Genma stacked the letter and the invitation together on his desk, his left index finger unconsciously tapping the cover of the invitation.
It seemed Senju Butsuma wasn't entirely oblivious to the changes occurring in the shinobi world. This proved he wasn't completely beyond redemption, but rather almost beyond redemption... Genma's evaluation of the man rose ever so slightly.
Yet, even after realizing that the shinobi world was changing, Senju Butsuma still insisted on seeking answers through traditional thinking... An alliance? Wasn't that just a way to increase mutual trust and deepen relationships?
Senju Butsuma had a ready-made method for forming an alliance: political marriage.
One could only say that this approach was better than doing nothing. A marriage covenant was, after all, an alliance pact... or at least half of one.
However, Genma felt it was utterly useless—nothing more than sticking to old ways. It was like a turtle poking its head out of its shell slightly, only to pull it right back in at the slightest sign of trouble.
Take Hotaru Village, for example. Genma had not deliberately abolished the clan heads' authority, but he could openly restrict its scope. The leader's authority must override the clan head's authority; otherwise, it would all be for nothing.
The shinobi clans that joined Hotaru naturally understood this point. To a certain extent, they were even willing to cede their clan authority to the village's supreme will.
Between centralization and decentralization, there would inevitably be conflicts and struggles, but the scope of these struggles was limited from the start: a clan's power must never harm the collective interests of the village, or else they would face "divine retribution".
Looking at the current Senju and Uzumaki, even if they intermarried, who would hold the primary and secondary positions between them? Could they even distinguish it clearly?
Furthermore, physical distance alone would interfere with the alliance between the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
In Hotaru Village, different shinobi clans lived intermingled. Genma did not allow any clan to monopolize a specific area; they had to be mixed and blended together.
Once the village was attacked, whether subjectively or objectively, everyone would unite and work together to repel the enemy, because they were already indistinguishable from one another...
In ordinary times, the shinobi village certainly allowed a shinobi to belong to a clan. But in times of war, the shinobi clan had to become abstract, conceptualized, and metaphysical—a shinobi could only be a shinobi of the village, not of the clan.
The clan heads' military command authority stemmed from Genma's orders, not from traditional bloodline recognition.
"Go? Yes, we must go. If nothing unexpected happens, this will be an event for the Senju faction to draw closer".
Since he had deduced the Senju clan's intentions, Genma had no reason not to attend the wedding.
For political or factional figures, discussing serious matters at a wedding or a funeral was far more efficient than doing so in a conference room.
"Lord Genma, the current Senju clan head harbors hostility toward us. If we repeatedly venture deep into the Senju clan's territory, it's inevitable they might harbor ill intentions. I believe we should be cautious... For instance, you previously missed the wedding of Sarutobi Sasuke from the Sarutobi clan due to other matters, didn't you?"
Beside him, Nara Hideyuki advised Genma to proceed with caution. He was extremely vigilant of Senju Butsuma's actions and utterly despised his character.
Did a man who couldn't even read the current situation of the shinobi world possess anything worthy of his respect?
"There's no need for that. Though we can barely be considered part of the same faction, Sarutobi Sasuke and Senju Hashirama are of entirely different importance... Besides, haven't our Senju friends sent any special information?"
Even if someone wanted to throw a Hongmen Banquet, did they know how many "Xiang Bos" were inside the Senju clan?
Furthermore, even if there were no Xiang Bo, Genma didn't fear any underhanded plots or machinations.
"Be that as it may..."
"Hideyuki, let me ask you: where lies the true terror of the Senju clan?"
"Their extraordinary physical baseline, recovery capabilities far exceeding the norm, and astonishing chakra reserves..."
"Incorrect. That's a failing grade. Answer again".
Nara Hideyuki lowered his head and thought for a moment before speaking up once more:
"It's Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama".
"Exactly. Though one is the main course and the other is clearly a side dish, these two brothers are the core that keeps the Senju clan standing... Without them, how much stronger would the Senju clan be compared to the already annihilated Hagoromo clan?"
In truth, they wouldn't be much stronger. In fact, quite the opposite—the Hagoromo clan, known for being "as swift as a gale and as fast as flowing light," held the advantage and suppressed the Senju of the Forest.
"Would you be afraid of other Senju shinobi?" Genma asked again.
Nara Hideyuki scratched his head awkwardly:
"To be honest, I've always wanted a Senju heart".
Genma: "..."
"You need to pay attention to international relations. Try not to do things that would shock our allies".
"In short, there's nothing to worry about. The Senju brothers will be on our side anyway".
To his surprise, Nara Hideyuki still shook his head:
"Senju Hashirama is straightforward and trustworthy, but as for Senju Tobirama... it's hard to say. I'll reserve judgment for now".
As he spoke, for some reason, he began to laugh.
Hashirama and Tobirama shared highly aligned ideals. The two brothers complemented each other, and their wills rarely clashed... even if the Uchiha clan, excluding Uchiha Madara, was included in the discussion.
The brothers shared the same philosophy, but their methods and styles...
"Then what wedding gift should we prepare?"
"A wedding gift? Just send a gold bar. We're rich, no need for superficial things".
However, despite Genma's speech advising Nara Hideyuki to be more open-minded and trust their "allies," when Hideyuki saw the diplomatic roster Genma had drawn up, he could barely hold back his laughter.
Genma, Gan Wen Cui, Lan, and Nara Hideyuki.
This team possessed combat power for battle and combat power for celebration; it could switch from celebration mode to funeral mode at any moment.
He talked a big game about trust, but in the end, wasn't his body perfectly honest?
Though young Gan had only recently joined Hotaru, he had already beaten everyone into submission, becoming the undisputed number one swordsman in the village... When it came to kenjutsu, Nara Hideyuki felt that young Gan could take on fifty of him.
It couldn't be helped; it was hard for Hatake Sakumo not to become famous. As a newcomer suddenly handed the position of chief instructor of the "night school," many were bound to be dissatisfied.
Their dissatisfaction led to challenges, and each challenge only made Hatake Sakumo more famous.
This small squad had everything covered: control, sensing, close combat, ranged attacks, heavy assaults, and assassination. Whether dealing with overt or covert threats, single targets or crowds, they were fully equipped.
As long as Hashirama didn't make a move, they could effortlessly tear through the Senju village back and forth.
A few days later, Daimyo Shimizu Kisuke personally came to Hotaru Village, bringing the gold bars Genma requested.
Hatake Sakumo, who was on daytime guard duty at the Hotaru office building, caught sight of the Daimyo's entourage and couldn't help but mutter under his breath:
"That foolish Daimyo, Shimizu Kisuke".
Of course, he wasn't insulting him here; rather, the opposite—he was praising the Daimyo.
See? As a "transmigrator," one simply couldn't resist dropping spoilers.
The gold bars brought by Daimyo Shimizu were genuine solid gold. At dimensions of 30x20x10, they definitely weighed over a hundred kilograms. One could only say that someone owning a gold mine was truly extravagant.
And without a doubt, that gold mine's reserves and quality were absurdly high.
Afterward, Genma and the Daimyo held a closed-door meeting for over an hour. After leaving a letter for Senju Hashirama, the Daimyo departed.
The letter was naturally a congratulatory message to Hashirama. However, if the Daimyo of the Land of Fire were to see it, he would certainly harbor suspicions... Is this guy trying to seduce my people?
The answer was, "Yes".
What "your people" or "my people"? That's just petty. A ruler should embrace the entire world, understand?
After seeing off Daimyo Shimizu, Genma found several Fuma shinobi, led by Fuma Tomo, hovering around the gold bars.
Upon seeing Genma, Fuma Tomo immediately spoke up:
"Lord Genma, this thing looks too plain. Let us carve some patterns on it".
"Plain? This is called glittering gold".
"Let us carve it, Lord Genma... our hands are itching".
"Fine, carve it, carve it. Do it quickly, don't delay things".
Genma was completely exasperated. He thought to himself that gold truly possessed a magical allure, perhaps even more magical than chakra.
As the wedding date drew near, Hotaru first sent a bird messenger to the Senju clan, stating that Lord Genma would personally come to celebrate the wedding. After receiving a welcoming reply from the other party, Genma's group finally set out with the gift.
After the group departed, Genma inadvertently noticed something quite interesting. It had nothing to do with the wedding, but rather with the composition of his squad.
He noticed that Hatake Sakumo seemed a bit afraid of Nara Hideyuki. Initially, he thought there was friction between the new and old employees, but he quickly realized that Sakumo's fear of Hideyuki resembled a child's fear of a parent.
Now, that was interesting.
On a island by the coast of the Eastern Sea, this was the home of the Uzumaki clan.
At this time, the leader of the Uzumaki clan was an elder with long white hair and a white beard named Uzumaki Ashina.
The one taking on the heavy responsibility of marrying Senju Hashirama was the clan's sixteen-year-old genius kunoichi, Uzumaki Mito... That's right, this was also a mission.
At this current stage, rather than marrying Senju Hashirama as a wife, Uzumaki Mito was marrying him as a "warrior".
Although the Uzumaki were distant relatives of the Senju and had been on good terms for generations, due to the current environment of the shinobi world, Uzumaki Mito hadn't really interacted much with Senju Hashirama.
Therefore, their union was essentially a dreaded arranged marriage.
However, Uzumaki Mito's impression of Senju Hashirama was decent. While there was no talk of affection or love, at the very least, she didn't dislike Hashirama and even held a certain level of goodwill... After all, Hashirama had been a young prodigy since childhood.
Precisely because they were far apart, Uzumaki Mito hadn't witnessed Hashirama's foolish side. This could be considered a classic case of distance creating beauty.
During this period, Uzumaki Mito's long hair was so red it was almost black. Such an immense reserve of chakra... no wonder in the future, the couple would handle the Nine-Tails as easily as spanking their own child.
Uzumaki Ashina held a candle as he led Uzumaki Mito. Behind Mito followed Uzumaki Ruri, whom Genma had met before.
The group continued downward along a dark passage, entering a secret chamber shortly after.
Along the way, Uzumaki Ashina kept weaving hand seals. Clearly, the secret chamber was protected by a powerful barrier.
Upon entering the chamber, the old clan head covertly triggered a mechanism, and a stone tablet rose from the center of the room...
Well, another stone tablet. Their Uzumaki clan had one too, and naturally, cryptic text was inscribed upon it.
"Mito, after I pass away, you will be the leader of the Uzumaki clan. So, you must memorize the following words carefully".
Seeing Uzumaki Mito nod, the old clan head turned his gaze toward Uzumaki Ruri.
"Ruri, you are Mito's backup. If anything happens to Mito, you will be the clan head. So, you must listen carefully as well".
Uzumaki Ruri gnashed her teeth in frustration, almost rushing over to pluck out the old clan head's beard... Damn it, backup for this, backup for that. Did an older single woman have no rights?
"What are you smiling about? Did you hear what I said?" The old clan head was very stern; he couldn't possibly be joking at a time like this.
"I understand".
Stared down by the old clan head's calm gaze, Uzumaki Ruri dared not act up any further.
"Lord Ashina, does my becoming the successor mean that the Uzumaki and Senju will completely merge?" Uzumaki Mito immediately caught a certain meaning in the old clan head's words.
The old clan head nodded and said:
"This is an inevitable trend. If our Uzumaki clan does not wish to be destroyed, forming a shinobi village with the Senju as the core is necessary".
"The current Senju can't exactly be trusted, can they?" Uzumaki Ruri chimed in.
"I am talking about the future. What our Uzumaki follows is not Butsuma's Senju, but Hashirama's Senju".
"That's good. It shows you haven't gone senile yet, Patriarch".
As the three stood before the dark stone tablet, Uzumaki Ruri quickly changed the subject.
"Old Patriarch, what is written on this?"
Aside from Uzumaki Ashina, neither of the two young women recognized the characters on the tablet.
The old clan head pointed at the stone tablet and read word for word:
"Since the bright fire was ignited," "The bleeding have found respite." "A millennium of lamentation begins to turn," "People of the Uzumaki," "Inscribe the prayer with your true name." "Calamity gradually rises," "Only you all," "Can shatter the distance." "Bing-Wei Wei 21," "End the mission," "And return to your true self."
"What about the last sentence? Why was the last sentence erased?" Uzumaki Ruri looked at the scratches on the stone tablet, finding it baffling. Wasn't this an ancestral heirloom? How could it be ruined?
"You don't need to know the last sentence for now".
"Lord Ashina, this maxim is completely obscure. Even with your interpretation, I can't grasp its true meaning".
Mission and whatnot, it was all so vague. Uzumaki Mito felt there was no practical substance to it.
"For now, you only need to remember these. As for the specific meaning, I will explain it to you one by one before I die".
If Genma were here, he would definitely guess that someone had entrusted the mission of sealing Black Zetsu to the Uzumaki clan.
After all, when it came to a thousand-year mission, he could only think of that.
However, Black Zetsu was never sealed.
Instead, the Uzumaki clan was wiped out.
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