06 – The New Land

"Welcome to my clan's territory on this fine evening," Yamato greeted, opening the door to the guest waiting room and stepping inside. "May I ask what brings the two of you here?"

"Good evening, Uzumaki clan lord," one of the men spoke politely, while the other nonchalantly snacked on some dried tangerines from the nearby table. "We have been sent here by Hokage-Sama to retrieve a member of the Uzumaki Royal family."

"I see," Yamato responded, taking a seat opposite the two men. "May I ask why Konoha village requires a member of my family, and why I should entrust one of my own to your village?" he inquired, his tone guarded and curious.

"You see Yamato-Sama, Mito-Sama's health is continuously deteriorating. We need a jinchuuriki soon and who better than someone from the Uzumaki Royal family?" The man replied.

"Hmm, but why not some other member? I can get you an orphan of the clan–"

The man who had been munching on tangerines abruptly stopped and spoke in a rude, entitled tone. "Listen, we are giving you a chance to save a member of your family from certain death. Be grateful for the offer and send someone with us. Your clan is already on its last legs, and if you refuse to cooperate, we won't hesitate to eliminate any remaining bloodlines, even if they manage to flee," he threatened, his demeanour aggressive.

Yamato fixed a steady gaze upon the man, his expression calm and collected despite the threatening tone. His eyes narrowed slightly as if he were sizing up the man and assessing the situation.

'Got you,' Yamato smirked in his heart.

Suddenly, Yamato's composed and confident expression gave way to one of panic and fear. His shoulders slumped and worry lines etched across his face, making it appear as if something had completely shaken him.

He put his hand on his chest and bent it slightly while saying in a surrendering tone, "I-I apologize for that. I'll surely send a member of my family with you."

The man spoke with a tone of disdain before rising from his seat and walking out of the room alone. "We'll be taking our leave now," he declared, his contemptuous gaze lingering on Yamato for a moment. "And do clean up this filthy place once in a while, would you?" he added with a sneer, before disappearing out the door.

"I apologize for what he just said…" The remaining man said.

"Oh, it's alright–"

"...But he was correct. Please consider it carefully." The man said and quickly left the room.

As soon as the second man left, Yamato's face reverted back to its previous calm expression. However, beneath the surface, he could feel a seething rage building within him from the exchange.

Yamato's grip on the armrest of the chair tightened until the wood began to creak and splinter under his fingers. Suddenly, with a sudden burst of strength, he shattered the armrest into two, sharp wooden spikes that pierced his skin and drew blood. Despite the pain, Yamato remained silent and still, the fury within him barely contained.

"My lord, the–" A member of the shadow guards, Kyotsu appeared behind Yamato, kneeling to him the same way as Ryu did.

Before Kyotsu could finish his words, he found Yamato's red eyes in front of him and a sharp wooden spike, which was previously an armrest in front of his throat.

"M-My lord- I…"

"Hah, I'm sorry Kyotsu. Acting like that is really hard and moreover, I've told you so many times. Your stealth skill is one of the best in the entire shinobi world, even I cannot easily detect you. If you appear behind me suddenly, I might really end up accidentally killing you one day…Anyhow, tell me, what is it?" Yamato asked. He pulled back his hand and sighed after patting Kyotsu's shoulder a few times to calm him down.

Kyotsu was the youngest member of the shadow guards and also the best in hiding. Even Yamato, the best warrior of the Uzumaki clan and one of the best in the world from his generation, could not easily detect him.

Kyotsu had all the makings of a skilled assassin, except for one fatal flaw: his strength. Despite his precision and cunning, he struggled to execute clean assassinations of high-ranking individuals without being detected. In such situations, he risked being caught and killed himself.

"The area that you had asked us to clean is cleaned. No bodies remain. Now, we are left with only one small shinobi village in that free land." Kyotsu reported, returning back to his bowing position.

"Very good. What about the seals? How are those going?" Yamato asked.

"Iguchi-san is working on it. He told me to tell you that he's done with around 500 and needs a little more time to get them all done."

"Good again. Where is Ryu right now?" Yamato asked.

"Captain went to make sure that Young Lord comes back to the mansion safely."

"Hmm, tell him that we'll be going for the last extermination tomorrow."

"Understood, my lord," Kyotsu replied as he stepped back, disappearing into the shadows without a trace.

.

.

-At night, the Uzumaki Royal family Mansion-

"...and then, I and Shio played house. I became the mom, Shio became the dad and Ryuchi–"

"Wait, is Shio a boy?" Kazuha suddenly interrupted Kushina while she was talking about her day while the whole family sat together in the living room.

"Umm, of course, yes," Kushina replied.

"How is he as a person? How does he behave? How is his personality? Is it good? Where does he live? What does he want to become? Will he be able to keep you safe? Will he keep you happy? Will you forget me soon after you leave this– No wait, did you touch his hand? Did you wash your hands after touching his hand? Did you–" Kazuha flooded Kushina with questions.

"E-Eh…?" Kushina's brain stopped functioning after getting asked so many questions in such a short duration.

This manner of flooding her with weird yet worried questions was a method Kazuha tried to show his care for Kushina.

"Oh Kazuha, they're just friends… Honeyyy, you only tell– Honey? What's…wrong?" Miyazu turned around to look at Yamato, who was just behind her. He wore a sad smile and had wet eyes when he muttered in a low voice, "M-My cute little daughter…She has found a male friend already…At this pace, she will leave me soon…"

"Hah, you two have gone crazy. It's late now so let's sleep." Miyazu said as she kissed Kushina and Kazuha's foreheads while pulling Yamato to the bedroom after he refused to walk due to the shock from Kushina's words.

"Nii-san, let's go up the staircase together. I am a little scared of the dark." Kushina said.

Kazuha readily agreed to her request. Luckily, their bedrooms were both located on the same floor, so he would have been heading up there anyway. Even if their rooms were on different floors, he would have had no trouble guiding Kushina up the darkened staircase to her room.

'I mean, if my cute little sister asks for it, anything.'

Kazuha then held Kushina's small hand and walked with her to the door of her bedroom.

"We're here," Kazuha said standing in front of Kushina's room.

"Oh…Nii-san, good night." Kushina wished Kazuha as she hugged him.

With the factors of her own short height and Kazuha's tall height, which he had gained from the past month of exercise, Kushina was only able to hug Kazuha's leg.

"What's wrong, Kushina? You've been clinging to me a lot recently. Are you troubled by something? You can tell me anything you want," Kazuha said. He knelt down on his knees and hugged Kushina properly while asking her.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just do this because I don't know when you might revert back to your past self and start getting angry with me all the time. I just try to get all the hugs and care in advance." Kushina replied.

'Oh damn, how bad was I previously?' Kazuha thought to himself.

He waved his hand through Kushina's hair a few times before saying in a soft voice, "Hey Kushina, don't worry. I'll stay like this from now on. Hmm, now that I think about it, we haven't played together even once. Do you want to play with me one day?" Kazuha asked.

"Yesss sure, what about tomorrow?"

"You've got your classes though."

"Umm, I can take a day off–"

"Kids should study regularly. We can play the day you get a holiday." Kazuha said.

"Promise?" Kushina asked as she extended her hand and put out her pinky finger.

"Yes, promise."

.

.

-The next day, in a distant village no one ever heard about-

Yamato knelt down on the ground, covered in blood. He gasped for air as his body was covered in wounds.

"Please forgive me, for I have brought misery once again…" Yamato closed his eyes and mumbled in a low voice.

He then touched the ground with his forehead, kneeling completely in front of two incense sticks.

"..May these souls rest in peace," Yamato said as he got up and took out the burning incense sticks from the ground and walked around the village.

"Praying after all this is tiring. Ryu, how is my back?" Yamato said. He stood without wearing anything on his upper body and looking at the pile of bodies in front of him.

Ryu appeared from the shadows once again and stood up to look at Yamato's back.

Yamato's back had a big spot which was purple in colour and the nerves around it were swollen.

Ryu touched some of those nerves and said, "I'm sorry to say this, my lord, but you have two months at most before this poison reaches your heart."

"It's alright. I'm done with almost everything. I just need to visit Kumogakure once and…Hah, anyhow, look at this whole area, Ryu. Guess what all this is?" Yamato asked Ryu while pointing in the far distance.

"Those are all the areas of the villages we cleaned…What could these be, my lord? Is this new land for farming?"

"No no, this whole area is not under any country. After my death, the new village shall be built here. Kushina, Kazuha and Miyazu will be safe here. Well…I hope…" Yamato smiled.

"My lord…How can you talk about your death with a smile?" Ryu asked. He was genuinely confused about all of Yamato's actions recently and now, smiling while talking about your death.

'I'm sure that even his family doesn't know about the poison in his body.'

"You'll know the day you have a family, Ryu."

"I see, my lord but the only purpose of my life as a shadow guard is to die for the clan and you."

"Haha, sure, Ryu. Anyhow, onto the next part of my plan." Yamato laughed as he took and wore a clean jacket brought by a shadow guard moments ago.

"If I may ask, my lord, what is the next part?"

"Hmm, the Second Great Ninja War?" Yamato replied casually. He walked over to a pond and washed his face with cold, fresh water before speaking.

"It was my fault for asking a question about your plan. I won't ask— Wait, what-?"

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