Chapter 122: The Truth of That Year
Now was the best time to extend an invitation.
In the past, the Uzumaki Clan had lived in peace for too long. Back then, there was no way they would have willingly abandoned their ancestral homeland.
But things were different now.
The Uzumaki Clan had just suffered a surprise attack from Kumogakure, and the danger was obvious to everyone.
To put it bluntly, if Kei had not reacted in time and made preparations in advance, the Uzumaki Clan might truly have been wiped out here.
With disaster having brushed right past them only yesterday, they no longer had the luxury of ignoring it.
"This..."
Uzumaki Sōmei hesitated slightly. "Can Konoha really allocate a piece of land to the Uzumaki Clan?"
"Of course."
Kei nodded and directly took out a map.
It was a topographical map of the entire Land of Fire.
Under the gaze of Sōmei and the others, Kei drew a circle near Konoha, marking out a specific region on the map.
"How about this place?"
He spoke calmly. "As long as you agree, you can relocate there immediately."
"Of course, even if you relocate, there is no need to completely abandon the Land of Whirlpools."
"As long as the valuable assets are moved into the Land of Fire, leaving behind some ordinary clansmen here will not be a problem."
"If there is nothing worth coveting here, Kumogakure will not go through so much trouble just to cause problems in this place."
There was nothing inherently valuable about the land of the Land of Whirlpools itself. It was only a small island, and islands like it existed everywhere across the Ninja World.
The world was filled with islands of all sizes. It was only that most of them had never been developed or settled on in any meaningful way.
If the Uzumaki Clan moved its valuable resources into Konoha, then the Land of Whirlpools would no longer be worth anyone's attention.
And without anything worth stealing, Kumogakure would have no reason to launch another raid on this remote place.
"Fine."
After consulting several clan elders, Sōmei finally nodded in agreement.
He had no real choice but to agree.
The threat from Kumogakure had come only yesterday. If they made no changes now, there was no telling when the next attack would come.
This time, Kei had responded quickly, so nothing disastrous had happened. But no one could guarantee the same outcome in the future.
For the sake of safety, relocation was clearly the best option.
Besides, to safeguard the Uzumaki Clan's interests, the terms Kei offered were already more than generous.
Not only was he willing to allocate a large piece of land specifically for the Uzumaki Clan, but Konoha was also offering all kinds of preferential treatment.
"From now on, the leader of the Uzumaki Clan may directly enter Konoha's Advisor Group."
Kei added one more condition.
Konoha's Advisor Group was, in truth, more of a symbolic body. While its members had the right to be consulted, they held no actual decision making power.
But for many people, it was still an important channel through which they could communicate directly with Konoha's upper leadership.
It was perfectly suited for a clan like the Uzumaki Clan.
If someone from the future Uchiha Clan had once been able to sit in the Advisor Group and speak directly with Konoha's higher ups, perhaps things would never have escalated to that point.
Even if there was no real power, the right to speak and be heard still had to be given.
Otherwise, all kinds of trouble would easily grow.
After the discussion, both sides were fairly satisfied with the outcome.
"You want to learn the Reaper Death Seal?"
While Sōmei and the others were busy making arrangements for the relocation, Kei found Uzumaki Mito and raised his request.
He wanted to learn the Reaper Death Seal.
This was one of the Uzumaki Clan's secret techniques. In later years, Minato Namikaze would eventually learn it through the Uzumaki heritage passed down by Kushina.
At this stage, however, even though Kei was the Hokage, if he wanted to master this technique, the only person he could turn to was Uzumaki Mito.
Mito looked quite surprised.
"You already possess Wood Release and the Sharingan. Why would you still want to learn a forbidden technique like the Reaper Death Seal?"
In her eyes, Kei, with the power of Wood Release, the Nine Tails' chakra, and the Sharingan, was already nearly a perfect ninja.
Whether it was ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu, he had already reached an extremely high level in every field.
On top of that, he was a top tier Medical Ninja and had also mastered many sealing techniques inherited from the Uzumaki Clan.
And beyond all that, he had even refined the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique and pushed it to an even more terrifying peak.
With all that already in hand, why did he still want the Reaper Death Seal?
"It is always better to be prepared."
Kei smiled faintly. "If I ever face a truly powerful enemy in the future, this technique could at least give me a chance to drag them down with me."
"With your current strength, I doubt such a person even exists in the Ninja World anymore."
Mito shook her head. "Even in the past, aside from the legendary Sage of Six Paths, only Hashirama and Uchiha Madara might have surpassed you in strength..."
She trailed off.
"What if he is not dead?"
Kei responded with a question of his own.
"That is impossible. Hashirama already..."
Mito shook her head with a smile and was about to refute him, but then her voice stopped.
She looked up at Kei.
There was not the slightest trace of a joke on his face.
"You mean..."
Her brows knit together as one name rose in her mind.
"Uchiha Madara?"
"Yes."
Kei nodded and spoke softly. "Over the past few years, I have carefully studied the events of the past and found some traces."
"Uchiha Madara may not actually be dead."
"How is that possible?"
Mito frowned. "He was clearly... killed by Hashirama..."
"In this matter, Tobirama sama also conducted extensive research in the past."
Yuu spoke calmly. "Back then, Madara did indeed become a corpse. But that does not necessarily mean he truly died."
"And within the Uchiha Clan, there just so happens to be a technique capable of perfectly resolving that kind of situation."
"Izanagi."
Izanagi was a forbidden technique unique to the Uchiha Clan.
By sacrificing the power of one Sharingan in an instant, the caster could use that eye's dojutsu to alter reality itself.
With that technique, within a certain period of time, any reality unfavorable to the user could be rewritten.
Even death itself could be undone.
Back then, in the final battle between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, it was precisely through this forbidden technique that Madara managed to survive and escape.
"If that is the case, then it is indeed possible."
Mito's brows remained furrowed. "But that still does not fit his personality."
As Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito understood Madara's temperament better than most.
He had always been flamboyant, domineering, and overwhelming. He was the Asura of the Ninja World, a name feared throughout the land.
That kind of man would never willingly choose to survive in such a low and secretive way.
He was even less likely to hide himself away, wait for Hashirama to die, and then step back into the world to stir up trouble.
That was simply not Madara's style.
It was precisely because they understood him so well that neither Tobirama nor Mito had ever truly doubted the outcome of that battle back then.
....
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