When Uzumaki Yūki heard Arata's words, he immediately understood his intent and felt deeply grateful. This time, however, he didn't show it on his face.
His loyalty to Arata had already reached one hundred percent. By now, he was instinctively thinking from Arata's perspective. In front of Sarutobi Hiruzen, he felt it would be unwise to appear overly familiar—otherwise, Sarutobi would almost certainly find a way to exploit it.
But in his heart, Yūki had already made up his mind.
From this moment on—whether it was himself or his descendants—the Uzumaki clan would remain loyal to Arata for generations to come.
Arata's actions had safeguarded the very foundation of the Uzumaki clan's future revival.
As long as the clan's sealing arts were not lost, and with their population still relatively intact, the day the Uzumaki rose again was only a matter of time.
In fact, even Konoha's current largest clan—the Uchiha—now had a slightly smaller population than the Uzumaki.
At this point, Hiruzen could say nothing more. He could only follow Arata's lead and respond:
"Very well. In that case, I'll leave the matter of the sealing techniques to you. Just make sure no jutsu records are omitted…"
Though his tone was gentle and benevolent, Arata immediately saw through the old fox's scheme.
No techniques omitted—that phrasing clearly meant Hiruzen wanted everything, not just the sealing arts. Every recorded Uzumaki jutsu was something he intended to claim.
After dealing with the Uzumaki for decades, Hiruzen was intimately familiar with their heritage. He had certainly heard of their most famous sealing techniques. If Arata tried to cut corners, Hiruzen would definitely find fault later.
That said, Arata had never planned to cut corners in the first place.
Sealing techniques sounded impressive, but they weren't something just anyone could master.
Even someone as gifted as Minato had only learned the Reaper Death Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal.
And Minato wasn't just talented—his aptitude for ninjutsu was unquestionably top-tier in Konoha's history. Otherwise, he would never have mastered the Flying Thunder God, a jutsu one in ten thousand could learn.
Even with Kushina's assistance, Minato still only managed two sealing techniques.
That alone showed how demanding sealing arts truly were.
Compared to Uzumaki clan members, outsiders simply didn't measure up.
This made it clear that sealing techniques required a different kind of talent than ordinary ninjutsu—and the Uzumaki were uniquely suited for it.
Otherwise, how could an entire shinobi world produce only one clan renowned for sealing arts?
Arata was confident that even if Konoha obtained the Uzumaki sealing techniques, fewer than one in ten would ever successfully master them.
Such a ratio wouldn't threaten the Uzumaki's standing in the slightest.
In fact, Konoha's village-wide sensory barrier would still need Uzumaki clan members to operate it.
After all, that barrier had originally been invented by the Uzumaki themselves.
With them in charge, its effectiveness would only improve.
It wouldn't be as crude as in the original timeline—where it could merely detect the number of intruders and their general direction.
The Uzumaki's original barrier in the Land of Whirlpools could pinpoint every individual's exact location within the array—and even distinguish chakra levels.
Compared to that, Konoha's current system was a rough approximation at best.
As Arata was thinking this through, Hiruzen suddenly changed the subject.
"Oh, right," he said casually.
"Mito-hime left the village some time ago—presumably to aid the Uzumaki clan. Why hasn't she returned yet?"
Hiruzen already knew the answer.
Uzumaki Mito was almost certainly dead.
Otherwise, the Nine-Tails would never have fired off so many Tailed Beast Bombs during its battle with Arata.
As long as a tailed beast remained sealed inside a jinchūriki, its combat output was always somewhat restricted. It couldn't possibly squander chakra so freely.
Even though Mito was the First Jinchūriki and had a relatively harmonious relationship with the Nine-Tails, she had never reached true mutual understanding with it.
She couldn't fully surrender her body to the beast's control.
This was classified information—known only to the Hokage.
So Hiruzen was confident: Uzumaki Mito was dead, and the Nine-Tails had been released.
That raised a far more pressing issue.
The Nine-Tails' next host.
This was a Super-Kage–level strategic asset.
Now that Uzumaki sealing techniques were about to fall into Konoha's hands, the question of who would become the next jinchūriki would ignite an entirely new political storm.
As Hokage, Hiruzen naturally held the advantage here.
If possible, he wanted to select a more suitable candidate—someone not from the Uzumaki clan.
This wasn't unrealistic.
Among the Five Great Nations, only Konoha traditionally used Uzumaki as jinchūriki. Other villages had proven that non-Uzumaki hosts were viable.
The key factor wasn't bloodline—it was the quality of the seal.
As long as the sealing technique was strong enough, even a civilian could wield tremendous power after becoming a jinchūriki.
Take the Land of Lightning, for example.
Despite having no special bloodline clans, they produced an Eight-Tails jinchūriki at the peak of Kage-level strength.
Even without full tailed-beast transformation, a mere chakra cloak was enough to suppress Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.
When Arata heard Hiruzen still had the nerve to bring up Mito, his anger flared instantly.
He was already consumed with guilt over failing to protect her—
And yet the very man who had orchestrated the ambush dared to ask about her?
For a moment, Arata nearly lashed out on the spot.
But reason ultimately prevailed.
He knew that acting now would be exactly what Hiruzen wanted.
No matter how strong Arata was, attacking a comrade of his own nation was unforgivable in Konoha.
He would be branded a traitor—forever barred from the Hokage position.
Even if he stormed the village and killed Hiruzen himself, how would the others see him?
They would look at him the same way they once looked at Uchiha Madara.
A throne built on fear was meaningless.
Arata could use mind-altering methods to enforce obedience and establish absolute rule—
But ruling over a nation of puppets held no appeal.
People stripped of free will were no different from dolls.
Who would want to face such hollow followers every day?
Beside him, Uzumaki Yūki was visibly seething with grief and anger, clearly mourning Mito.
Still, he restrained himself.
He knew Mito had died at Madara's hands—and Hiruzen didn't possess the authority to command someone like Madara.
Otherwise, Yūki might not have held back either.
In the end, Arata was the first to speak.
"Mito-hime… has fallen in battle.
There isn't even a body left behind."