja War."
Hiruzen shrugged letting out a sigh.
-Sigh
"So the Mist thought."
He closed the scroll.
"Yet here we are."
Tsunade paced angrily.
"So someone else saved them. That doesn't excuse us."
Hiruzen's voice became quieter.
"You think I don't know that?"
For a moment, the old Hokage looked tired.
"The Daimyo has restricted military movement. Danzo is pushing his own agenda. The other villages are watching."
"And now… a new unknown power has appeared."
Tsunade stopped pacing.
"Who is he?"
Hiruzen shook his head.
"No records. No clan identification. Nothing."
He looked out the window toward the distant horizon.
"But whoever this man is… …he just changed the balance of the shinobi world."
Senju Compound...
Inside the Senju compound, the atmosphere was far heavier than inside the Hokage's office.
The great mansion built by Hashirama Senju stood quiet beneath the evening sky.
Lanterns flickered along the wooden corridors, their warm glow reflecting off polished floors that had seen decades of history.
At the center hall sat Mito Uzumaki.
The first jinchūriki of the Nine Tails. The former wife of the First Hokage.
And one of the sharpest political minds in the hidden world.
A scroll rested open in her hands. Its seal had already been broken.
The message inside had been written by someone she knew better than almost anyone.
Kazuma Uzumaki.
Her younger brother. She read the contents again slowly.
Not because she didn't understand.
But because every line carried consequences.
Kazuma's handwriting was firm.
Direct. Unemotional.
[ Uzushiogakure now serves the Kingdom of Eldoria.
Our people have sworn loyalty to King Leo Morningstar.
He is not merely called a god.
He is one.
He descended after hearing our prayers. ]
Mito's fingers tightened slightly on the scroll. Her eyes moved further down.
"...."
[We requested aid from our allies.
None came.
The Senju clan owes us an explanation.
But that explanation will no longer be given to us.
It will be given to our lord.]
Mito exhaled slowly.
-Sigh
The hall remained silent except for the soft crackle of lantern flames.
Her mind began moving rapidly.
Kazuma was not naive.
He was not the type to kneel to a charlatan or a wandering tyrant.
If he had submitted the entire Uzumaki clan…
Then one of two things was true.
Either this Leo Morningstar was truly divine.
Or he possessed power rivaling the monsters of legend.
Perhaps even greater than Hashirama himself.
Mito slowly lowered the scroll.
Her eyes drifted toward the open veranda.
"...."
Beyond it, across the village skyline, the Hokage Monument loomed proudly.
Hashirama's stone face gazed over the village he had built.
Mito stared at it for a long moment.
Then she muttered quietly.
"Idiots."
Her voice was sharp with irritation.
"Both brothers."
Her gaze hardened.
"One drowned in foolish ideal …and the other had no eye for character."
Hashirama believed too deeply in trust.
Tobirama believed too deeply in control.
And between those two extremes—Konoha had allowed mediocrity to rise.
Hiruzen.
Danzo.
Four disciples chosen poorly.
Those four now guiding the village.
Her fingers tapped slowly against the scroll.
Her mind turned toward something else.
A memory. Her wedding.
The alliance contract between Senju and Uzumaki.
Not a simple friendship.
A binding pact between two bloodlines.
One written not only in politics—But in blood. Her eyes widened slightly.
"…I see."
The smallest smile appeared on her lips.
A loophole. A beautiful one.
Because the marriage agreement between Hashirama and herself did not simply unite two individuals.
It bound the Senju and Uzumaki clans as family.
If Uzumaki had sworn themselves to this King Leo Morningstar…
Then technically—A portion of the Senju lineage was already tied to his domain.
Not legally. Not yet. But politically?
It was enough to open a door.
Mito leaned back calmly as a plan started to plan on her mind.
"Interesting."
Inside her seal, the Nine Tails stirred.
Massive crimson eyes opened within the dark inner world.
Kurama had been listening the entire time.
He could see every thought crossing her mind. His deep voice rumbled with quiet amusement.
"Cunning old fox."
Mito chuckled softly.
-Chuckle
"Of course."
She rolled the scroll closed again.
"If this Leo Morningstar is truly what Kazuma believes… then the shinobi world just changed."
Her gaze returned to the Hokage monument outside.
"Which means Konoha will either adapt… or be left behind."
Inside the seal, Kurama's tails swayed lazily.
"This might finally become interesting."
He could feel two of his brothers at the direction of Uzushiogakure.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N)I hope you guys are enjoying the story.
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