That day, Shiyu Uchiha received a special invitation. The sender was none other than Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage and former jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, delivered by her granddaughter Tsunade and Ling Uzumaki—the young girl he had rescued.
Shiyu met the two girls on his way back to the clan compound. Ling Uzumaki greeted him first. "Lord Shiyu, do you remember me? I'm Ling Uzumaki. Thank you for saving me." With that, she bowed politely in gratitude.
"Just doing my duty," Shiyu replied, gesturing for them to follow. "You're always welcome here at the Uchiha estate, especially with Lady Tsunade present. Please, come this way." While playing the host, he couldn't help but wonder what they were really after.
"My Tsunade-nee and I came today," Ling Uzumaki continued, revealing their purpose, "to invite both you and your mother to Grandma Mito's house, in appreciation for saving our lives."
"Hmph, that little punk from the Uchiha clan sure is polite—surprisingly so," Tsunade added bluntly, clearly less courteous than Ling Uzumaki. "But we're here on Grandma's request. Lead the way—it's your mother the invitation was meant for anyway." Her tone carried its usual edge, typical of how she felt visiting the Uchiha Clan. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't have been able to make her come—yet she clearly wasn't thrilled about it.
Shiyu simply smiled and led them toward the main residence. Upon arrival, he showed Tsunade into the sitting room, then checked where Saya was lazing around before asking where his father, Uchiha Shizhi, had gone. It turned out he'd only gone shopping, though judging by the time, he should be returning soon.
Just as Shiyu considered heading to the gate himself, a voice rang out behind them—"Shiyu, we've got guests at home?"
At the sound of Uchiha Shizhi's voice, Tsunade's expression changed instantly—as if someone had dumped cold water over her head, sobering her up. Even after recently reaching Kage-level strength, she hadn't sensed his father approaching at all.
Fresh from the battlefield and still tense from earlier, she briefly imagined what would happen if this were an enemy ambush—she wouldn't have survived.
Now Shiyu quickly explained, "Mother, this is Lady Tsunade. Beside her is Miss Ling Uzumaki, one of the four people I rescued from the Land of Whirlpools. They've come on behalf of Lady Mito to extend us an invitation."
Finally understanding why her grandmother had emphasized being respectful, Tsunade had originally assumed it was out of courtesy to Ling Uzumaki, especially since Shiyu had saved her life. Never had she expected such an elite presence within the Uchiha family.
Tsunade stood up and said politely, "Esteemed elder, my grandmother has sent me to formally invite you to visit. Would you be available?" At the same time, Ling Uzumaki rose and gave a respectful bow.
Uchiha Shizhi motioned for both women to relax and responded warmly, "It's been quite some time since I last visited Lady Mito. The last time was years ago, when I went together with my elder brother. Rest assured, I will definitely arrive on schedule."
Eventually, after lunch—which was served following warm invitations to stay—Tsunade finally departed with Ling Uzumaki, who left looking rather reluctant.
Tsunade returned home and asked Mito Uzumaki, "Grandma, have you ever assessed that person's strength?"
Mito Uzumaki paused to think before replying, "Ever since the Third became Hokage, the Uchiha Clan avoided contact with me—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki—so we haven't seen each other. Tsunade dear, what do you think of her?"
"She is extremely powerful. That pure Yin Release was incredibly profound. But unlike other Uchiha, she didn't emit any intimidating presence. In fact, I felt an unusual sense of calm in her presence. Still, her strength is terrifying; I sensed deadly danger from her. If she wanted to kill me, I probably couldn't escape." Tsunade admitted honestly, her voice tinged with unease.
"After all, she was the one who brought the Naraka Yomi War to a decisive end and subdued the Uchiha Clan. Back then, even your great-grandfather spoke highly of her abilities. He and his elder brother, Kagami Uchiha, would have taken her into their tutelage had it not been for his concerns about the Uchiha Clan itself."
Mito Uzumaki's voice brimmed with emotion. However, when mentioning Tobirama Senju, recent events stirred up an undercurrent of anger deep within her heart. She quickly suppressed it, realizing this resentment was misplaced.
Yet, memories of Konoha's F4 surfaced again—the way they'd acted during their rescue mission of the Uzumaki clan—and this time, Mito truly felt angry. But she concealed it well; even Tsunade, standing right beside her, noticed nothing.
Tsunade's interest in Uchiha Shizhi grew further, so she continued asking questions about her and the Naraka Yomi War. Eventually, she learned that Shizhi had directly or indirectly defeated and even killed three users of the Mangekyō Sharingan, which left her utterly astonished. No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had always been wary of the Uchiha Clan.
At the same time, inside Shiyu Uchiha's house, he had been thinking carefully over the past few days. He now sensed something unusual regarding Whirlpool Country's destruction, so he utilized his advantage of knowing what happened afterward to analyze the past and reached a conclusion completely different from the official explanation.
Shiyu believed his family might benefit from this alternative theory, so he seized the moment to ask Uchiha Shizhi, "Mother, what's your take on how the Land of Whirlpool fell?"
After hearing Shiyu's question, Uchiha Shizhi did not answer immediately. Instead, she cast a curious glance toward him, then cleverly responded, "It seems you've come to a different conclusion yourself, Shiyu. Tell me about it," while gently tapping his head, silently telling him not to act out.
"I believe the root cause of Whirlpool Country's fall might lie in its political structure," Shiyu began, pausing briefly to glance at Uchiha Shizhi. Then, encouraged by her look signaling him to continue, he resumed speaking.
"The governance system in the Land of Whirlpool stood out across the Ninja World—it replaced the traditional daimyo-led structure with direct rule by the Hidden Whirlpool Village over the entire country. But this may have alarmed the daimyos of the Five Great Nations, who feared that someday Kage from various villages might find this system appealing and imitate it. So, during the Second Ninja War, the Great Nations saw their chance and moved to eliminate it."
The reason why it didn't happen during the first war was probably because back then, the Kage from each village were all rebellious types who looked down on the Daimyo and simply ignored them. But this time's generation of the Third Kage is different—they've all made some kind of compromise with the Daimyo by now.
It must've been Kirigakure who initiated the move, using Sealing Technique as bait, while other villages secretly assisted, eventually launching a joint strike. Just as expected, those three major nations, hungry for the Sealing Technique, took the chance to strike after the Land of Whirlpool fell.
I had the ninken clan investigate a few days ago. Besides Kirigakure and Cloud-nin, experts from Sand-nin and Iwa-nin also appeared at the ruins of the Land of Whirlpool.
For several great ninja villages to cooperate so closely—if there weren't any involvement from the Daimyo, considering the deep grudges formed among these villages during the Second Ninja War, how could they possibly unite so quickly without leaving a single clue?
Maybe even our Third Hokage already knew about it... But stayed quiet for his own reasons. The Senju clan's probably paying the price now… I wonder if Tobirama Senju regrets what he did." Shiyu Uchiha finished with a sarcastic smile.
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