"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 173: Madara's Homecoming
Not everyone in the Uzumaki Clan has that distinctive visual kei look...
This was a perfectly reasonable fact Yūshin had just discovered.
Not every member of the Uzumaki Clan sported that signature fiery red hair... Well, that sounds rather obvious, considering the clan leader Uzumaki Ashina himself had a full head of white hair.
Yūshin simply noticed that some younger Uzumaki had ordinary black hair, looking like any background character.
This was entirely normal, after all—you couldn't randomly pick any Uzumaki and expect their chakra to rival a Tailed Beast's, then have them effortlessly unleash Adamantine Sealing Chains.
In this war-torn era, even though the Uchiha Clan had a high Sharingan awakening rate, not everyone possessed the bloodline limit... The Uzumaki Clan faced similar circumstances—one had to allow for ordinary people within the clan.
After leaving their coastal territories, the Uzumaki had been living alongside the Senju Clan. Though both sides were relatives, this kind of dependent residence was never quite legitimate.
Therefore, upon learning Yūshin was developing the new village, aside from Uzumaki ninja still executing combat missions, everyone else prepared to rapidly relocate to the new village... One could only say this reaction speed was quite un-Uzumaki-like—they were clearly rushing to claim good positions.
Yūshin certainly had no objections to this. He was even willing to be neighbors with the Uzumaki Clan... Compared to other ninja clans, the Uzumaki appeared far more detached from worldly conflicts.
On the first afternoon, a group of Uzumaki ninja arrived at the new ninja village with craned necks.
The second morning, more Uzumaki ninja arrived at the new ninja village with straight necks.
The Uzumaki ninja came here for construction work, but they didn't throw everyone into barrier design and installation. After observing for a while, Yūshin approached the local Uzumaki temporary supervisor on the second day.
That was a familiar face who made Yūshin somewhat apprehensive—Uzumaki Ruri.
When Yūshin encountered Uzumaki Ruri, she was buried in a pile of blueprints. However, before Yūshin could enter the temporary office, she had already emerged from the paper stack.
One had to admit, she was very familiar with Yūshin's chakra.
"Lady Ruri..."
Yūshin greeted her rather cautiously. His wariness toward these Uzumaki ninja stemmed from their fondness for his chakra.
Therefore, when these Uzumaki ninja saw him, they resembled dung beetles spotting a perfectly round ball of dung—desperate to get their hands on it immediately.
"Just call me by name, Lord Yūshin."
Fortunately, Uzumaki Ruri maintained proper boundaries, keeping an appropriate social distance at this moment.
"Very well, Ruri. You can also address me directly as Yūshin... I have a personal matter for which I'd like the Uzumaki ninja's assistance."
Yūshin was straightforward about business, never wasting words.
"No problem, Lord Yūshin... What do you need?"
"I wanted to inquire whether there are any ninja within the Uzumaki Clan skilled in consciousness sealing, extraction, or transfer-type sealing techniques? If such ninja exist, I'd like to request their assistance in developing a certain ninjutsu."
Yūshin hoped for an affirmative response. If even the Uzumaki Clan lacked such talent, the situation would become much more troublesome.
But after brief consideration, Uzumaki Ruri shook her head. Fortunately, her subsequent words didn't completely disappoint Yūshin.
"I haven't heard of anyone specializing in that research, but... I know someone with extremely broad knowledge—essentially our Uzumaki Clan's walking encyclopedia. If anyone has ever conducted similar research, Lord Yūshin will definitely obtain answers from him."
"That's truly excellent..."
"Lord Yūshin, please follow me."
Subsequently, Uzumaki Ruri led Yūshin to a temporary tent, introducing him to a ninja named Uzumaki Mito.
Upon first sight, Yūshin immediately understood what kind of character this was... a black-haired Uzumaki ninja.
Precisely because he couldn't practice "martial arts," he became the "encyclopedia"—this Uzumaki Mito was most likely a Wang Yuyan-type "martial arts master."
Uzumaki Ruri very much wanted to remain, but she had numerous pressing matters to handle. As a ninja, no matter how willful, she couldn't delay missions. Therefore, after introducing the two, she could only take her leave.
Uzumaki Mito was an Uzumaki ninja around thirty years old, but he appeared quite youthful with a rather shy, reserved personality. His entire demeanor was somewhat restrained, making him seem even more "youthful" than Yūshin.
No helping it—bookworms are like that.
Yūshin sought such talent partly because he'd promised to send Hatake Sakumo back to his original era, and partly because he was considering methods to further enhance his strength.
The former needed no elaboration; as for the latter...
Honestly, Yūshin had already reached the bottleneck of ordinary ninja strength. Continuing to increase power was extremely difficult—even White Zetsu could no longer significantly boost his capabilities.
Even mastering several more Kekkei Genkai—so what? Relying on White Zetsu to master Kekkei Mōra was always a joke-like delusion.
Never mind Kekkei Mōra—Yūshin had no clues about even Kekkei Tōta.
Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta—weren't they just the difference between dual-nature fusion and triple-nature fusion? What essential difference existed between them?
Yet there truly was an essential difference. Kekkei Tōta seemed to follow completely different principles from Kekkei Genkai.
The Second Tsuchikage and Third Tsuchikage shared no blood relation, yet the Third learned Kekkei Tōta Dust Release from the Second. This indicated Kekkei Tōta might not depend on bloodline but rather on special training methods for transmission.
The fact that the Third Tsuchikage later failed to continue passing down Dust Release suggested this training method was incredibly difficult... at least far more challenging than Kekkei Genkai inherited through blood relations.
In any case, without reference samples, Yūshin had virtually no way to develop Kekkei Tōta independently.
Therefore, constrained by reality, if Yūshin wanted to continue increasing combat effectiveness, he could temporarily only rely on "external forces"... even depending on "heretical methods" would be acceptable.
However, there was no rush on this front—plenty of time remained ahead. Yūshin could first establish contact with Uzumaki Mito regarding "time travel" matters, since such topics weren't taboo.
"Lord Mito..."
"Lord Yūshin, please just call me Mito—otherwise it's too uncomfortable."
Uzumaki Mito was somewhat reclusive, and Yūshin understood how to interact with such people... Skip pleasantries and discuss technical issues directly.
"Mito, do you understand consciousness sealing methods...?"
"Here's an example: suppose someone at 3 PM today develops the thought of going to the bathroom. Next, we seal their consciousness, then unseal it ten days later."
"Would their thought continue seamlessly? Would they still go to the bathroom without sensing the time jump?"
Since he needed to help Hatake Sakumo return to the future, Yūshin had to do it properly—he couldn't simply lock his spiritual consciousness in a dark room.
Uzumaki Mito grasped Yūshin's meaning. After careful consideration, he said:
"There's operational feasibility, but the problem is that even if this person's spiritual consciousness doesn't perceive time's passage, their body will definitely sense everything."
"The body is another consideration. Have you heard the term 'cryogenic preservation'... both frozen and fresh."
"..."
"In any case, as long as you have ideas, please help me collect materials on this topic. After ninja village establishment concludes, we can begin experiments and research."
Since Uzumaki Mito usually had little else to do, he agreed to Yūshin's request.
"By the way, you can study these two special ninjutsu first—better than being idle."
Subsequently, Yūshin handed over two scrolls recording portions of the Spirit Transformation Technique and Mind Transfer Technique, covering soul extraction and consciousness transfer aspects.
"Understood, Lord Yūshin."
...
Just as Yūshin was conducting unknown machinations, elsewhere on the battlefield—
With just a few breaths and several Flying Thunder God teleportations, Tobirama Senju appeared beside his elder brother Hashirama Senju.
"Tobirama, how did your end go? I've been restraining Madara for a very long time according to your requirements, then released him again."
Hashirama Senju wasn't surprised by his younger brother's sudden appearance—he'd grown accustomed to the Flying Thunder God Technique... Flashy and quite interesting.
Hashirama's battle with Madara had lasted from yesterday through this morning—truly an extended period. Hashirama was somewhat dissatisfied, but trusting his brother's strategy, he'd agreed to this combat plan.
After exchanging views with Yūshin, Hashirama had maintained thoughts of swift victory, but Tobirama had interfered with this notion.
"Very smooth. The Uchiha have surrendered. I spent the night relocating them."
Tobirama only appeared now because he'd been conducting overnight relocation work at the Uchiha Clan village... He hadn't demolished much, but had definitely moved everyone out.
"Surrendered? Really? I had the impression the Uchiha should be more stubborn."
Hashirama found this somewhat incredible. The Uchiha just surrendered like that? Didn't this seem unreasonable?
After all, not long ago the Uchiha were still quite formidable... like the German army in 1943.
"Of course it's true, big brother. I wouldn't joke about such matters."
Tobirama expressed great dissatisfaction with his elder brother's distrust.
"Haha, you indeed don't joke, but I always feel you employed some questionable methods."
Hashirama laughed heartily. His distrust of Tobirama's joking abilities matched his trust in Tobirama's scheming capabilities.
"I used completely legitimate methods to force the Uchiha to surrender."
Tobirama felt veins bulging on his forehead—where was the trust between people?
Hashirama glanced at his younger brother. Did he hear himself speak? How could "completely legitimate" and "force" be used together?
"In any case, the Uchiha have surrendered, so big brother needn't obsess over Madara Uchiha anymore. Allowing him continued activity serves no purpose. Next time you encounter him, if he remains obstinate, then..."
Though Tobirama had just lost his temper slightly, he still spoke with great consideration for his elder brother's feelings—after all, this was his blood brother.
"If that's the case, then your requirement that I release Madara this time... what significance does this hold?"
Tobirama having the Uchiha Clan surrender, Hashirama forcing Madara to submit or eliminating him—coordinated action to jointly achieve the goal of resolving the Uchiha persistent problem. Wouldn't this be quite appropriate?
Yet Tobirama hadn't acted thus.
Moreover, he now chose to avoid discussing his elder brother's doubts.
In today's ninja world, the number one Madara supporter was naturally Hashirama Senju—but who was the number one Madara hater?
So difficult to guess.
For Tobirama Senju, the former Madara Uchiha was a mortal threat, but unknowingly, he'd discovered Madara was actually just a minor ailment... His elder brother's strength was unfathomable—how to handle Madara depended entirely on his elder brother's attitude.
Now that his elder brother had corrected his attitude, so...
Attempting to further "manipulate" Madara Uchiha wasn't impossible.
One had to say Tobirama's mind was somewhat unclear—he wasn't afraid of overplaying his hand... After missing this opportunity, would Madara really remain so obstinate, continuing to seek death from Hashirama?
Just as Hashirama overestimated the Uchiha Clan's stubbornness, perhaps Tobirama would also overestimate Madara's obstinacy.
While the two brothers discussed Madara Uchiha's future, Madara Uchiha himself, after another defeat, dejectedly returned to his homeland.
But for unknown reasons, the daytime Uchiha village was so quiet it resembled a ghost realm.
From a great distance, Madara sensed abnormalities.
When he rushed into the village, he discovered it was completely empty.
"Where are the people? Where are the other clansmen?"
"Unknown... Clan Leader, the village shows neither battle traces nor bloodstains. We didn't suffer large-scale attack."
Currently following Madara were over twenty Uchiha ninja. One spoke with a trembling voice, appearing as forlorn as an orphan... They felt abandoned by their clansmen.
Well, though slightly different from the facts, saying they were abandoned wasn't problematic.
"Clan Leader, we found a letter... it's for you."
After searching, a ninja brought a letter to Madara Uchiha.
Madara Uchiha hastily opened the envelope, but its contents nearly made him bulge his precious Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan into fish eyes.
This letter accused Madara Uchiha of lacking leadership capabilities, of failing to perceive ninja world trends, of only knowing stubborn combat with the Senju while others formed alliances.
Failing to perceive ninja world trends was one thing, but he couldn't even assess his own strength, believing he could match Hashirama Senju while unaware the other had always shown mercy.
After his younger brother's death, he became increasingly irrational, beginning to lead the entire ninja clan into the fire pit.
...
In summary, the Uchiha had fallen into such straits with only one path available—surrendering to the Senju. Otherwise, they'd walk the path of clan extinction under their leader's guidance.
This letter wasn't unreasonable, but one detail was revealing... it never mentioned the Uchiha chose surrender only after encountering overwhelming military encirclement.
This basically confirmed who wrote the letter.
Damn it, this guy really intended to conduct a "destroy both body and spirit" campaign against Madara Uchiha—acting willfully while relying on his brother's strength.
Hate, such intense hate.
But you know what, you really know what—
Drip, drip—tears seemed to fall onto the envelope.
No, these weren't tears of sorrow, but blood-red tears of fury.
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