A few days later, Yuji found the village where Haku's mother had been born.
It was currently the forty-eighth year of the Hokage era. Haku would be born in the forty-ninth year, meaning he could arrive as soon as next year.
But for Yuji, whether Haku himself was born or not was not the primary concern. Bringing Haku's mother back to the Sand Village meant that any offspring she had there would not be Haku as he existed in the original story.
But as long as the Ice Release bloodline power could be preserved and passed on, that was sufficient.
Through his observation, the woman's disguise and concealment were thorough enough that approaching her directly would have been difficult under normal circumstances.
Therefore, under cover of darkness, Yuji used the Room's spatial domain to take her away quietly, and temporarily placed her under genjutsu control.
Next, he moved to the location of the Kaguya clan's settlement, the birthplace of Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku bloodline.
Compared to locating Haku's mother's village, finding the Kaguya clan's headquarters was considerably easier.
Their reputation within the Land of Water was simply too notorious. They were hated by many throughout the country and were also a key surveillance target of the Hidden Mist Village.
Arrogant, ignorant, worshipping battle, craving combat to the point where dying in battle was considered the highest aspiration.
This type of disposition came with a personality that was even more twisted and unstable than the Uchiha clan at their most extreme.
Kimimaro would only be born next year, and as the most talented bloodline carrier the Kaguya clan would produce, he was certainly already a target Yuji had in mind for the Sand Village's bloodline program.
However, he was not entirely certain who Kimimaro's specific parents were within the clan.
Furthermore, to avoid alerting the Hidden Mist Village and triggering a response from the Kaguya clan itself, he brought only four members with him on this part of the operation, two men and two women. Their purpose was straightforward.
Like Kimu and the others, they would function as bloodline carriers, adding Shikotsumyaku descendants to the Sand Village's gene pool over time.
Kimu and the others were mature adults who came from Konoha, which was why controlling them through surgical brain modification had been necessary.
But the Kaguya clan members presented a different problem entirely. Their particular brand of madness was something the Sand Village absolutely could not allow to propagate freely.
Children born from Kaguya clan members would be sent immediately to the Sand Village's orphanage.
The village had, coincidentally, been deliberately planning and constructing a large-scale orphanage facility as part of the recent infrastructure expansion, and this was precisely the kind of purpose it had been intended for.
As long as these children never came into contact with adult clan members, were not exposed to the dangerous ideology that defined the Kaguya clan's culture, and were raised in a new environment with conscious training and education, it should be possible to prevent future generations from developing the same destructive tendencies.
After taking the four Kaguya clan members, Yuji went directly to a concealed location within the Land of Water. Using sealed scrolls he carried, he retrieved surgical tools and performed the necessary procedures on all four, also changing their clothing.
Their distinctive hairstyles were too recognizable and had to be addressed.
After the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities had been assimilated by the system, it had also enhanced his natural aptitude for space-time ninjutsu more broadly, allowing him to work with sealed scrolls more freely than before.
It was worth noting that the capacity for what could be sealed within scrolls varied based on individual ability and required targeted training to develop fully. Sasori, for instance, had developed considerable expertise in scroll-based techniques, and later generations had built entire combat styles around combining scrolls with martial techniques in complex simultaneous deployments.
The more scrolls one attempted to manage simultaneously, the greater the difficulty.
In short, these things were easier for him to accomplish now than they would have been previously. Though scroll-based technique had never been his strongest area.
After a few more days, he used his abilities to quietly commandeer a small hidden patrol vessel and left the Land of Water by sea.
After leaving the Land of Water's waters, he calmly dispelled the genjutsu he had cast on the woman.
He had not treated Haku's mother harshly because she was an ordinary person without combat capability.
"Do not worry. I will not harm you."
He turned and saw her frightened expression as she stood at the bow of the vessel looking out at the sea, and smiled.
"I am the Kazekage of the Sand Village. I want to bring you to the Sand Village to live a normal life."
He continued speaking calmly.
"That village of yours is extremely hostile toward bloodline limit clans. Even if you and your husband have a good relationship currently, once your secret is revealed, you understand better than I do what the consequences will be."
"That kind of environment does not deserve you."
"Furthermore, the internal situation in the Land of Water is genuinely complicated and the atmosphere is extremely oppressive. It is simply not a suitable place to build a life. If you continue to stay there and have children in the future, they will inherit your bloodline.
The danger that creates for them is not something you can protect them from in that environment."
"You are a good person. The Land of Water is not the right place for you."
He paused.
"The Sand Village will provide all your basic necessities and living conditions without asking anything from you in return. There, you can begin your life fresh, and you will not need to worry about your bloodline being exposed.
Of course, you may not believe everything I am telling you so suddenly, so you may think of this however you wish for now. Think of it as being taken against your will if that is how it feels. Wait until you have lived in the Sand Village for some time and then make your own decision about how you feel."
The woman bit her lip and said nothing.
The man standing before her looked quite young to be carrying the authority he claimed.
The young man was not much older than her. Yet he claimed to be from the Sand Village. His self-introduction had carried a degree of confidence that bordered on arrogance. However, she understood clearly that even if she attempted to resist, it would be pointless.
At minimum, judging from how things had gone so far, the young man did not appear to harbor any genuine malice toward her.
After traveling by sea for a short time, Yuji did not return directly to the Land of Wind. Instead, he made a stop at another island nation: the Land of the Sea.
This country was composed of four islands, one main island and three subsidiary islands. It was a small nation that maintained diplomatic relations with the Hidden Mist Village. The country lacked a ninja system entirely and relied on mercenaries for its military defense.
Through his experience visiting various small nations during the village's construction and resource acquisition phase, Yuji had come to understand that the seemingly insignificant small nations of the ninja world could not be underestimated.
Every small country had its own particular foundation and reason for existing. This Land of the Sea, for instance, had established its niche in the ninja world through research into Summoning Beasts, and was selling its ability to control Summoning Beasts as a kind of weapon of war to other villages.
However, judging from the current situation in the ninja world, the Land of the Sea's business did not appear to be flourishing.
The market was difficult to expand. Their path was very limited. They relied primarily on independent scientific research conducted without the participation of the ninja system's chakra-based power, which greatly increased the instability and unpredictability of the Summoning Beasts they produced.
Simply put, it was immature research built on a flawed initial direction. In the ninja world, the power of the chakra-based ninja system was dominant. Independent scientific research and technology without that foundation were simply too weak to compete effectively.
But his immediate reason for coming here was not about Summoning Beasts. It was about a survivor of the Uzumaki clan named Honoka.
Because Honoka possessed the Uzumaki clan's signature red hair, locating her should not be particularly difficult.
While searching, he also deliberately visited the Summoning Beast research base and quietly gathered some of their scientific research materials. He found them to be largely devoid of genuinely valuable technical content.
The research was primarily focused on crossbreeding Summoning Beasts or having them consume each other to produce stronger offspring through natural selection.
Nothing new.
However, a portion of the information, though limited in value, was still worth taking. He collected what seemed useful and moved on.
He then focused on finding Honoka.
Given the relatively early timing of the Land of Whirlpools' destruction in this altered timeline, he was somewhat surprised to discover that Honoka was two years older than him.
Furthermore, she had grown up in the Land of the Sea and had developed a genuine affection for it.
When facing Honoka directly, he used no forceful tactics. He simply stated his intentions openly and extended an invitation, expressing his hope that she would come with him to the Sand Village.
However, he had overlooked one thing. Although the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed, its destruction was connected to the actions of major ninja villages beyond just Konoha.
This appeared to have caused Honoka to develop a degree of aversion toward the major ninja villages as a whole.
Honoka refused him directly in front of the others.
It was a polite refusal, expressed without hostility. And seeing this, Yuji did not become angry or attempt to force her to come with him.
Honoka's situation was fundamentally different from Karin and her mother's.
Since Honoka did not wish to go, he respected her decision entirely. Having Karin's mother's bloodline was already sufficient for what he needed from the Uzumaki lineage.
The more practical reason was also that Honoka herself was not particularly valuable to the Sand Village's longer-term plans. Although she was proficient in certain sealing techniques, her overall talent was not outstanding, and she had ultimately died in the original story because she was unable to seal what was described as an ultimate Summoning Beast.
And that so-called ultimate Summoning Beast, even without having seen it firsthand, could be assessed from the current research materials as being extraordinarily inferior in danger and capability to any actual Tailed Beast, falling behind even a synthetic Tailed Beast by an enormous margin.
After concluding his business in the Land of the Sea, he prepared to depart and bring the others back to the Sand Village.
...
STONEs💎