Naruto: The Last Fuinjutsu Master

Land of Whirlpools (1): Bandit Armies

Chapter 15: Land of Whirlpools (1): The Uzumaki and the White Bear Bandits
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

Before leaving Konoha, I hesitated about whether to kidnap a Hyuuga clan member on the way out. After a long, arduous internal war, I decided to first check if it was even possible to kidnap a Hyuuga, but when I reached the Hyuuga clan's compound, I realized that I was being foolish.

The Hyuuga clan is one of the noble clans in Konoha aside from the Senju and the Uchiha clans. Even the fox regarded them as one of the four "noblest clans," how can they be so easy to covet? If that were the case, then maybe all of them would be MIA right now. After all, they have the "all-seeing white eye," the byakugan.

Getting near them without alerting their byakugan was like trying to get near a cautious rabbit. Trying to kidnap one was like trying to catch a sparrow, not to mention that this "sparrow" would retaliate when threatened.

When I realized this, I wanted to dig a hole for myself and never come out. I was naïve, way too naïve. Because of the "Hyuuga Affair," I underestimated the Hyuuga clan. But now, I'm starting to admire that envoy from Kumogakure. To be able to bypass the Hyuuga's surveillance, what kind of legendary ninja was he?

That was how I gave up the byakugan for the time being.

Regardless, I still headed toward the east. My destination was my ancestral homeland, the Land of Whirlpools.

'Are you sure you want to go there?'

The nine-tailed fox asked. This was the third time he asked the same question.

'Yes.'

'It's dangerous. I can't help you either, your seal is becoming more and more like Mito and Kushina's. It's difficult to give you my chakra, maybe when you are twelve years old, you won't have access to my chakra anymore,' the fox said, distressed at the idea of becoming a freeloader to his host.

'Don't worry, I'm not a pampered baby. I know how to dodge a kunai. Besides, didn't we already talk about this? The reason why I modified your seal is to one day release you back into the real world,' I said, comforting this fox who acted more and more like a nagging parent. I didn't hate it, though.

'Sigh... When I was brought to the Land of Whirlpools to be sealed into Mito, that place was plagued by bandit armies. They were strong enough to give the tree-loving bastard. During my time as Konoha's bijuu weapon, I've never heard anything about Konoha assisting in retaking the Land of Whirlpools. That place is probably worse than before,' the fox said, trying to persuade me while at the same time informing me about a crucial piece of information. What was this about the bandit armies? They can give the legendary Hashirama Senju a headache? Can you believe it?

'Why should they help the Uzumaki? They already got what they wanted. You. Why waste effort in helping allies that provided no benefits? And from what that old bastard Danzo, he was the reason why the Uzumaki were destroyed in the first place,' I scoffed. From snooping around, I was aware of the official reason why Konoha didn't kelp Uzushio. They were "low in manpower."

The fox went silent. From our connection, I could feel fox agreeing with me in his mind, but was too lazy to agree verbally.

Wooo~ Wooo~

The wind whistled behind my back as I jumped from tree branch to tree branch. This journey was arduous and tiring, but it was the only way for me to get rid of my naivety. With the physical strength of a jonin and a chakra level bordering kage-level, it was too embarrassing to only know how to fight like a genin.