Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 143 Mito Uzumaki's Funeral

Autumn is the harvest season. Whether it's Konoha or other ninja villages, the most important thing during this season is to seize the time to harvest the grain and store it in the granary.

Ultimately, even Konoha can only be described as a semi-agricultural, semi-industrial society.

However, if we look at the entire Land of Fire, it is still an agricultural civilization.

The autumn harvest is an indispensable and crucial season.

Konoha's harvest this year was affected by more than half a month of continuous torrential rains in the summer, and farmers in the northern part of Konoha harvested almost nothing.

Fortunately, Konoha's granary, Yuya, had made preparations long ago. Every year, to prevent the old grain from expiring, the old grain would be taken away to brew wine when the new grain was harvested and tallied.

Therefore, although the harvest was meager this year, it did not have much impact on Konoha Village.

It's pitiful for farmers who work hard all year round. If there's no harvest, it means that all their hard work for a year has only brought them a little or no reward.

However, there was nothing Yuya could do about it; all he could guarantee was that the people of Konoha under his rule would live a better life.

The area ten kilometers north of Hokage Rock is indeed closer to Konoha, but it's not part of Konoha Village.

Previously, Yuya sent people to persuade them, offering them Konoha residency and asking them to move to Konoha Village. However, these people refused because they couldn't bear to part with their land. Now, some regret it, but Konoha's inner city no longer accepts outsiders, so they can only go to the outer city.

Since that's the case, why not just stay and live off your ten-odd acres of land? Being a small landlord can make you rich, can't it?

You Ya respects their ideas; even if they are desperate for manpower, You Ya would never do something like forcibly relocating household registrations.

This is not only a disgrace to the daimyo of the land of fire, but also a wicked regime that shows no mercy to its people.

You Ya was thinking about making money, not about forcing people to die.

However, in the past few years, even though these small landowners who owned more than ten acres of land paid one-fifth of their taxes to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire every year, at least more than half of the remaining land could be sold to Konoha.

Therefore, each of them should have some spare money.

Youya ordered people to retrieve the old grain from the granary and sell it to the farmers, so that they wouldn't starve to death.

As for the price, let's offer a discount.

After all, these farmers really have it tough.

After the autumn harvest, winter arrives, a time of desolation for all things.

Although this is the prelude to spring, when all things revive, as the saying goes, there is no revival without death.

However, every winter, some elderly people in Konoha pass away.

They were born amidst war and barely managed to meet the great philanthropist Hashirama Senju, who ended the war and established a ninja village. Although they were poor, they managed to survive.

After You Ya came to power, he gradually began to enjoy a better life.

However, his good days didn't last long before he passed away due to age and the difficulty in treating various injuries he had suffered in the past.

You Ya knew that every winter was particularly difficult for some elderly people.

Without underfloor heating and with air conditioning not yet widely available, winter can be a nightmare for some people with weaker constitutions.

Of course, some people are not actually weak; it's just that their time has come and they should leave.

Mito Uzumaki is a prime example.

Yuya still remembers when he lived in Hashirama Senju's mansion in Konoha 15 and 16. At that time, Mito Uzumaki was still a middle-aged woman with a very bad temper. Every day she was either beating up Hashirama Senju or on her way to beat up Hashirama Senju.

You Ya was terrified of his master's wife at that time.

But it hasn't been that long...

It feels like only a short time has passed since she took power in Konoha, yet Mito Uzumaki has already aged like an old woman whose candle is about to burn out.

To be honest, Mito Uzumaki is only around sixty-six or sixty-seven years old this year.

However, he looks about the same as an eighty-year-old.

Of course, this applies to Yuya.

In this world, very few people live to be sixty.

Not to mention the war years before, living to your thirties and seeing your children grow up was considered a success.

Yuya knew that Mito Uzumaki was already considered long-lived compared to the rest of the world.

However, Yuya still finds it hard to accept the fact that someone in their sixties had their body worn out from participating in war in their youth, and that they could hold on until middle age but were aging rapidly in old age.

However, upon closer examination, this was already evident when Mito Uzumaki fought for the interests of the Uzumaki clan.

The fact that the Nine-Tails was extracted by Mito Uzumaki and then sealed inside Kushina was a signal.

Mito Uzumaki knew her days were numbered.

While there are many concerns about Jinchūriki regarding Tailed Beasts, they can also provide physical enhancements.

Mito Uzumaki sealed the Nine-Tails into Kushina Uzumaki's body, further weakening her already frail health.

The relationship between a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast is mutually supportive. If the Tailed Beast leaves the body through a proper procedure, it will not lead to the person's death.

Of course, it's also inevitable that the body will become weak.

If the Tailed Beast is forcibly pulled out of the body, the Jinchuriki will die on the spot.

Take Gaara, for example. If it weren't for Granny Chiyo saving him, Gaara would have been dead. What would be the point of talking about becoming the Fifth Kazekage?

However, if the proper procedure is followed with the assistance of a powerful sealing ninja, the tailed beast can be transferred out of the body, which will result in weakness but not immediate death.

For example, the unlucky girl Kushina was targeted by a certain Tobi and gave birth to the prince. On the night of that, the Nine-Tails was released from its seal using ninjutsu, causing a tailed beast rampage.

This wasn't a case of forcibly pulling the tailed beast out of her body, so Kushina didn't die.

These two points are different.

Mito Uzumaki survived temporarily because she was going through the process of releasing the seal and transferring the tailed beast. However, when the winter of Konoha year 32 arrived, she had a premonition that she would not live to see the following spring.

Although her eyes dimmed, she accepted the reality of her impending death with equanimity.

She called Yua to her side, and in the final moments of her life, the wife of the ninja god solemnly apologized to Yua.

Because she knew that her efforts to benefit the Uzumaki clan over the years had put Yuya in a difficult position.

She also knew that if it weren't for her, Yuya would have already purged the country of Whirlpools and installed a compliant person in power.

That would be the best outcome for Konoha.

But Yuya did not do that.

Ultimately, one reason is that it doesn't require such a great deal of effort, and another reason is...

Mito Uzumaki was indeed one of the reasons.

You Ya remained silent for a long time, only saying that he did not blame his master's wife.

After all, he knew how he got there; if Hashirama Senju hadn't taken him in, he would have starved to death long ago.

The feeling of being hungry is unpleasant. Even now, he still clearly remembers the taste of the meal that Mito Uzumaki made for him after he was brought back by Hashirama Senju.

Mito Uzumaki looked at Yua with gratitude; she was actually reluctant to part with her.

But there's really not much time left.

The last thing Mito Uzumaki asked Yua to do was naturally about Kushina Uzumaki.

It wasn't about safety, but rather that Mito Uzumaki didn't want Kushina to become like her, getting in the way because of her concern for the Uzumaki clan. She hoped that Yua could bring Kushina's family to Konoha's inner city later, even though it would violate the laws on inner city immigration. Mito Uzumaki hoped that Yua would consider it.

You Ya thought for a long time and nodded.

Mito Uzumaki's idea is correct. Given the Uzumaki clan's character, who knows what those oddballs might do to Kushina?

They might even brainwash you directly?

Although Kushina doesn't go to Mito Uzumaki to be intimate with Yua, she can still talk to her at least...

It's best to solve this once and for all.

After that, Mito's breathing became increasingly labored, and she was on the verge of death.

Yuya quickly called in the people waiting outside: Tobirama Senju, Kushina Uzumaki, Tsunade holding Yuki, and Tsunade's parents who had secretly come over that night under different names...

Mito Uzumaki glanced at everyone one last time before chuckling and saying to Yua, "When I see Hashirama later, he'll probably be so envious of me~"

Finally, Mito Uzumaki took one last deep look at Yuki, who was fast asleep in Tsunade's arms, biting her finger, and then, overcome with drowsiness, she closed her eyes forever...

On December 5th, Konoha Year 32, Mito Uzumaki passed away in Konoha Village at the age of 66.

Born during a time of war, he traveled all over the country with his family and made a name for himself.

However, during the war years, two names were so dazzling that few people knew after Konoha was founded that Hashirama Senju's wife, Mito Uzumaki, was once a commander who led the Uzumaki clan in battle.

After the Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan formed a marriage alliance, Mito Uzumaki became Hashirama Senju's second wife, but his only legal wife.

After that, Mito Uzumaki disappeared from the battlefield.

After Konoha was founded, Hashirama captured the Tailed Beasts, and Mito Uzumaki took the initiative to propose the idea of ​​Jinchūriki and was willing to be the first vessel.

Hashirama Senju was deeply moved and agreed.

Afterwards, with Konoha in dire need of rebuilding, Mito Uzumaki realized that she was not suited to stand in the spotlight, so she voluntarily stepped down.

Meanwhile, the Uzumaki clan, which had gained the support of Hashirama Senju to establish a kingdom in the Land of Whirlpools, also fell into obscurity.

Later she adopted a child.

This child transformed Konoha into a prosperous and powerful village in just a few short years.

She was overjoyed by her child's achievements and sometimes wondered if it would have been better if the child had been born ten years earlier.

There are no "what ifs".

As she grew older, the Uzumaki clan seemed to fear that their friendly relations with Konoha would be severed after her death, so they wanted to use her name to accomplish one last thing.

She agreed.

This woman, who had silently supported Hashirama Senju throughout her life, compromised with her clan in her final moments, wanting to leave behind a last vestige of her clan's legacy.

This was a woman with a broad mind who, in the final moments of her life, chose to be a little selfish.

Youya originally thought she wouldn't cry.

But in the end, he was still in tears.

That night, You Ya remained kneeling until dawn the next day, when he finally raised his head, his stiff body making a "crackling" sound as the bones collided.

By now, the tear stains had dried. After wiping away all traces with a handkerchief from Tsunade, Yuya staggered to his feet with Tsunade's help.

"Where's Kushina?"

Yuya asked Tsunade.

Tsunade looked at Yua with some concern: "She's still young, so I sent her to sleep in the side room."

After a pause, Tsunade continued, "Kushina probably didn't even know what death meant..."

You Ya fell silent.

He then bent down, pounded his thigh, and asked, "Where are the people from the Uzumaki clan who came for the funeral? How many more days until they arrive?"

Tsunade's face paled instantly, and her gaze towards Yua began to dart away.

Yuya turned his head and saw Tsunade's expression. His heart skipped a beat, and he asked in a low voice, "They... they haven't set off yet, have they?"

The news of Mito Uzumaki's serious illness was sent to the Uzumaki clan three days ago... oh, four days ago.

Moreover, it was a team of Jonin personally selected by Yua who went there.

Three days of all-out travel should be enough to get from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools.

Tsunade sighed helplessly and then said, "They were afraid that Kirigakure would continue to attack Uzushiogakure, so none of the Uzumaki clan elders came. Only a few juniors... came to attend the funeral..."

Tsunade cautiously looked at Yua, only to find that Yua's expression changed drastically before gradually returning to calm.

"I understand." Yuya nodded, looked at Tsunade and said softly, "I have some things to do recently, so you and Yuki don't need to wait for me to come home tonight."

Tsunade looked at Yua with concern and gently comforted her, "I'm afraid you'll overwork yourself..."

Youya suddenly laughed, finding his earlier anger laughable.

Yuya hugged Tsunade and tapped her forehead. At this time, Tsunade's forehead did not yet have the Hundred Healings Seal, and her smooth forehead appeared rather broad.

Hmm... I think I understand why Tsunade took Sakura as her apprentice now. She also has a broad forehead, after all.

"It's alright, it's just a Uzumaki clan member, it won't take up too much of my energy," Yuya said with a smile.

He then arranged for Mito Uzumaki's funeral, entrusting the specific procedures to Shikaya Nara, and instructing Shikaya to draft a funeral plan within a day.

The Nara deer were also suffering greatly, but they dared not refuse.

Afterwards, Yuya issued a series of orders, which can be summarized as his political affairs. He threw everything out to others, and then locked himself in the Hokage's office. No one knew what Yuya was doing.

All that is known is that Youya issued the first order that afternoon.

Stop providing aid to the Land of Whirlpools with the original chakra cannons, and send envoys to negotiate with the Land of Bears and the Land of Iron.

No one knew what Youya was planning, but no one dared to ask directly. They could only do their work and watch what happened next.

On December 9th, Konoha Year 32, the Land of Iron issued a statement deeply mourning the passing of Ms. Mito Uzumaki and announced that it would hold a joint exercise with Konoha in the waters near Konoha.

On November 11th of Konoha Year 32, the Land of Bears held a memorial service for Konoha, deeply mourning the passing of Mito Uzumaki, and announced that they would also hold a military exercise with Konoha in the waters near Konoha.

Unfortunately, these two locations happen to be sandwiched between the Land of Whirlpools.

On the 15th of Konoha Year 32, a group of elders from the Uzumaki clan arrived in Konoha with boxes of supplies to attend Mito Uzumaki's funeral.

You Ya never met any of these people from beginning to end.

On the 16th of Konoha Year 32, the Land of Whirlpools was attacked by pirates, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries. Coincidentally, all of these hundreds of people were family members of the Uzumaki clan elders who had come to Konoha to mourn Mito Uzumaki...

Yuya was furious and declared that he would pursue the matter to the end. He immediately dispatched Uchiha Kagami with a thousand-strong ninja force to the Land of Whirlpools to capture the bandits.

At the funeral of Mito Uzumaki, the elder of the Uzumaki clan knelt for a long time and could not get up.

On the 27th of Konoha Year 32, Uchiha Kagami returned to Konoha and presented a report on the extermination of bandits, stating that some beasts from the Land of Whirlpools were colluding with the bandits and had been killed.

Yuya remained expressionless and said that Uchiha Kagami had worked hard.

On the 28th day of the 32nd year of Konoha, the Land of Bears and the Land of Iron launched an attack on the Land of Whirlpools.

The elders of the Uzumaki clan in Konoha Village wailed and demanded to see Yua, but were driven away.

On the 30th of Konoha Year 32, the troops of Kuma and Tetsuya withdrew. The dead and wounded in Uzushiogakure were all direct and collateral descendants of the Uzumaki clan elders, as well as the various ninja armies under their command.

The treasury of the Land of Whirlpools was looted, and the core area of ​​the Whirlpool clan's territory was also ransacked. The Iron and Bear Kingdoms only robbed the treasury and did not kill any civilians of the Whirlpool clan.

Ironically, the total wealth in the national treasury was less than half of the treasures held by the clan elders themselves.

Xiong, having made a fortune, returned home victorious.

Afterwards, they took half of the spoils and traveled a long distance to Konoha to attend the funeral, explaining that these were all gifts from Lady Mito Uzumaki, whom they had come to offer in gratitude for her benevolence and to honor her passing.

After Yuya warmly received the envoys from both countries, the following day, on the last day of Konoha Year 32, Yuya ordered all the elders of the Uzumaki clan to carry the coffin and bury it themselves.

Mito Uzumaki's remains, preserved in a freezer using the latest research findings, have finally been laid to rest.

Finally, Yuya looked at the Uzumaki clan elders kneeling and trembling before Mito Uzumaki's grave and calmly said, "After three days of kneeling in worship, all of you uncles and aunts from my master's clan can come to me to discuss the future cooperation between Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools."

The clan elders all knelt down and thanked them loudly.

With that, Mito Uzumaki's funeral was finally over.

And so, the year 33 of Konoha arrived.

So tired, so very tired. Just one more week, and I can go home for Chinese New Year. Come on, come on...

(End of this chapter)