Near Konoha's northern border, Arata and the three men under his command had been stationed here for a full month.
But the Third Hokage still showed no intention of letting them return to the village.
Clearly, the old fox wasn't giving up—he was waiting for the Kumogakure to strike back again, hoping to use them to trip Arata up.
However, Arata had already confirmed over these past few days that the Kumo's main forces—after losing nearly two thousand shinobi—had already returned to the Land of Lightning.
Which meant the Third's plan was going to fall apart yet again. He would soon have no choice but to recall Arata's three-thousand-man civilian corps to the village.
And because he feared Arata's loyal elites might achieve major merit in battle, the Third would either send them to die or force them to perform rear-guard duties in Konoha instead.
Either way, it meant Arata had successfully protected his "babysitting mission"—keeping these three thousand civilians alive.
So despite how fierce the war had been lately, Arata hadn't moved far from the border.
Even with Kamui and the fastest speed in the ninja world, traveling to the Land of Rain wasn't something he could do in the blink of an eye—it would still take him six or seven hours at top speed.
Anyone else would need at least a week.
After all, their camp was on the northeast side of Konoha, while the Land of Rain sat to the northwest—the two directions were separated by the entire breadth of the Land of Fire.
Putting away the intelligence scroll, Arata now had a clear grasp of the state of the war.
The Kumogakure situation needed no comment—he knew it best.
Sunagakure, after their opening burst of aggression, suddenly changed direction and marched straight for Amegakure.
As expected, no matter how reckless they acted, they would never dare challenge Konoha head-on. Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Wind was always the weakest.
Once they reached Amegakure, they immediately partnered with Iwagakure and used the country's terrain advantage to begin a joint assault on Konoha.
And as usual, the Land of Rain suffered the most.
In recent years the country had finally begun to show signs of revival—yet in the span of a single month, countless towns were wiped out. Civilian casualties reached nearly fifty thousand.
Families shattered, villages emptied—this war created an entire generation of wandering orphans.
Arata couldn't help thinking: Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan… it won't be long before those three future prodigies cross paths.
As for the Kiri, the intelligence aligned perfectly with what Arata had learned while monitoring Hiruzen.
Their target was indeed the Land of Whirlpools.
But the leak of this information was strange—an operation of this scale should have been an S-rank state secret, yet for some reason Kirigakure had let it slip.
This caused several villages that had long coveted the Uzumaki Clan to immediately open secret talks with the Kiri, and a powerful coalition aimed at destroying the Uzumaki was taking shape.
What should have been a disastrous leak suddenly turned into a beneficial development for them.
With this, the entire Uzumaki Clan could no longer sit still. Though renowned for their strength and longevity, they couldn't possibly withstand a joint invasion by multiple nations.
At most, they had fewer than eight thousand shinobi—and many of those were elderly or too young to fight. Even facing the Kiri alone would be difficult, let alone an alliance.
The moment Arata saw this intelligence, his first thought was Uzumaki Mito.
She must have received the same information by now. At this point, every major powerhouse in the shinobi world knew: the Uzumaki were on the brink of annihilation.
As a former princess of the clan, there was no way Mito would silently accept that fate.
And Arata understood clearly—Hiruzen had planned this perfectly. The moment Mito made any move, he would strike. When that happened, she would face not internal political pressure, but a village-wide purge.
But since Arata had already decided he wanted Mito's acknowledgment and approval, he had no intention of letting her clan perish. In fact, this was the perfect chance to build overwhelming goodwill.
At that exact moment, the system triggered—offering rewards that aligned perfectly with his intentions.
[Ding! Based on the host's current situation, three options are available.]
[Option 1: Rush to aid the Uzumaki Clan and repel all attackers.
Reward: One-Tailed Beast–level chakra.]
[Option 2: Ignore the fate of the Uzumaki Clan—allow their destruction.
Reward: Complete mastery of all Uzumaki sealing arts.]
[Option 3: Prevent the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan and integrate the Land of Whirlpools into Konoha.
Reward: +90 affection from all Uzumaki Clan members.]
[The system will determine the reward based on your actions.]
Arata, who had already made up his mind to intervene, immediately studied the options carefully.
Option One only required him to drive off the invaders. But the reward—a One-Tail–tier amount of chakra—was laughably useless. Shukaku's power was essentially the level of an early or mid-Kage.
Arata currently possessed super-Kage-class power; that kind of chakra wouldn't help him in the slightest.
If he succeeded in completing the earlier "defeat the four Kage" quest, he would directly obtain Hashirama's genes—likely resulting in super-Kage-level chakra output on its own.
So Option One was immediately discarded.
Option Two's reward was tempting—Uzumaki sealing techniques were legendary, and Arata's sealing proficiency was admittedly lacking. Having more skills never hurt.
However… to stand by and watch the entire clan fall?
He couldn't do it.
Not for Mito.
Not for Kushina.
Not for the clan he had always admired.
The Uzumaki didn't appear often in the original timeline, but every one of them had left a deep impression—and their tragic erasure had always felt unjust.
So Option Two was also rejected.
Then his eyes fell on Option Three—and it was perfect.
Not only would he save the Uzumaki Clan, but he would also bring the entire Land of Whirlpools into Konoha's sphere of influence. This had been Arata's plan from the start.
He had originally intended to step in during the invasion and rescue the clan personally. With the war at their doorstep, their acceptance of Konoha—and of him—would be practically guaranteed.
Once the Uzumaki joined Konoha, Arata's political power would soar. Mito stood with him, and with her as their princess, the whole clan would naturally align with him.
He would gain an entire clan as his core faction.
And now the system promised +90 affection from every Uzumaki?
He couldn't ask for anything better.
Not to mention…
Mito and Kushina counted as Uzumaki too.
With a guaranteed +90 affection, Arata suspected they would instantly reach maximum affection toward him…
And with that, he would never again need to worry about the Uzumaki turning against him.
They would become his most loyal allies.
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