While thinking about the abilities of Gin Uzumaki and the Uzumaki clan, Madara clicked his teeth in annoyance that he had never known about them.
He always thought that Hashirama was his only opponent, but now it has been shown that there was always one hidden on that island and Hashirama never told him anything.
What Madara didn't know was that Hashirama and Mito had promised Gin to keep quiet about his strength.
Gin was the patriarch of his clan, so Mito wasn't going to break her promise, and Hashirama had his honor as a warrior.
Furthermore, he knew that Madara would surely challenge the Uzumaki patriarch if he learned of his strength.
It didn't matter that Hashirama had been defeated, and Madara would be no different.
"All the White Zetsu who are far from the base will focus all their capabilities on gathering information about the Uzumaki clan."
"I don't think villages and countries will stand idly by in the face of this variable," Madara ordered.
"Yes," said the white Zetsu before disappearing into the earth.
With Mito Uzumaki in the Hidden Leaf Village, the White Zetsu couldn't get too close and gather important information, so they would have to keep an eye on the other villages and countries.
As long as they find something, the White Zetsu will be able to know and report it to Madara.
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As Madara deduced, all the information-gathering capabilities of all countries and villages were occupied searching for anything about the red-haired clan.
Unfortunately for them, all they knew was that the Uzumaki clan had a connection to the Senju clan in the past and that hundreds of years ago they moved to Whirlpool Island, which they still occupy to this day.
Due to the length of time the Uzumaki clan was away from the continent, important information about the past could not be found.
Small population, low fertility, and little talent in arts other than fuinjutsu. Obviously, all of that was false, and everyone realized it must have been deliberate.
The Uzumaki clan acted on purpose to spread this false information and make everyone underestimate them.
All the intelligence groups in the villages and countries were having headaches because they couldn't find anything, so they could only infiltrate the country of the whirlpool to obtain important information.
But that was easier said than done.
The whirlpools that protected the shores of the whirlpool country were once again an obstacle when they realized that the secret patterns for avoiding being affected by the whirlpools had been changed.
As before, any ship or shinobi who does not know this pattern will be destroyed when caught in the whirlpools.
It was obvious how easy it was for the Uzumaki to change this pattern.
When the four villages arrived, the Uzumaki clan did not change this pattern because they wanted to teach them a lesson.
Like an adult punishing a child for misbehaving, Gin Uzumaki wiped out nearly 20,000 shinobi to teach them a lesson.
Sweating profusely at how easily Gin Uzumaki could take them down, all the intelligence groups wondered if it was a good idea to continue investigating the redhead clan.
As an island nation, the whirlpool country needed certain resources which they obtained through merchant ships.
If they wanted vital information about the Uzumaki clan, their only option was to infiltrate these merchant ships. But by doing so, they risked being caught, and no one wanted to disturb the awakened dragon.
Thinking about that, they all cursed the hidden blade.
As allies of the Uzumaki clan, although the relationship is now strained due to the leaf's abandonment, the Leaf Village should have more information than they do.
But he could do nothing more than pressure his spies to try harder to get at least something.
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Contrary to what everyone thought, the hidden blade didn't know much more than they did.
"Hiruzen, I never held an important position in the clan."
"The information I gave you is all I can give you."
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."
"Even if I marry Hashirama, I will not betray my clan by revealing vital information."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, nodded and gave an apologetic look to the woman in front of him and withdrew shortly after.
Having suffered so many losses in such a short time, the other villages will not go to war against the Hidden Blade anytime soon, but it is almost certain that there will be a war in a couple of years.
After all, they needed a victory after losing like that against the Uzumaki clan, so the hidden blade was a tasty target amidst hungry hyenas.
Unlike the Uzumaki clan, the Hidden Leaf did not have a Shinobi God, which made them more attractive with their abundant resources.
The only thing Hiruzen could do was prepare for the future by allocating resources to the necessary places.
Meanwhile, they could not ignore the Titan on the seas.
While the land of water and the village of mist were once the strongest at sea, that place has now been replaced by the land of whirlpools, and no one dared to deny it.
Hiruzen could not ignore this giant on his shores, and even less so when the leaf offended them by not respecting the alliance between both sides.
The Danzo Root was previously busy causing trouble among the other villages so they wouldn't join the siege of the land of fire, but now that there would be peace for a while, they wanted to put their efforts into finding out about this new player on the board.
Like the other villages or countries, the Leaf Village could find out no more except to ask Mito Uzumaki.
After all, Mito Uzumaki was known as the princess of the Land of Whirlpools. Hiruzen even thought they could repair the damaged relationship with the Uzumaki clan through Mito.
Unfortunately for Hiruzen, Mito confessed that her title of princess of the Uzumaki clan was solely due to the fact that she was the daughter of the First Elder of the Uzumaki clan, in charge of the administration of the country and who was appointed by the patriarch himself.
The Uzumaki Patriarch had his own family and Mito was only related to him through several generations.
It turns out that the Uzumaki patriarch does not administer the country directly, but instead appointed 10 elders to do it for him.
When Hiruzen learned of the 10 elders' positions, he realized that the Uzumaki clan had been far ahead of the Leaf Village for many years.
Administration, army, internal defense, laws, health, education, agriculture, economy, infrastructure and foreign relations.
All these departments were under the charge of one of the 10 elders and played a fundamental role in the sustainability of the country.
Hiruzen couldn't get much out of Mito, but what little he did get led him to realize that the strength of the Uzumaki clan was terrifying.
From the normal schools and shinobi academies across the country, which feed the country's administrative staff and military, to the food capacity to feed everyone and give them adequate medical care.
And according to Mito, although the Uzumaki village is where most of the shinobi of the whirlpool army are concentrated, soldiers are recruited throughout the country to be part of the country's samurai army.
By teaching them chakra extraction and control, the land of whirlpools always had a trained army at its disposal that could attack or defend its country at any time.
Hiruzen returned to the Hokage Tower and summoned his friends.
They had to discuss the strength of the Uzumaki clan and how it would react to it.
Whether to seek to renew the alliance, or prepare to sabotage the Uzumaki clan.
Hiruzen had no hope that the blade could win in a direct fight.
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"He's starting to see you too often."
"Isn't it clear to you that you won't give him any more information?"
When Hiruzen left, Tsunade entered the room where she was resting and went to her grandmother.
"He knows it, darling," Mito said with a smile as Tsunade approached and sat beside her.
"So why does he insist?"
"Do you want anything else?" Tsunade asked.
Since she was still upset with her teacher, she didn't want to see him unless it was necessary.
"Yes, but Mono doesn't know how to bring up the subject," said Mito Mineras, sipping a glass of tea.
"What is it you want?" Tsunade asked, curious about what made the Third Hokage shy about mentioning it.
"This is the next Jinchuriki," Mito said.
"Whaaaaat?!"
"You dare think of that?!" Tsunade suddenly shouted furiously as she stood up.
Mito's Jinchuriki status was a secret known only to a few in the village.
The Jinchuriki's advanced age means it's time to consider a replacement. But obviously, I wasn't going to mention that now because of Mito's identity as the First Hokage's wife.