After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a deeply scheming old fox. If Arata hadn't been present, who knew what kind of trouble he would have stirred up behind the scenes?
Once Hiruzen led everyone away, the civilians on the streets immediately exploded into discussion.
Whether it was the news that Arata had saved the Uzumaki clan, the fact that the Uzumaki were joining Konoha, or even the earlier, terrifying tsunami—any one of these topics alone was enough to keep the villagers talking for a month straight.
During this period, Arata and Hiruzen formally finalized the Uzumaki clan's integration into Konoha.
Every individual was inspected one by one, then officially registered in the village census.
All those with chakra were also issued Konoha shinobi credentials. From this day forward, they would discard their Land of Whirlpools forehead protectors and wear Konoha's instead—officially becoming members of the village.
Like other Konoha ninja, they would now be able to accept missions from the Hokage's office and earn rewards.
However, this only applied to about two thousand people for now. Several other Uzumaki shinobi were still stationed elsewhere and would need to be re-registered later—a massive undertaking in its own right.
Once everything was settled, Arata finally received a system notification in his mind:
[Ding! Option completed: Prevented the destruction of the Uzumaki clan and merged the Land of Whirlpools into Konoha.
Reward: All Uzumaki clan members' favorability +90]
The system gave no prompt to collect the reward—it seemed to have been applied instantly upon completion.
Arata immediately turned to look at the Uzumaki following him and quickly noticed something unusual.
Previously, their gazes toward him had been filled with gratitude.
Now, however, it was pure, burning reverence—so intense it felt as though, with a single word from him, they would willingly give their lives.
This was likely the effect of +90 favorability.
Arata guessed that the maximum favorability was probably 100. Since the Uzumaki already held him in high regard due to his rescue, this reward had pushed them straight to the cap.
From this point on, the Uzumaki clan would become Arata's most loyal subordinates.
That was precisely why he felt completely at ease arranging their residence within the former Senju compound. Otherwise, placing a large group of foreign shinobi next to his own home would have made anyone uneasy.
After helping Uzumaki Yūki assign housing to each clan member, Arata said calmly,
"From now on, this is where you'll live. If you need anything, come to me."
However, aside from Arata, Sarutobi Hiruzen—of all people—still hadn't left. Upon hearing Arata's words, he immediately stepped forward.
"So this Uzumaki Yūki must be the current clan head," Hiruzen said with a smile. "Your Uzumaki shinobi are quite capable. You should draft a list and have them all join ANBU, directly under the Hokage."
Yūki was just about to express his thanks to Arata when Hiruzen's words nearly made him sick.
This old fox had dragged his feet endlessly when they sought to join Konoha. Now that they had officially joined, he immediately wanted to pull them into ANBU.
ANBU was the Hokage's personal force.
Once inside, they would have to obey every Hokage order without question.
That meant binding the Uzumaki clan's core combat strength directly to Hiruzen's hands.
If they remained ordinary Konoha ninja, they would still answer village summons during wartime—but most of the time, they could freely choose missions. They might be distant from the political center, but at least they wouldn't be constantly manipulated.
If they refused now, however, life in Konoha would become extremely difficult.
They still needed money to live. If the Hokage deliberately made things hard for them, they would be stuck with low-paying D- and C-rank missions.
ANBU, on the other hand, handled at minimum B-rank missions, with many A-rank assignments.
Such missions were difficult for normal ninja, but the Uzumaki were a great clan. In terms of individual quality, they were second only to the Uchiha—excluding the Senju, who were already extinct.
Though deeply conflicted, Yūki instinctively looked to Arata.
With the favorability bonus layered on top of his existing trust, Yūki now followed Arata without hesitation. He wouldn't make such a decision on his own—he awaited Arata's instruction.
Arata was extremely satisfied with this reaction.
It confirmed that the Uzumaki clan would follow his commands without question.
... ...
Arata could also see through Hiruzen's intentions.
This old man had already begun targeting the Uzumaki, likely realizing that his own clan's decline was imminent. Without bringing in outside forces, his position would soon become dangerously unstable.
Unfortunately for him, it was far too late.
He had once schemed to wipe out the entire Land of Whirlpools and had indirectly caused the deaths of two Uzumaki clan leaders—Uzumaki Ashina and Uzumaki Suikyō.
With such deep blood hatred, the Uzumaki not killing him outright was already merciful—how could they ever truly join his camp?
Even without Arata's involvement, forcing the Uzumaki into ANBU would only result in hollow obedience. Rebellion would have been inevitable.
After all, the Uzumaki understood Hiruzen's methods all too well. They would never willingly submit.
At this point, genuine reconciliation was impossible.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Uzumaki clan were finished.
Right on cue, Arata spoke:
"Joining ANBU isn't a bad idea. If I remember correctly, my position is ANBU Vice-Captain."
Arata had never paid much attention to that title before.
Now, however, its value became clear.
If the Uzumaki joined ANBU, they could comply superficially with Hiruzen's orders while faithfully carrying out Arata's directives.
Even if accountability came later, Arata—as the ANBU Vice Captain—had the authority to protect them under special circumstances.
His words instantly enlightened Uzumaki Yūki.
He hadn't known Arata was ANBU Vice-Captain before, but having once served in the Uzumaki equivalent of ANBU himself, he immediately grasped all the possibilities.
He promptly turned to Hiruzen and said,
"Since this is the Hokage's invitation, the Uzumaki clan is willing to join ANBU."
At that moment, Hiruzen felt as though his lungs were about to explode with rage.
Yet he couldn't lash out.
Deep down, he had already begun cursing his own stupidity—
Why had he ever given Arata the position of ANBU Vice-Captain in the first place?