"And that's all that we could talk about with the time as apparently something came up that demanded Yggdra's presence," Hiruzen finished. The other three people were both amazed with an equal amount of skepticism.
"You do realize that she could have just fed us all lies and we'd be none the wiser since we have no way to disprove any of it?" Koharu asked. The Sandaime nodded.
"—and yet she was able to name a number of very accurate traits of the Uzumaki clan despite not having been here during their time," Homura countered. "It seemed like too much of a coincidence to be one."
"I'm more interested in the implications of this non-aggression pact she wants to make with each major village," Danzo announced, his eye closed in concentration. "By appealing to the natural reasons we wage wars and offering her people's ability to gather the necessary resources, any war from here on out between us will be because of personal offenses and feelings. Should we accept this pact and a nation attacks another, they would have no reason to justify their war unless it is in response to an assassination or something else."
"So if they don't have a good reason, they will be seen as incompetent to both rivals and clients, as well as have their trade connections with the Valkyrians cancelled as they would take an attack on one of their clients as an attack on them," Sarutobi concluded. "The only loophole is that if the belligerent nation can provide proof of cause for their war then the Valkyrians wouldn't mind."
"It would be a brilliant way to profit from our wars," Koharu stated. "Adaptable crops. Water. Metals. If the Valkyrians hold true to their trade promises, then all of the hidden villages would have all the materials they'd need to support full scale wars given the right justification with the only thing determining the scale and number of wars being each village's availability of manpower."
"A disturbing thought, that one of the possibilities of this trade union is to fatten us up for us to kill ourselves eventually due to our own machinations. Two issues that remain to be determined are the reactions the Valkyrians might have if one nation is destroyed in a war as that would be a loss of a client, and what the Valkyrians ultimately get out of this. Yggdra is truly a shogi master as she gave away nothing that would hint towards any hidden benefits to her proposal. We're simply grasping at straws here."
As foreboding as that theory was, it was simply a theory and not fact. They all could just be paranoid given the nature of their lifestyles and Yggdra's offer actually be genuine but none were willing to bet on it.
"How about we discuss the issue of them acquiring Uzu no Kuni?" Homura asked, hoping to alleviate the tension from Koharu's grim theory. "That land was our late ally's and ownership was assumed by the Fire Daimyo."
Sarutobi snorted. "What can we discuss? Kushina was the heiress to the clan and she's been missing since the Kyuubi attack, along with the child she was going to give birth to that night so Konoha can not claim ownership of the land without her to support it. It's rumored Tsuchida-sama and the Fire Daimyo share a lineage with the Uzumaki clan given their hair color and longevity but any attempt to request a blood test would have the metaphorical hammer brought down on us for such an invasive request.
We have a sample of her blood in the hospital, so the most we can do is petition for a blood sample from a Valkyrian and see if there are any similarities but that's a fat chance," Homura said. "Plus, no doubt their blood connection would have diluted over the hundreds of years. We would need them to provide a blood sample from one who's alive during that time and kin to one of the Valkyrian who took shelter on our world."
"And since Kushina was of royal lineage, she would have been the most ideal Uzumaki sample to compare to whomever they would scrounge up. How any efforts have been made to ascertain her whereabouts in all this commotion?" Danzo asked, hoping to make some kind of headway in this meeting.
"Unfortunately, no," Sarutobi said with a grimace as he down another saucer. "Kushina and her child left little of where they could have gone. There was a splotch of blood stained in the grass which could have been from a bleeding body but there were no pieces of body left over and since ANBU had arrived at the site moments after the Kyuubi's disappearance, it couldn't have been from carrion feeders. The body of Minato was found buried not far away and his grave will remain guarded and its body disposed of to prevent any of the other nations from finding and desecrating it.
Since Kushina had retired due to her pregnancy, and considering we don't know the full nature of Kyuubi's escape and her disappearance, we can't label her a missing nin for fear it will either not be her fault and will send word out of two loose Uzumakis. While the other nations will hesitate to act on that considering Yggdra Artwaltz's claim, they would not back down if they could keep her capture and containment a secret from the Valkyrians. I've ordered all spare ANBU teams to continue searching for her, even in surrounding villages within the Hi no Kuni. Danzo, I'll be relying on your Root division to scour the nation in the worst case scenario of missing nin, bandits, or minor villages catching wind of our crippled state to try and infiltrate or attack us."
"This is all a clusterfuck," Homura lamented, downing his saucer and getting his old teammate to refill it. "While Yggdra's claim of relation is a proverbial sword hovering over the head of any nation who would attempt to harm or capture Kushina and the heir of the Uzumaki clan, her notoriety will certainly capture the curiosity of Yggdra and her people and lead them to Konoha should Kushina not even attempt to contact them and we would only be able to lie for so long before they catch on."
The four elders sighed as they let the silence take over them for a moment. It was only broken finally by Koharu's statement.
"Damn Uzumakis are always so much trouble. Dealing with them is always a damn monkey's paw."
A sentiment shared by the other three.