Mechanical City.
Temporary meeting room.
Ebizo pointed at the map. "We just received intelligence: Kirigakure's forces for this operation are personally led by the Third Mizukage, under whom are Yagura, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and six thousand elites..."
He paused and looked at Ryuji sitting in the main seat.
Seeing him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, seemingly not hearing, Ebizo took a deep breath, raised his voice, and continued, "With such a lineup, even if Uzushiogakure has barriers, they won't hold out for long. If we're too slow, I don't think Kirigakure will leave anything good behind. So why aren't we advancing at full speed?"
By the end, Ebizo's tone had turned into a questioning one.
The meeting room fell silent.
Pakura, Aka, Gin, Kana, Kuro, and even the Puppeteer Corps' members like Tsuchiya and Iwata all looked at Ryuji without saying a word.
Because what Ebizo said was right.
They had deployed the Mechanical City precisely to arrive before other Shinobi Villages devoured Uzushiogakure completely, to participate in, or even seize, the spoils.
But after setting out, Ryuji proceeded at a leisurely pace. This confusing behavior left everyone puzzled.
Feeling everyone's gaze, Ryuji opened his eyes, sat up straight, and faced the group.
"Hoo~" He deeply exhaled and sighed. "No matter how fast the Mechanical City is, we won't make it in time."
Sunagakure is the village most skilled at raising messenger hawks in the Shinobi World.
The messenger hawks raised by Sunagakure are not only faster than those of other villages but also have greater endurance, often delivering intelligence a step ahead.
But no matter how fast, it still takes a good half-day for intelligence personnel to obtain information and relay it back.
And no matter how fast the Mechanical City is, it also takes a good half-day.
This round trip adds up to almost a full day.
And one day... The disparity in strength between the lineup Kirigakure dispatched this time and Uzushiogakure's own power is simply too vast.
No matter how hard they rush, they can't possibly arrive before Kirigakure breaks through Uzushiogakure, collects the spoils, and departs.
Hearing Ryuji's explanation, the meeting room fell silent once more.
After a moment of silence, Ebizo deeply exhaled. "...It seems you already foresaw things developing this way."
"I didn't anticipate the specific situation, only predicted the outcome for Uzushiogakure."
Hearing this, Ebizo gave Ryuji a deep look and continued, "Since you had an idea, yet still proposed deploying the Mechanical City to the Land of Whirlpools, there must be another deeper meaning."
"Can't call it deeper meaning, but there is indeed another purpose this time."
Specifically what, Ryuji didn't say.
But it wasn't hard to guess: To receive survivors of the Uzumaki Clan.
The Uzumaki Clan lived isolated overseas and avoided conflict with the world. The outside world's understanding of the Uzumaki Clan was limited to the powerful sealing technique they provided Konoha, so they didn't think much of this clan.
But compared to the sealing technique left by the Sage of Six Paths, the Uzumaki Clan itself was the greatest treasure.
Abundant vitality, massive Chakra, secret techniques engraved in their bloodline... The Uzumaki Clan inherently possessed the conditions to become powerful, even more potential than the Senju Clan.
If Sunagakure could obtain Uzumaki bloodlines, it would bring immeasurable help to the village's long-term development.
At the very least, with the Uzumaki Clan, Sunagakure wouldn't have to worry about Jinchuriki in the future.
Moreover, receiving Uzumaki Clan's survivors was the correct way to obtain this clan's sealing technique.
In the original work, the nations of the Shinobi World feared the powerful sealing technique mastered by the Uzumaki Clan.
After failing to obtain sealing technique from the Uzumaki Clan by learning from Konoha, they sent troops to destroy the Land of Whirlpools, attempting to seize it by force.
But everyone failed.
Although the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, no one obtained the Uzumaki Clan's sealing technique.
Ryuji speculated that the Uzumaki Clan's sealing technique had probably been destroyed before the enemies breached Uzushiogakure.
Now, to obtain the sealing technique, besides targeting Konoha, the only way was likely from the hands of surviving Uzumaki Clan's members.
But Sunagakure is a fraternal Shinobi Village; forming cliques isn't allowed.
Ryuji also didn't want Sunagakure to develop class conflicts between Shinobi Clans and civilian shinobi like Konoha in the future, so he couldn't rush there too quickly.
If they arrived too quickly, before Uzushiogakure was destroyed, should they save it or not?
If they stood by and did nothing, then absorbing survivors of the Uzumaki Clan would become very difficult.
If they saved it... They have their own country and home; how would they join you?
Only by waiting for the Land of Whirlpools to be destroyed and Uzushiogakure to fall, then appearing to rescue survivors from the pursuit of other Shinobi Villages, might they willingly erase their surnames and join Sunagakure.
Although this way, they might not save many people, and those saved might not necessarily possess sealing technique.
But it didn't matter.
Ryuji's baseline expectation for this trip was to save at least one Uzumaki Clan's member, then absorb them into Sunagakure to let them flourish.
Any gains beyond that, each one counted as a pleasant surprise.
Such calculations obviously couldn't be known by the Uzumaki Clan, so Ryuji didn't mention it at the meeting.
Although these operational meetings were confidential and unlikely to leak,
But just in case, it was better not to say.
After all, many plotlines had similar bloody tropes of betrayal.
…
The Land of Whirlpools was an island nation off the west coast of the Land of Fire.
Its land area was small, but thanks to a favorable climate and fertile soil, agriculture was highly developed. Coupled with the protection of the Land of Fire and Konoha, there was no war, and the people lived relatively prosperous lives.
But now, this beautiful, peaceful, and tranquil country was strewn with corpses, engulfed in the fires of war.
Countless Kirigakure's Shinobi secretly set foot on this land, advancing towards Uzushiogakure. Any pedestrians or villages encountered along the way were all slaughtered, leaving no survivors, attempting to keep their actions from being leaked before launching a surprise attack.
But ultimately, they failed.
By the time they reached Uzushiogakure, the village had already activated powerful barriers.
However, facing enemies dozens of times their number, Uzushiogakure was simply too insignificant.
Thousands of people together hurled kunai tied with explosive tags. The sheer density engulfed the small village with a total area of only 0.3 square kilometers. If not for the five-layered barrier completely covering the village, this village would have been instantly obliterated in the explosions.
But even so, it wouldn't hold out for long.
The villagers of Uzushiogakure gathered outside the ancestral hall, despair on their faces as they waited for the clan head's orders.
Suddenly, shouts came from outside.
"Clan Head, Clan Head! Konoha's rescue team has arrived!"
Hearing this, everyone looked overjoyed in the direction of the voice.
A red-haired youth led over twenty Shinobi wearing green vests and Konoha's forehead protectors. The leader was a young man with messy hair and somewhat sloppy attire.
Seeing this, the white-haired Uzumaki Ashina frowned.
He also knew that Konoha's main forces were engaged in battle with Iwagakure in the Land of Earth and couldn't spare hands to rescue the Land of Whirlpools.
But to send a rescue team led by such a young and sloppy guy indicated that Konoha was only symbolically sending people for appearances.
Thinking of this, he glanced at the assistant behind him.
The assistant understood and nodded, turning to enter the ancestral hall.
He was going to destroy all sealing technique materials of the Uzumaki Clan.
This was planned from the start.
The number of enemies was over a dozen times theirs, with no shortage of experts among them. Uzushiogakure was no match at all.
Therefore, they never expected victory from the beginning. They planned to have the young people take the women and children to escape through secret passages, preserving the Uzumaki bloodline.
However, since the enemies came for the sealing technique, they absolutely could not let them succeed.
Thus, they prepared to destroy all sealing technique-related materials before the village's destruction. Those staying behind also had memory-erasing seals placed in their brains to activate upon death.
But for the sake of the escaping clan members, Ashina planned to leave the sealing technique materials to Konoha.
Although they had already taught Konoha many powerful sealing technique, as a Shinobi Village, how could they possibly teach their foundation to outsiders without reservation?
Even if the other party was the Senju-led Konoha, connected by blood ties and deep friendship since the Warring States period,
But as Clan Head, Ashina also had reservations.
He knew there were no eternal allies, only eternal interests.
The interests between Uzushiogakure and Konoha were built on the blood ties between the Uzumaki and Senju Clans and their long-standing friendship.
Now that the Senju Clan had withdrawn from the center of power in Konoha, whether the new power center would maintain friendship with Uzushiogakure like the First and Second Hokage was still unknown.
Hence, the current decision.
If Konoha valued the friendship between the two villages, sending elite squads and experts to rescue, then Ashina would hand over the sealing technique materials to the survivors and have them join Konoha.
If they didn't send anyone or just sent a few people to go through the motions, it would mean Konoha no longer valued friendship with Uzushiogakure.
Then, the sealing technique materials naturally wouldn't be given to Konoha. The escaping clan members would scatter to various parts of the Shinobi World, living under assumed names.
If there was a chance in the future, they could talk about revival or resurgence then!
Amidst these thoughts, the Konoha's people arrived before Ashina.
"Ashina-dono, I'm deeply sorry. Konoha's current situation..."
"You don't need to feel guilty." Ashina looked at the young man before him with a gentle smile. "I also know Konoha's current situation. That you can still send a rescue team under these circumstances… this old man is very grateful."
"Thank you for your understanding, Ashina-dono." The sloppy young man finished, then changed the subject. "Ashina-dono, we only have twenty people; we can only escort a limited number to escape. Please select those who will escape."
"The people have already been chosen." Ashina looked at the thirty people on the left side of the crowd. "They are all ordinary people, unaware of the village's secrets. They have no value that would make the enemy spare no effort to pursue them, increasing your chances of escape."
"And what about Ashina-dono..."
"The enemy won't let me go."
Ashina's words dashed the sloppy young man's attempt to persuade.
He bit his lower lip hard, his fists clenched so tight they made popping sounds.
Ashina gave him a surprised look, then a smile appeared on his face.
"What's your name?"
Ashina asked.
"Mukai. I'm Kohinata Mukai."
"Kohinata Mukai, huh..." Ashina nodded slightly. "When you lead the escape, if you fall into danger, you can abandon some Uzumaki Clan's members to gain a chance to escape."
"I won't..."
"I'm not thinking for you, but for all of you. Only this way do you have a chance to escape the encirclement."
Mukai's fists clenched even tighter.
He raised his head, his gaze firm as he looked at the old man. "I swear, no matter what happens, I will not abandon Ashina-dono's clan members and escape alone. I will definitely lead them to escape the enemy's pursuit."
Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Ashina's face.
…
(A/N: In the original work, it was explicitly stated that the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed during the Third Shinobi World War, but no specific time was given, so Nagato's mother was an Uzumaki who drifted outside before the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed. When Naruto was training in Nine-Tails Mode, Kushina appeared and talked to Naruto about her past (forgot if it was mentioned in this part), mentioning memories of when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, where she tearfully buried herself in Minato's arms.
At that time, Minato already looked like a 20-year-old youth, and Kushina also looked around 20, which was the period when the Third Shinobi World War was at its most brutal.
According to the original timeline, the time in the text is during the period when Konoha and Sunagakure erupted into the Battle of Kikyo Pass, roughly around this time. Even if there's a discrepancy, it shouldn't be too far off.)