Chapter 74:- Meeting Another Uzumaki

Scene Change______

The Hidden Grass Village (Kusagakure no Sato) is located to the northwest of the Hidden Leaf Village (Konohagakure no Sato).

It took them just a few hours to reach Hidden Grass. Hidden wasn't that far from Konoha.

The Hidden Grass Village (Kusagakure no Sato) is a minor hidden village and does not play a prominent role in the major geopolitical events compared to the five major hidden villages (Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure).

However, the Hidden Grass Village has shown some level of political acumen and strategic importance due to its location. Situated between the Land of Fire, Land of Earth, and Land of Waterfalls, Kusagakure is in a position to act as a buffer and a point of passage between these significant territories. This location could grant it a certain level of influence and strategic advantage, particularly in negotiations and alliances.

Historically, minor villages like Kusagakure have had to navigate carefully among the interests of the more powerful hidden villages to maintain their autonomy and protect their interests. While Kusagakure may not be a major player in global shinobi politics, its leaders would need to be adept at diplomacy and alliances to ensure their village's survival and prosperity.

The Hidden Grass Village has always maintained a very friendly relationship with the Hidden Leaf.

In the world of geopolitics, no one is a real friend. Friendship does not exist. The only reason that allies exist is so that both parties can benefit from each other. After the nine-tails attack, with the decline in Konoha's strength, the Hidden Grass Village slowly leaned towards other villages, especially the Hidden Stone Village.

This wasn't the first time that the Hidden Grass had done something like this.

"The Hidden Grass Village should be close," Kushina informed her students. She had taken the lean.

Naruto was walking in the middle. Sakura and Hanabi were walking on Naruto's left and right sides. As for Sarada, she matched her pace to keep up with Kushina.

"Mom, it should have been long since you came to this place, right?" Naruto asked.

"Actually, it has been close to 16 years. The last time I came here was with Minato. He secretly brought me to this village." Using Minato's teleportation Jutsu, he often took Kushina out of the village. Both of them went to many places.

Kushina felt that Hiruzen knew about this but never chose to take any action about it.

"I expected a lot of things to change, but so far, everything pretty much looks the same." There was a trace of disappointment in Kushina's tone.

After walking for some time, Naruto could see the village in the distance. He could see one of the Village's tall towers. It was a wooden tower. The village should be about 20 km away.

Suddenly, the whole team stopped walking as they heard many footsteps.

They were surrounded by close to 50 Shinobi. They were rogue Shinobi belonging to different villages.

Seeing this, Kushina frowned. She did not expect to be ambushed by a bunch of Rogue Shinobi while being so close to the Hidden Grass Village. The Hidden Grass should have dealt with these rogue Shinobi.

'Why the village isn't doing anything about them? Or are they working with the village?' Kushina thought in her mind.

'Unless these Rogue Shinobi were following us from the beginning, and they decided to show themselves only now.'

"What do you want?" Kushina asked in a stern tone.

The leader of the Rogue Shinobi appeared to be a middle-aged man with short white hair.

"If you want to pass this area and enter the Hidden Grass village, then you must pay entry tax."

"Entry tax? This is the first time I have heard something like this." Naruto said in a playful tone.

The rogue Shinobi, including their leader, did not like the playful tone of this Crimson-haired young man.

"Everyone must pay this tax. If you don't pay, then you all have one chance to leave. Otherwise, you fived won't ever return to your village." The leader said in a threatening tone.

Hearing this, Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. Can't they see they were from Hidden Leaf?

Naruto wanted to kill them and move forward. However, Naruto did not take any action since Kushina signaled him to wait.

"I can assume that the Hidden Grass village is aware of this." Kushina wanted to know if the Village authorities were involved in this.

"You talk too much….!!" The Leader said in a displeased tone.

"Yes, we are working with the Hidden Grass Village. Every outsider must pay 10,000 ryo to enter the Hidden Grass Village or pass this area."

Hearing this, Kushina finally understood what was happening here.

Although 10,000 Ryo was nothing for her as she was the richest businesswoman on the planet, 10,000 Ryo was a lot of money, even a Chunin rank Shinobi, not to mention, for ordinary people, it was the years of their life's savings.

"Thank you for the explanation." Kushina's tone was very friendly.

Kushina then turned around and looked at Naruto. "Naruto, please pay them in blood." She said in a sweet tone.

"As you wish, mother!"

Swoosh…..!!!

The next second, Naruto disappeared from everyone's view.

Seeing this, everyone's back stiffened.

"Could they be the Konoha Shinobi that the Higher-ups of the Hidden Grass warned us about?" The leader immediately realized this, seeing Naruto's speed.

His face instantly turned pale as he realized this. He realized that they had made a big mistake.

This morning, the village's higher-ups warned them not to mess with certain people who were coming from Konoha.

After seeing so many young Shinobi, he thought their group wouldn't be that strong. At best, the young ones would be Genin, while the Jonin could be quickly dealt with. The Jonin wouldn't fight them since it would endanger her students.

Hanabi, Sarada, and Sakura were all shocked as they witnessed the rogue Shinobi falling to the ground one after another.

This was the first time they were witnessing a glimpse of Naruto's true power.

Naruto was moving so fast that none of them could see his figure. All they saw was one Shinobi after another falling to the ground.

There was a hole in their hearts.

Within just a minute, Naruto took down 50 Rogue Shinobi.

"Good job…!!" Kushina had a proud smile on her face.

As she finished saying that, Naruto appeared to Kushina. In his hand, there was a crystal dagger. The dagger was covered in blood, but his whole body was clean. Not only that, but Naruto didn't even break a sweat doing all of this.

"Let's greet the Village Leader," Kushina said with a cold smile.

Sakura and Hanabi looked at each other before following Kushina.

Meanwhile, Sarada matched remained at the back of the group with Naruto.

Naruto found Sarada looking at the dead bodies with a complex look.

'He has gotten even stronger now.' Sarada thought in her mind.

"Sara-chan, let's go...!!" Naruto grabbed her soft hand and started walking.

Sarada now started to feel that she might never catch Naruto. He was already this strong. And he would only keep getting stronger.

Kushina was in a bad mood after what happened. She wanted to find the village leader as soon as they entered the village.

However, just as they were about to enter the village, Naruto suddenly stopped working because he felt something. Others noticed this and also stopped walking.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Did you notice something?" Hanabi asked from the other side.

Kushina also stopped and looked at Naruto.

The village guards also curiously looked at the scene.

Naruto did not reply.

'I could feel it…..!!'

Without giving any explanation, he suddenly vanished.

Seeing this, Kushina decided to follow her son.

"You three, wait for us at the Village Square." Saying that, Kushina also followed Naruto.

Naruto moved so fast that the guards couldn't even see in which direction he went. In the end, both of them looked at each other and decided to ignore this whole mess.

'This feeling is getting stronger.' Naruto thought as he jumped from one roof to another.

Soon, Naruto landed in front of an old house. The house was made of wood, but it was in bad condition. It looked like the house would fall on itself anytime soon.

"Naruto, why did you come here?" Kushina landed on the ground behind Naruto and asked him.

"Mom, I sensed two Uzumaki clan members here. This is the reason why I came here." Naruto had gained this additional ability after his Bloodline was purified.

Naruto could sense it. One of the Aura was young and bright, while the other Aura was weak and old. The second Aura was so weak that it resembled a candle flame, easily extinguished by a light breeze.

"Anyone home...?" Naruto knocked on the door.

"Karin, we have a visitor. Cough…..!! Cough...!! Please open the door." From inside, Naruto heard a very weak voice.

'Karin...!' Naruto instantly remembered the red-haired Uzumaki girl with glasses that he had seen following Sasuke in his world.

'I thought Karin was under Orochimaru.' Naruto wondered in his mind.

'It seems in this world that Karin is yet to be recruited by Orochimaru. This means I have the chance to change her fate.' Naruto thought in her mind.

After waiting for a few minutes, a beautiful girl with glasses finally opened the door. The girl's hair was still wet suggesting that she might have taken a bath just now.

As her eyes landed on Naruto, her heartbeat increased for a moment. She had never seen someone more handsome than the Man standing before her eyes.

Karin also noticed the red-haired beautiful woman standing a few meters behind the young man of her age.

"Hello…..!!" Naruto greeted Karin with a polite smile.

Naruto knew that Karin lived a miserable life even after Orochimaru died.

--------

Now, I have planned till volume 5 of this novel. So, if I am not able to upload for a few weeks, know that I am not dropping this novel. It's a dream of mine to finish this novel. I am not saying that I will take another long break or anything like that. 

Once again, thank you for reading this chapter. I really appreciate all the power stones that you all have given to this novel. Your comments and your power stones do make a big difference.

If you want to read 15 advanced chapters or if you want to support me, then you can visit my Patrèon page - patrèon.com/Salted_dragon