Chapter 77

"You sure are doing well, Shuzo." I exclaimed as I saw him again after years and the number of people behind him was much more than I expected

"Hahaha..." he embarrassedly laughed as he rubbed his head while his two wives exclaimed "Glad to see you again, Yuichi-sama."

"Are you really Uncle Yuichi?! Dad told me how you took down a powerful demon in a single move! Or how you took care of thousands of trained shinobi multiple times by yourself! So cool!" a red-haired boy asked as he looked at me with stars in his eyes before getting smacked on the head by his mother, Honoka

"Stop bothering your Uncle, Seiji!" Honoka said as she had the famous tick marks of the Uzumaki while fire was magically burning behind her floating hair

"It hurts mom!" the poor boy said as he rubbed his head in pain while Shuzo shrugged his shoulders like it was a common occurrence for him

While this was unfolding in front of me, I noticed a young blond girl with lavender eyes looking at me with the same respect but strangely enough, it seemed like it was for something I didn't even do yet since it was our first meeting.

"Nice to meet you, Chiaki right?" I said as I smiled and waved at her as she nodded in response before Miroku, her mother, replied "I'm sorry, she barely say any words since that day..." as she rubbed her daughter's head

"It's alright I understand." I replied before looking at two couples not far from Shuzo who were the two Uzumaki families he told me about

"I should introduce myself more properly, I'm Yuichi Senju, Fourth Hokage and the one who asked Shuzo to find any remnants of the Uzumaki Clan." I declared as one of them replied "And we will be forever grateful to you and Shuzo-san because our life outside of Uzushiogakure was tough."

"Though I didn't mind following Shuzo-san like nomads, I'm happy to finally have a place to stay and start our family..." another red-haired man said as the one who surely was his wife blushed at this comment

"And I promise you that you will be able to live comfortably. Unlike the previous Hokage, I will keep my words and the bond Konoha had with Uzushiogakure until my last breath." I declared as their faces were enough to know how much gratitude they felt towards me

"...Now you were the ones I planned to take in, however, care to tell me who are all those people following you, Shuzo?" I said as more than fifty people were staying silent a bit further from us and nervously looked at me

"We greet the Fourth Hokage!!!" they all exclaimed at once as they kneeled, making me extremely confused but I kept a poker face as I asked again "So, who are you?"

A bulky elderly man then lifted his head before explaining "Almost all of us are survivors of the Fūma Clan after we lost our living place during the war." seemingly being their current leader

"Mh? I do know about you Clan, you were famous mostly for your craftmanship of the Fūma Shuriken while being its best wielders... But I also know of your proficiency in manipulating chakra threads, something rare nowadays." I exclaimed as I recalled something some book I read when I was at the Academy about their Clan

I know that in the anime, the Fūma Clan from the future Land of Sound was mostly used by Orochimaru and proficient with chakra threads while also knowing about a few Hiden such as the Curse Mandala... But another Fūma Clan existed in the manga and they are the ones who made the famous Fūma Shuriken.

However, only one Fūma Clan existed in this reality, a Clan that came from Kusagakure, or the 'Village Hidden in the Grass' situated between the Land of Fire, Earth, Storms where Amegakure is, and finally Jungles where Takigakure is located... A place that took massive damage during the last two wars.

"...What happened to Kusagakure?" I asked since it was mostly a neutral village that unfortunately was badly situated

"During the last war, the Tsuchikage destroyed our village completely with his technique, only leaving a few survivors and most of them are from the Fūma Clan because we lived in the outskirts of the village..." the leader explained as he clenched his fists in frustration and was full of hatred against Iwagakure

'That's something new... Maybe it happened because of Konoha's strategy to let Iwa take the ground advantage to make them confident which means that it's my fault in a way' I thought as Kusagakure shouldn't have been destroyed in the canon

Obviously, I wouldn't tell them that, albeit I felt slightly guilty for allowing this to happen.

"I see, my apologies for asking about it... All I can say is that the Third Tsuchikage is dead." I replied before sensing Shuzo walking towards me as he started to ask "Yuichi-sama-" but I interrupted him by adding "I know what you want to say, don't worry." with a smile before staring at the elderly who was still nervously looking at me

"I will ask Shuzo later about how you ended up following him because it's going to take a while, I'm sure of it. What I can do right now, however, is give you a chance." I first declared as their eyes shone for a moment

"I can allow you to live within Konoha as the Fūma Clan from now on, you will be given land to live in, the right to open shops, and the children will be able to join the Academy, while everyone who already is a shinobi will have to be tested again to be recalibrated and therefore allowed to take mission as a shinobi from Konoha." I suggested as they all exhibited a joyful expression

"And do not worry, no Clan from Konoha will have the right to ask about your secrets regarding the production of Fūma Shuriken or any Hiden you may have." I added when I saw that the Fūma Clan's leader was going to ask me about it

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" they all exclaimed before I took the time to look over them to see if there were some worthwhile individuals

I was surprised when I saw a young girl with light green hair and deep blue eyes, recognizing her as Kagerō, an interesting member of the Fūma Clan that worked for Orochimaru in the canon.

'She's already born? I know that we weren't told her age but she seemed even younger than Naruto when he was thirteen years old... Maybe she's the kind of person that would stay young-looking even as a grown up' I thought as I might recruit her, later on, depending on her performance in the Academy

But then I saw someone else I didn't expect to be within this group, surely because she isn't from the Fūma Clan, since it was another young girl with white hair and grey eyes with multiple circular patterns akin to the Rinnegan.

While she didn't seem to have a kind of Dōjutsu, I could feel how much life force she had at that age, a kind of vitality I only saw a few members of the Uzumaki Clan and Hashirama with.

"Alright, I will teleport all of you on the flying fortress, you will be guided and taught about what you need to know until we return to Konoha." I instructed as they started to gather and once we were all on the Ancor Vantian, the Fūma Clan and the few other survivors were guided to a different hotel

I then guided the two Uzumaki families and Shuzo's wives and children to their respective apartments.

Shuzo, on the other hand, stayed with me as I moved towards the Control Room so he could explain to me what happened since the last time he sent me a message.

"So, what did you do near Kusagakure?" I asked as I took a seat and poured some tea for both of us

"We stumbled upon many escaped prisoners when we only wanted to pass through the country, they came from the Blood Prison which experienced a breakout during the war." Shuzo started to explain as he brought a strangely worn out storage scroll from his pouch, a bigger scroll made to hold biological stuff to prevent them from rotting, and a large brown book

'The Hōzuki Castle uh... This place serves as a criminal containment facility for many countries but Konoha shouldn't have any prisoners here since I became Hokage because I keep them for Orochimaru' I thought as I find it useless to send prisoners with huge crimes somewhere I didn't have any control at all

"I killed all of them and went alone to the Blood Prison where I realized that all guardians were dead and only a few prisoners were still locked... Of course, I killed them as well to avoid any future incident but didn't forget to take everyone's body with me with your storage scroll." he added as I nodded to his words since I would have done the same

"Then, before leaving the place, I took all information about the criminals locked in it and erased the names of those I killed so we can put a bounty on the escapees... But aside from this book, I found this." he said as he took a few steps back and took out a giant box with a demonic mask-like face on each of the four sides, making the worn-out storage scroll unusable as it changed into dust

'That scroll was something I made to specifically hold dangerous or powerful things and it ended up getting destroyed' I thought before looking at the box and recognizing it as the 'Box of Ultimate Bliss'

"That's... You made the right choice by taking it with you because it could bring devastation and despair to multiple countries if it fell in the wrong hands." I said as history about such artifact was almost forgotten since it was dating to the Sage of the Six Paths era

A long time ago, the box was opened and it unleashed a powerful immortal demon that will throw its victims into the box, corrupting them into demons themselves albeit they could be killed.

But Satori, the first demon who could be considered the box's puppet, was a being that resisted chakra and even natural energy, unlike Mōryō who could be wounded by Senjutsu.

Thankfully, Satori could only appear if one person has been swallowed by the box, and killing the one who opened it also stopped its rampage.

To open the box, one needed to transfer an immense amount of chakra at close range, and the box itself was deemed indestructible which meant that it should be sealed somewhere no one could reach.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if an inscription was saying 'The box, you opened it, he came' but sadly, it wasn't the case.

"I will take care of it, thanks Shuzo." I said as I had to move the box without touching it so it wouldn't absorb my chakra, making me use natural energy instead

Usually, I would have used my best storage buddy called Shiromari... But making him, who has a great amount of chakra, swallow a box that feeds on it would be pretty dumb of me.

"No worries, Aniki." Shuzo said with a smile as he finished his tea while taking back the book for now, surely going to talk about how he met the Fūma Clan but I was too impatient to hear the full story for now

'I wouldn't be surprised if he was the protagonist' I thought since Shuzo traveled around the world longer than he lived within Konoha

"Oh, I should warn you that Chizu might be angry with you since you rarely sent any news to her, nevertheless, it's good to see you back at Konoha after so long." I said as he gulped from fear since Chizu was always the dominant one between the siblings

"S-She's not going to skin me alive, is she?" he nervously asked to which I mysterious smiled as I imitated a scissor with my fingers before taking the scroll holding all the corpses from him to absorb them later

We both know that she's capable of anything when she's angry, and skinning her brother is one of the less bloody things she can do.

Nonetheless, I left the puzzled Shuzo behind me as I moved the box in the underground until our return to Konoha without forgetting to leave a clone as a guardian.

I then looked through the corpses and absorbed those that could give me something useful.

One of the corpses was from the Prison Master of the Hōzuki Castle who had on him the summoning scroll allowing one to summon a Two-Headed Ninken.

But what interested me was the Hiden technique that applied a cursed seal on someone called 'Fire Release: Heavenly Prison', preventing them from molding chakra while draining it slowly.

It could also cause the target to burn to death, but a huge weakness was how one simply needed to be submerged in a body of water to be freed from the curse.

With that being said, it was time for the Ancor Vantian to move towards Takigakure while leaving drones to scout the upcoming areas to locate the last useful individual in the Land of Rice Fields that I wished to recruit.

And since my clones were taking care of training those who needed to, I used the time I had to generate more of the Five-Tails chakra since I already finished with the One Tails' over the last few months.

And after nearly eight hours, while the night fell not too long ago, one drone located a small village that was seemingly doing a village party since it was heavily decorated outside with many people dancing, drinking, and eating.

Most children were also happily playing together, enjoying the rare chance they had to not be sent to bed at this hour.

Well, I said 'most' because one child, in particular, was away from the party and sat under a tree facing a beautiful plateau full of colorful camellias, mostly pink, white, and red ones.

Unlike the children that took part in the party, this young girl with blue hair and dark eyes was sadly looking at the flowers, her hands around her knees as she was almost going to whimper.

'Found her' I thought before teleporting to the drone and then slowly walking towards her

The celebration in the village could still be heard from here as I was only a few steps behind the girl, only adding to the fact that she was shunned by her fellow villagers, without apparent parents of her own.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I exclaimed as I was a few meters from her and gazed at the flowery plateau and the starry sky on the horizon

Now shifting her gaze on me with a surprised Pikachu face, I simply smiled back before sitting down where I was standing and then gazed at the wonderful scenery in front of us with a thoughtful expression to see if she wouldn't mind my presence.

And it seems like I wasn't a bother as she only muttered "Hn." before looking back at the horizon with the same pained expression as before

"I can't help but wonder why someone as young as you stays far away from the festivities." I said as she tightened her grip around her knees and replied "B-Because they don't want me to be with them."

"Mh? How so? I only see a young girl, nothing to be weirded about." I said as she looked at me with the corner of her eyes and explained "It's because of my ability."

"Your ability? If you don't mind, could you show it to me? I promise I will not make fun of you." I asked as she was unsure about it but still raised her hand to let me see what she was going to do

After a few seconds, a pink crystal shape started to form on her hand until it became a rough-looking camellia.

I could sense her nervousness without even looking at her face but I decided to keep focused on the flower before declaring "It's a lovely camellia you made with crystal, I can see that you are lacking some self-confidence, however."

"Y-You don't think that I'm weird?" she said while stuttering a little as she tried to analyze my expression

"Not at all, in fact, I think that you are incredible." I first replied as she slightly blushed before adding "Those people that shunned you and still does, they are just fools who do not know what exists beyond their small village, just some ignorant worms that do not know what beautiful means." as I talked about her Crystal Release which was unrivaled in terms of beauty and defensive abilities, at least in my opinion

Her blush also intensified as she mumbled "T-Thank you." while taking a few glances at me from the corner of her eyes

Smiling warmly, I declared "Did you know? There are only two people in the entire world that can do this, and you are one of them." making her eyes glow as she asked "Really?! But... Will I ever meet this person?"

"Well..." I let out as I brought my hand forwards and started to make a purple camellia that had a lot of details, almost making it real-looking if not for the way it shone under the starry sky

"Gorgeous..." she muttered as she looked at the flower I made with both amazement and joy that someone else was like her before I put down the camellia in front of her

"See? Only the two of us are capable of doing so, but outside this place you cannot even call your home, there are many people with different abilities and no one considers them to be weird." I explained as she finally looked straight at me instead of taking a few glances, trusting me more now that we had something so rare in common

I could see that she was envious of me and wished to leave this place that wasn't meant for her... But she didn't dare to ask me to take her with me, at least, biting her lips in frustration as she did was enough for me to understand that.

"Say, girl, what's your name?" I then asked as she quickly replied "I'm Guren." while her mind was still in turmoil as to whether or not she should ask me about leaving

"Guren it is then. Would you like to leave with me?" I first asked, expecting her to be stunned for a short while so I could add some beneficial comments about what accepting would do to her but she instantly replied "Y-Yes, please! I don't want to stay here, I want to be with someone who doesn't hate me for what I can do! I... I want to come with you, please." as tears started to form in her eyes

'It's rare when a plan of mine doesn't work like intended only to have a better outcome' I thought as I was surprised by how much she was willing to leave with me

"Are you sure? I didn't even tell you my name, and as far as you know, I could have nefarious intentions." I added to see what she would reply and how far she could go

"It doesn't matter for me if you are the cruelest and most hated man in the world... You are the first person to show me kindness and you also are extremely powerful, I'm sure of it... That's why I'm willing to do everything you want me to! Even d-d-di-" she blurted out but I interrupted her before she could go too far by saying "Alright, alright, you should never do that, it would be a waste of your life." making her embarrassed when she realized what she tried to say and couldn't finish it

"Then I shall introduce myself, I go by the name of Yuichi, Yuichi Senju." I declared and felt like I gave my name much more in a couple of weeks than in the last decades before getting up

She smiled as she understood that I accepted to take her with me and got up as well, taking both her camellia and mine with her as we turned towards the village.

"I can give you an opportunity right now, Guren." I declared as I looked at the civilians getting drunk like there was no tomorrow

As she tilted her head in wonder, I added "What do you want to do with the villagers?" since I wanted to know if her sadistic and remorseless personality was from birth or not

"I don't need to do anything to them, Yuichi-sama." she replied as I thought 'So it was Orochimaru's fault if she became like that'

But then she added "As you said, they are merely ignorant worms, they don't deserve to be killed and should stay pitiful until their last breaths." with such a cold voice I wondered if she really was three years old right now

'My apologies Orochimaru, she's been like this from the start' I thought as a certain someone sneezed in the middle of an experience while I teleported both of us away

The Ancor Vantian only needed a few more days before reaching Takigakure's outskirts, which will be the last stop of my trip, as well as the last Tailed Beast location.