"It's me, Fox."
Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Yako relaxed.
He didn't turn around, and spoke with his head lowered, as if talking to himself:
"Yuka, Princess Kushina has already been taken by Clan Head Senju Rinju. You don't need to worry about her safety.
The Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Scroll is also in Senju Rinju's hands now.
The Anbu received word that the Mist is planning to seize the elders' sealing scrolls.
The Land of Waves is too close to both the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. It's dangerous here. You should leave as soon as possible.
Head north—maybe it's not safe either, but it's still better than staying in the Land of Waves."
There was a long silence behind him.
Yuka finally asked, "Fox, when the Uzumaki Clan was destroyed... what role did Konoha's Anbu play?"
Yako fell silent too.
He didn't know what to say. The reasons behind the fall of that poor clan were far too complicated.
After the death of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, Konoha weakened. The Uzumaki tried to secure themselves by sealing the Three-Tails, but that conflicted with Konoha's plans for the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. That ultimately led to all three Great Villages wanting them dead.
Pity was one thing—he didn't want to complicate things here.
"It's still unclear. I'm investigating."
Yuka tossed him a scroll and said:
"Fox, this is my summoning scroll. It includes a Contract Seal and the Summoning Technique.
I want to share a contract with you—to the Longspear Egret summoning clan—so we can communicate more easily."
Yako accepted the scroll and carefully tucked it away.
Later, the scroll could be sent back to Uzumaki Yuka via the Longspear Egret.
The Longspear Egret couldn't be summoned publicly. Learning both the Contract Seal and Summoning Technique was a huge gain.
By sheer coincidence, the investment he made in Uzumaki Yuka had turned out well.
"Yuka, don't approach Princess Kushina for now. She's surrounded by surveillance. Anyone who gets close to her will be noticed by Konoha's Anbu," Yako warned.
"Go now. Soon, many enemies will appear in the Land of Whirlpools."
"Take care, Fox."
"Take care, Yuka."
Behind him, faint rustling of leaves echoed.
Among the daimyo's Guardian Ninja were Uzumaki shinobi. If they wanted to escape, they surely had their ways. Besides, the Eight-Winged Crow could also take several people with it.
Before long, a group approached in the distance—it was the Ironstag Unit.
The squads spread out in multiple directions, entering the forest.
Captain Black Ape had lost an arm and was weakened, so he walked with Yako at the rear.
A brief but fierce skirmish broke out in the woods.
Both sides tacitly avoided large-scale jutsu, relying solely on taijutsu.
Captain Hippo's squad killed several Mist ninja and captured a squad leader.
Muffled groans could be heard in the forest as Captain Hippo personally interrogated the captured Mist leader.
Half an hour later, he wiped the blood off his hands with a leaf and gathered the other captains.
"The interrogation went well. The Mist has identified a key figure: the Guardian Ninja captain serving the daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools.
The remaining Uzumaki depend on him for protection after returning to the Land of Whirlpools.
This captain is an Uzumaki jōnin. Kyoto originally had many Uzumaki living in hiding.
The Guardian Ninja captain must die. Only then can we force them to reveal the sealing scrolls."
Many missions in the Land of Waves had been given to Uzushio Village, which deeply dissatisfied Konoha.
Some Uzumaki shinobi, especially those with Uzumaki spouses, had settled in the Land of Waves long-term.
Captain Hippo continued:
"Eight kunoichi escaped from Uzushio. According to intel from the Anbu, there were 48 Uzumaki ninja either stationed here or on missions when the clan was destroyed.
Adding those 8 to the count, there were 56 in total. Mist killed 3, so at most, 53 are left.
Our goal is to find the Guardian Ninja captain before the Mist does."
Poor Uzushio. All their intel was shared with Konoha. Konoha knew the exact number of Uzumaki remaining, down to the last individual.
They didn't even realize they'd been sold out.
Captain Black Ape said:
"Hippo, I think the most important thing right now is to cut off support from the Land of Waves.
Let's go directly to the daimyo. Offer to take over his protection and convince him to abandon the Uzumaki."
Captain Hippo's eyes lit up, but he hesitated:
"Talks at this level—national scale—should be handled by someone like Mitokado Homura-sama, right? Will the daimyo even listen to us?"
Black Ape replied:
"We don't need the daimyo's full agreement. We just need him to understand what the Uzumaki's destruction means and stop backing their captain.
The daimyo has twelve Guardian Ninja—eight are Uzumaki, and the other four are Konoha shinobi.
With those four, and us, we can tilt the balance back toward Konoha.
Now that the Uzumaki are gone, we can't let the Mist take their mission share."
Hippo nodded repeatedly.
The two captains agreed that Black Ape would enter the daimyo's castle and do the convincing.
Black Ape brought only Yako. Outside the castle, they met with one of Konoha's Guardian Ninja.
"Yamanaka Kari-senpai, I'm Black Ape, Anbu Captain. I'm here to inquire about the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja."
Yamanaka Kari, with pale blond hair, sighed.
"It's a tragedy. The mighty Uzumaki Clan, wiped out by the combined assault of Mist and Cloud.
We at Konoha got the news too late. By the time we reached the border of the Land of Whirlpools, it was over.
The eight Uzumaki Guardian Ninja here… they lost the will to protect. They frequently disappear.
At first, they still took leave properly. Then, they just vanished. Can't even locate them.
The daimyo's furious. He's spoken to me twice already.
I've already reported it to the village. We're trying to negotiate with the daimyo to send replacements and bring the Uzumaki Guardians back to Konoha.
Let them return. Isn't Princess Kushina in Konoha now? With time, maybe the Uzumaki can just become a small clan within Konoha."
Yako thought to himself, The average Konoha shinobi have no idea what the Anbu really did.
The Uzumaki would never be allowed to become a peaceful sub-clan in Konoha. What Konoha wanted was for Princess Kushina to dedicate herself completely as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
Mito Uzumaki was a special case—she was the First Hokage's wife.
But for Kushina, if the jinchūriki had loyalties to her original clan, how could Konoha's higher-ups feel secure?
Black Ape didn't comment on Kari's proposal. He said instead:
"After the Uzumaki Clan's destruction, the Anbu learned that they are planning revenge.
But they still carry the title of Konoha ally. If they act on revenge, it might push the daimyo toward the Mist.
Sympathy is one thing. Mission shares are another.
Kari-senpai, the Anbu's stance is to remove the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja from the daimyo's side—don't let them influence him."
Kari frowned, picking up on the subtext. It seemed the Anbu didn't exactly support the Uzumaki.
Could it be that the village no longer supported their revenge?
Then he suddenly said, "Wait... you're... I've heard your voice before, back in the clan."
"Yes, Kari-nii. It's me."
Kari glanced at Yako's fox mask but didn't call out Black Ape's name.
"Your left arm…?"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
After a pause, Kari said, "I understand. I get what the Anbu is asking. Tell me the limits, and I'll plan accordingly."