Land of the Whirlpools, the meeting hall, the elders sat waiting for Ashina's arrival.
A hawk had just arrived carrying a reply message from Konoha after they had sent a request for reinforcements yesterday.
Cling!!
The door opened, and Ashina entered with a frown; it was clear to everyone that he was not in a good mood.
"Ashina, what's the matter!? What did Konoha say!?" the First Elder asked curiously after noticing the grim expression on Ashina's face.
"Here, read it yourself…" Ashina threw the scroll to the First Elder and sat down weakly and exhausted.
"This, this…" the First Elder stammered, the oldest among them, dropping the scroll from his trembling hand.
"First Elder, pull yourself together. What exactly did Konoha say!?" asked the Fourth Elder, who stood up and picked the scroll from the ground.
"Konoha has abandoned us. We are on our own in this…" Ashina said calmly, as if it didn't matter, though he could not help but recall the mockery shown by the young man from the Uchiha clan.
"Impossible, Mito-sama wouldn't do this. There must be some mistake…" said the Fourth Elder in disbelief.
Boom!!
The Second Elder slammed the table in anger. "You fool, Mito is not the Hokage…"
"But if we send her a request for help…"
Ashina shook his head and interrupted the Fourth Elder, who had lost his composure. "Azushi, stop…"
"Mito is not the Hokage. She doesn't have the authority to help us, and I doubt she still thinks of the Uzumaki clan…"
"In her heart, she values Konoha more than the Land of the Whirlpools or the Uzumaki clan. Look at this…" Ashina took out a scroll he had received a short while ago from Mito.
He pushed the scroll toward the frowning Fourth Elder.
"She wanted me to send my young granddaughter to Konoha so the Nine-Tails could be sealed inside her…"
"Ashina, is this true!? Why didn't you tell us before!?" asked the Third Elder, taking the scroll from the devastated Fourth Elder.
Ashina shook his head. "There's nothing to tell. It's impossible for me to send my granddaughter to Konoha to become their weapon ... not just my granddaughter, I won't send any member of the clan…"
"The Land of the Whirlpools has always sacrificed so much for Konoha, from sealing techniques to resources, but in return, Konoha turned its back on us in our darkest time!"
The hall fell silent in a tense atmosphere after Ashina finished speaking.
What distinguished the Uzumaki clan was their rare unity, something not found in other clans. None of the elders refuted Ashina's words, even the Fourth Elder, who was related to Mito, did not comment after reading the message requesting the clan leader's granddaughter.
"Ahem…" Ashina's dry cough snapped everyone out of their thoughts.
"You asked me about the identity of the guest I received yesterday…"
Ashina's words caught their attention. They had been curious about the visitor's identity, but Ashina had refused each time to reveal who he was or his purpose for coming.
"Does he have a notable identity!?" the First Elder asked curiously.
Ashina nodded. "Somewhat…"
He took out four small scrolls and threw one to each elder.
"Here, take a look at his information yourself…"
The scroll contained intelligence about Sean Uchiha. Naturally, Ashina had investigated this stranger who visited him; the black market was like a magic lamp, bring money and you could get anything. Through it, Ashina obtained preliminary information about Sean.
He confirmed that Sean was not lying about being a rogue ninja, though it seemed the reasons behind it differed from what Shawn had told him.
"Ashina, is what's written here true!?" the First Elder asked with narrowed eyes, unable to help but suspect a mistake.
Ashina understood his doubt , he had written nearly everything about Sean in that scroll, including his ability to see the future. Of course, he wouldn't have done that without permission.
He had consulted Sean and asked for permission to inform the elders of his ability, and Shawn agreed without hesitation.
Ashina nodded. "Yes, it's all true…"
"It's hard to believe such a terrifying ability exists. Who said the Uchiha clan is merely cursed and envious…"
"This is a blessed clan…"
The Second and Third Elders commented in awe. Both had lived through the Warring States period, so they had their impressions of the Uchiha clan
. Even so, they had never heard of such an ability appearing in any of its members, not even Uchiha Madara, the strongest Uchiha in history, had shown such a power.
Azushi, the Fourth Elder, set the scroll aside and asked skeptically, "Is asylum really all he's asking for?"
"On the surface, yes. But he likely has a hidden motive. Still, there's no need to worry, his intentions don't seem bad…"
Azushi frowned. "For now! , his intentions may not be bad, but who knows what he might do in the future…"
When Ashina saw the hesitation on the Fourth Elder's face, he frowned and said in a cold, deep voice
"It seems you've misunderstood why I shared this information. Let me clarify one thing ... I have already agreed to Sean Uchiha's request for asylum. We are here to discuss the fate of the Land of the Whirlpools, not Sean Uchiha…"
Without waiting for a response, Ashina took out another scroll, larger than the previous ones, and handed it to the First Elder.
The scroll contained evidence of movements by other villages that Sean had obtained by interrogating some ninja before arriving at the Land of the Whirlpools.
It also described the fate of the Land of the Whirlpools, that it would be destroyed. Naturally, some minor details were altered, such as Konoha's involvement, as there was no certainty whether Konoha had participated in its destruction in the original timeline.
When Ashina received this information from Sean, he nearly collapsed on the spot. He had imagined the future would be harsh, but never that the country itself , including the Uzumaki clan, would be destroyed.
The First Elder rubbed his temples in a headache; he was too old for such stress.
"Ashina, what do we do now!? We can no longer rely on Konoha, and our strength is insufficient to face multiple ninja villages at once…"
Ashina smiled bitterly. "What can we do? Surrender to them!? Of course, we will fight the enemy…"
The Second Elder, commander of the Land's forces, frowned. "Fight the enemy, with what army!? , Since the end of the Warring States period, the Uzumaki haven't fought any wars, and because of that, we've grown weak…"
No one refuted him.
Yes, they had powerful sealing techniques feared by other villages, but against thousands of ninja, that was not enough to close the gap.
The elders knew that currently, Uzumaki Village had only about 6,000 ninja, including around 97 Jonin. It might seem large for a land controlled by a single clan, but compared to other villages, it was insignificant.
"The Second Elder is right. The Uzumaki clan and the Land of the Whirlpools have grown too weak to defend themselves… and now both great and small ninja villages covet our sealing techniques…"
"So what do we do now?"
Ashina sighed. "We have two choices: abandon the Land of the Whirlpools and flee, or ... hand over our sealing techniques to the great ninja villages and end this crisis…"
He narrowed his eyes and added coldly
"But ask yourselves… would handing over our sealing techniques really stop them from attacking us!?"
The elders fell into deep thought. The second option was humiliating, they would be begging for their lives, but in their current situation, pride had no place.
Ashina shook his head. "Don't trouble yourselves. I'll tell you the answer…"
"Of course they won't let us live. Their goal isn't just our techniques, it's our blood!"
"Those who carry Uzumaki blood are ideal candidates to become Jinchuriki…"
"Because of our strong life force and vast chakra reserves, our bodies can contain tailed beasts without side effects…"
He raised his hand to stop the Fourth Elder from speaking and continued
"I've already ordered the evacuation of civilians to a shelter near the port. If things worsen, they will sail to the Land of Fire…"
"Despite Konoha turning its back on us and betraying us, it remains our only option. At least with Mito there, the refugees won't be killed or rejected…"
The First Elder frowned. "Ashina…"
"This is a good plan. At least some of us will survive. But why do I feel like you have something else up your sleeve…"
"What exactly is your source of confidence!? Is it that young man from the Uchiha clan, what was his name again ?... "
" Uchiha Sean "
A look of surprise flashed across Ashina's face before he laughed. "Why am I surprised? As expected of you, Fuzashi…"
"Yes, I spoke with Sean about how to save the Land of the Whirlpools. As you know, he requested asylum despite knowing this land's fate…"
The Second Elder's dull eyes lit up. "Are you saying he has a plan to save the Land of the Whirlpools!? But how!? Does the Mangekyo Sharingan give him that confidence…?"
He shook his head. "Even though I haven't seen his strength personally, I admit that Sean Uchiha is stronger than any of us here. Uchiha Madara showed what the Uchiha can become after obtaining the Mangekyo…"
"But is Sean Uchiha as strong as Uchiha Madara?, I doubt it…"
He was skeptical. In his view, if Sean truly had power comparable to Madara, he would have already destroyed Konoha in revenge.
Ashina smiled and shook his head. "No, I asked him that myself, and he admitted he is not as strong as Uchiha Madara…"
"I've decided to bet on his success. Of course, I'm not foolish enough to rely solely on him , that's why I prepared the plan I told you about…"
Ashina stood up and spoke in a deep voice
" Everyone ... the fate of the Land of the Whirlpools and the Uzumaki clan is at stake. I expect all of you to give everything you have and fight to your last breath…"
He turned to the First Elder.
"Fuzashi, you will be responsible for the civilians. If we fall, I expect you to lead them to Konoha and seek asylum…"
" This is an order !"