Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 103 Whirlpool Vanilla

Following Kagura's perception, Tamura Hiro eventually arrived at a room on the top floor, where he found Uchiha Hikaru, Uzumaki Kushina, and a girl with short red hair who looked to be about the same age as Uzumaki Kushina.

But he was pale and haggard, with teeth marks and bite marks all over his exposed skin, and his mental state was also very wrong. It seemed that he had suffered a lot of torment here before.

It's already impressive that a girl who's just over ten years old hasn't broken down after being treated like that.

Uchiha Hitomi, who was on guard at the door, breathed a sigh of relief when Tamura Hiroshi arrived, while Uzumaki Kushina continued to comfort the girl who was curled up in a ball.

However, the effect was not ideal. The prolonged torment and the explosions and shouts of killing outside made it impossible for the girl to calm down, and her body was still trembling.

"Her emotions were on the verge of collapse, causing her chakra to be in a state of chaos, making it impossible to guide it with genjutsu."

Uchiha Hikaru said something, his words carrying a chilling killing intent directed at Kusagakure.

The girl's experiences and state reminded her of her own ordeal; they were so similar. Those people deserved to die too.

"This world is truly sick!"

Looking at the girl who was on the verge of collapse, Tamura Hiroshi lamented that the darkness and ugliness of human nature exist in every world.

There was such a dark side in my past life as well. For example, the organ trade revealed in "SPL: Kill Zone" showed that many children were used as commodities. And that was just a movie. Reality was even more cruel and dark. There was also the Lolita Island incident. The ugliness of the human heart has no limit.

It's definitely better to purify a dark and filthy place like Kusagakure.

It's no wonder that Karin Uzumaki developed that kind of personality in the future, and was so devoted to Nisuke, who had saved her once, to the point of being somewhat pathological.

Having experienced such a thing and growing up in such an environment, it would be strange if they didn't develop mental problems.

Without saying anything more, he hugged the girl and pressed his forehead against her brow, using the Lesser Ten-Tails' Eight Thousand Spears eye technique to create an imprint on her and purify the chakra within her body.

Then he connected his own chakra with the other's chakra, using the chakra as a medium to slowly calm his almost collapsing emotions.

At the same time, the pure life force of the little ten-tailed fox was injected into its body to make up for the deficiency in its life force.

He guessed that this must be Karin Uzumaki's mother in the future. Although he had changed many things, some things had not been changed, and this girl was one of them.

If he hadn't come, this girl would have been drained of her life force by those people from Kusagakure and died, followed by her daughter, Karin Uzumaki.

As her chakra and emotions gradually calmed down, and the infusion of life force brought her physical comfort, the girl's consciousness finally recovered from the brink of collapse. Her tightly closed eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of ruby-like eyes.

What came into her view was a pair of black eyes, filled with boundless gentleness, which warmed the girl's heart.

"Are you more awake now?"

Seeing the girl open her eyes, Tamura Hao raised his head and asked softly, but the transmission of life force did not stop.

It wasn't until the news spread that people realized how severely the girl's body was depleted, with damage already affecting her very foundation.

If things continue like this, he will definitely not live past thirty, which made him feel sorry for him.

Looking at the face in front of her, the girl remained silent, seemingly dazed, her mind still trying to process what was happening.

"Walk!"

Seeing that the girl had calmed down, Tamura Hao did not linger there. He picked her up and used his superhuman strength to kick a hole in a wall and strode out.

The three ANBU ninjas naturally followed immediately, with Uchiha Hikaru and Uzumaki Kushina not delaying and rushing out right behind them.

Tamura Hao did not leave the hospital, but instead stepped onto the outer wall and went to the hospital's rooftop, his gaze sweeping over the entire Kusagakure village.

He didn't intend to get involved because he craved battles against the strong and had no interest in slaughtering the weak.

Not to mention that he had already completed his mission, killing most of the high-ranking officials of Kusagakure and perfectly rescuing his target; he had done more than enough.

"This kind of fighting is boring."

Seeing the chaos in Kusagakure, Uchiha Hikaru lost all will to fight.

"But this kind of pointless fighting can minimize our casualties. We have to bring them all back with us. Their parents, wives and children are waiting for their safe return."

Tamura Hiroshi thought this was a good thing, not out of any saintly sentimentality, but because it was the core principle of a commander.

We can't do something that would hurt the enemy a thousand while also injuring ourselves eight hundred.

If a fight goes down to the point where all your own people are wiped out, it can't be considered a victory.

Not to mention that what they pursue is unification, and preserving their own strength to the greatest extent is their top priority.

Just look at the Qin Dynasty in the past. The reason why it perished so quickly was that the wars and unification wars in the past had taken a heavy toll on the Qin people. Most of the Qin people, who were the foundation of the dynasty, were lost. How could the foundation of the Qin Dynasty be stable?

The reason why the Han Dynasty was able to stabilize afterwards was that after that wave of war, most of the people of the six states died, and with no one left, there was naturally no room for further turmoil.

Therefore, the key to the war of unification was to eliminate the enemy to the greatest extent possible and preserve one's own people to the greatest extent possible. Tamura even wished he could develop a nuclear bomb to nuke all the hostile forces.

Looking at the girl beside him who was tightly holding his hand, Tamura Hao said gently.

"This village that brought you suffering is going to become history and will never appear again."

The girl remained silent, but she was no longer so dazed; clearly, her emotional state was slowly recovering.

Tamura Hao values ​​the girl highly, and he needs a loyal subordinate like Uzumaki Karin, who can save his life in critical moments.

Of course, he didn't want to bite anyone. He needed to let this girl learn medical ninjutsu. With her bloodline limit ability, learning medical ninjutsu would definitely be twice as effective, and it wouldn't be impossible for her to surpass that most dangerous person in the ninja world.

Thinking about recruiting henchmen, Tamura Hao couldn't help but feel envious and admiring of the Third Hokage and Orochimaru. The Third Hokage's Will of Fire was the strongest genjutsu in the Naruto world, which had fooled countless young people.

They could even fool a lunatic like the Uchiha, and wipe out what was once a top ninja clan in the ninja world without losing a single soldier.

Compared to the political maneuvering of the Third Hokage, the methods of the Mizukage of Kirigakure, who also wiped out the village's ninja clan, were far inferior.

Then there's Orochimaru. In the future, he'll have quite a few fanatical followers, some of whom will even fight over who will become his vessel.

Those two were truly exceptional at cultivating henchmen; I was leagues below them.

Recalling the humiliating scenes of being repeatedly suppressed by that brat Uchiha Hikaru over the past few months, and the ever-watchful Uzumaki Kushina, he was filled with bitter tears.

No amount of scheming will work against a stubborn, clueless girl like this.

Meanwhile, Kushina Uzumaki, watching as her clansman finally regained his senses, breathed a sigh of relief but was also quite displeased.

I'm the one who saved you, so why are you so close to that despicable bastard now, holding onto his hand and refusing to let go?

Of course, she didn't voice her dissatisfaction. She could tell that the shameless villain was using some method to help this clansman recover, and the tooth marks and scars on his body were slowly fading and disappearing.

Her ashen skin has become fairer and more rosy, and even her originally dull red short hair is slowly regaining its luster.

All of this is enough to prove that his body is recovering, and that despicable villain still has some skills.

The girl also felt the changes within herself and the life force flowing continuously into her body from her palms.

Looking at the boy in front of her, the girl hesitated for a moment, wanting to loosen her grip.

She was acutely aware of the feeling of life force fading away and didn't want to transfer that feeling onto others.

However, Tamura Hao held her hand tightly, continuing to transmit life force.

From now on, only I am allowed to let go of your hand, you are not allowed to let go, understand?

Noticing the girl's actions, Tamura Hao turned his head and said, his gentleness revealing a hint of domineering.

But this contradictory tone made the girl feel safer, something she had been longing for all year.

"Um!"

The girl nodded, her eyes glistening with tears.

This is also the first time the girl has spoken tonight.

"My name is Tamura Hiroshi, what's yours?"

Tamura Hao no longer paid attention to the battle in Kusagakure; compared to the nearly destroyed Kusagakure, the girl in front of him was more important.

Now is the time when he is most vulnerable, so naturally we should take advantage of his vulnerability and trick him into becoming a loyal henchman.

"vanilla!"

After hesitating for a moment, the girl finally revealed her name.

"A very nice name."

Tamura praised her, and then began to talk to the girl to further ease her emotions.

Kushina Uzumaki tried to speak a few times, but to no avail. Vanilla Uzumaki simply nodded or shook her head in response to her words, showing no sign of affection whatsoever.

Kushina Uzumaki gritted her teeth, wishing she could pounce on him and bite off a piece of his flesh.

That villain was so despicable. He was the one who saved the person and comforted him for a long time, but in the end, that bastard appeared and stole the credit.

That's despicable!

Not long after, a figure leaped onto the hospital rooftop; it was Yu Ye, who had already finished her work.

He first looked at the new clansman, then talked with Kushina Uzumaki to understand what had happened and to see the resentment in his niece.

"Don't be stingy. This plan was mainly proposed by Haojun after he discovered information about Xiangcao from many files."

She is now considered a high-ranking member of the Hidden Cloud Village, a member of the Jonin class, and is qualified to participate in village affairs voting, so she knows some things.

The true instigator of this war was actually the boy in front of us. He proposed the war based on some uncertain intelligence, and then persuaded the Raikage to send troops.

She was very grateful to this person; if it weren't for his schemes, her Uzumaki clan would have been wiped out by Konoha.

"He suggested it?"

Kushina Uzumaki was shocked. How could it be that despicable villain?

"Is this the girl?"

At this moment, Ye Yue Ai, whose body was covered in blood, leaped onto the hospital rooftop. Looking at the red-haired girl who had hidden most of her body behind her junior brother, she knew that this was the mission target.

"She was somewhat frightened earlier."

Tamura Hiroshi said that compared to when he first met her, he was on the verge of a breakdown, but now he is much better.

Nodding knowingly, Yotsuki Ai turned to look at Uchiha Hikaru.

"These are the high-ranking officials of Kusagakure and their descendants that we found. They should know a lot of secrets."

Destroying Kusagakure is only one part of the mission; the next step is to pack up and take away anything of value from Kusagakure to count as profit.

We can't let war turn into a losing proposition.

Uchiha Hikaru didn't say much, but activated his Sharingan and used genjutsu to interrogate the people who had been brought up by the ANBU ninjas.

Her illusion techniques were quite good, after all, she once possessed the Tsukuyomi eye technique, although it was transplanted into her eyes and not an illusion technique that she awakened herself.

However, it also greatly improved her talent for genjutsu. In addition, the Uchiha clan had given her special guidance on genjutsu training so that she could use Tsukuyomi better, so her foundation was not bad.

As Uchiha Hikaru used genjutsu to interrogate and extract a great deal of crucial information, the ANBU ninjas led teams to various parts of Kusagakure to loot the area.

Accompanying them were several Uzumaki ninjas who helped to break the many seals that existed.

Compared to the Uzumaki clan's profound research and mastery of sealing techniques, the Kusagakure village's sealing techniques are far inferior, and breaking them is not difficult at all.

There was even a ninja who had transplanted the Byakugan being protected by a group of Cloud Ninja searching everywhere, looking as if they wanted to dig up the entire Hidden Grass Village.

At the same time, they were clearing out all the survivors and sealing all the corpses of the Grass Ninja with sealing scrolls and taking them away. The brains of those corpses were also pierced to prevent the leakage of battle information.

They came here posing as the Iwagakure Explosives Unit, so naturally the blame should be firmly placed on Iwagakure.

They should keep it a secret for as long as possible, ideally until the Ninja World War.

The ninjas were highly efficient, and since they had been using explosive tags as their main means of combat, their chakra consumption was not high. They quickly emptied the Hidden Grass Village by unleashing various ninjutsu.

Especially with Earth Release ninjutsu, even the most deeply hidden secret rooms and compartments can be breached, and anything of value can be taken away.

Fortunately, with the addition of the Vortex Clan, the production cost of large sealing scrolls has been greatly reduced, and all the spoils can be sealed inside the scrolls, which is much more convenient.

Finally, they didn't forget to set fire to everything, burning it down and erasing all traces.

Even if a Grass Ninja escapes with their life and returns, they can forget about rebuilding a Grass Village.

"Flower of grass!"

When Uchiha Hikaru was interrogating a Kusagakure Jonin using genjutsu, he was suddenly surprised, as if he saw strange fragments of memory in the genjutsu.

"What's wrong?"

Tamura Hiroshi, look over here. Have you noticed anything special?

Uchiha Hikaru did not answer immediately, but used genjutsu to further examine the person's memories before speaking after a while.

"In this person's memory, there are two hidden factions within Kusagakure, one called the Flower of Grass and the other called the Fruit of Grass."

The Grass Flower faction opposes war, is adept at using diplomacy to maneuver between various forces, uses intelligence to grasp the situation and protect itself, and is skilled at breaking the ninjutsu of various ninja villages.

This is the main body of Kusagakure today, while the Kusanagi faction is located in a place called Hozuki Castle, and both have existed for a very long time, at least several hundred years.

She hadn't expected that this small Kusagakure village would have such a long history, much longer than the current five great ninja villages.

"The fruit of the grass! The flower of the grass!"

After muttering those two names, Tamura Hao knew that the Box of Bliss existed in this world, which made things much easier.

He had long coveted the Box of Bliss and the Sage within it, and wondered if he could modify it into something like the Grand Grail or Dragon Balls. He believed that Lord Danzo would certainly love it.

Uzumaki Yuye then spoke up, "Ninja villages have existed for a long time, especially in small countries. For example, our Uzumaki Village has been rooted there for hundreds of years."

However, due to the suppression by the major powers and daimyo, no large ninja villages could be established. If it weren't for the overwhelming strength of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, Konoha would not have been able to be founded.

Other ninja villages were established following the trend of Konoha, and eventually the daimyo of the major nations also recognized this system, forming a new balance.

She knew about Kusagakure; it was recorded in some of the Uzumaki clan's records that it was a ninja village that was established even earlier than their own Uzumaki clan.

Similar ninja village groups have existed for a long time, but they have not been able to form a large scale.

"Ghost Lantern Castle is a prison located on an isolated island at sea, surrounded by countless reefs and whirlpools, making it impossible for ships to get close."

It houses a special prison for inmates, and the lineage of the Hozuki Castle lord does indeed have some connection to Kusagakure. It's said they possess a secret technique that can seal a prisoner's chakra and confine it within a certain area, preventing escape.

Fukai then explained about Hozuki Castle, the sea prison he had heard of, a neutral force like the Land of Iron.

"I've also heard my dad say that many people were sent to Ghost Lantern Castle to be imprisoned during that rebellion."

Night Moon Ai also remembered the existence of the Ghost Lantern Castle, which involved the rebellion of Gold Horn and Silver Horn back then.

The rebellion back then involved many people. Some of them were not easy to kill, so they could only be imprisoned. It was also not easy to imprison them in the village, so they were all sent to Ghost Lantern Castle.

"This filthy place should be burned to ashes."

Uchiha Hikaru had no interest in any of this. After interrogating the remaining people using genjutsu, he came to the edge of the rooftop and looked at the Kusagakure village, which was now engulfed in flames. He felt a great aversion to the place.

The encounter with Vortex Vanilla was only part of the darkness within; through the illusionary interrogation just now, she saw even more dark and disgusting scenes.

Of course, many forces have this dark side, even the five great ninja villages have quite a few, or even more. The Hidden Cloud Village is only slightly better because of its own style of doing things.

Konoha is the most disgusting; the things they do in secret are truly unbearable to look at, and the events in the Land of Whirlpools are just one example.

The fact that Konoha and Iwagakure chose to hold the battle in the Land of Grass during this Ninja World War caused countless deaths and affected countless villages and cities. When they entered the Land of Grass, they saw countless dilapidated villages, countless refugees, and the white bones by the roadside.

Some of the bones even had teeth marks—human teeth marks—which suggests what had happened.

Of course, the destruction of Kusagakure by Kumogakure cannot be called just, and there were certainly innocent people who were implicated and killed.

However, this only highlights the flaws in the very existence of the ninja world; it would be better to destroy it.

"Let's go home!"

Unaware of Uchiha Hikaru's inner thoughts, Yotsuki A and his companions directed their ninjas to thoroughly search Kusagakure. After counting the number of people and confirming that there were no problems, Yotsuki A decisively ordered a return.

The Cloud Ninja were all delighted. This battle was so exhilarating and luxurious, and they suffered virtually no casualties. It was far more enjoyable than the two battles they had fought in the Land of Whirlpools last time.

Of course, this was mainly because Kusagakure was forced to participate in the war by Konoha, resulting in the loss of many elite ninjas and a significant reduction in the village's strength.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Kusagakure, at its peak, to be taken so easily by only 500 elite Kumogakure ninja.

At this time, it was still dark, with only the great fire in Kusagakure burning brightly, illuminating the darkness.

(End of this chapter)