Chapter 7: The Uzumaki Clan
The journey back was uneventful. After leaving the poisonous fog of the Land of Rain, they rendezvoused with the Kusa-nin.
Filled with anticipation…
Fusō, along with the three children—Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko—embarked on the journey to the Land of Grass with Kusa Hikaru.
Of course, upon learning that Hikaru was actually the leader of the Land of Grass and Kusagakure, Fusō was inwardly shocked.
She couldn't understand why the leader of a nation would sneak into the Land of Rain just to bring out a few commoners like them.
If it were only her and Nagato, she might have thought that Lord Hikaru was after her... and Nagato's bodies.
After all, the constitution of the Uzumaki clan…
That was the only thing of value she and Nagato possessed.
Thinking of that night, Fusō's face turned slightly red again, as if a little embarrassed.
It was too humiliating!
Just then.
"We've arrived." Kusa Hikaru, beside her, pointed ahead with a smile. "From today on, you will live here. Although the Land of Grass is relatively small and has only just been rebuilt, I believe you will come to like it here."
At this point, he looked with confusion at Fusō, whose face had turned slightly red for no reason. "What's wrong?"
"N-No! It's nothing!" Fusō snapped back to reality and shook her head. Then, she too looked up at the Land of Grass before them, a smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Lord Hikaru. We'll be in your care from now on."
"Just call me Hikaru. And no need for such formalities. I'm planning to take Nagato and the others as my students."
"Really?" Upon hearing this, Fusō's face lit up with a happy smile. That mature, gentle smile made even Kusa Hikaru pause for a moment.
Unlike Kana's gentleness, Mrs. Fusō, while not looking old, possessed a touch more maturity, like a kind older sister.
She bowed deeply. "Then I'll have to trouble you. I'm truly grateful!"
"It's nothing."
Kusa Hikaru waved his hand, shaking his head with a smile.
Who said all Uzumaki women were violent because of their chakra?
Weren't Kana and Mrs. Fusō quite gentle?
He mused inwardly, then continued, "Don't be so formal. You have your own clansmen here in the Land of Grass."
"Clansmen?"
Just as Fusō's confused words fell.
Kusa Hikaru spoke again, "Kana has arrived."
"Hikaru, you're back?"
A soft and happy voice called out from not far away. Fusō immediately looked up.
She saw a beautiful young woman with a gentle smile.
And her hair…
It was the exact same shade of red as her own.
A survivor of the Uzumaki clan?!
That evening.
Upon meeting a fellow clansman, both Kana and Fusō's eyes turned red. Although Fusō had experienced the destruction of her country as a young woman, and Kana was very, very young when the Land of Whirlpools fell, no matter what... that had been their home.
Only after experiencing the fall of their nation did these refugees understand... how difficult it was just to stay alive.
Now, suddenly meeting a clansman, they naturally had a lot to talk about.
Helpless.
He had to prepare dinner himself.
Then.
Without disturbing the two of them, he called the two children over for a simple dinner and then sat down in the courtyard to rest.
As for Yahiko… that fellow had been taken away by Mujina. After all, on paper, Yahiko was his adopted son.
Fusō, Nagato, and Konan were temporarily staying at his house. With the Land of Grass under reconstruction, there weren't many spare houses yet. Many of the country's commoners could only live in thatched huts for the time being.
"Brother Hikaru, so, I'm from the Uzumaki clan?"
Kusa Hikaru, who had been lying down quietly looking at the starry sky, about to relax, heard Nagato's voice beside him. He turned his head... and saw the young face filled with hesitation and conflict.
It seemed this confused boy had become curious about his lineage after learning he had clansmen.
As for Konan… she lay on her side, blinking quietly, seemingly unconcerned about it.
Easily satisfied, she was already very happy with her current life.
"Mhm," Kusa Hikaru nodded and said with a smile, "After the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, the Uzumaki clan began to flee across the shinobi world. To avoid assassination by other ninja, most of the Uzumaki who escaped chose to hide their identities and live scattered throughout the world."
"I see~ The Land of Whirlpools is gone. No wonder since I was little, Mom has always been so careful, no matter what she was doing. I thought she was just timid and planned to protect her when I grew up."
He never thought it was because of this.
Mom must have been terrified of being discovered.
Nagato was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Then why do they still hunt down the people of the Uzumaki clan?"
"Because they fear the Uzumaki clan's abilities and are afraid that the clan will rise again."
"???"
"You'll understand when you become a ninja." Kusa Hikaru shook his head and didn't say much more, frowning as he fell into deep thought.
A school~
Speaking of which, Kusagakure's ninja academy hasn't even been built yet.
In the shinobi world, apart from the major countries and large hidden villages, most small countries and villages didn't have ninja academies. They basically relied on family traditions or apprenticing under a specific ninja to learn jutsu.
However, Sunagakure, because the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had cut their funding and outsourced most missions to Konoha, was forced to adopt an elite training model due to a lack of money.
They had few students, who were specially trained one-on-one by the village's Jonin.
As for Kirigakure…
That was a brutal "survival of the fittest" system.
The less said about it, the better.
So.
"The school in the Land of Grass needs to be built quickly too!"
Just as he said that.
Tap, tap, tap~
Footsteps approached. It seemed Kana and Fusō had finished their chat.
"Lord Hikaru." x2
Both of their eyes were slightly red; they had probably been crying earlier.
Fusō pulled Nagato over, bowed deeply, and said seriously, "Thank you so much! Whatever you need me to do, I will not refuse."
"It's not necessary," Kusa Hikaru waved his hand, then looked at Kana. "Are there any other Uzumaki clansmen?"
He was still quite covetous of this great wandering shinobi clan.
If he could bring them all to the Land of Grass, it would solve the problem of the country's scarcity of Kekkei Genkai in the current stage.
"After we arrived in the Land of Rain, a Konoha ninja suddenly appeared and took away a girl from our clan. The Third Elder was worried that the Uzumaki clan would be discovered if we gathered in one place, so he had me stay in the Land of Rain. Besides, I'm a civilian. As long as I live quietly, I won't be easily noticed." Fusō shook her head, pondered for a moment, and said softly, "The Third Elder... I think he went north."
"I was with the Fifth and Seventh Elders," Kana said, lowering her head in disappointment. "But the Fifth Elder was sacrificed when he was surrounded by a group of ninja, and everyone scattered. I originally wanted to go to Konoha, but ended up wandering here."
"..."
It seemed that after the various clans suddenly ganged up on them, quite a few people from the Uzumaki clan, both civilians and ninja, managed to escape.
However, even after the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, they were still being hunted.
Now, no one knew where they had all gone.
Kusa Hikaru shook his head in disappointment, then a smile appeared on his face. "Forget it. I'll arrange for ninja to investigate. Who knows, maybe we'll find something. It's getting late. Fusō, Nagato, and Konan are tired too. Go get some rest. Kana, you can arrange a place for everyone to sleep."
He had been away for many days, and there were still many things to deal with tomorrow.
"Oh, right! You two haven't had dinner yet, have you? I left some for you on the table."
With that.
He yawned and turned to walk towards his room.
"Lord Hikaru is such a gentle person."
As he spoke.
Fusō watched Kusa Hikaru's retreating back, and the scene from that night involuntarily popped into her mind. Her face immediately turned slightly red again.
"He is indeed very gentle."
"Mhm! Hikaru is a good person," Kana, beside her, nodded as well. She then turned to look at Fusō, and just as she was about to arrange for everyone to rest, she looked with surprise at Fusō's blushing face. "Sister Fusō, what's wrong? Why is your face so red?"
"I... I might be a little hot."
(End of Chapter)