Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 289 - Visiting the Uzumaki Clan Once Again.

[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
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...

"What are those things?"
Hiruzen couldn't help but mutter, staring dazed at whatever creature Minato held in his hands—it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Some rather troublesome spies... All of them thought they could enter the village without anyone stopping them..." Minato replied calmly.

The Hokage was still stunned.
"Spies?" Hiruzen murmured as several ANBU approached, surrounding them.

And it didn’t take long for Minato and Kushina to be surrounded by a crowd, though it wasn’t an ambush, but rather the curiosity of the ninjas staring at the creature.

“Hello?”
The white Zetsu gave an embarrassed smile. He looked like a fool.

"These things seem invisible to sensor-type ninjas while traveling underground. Their chakra is hard to detect... impossible, I'd say." Minato commented, after all, he hadn't found anyone capable of sensing them through chakra.

"Anyway, I’ll keep these spies. I’ll leave a report on them later. We don’t have much to discuss right now, with the village in its current state..." Minato said, picking up the creature and placing a sealing tag on its forehead, causing it to faint as he sealed it into a scroll without anyone stopping him.

His gaze returned to the Hokage, who was staring pensively at Minato, but did not interfere. Minato’s look was far from friendly, as if daring him to do something. Kushina didn’t look friendly either.

"I’m off."
Minato gave his final words as the two vanished in the next moment, using the teleportation jutsu to disappear. None of the ANBU ninjas there tried to stop them.

Kushina and Minato continued pursuing the remaining Zetsus, realizing they were being hunted one by one around the village. So, they began fleeing, moving underground.

However, Minato wouldn’t let a single one escape. He followed them even beyond the village, glowing through the sky as he chased the Zetsus, using a bit of his power, finally surprising many ninjas who still had no idea of the Logia power Minato held in his body.
Minato looked like a shooting star flying through the sky above the village, the place glowing as his light lit up the dark sky.

He simply pressed on, finding the Zetsus’ trails going so deep underground for protection that it was impossible to reach them without a skilled earth-style jutsu user — which would be ideal to reach such depth: Hanabi and Tsuna could be.
But even they wouldn’t be able to keep up, due to the difficulty of tracking these enemies, even with the Byakugan.

However, Minato had the perfect solution.
He simply pointed his finger and began firing beams so piercing they reached over a hundred meters below ground, finding the Zetsus trying to escape.
One of the shots hit directly on its head, killing it instantly as it burst the vegetable brain.

Minato preferred the idea that Madara received no report of what happened to the village—after all, they must have known something would happen to Konoha that night or had seen the village's strange movements.
They must always be watching what the villages are planning...
Minato would wonder what Madara would think when the bizarre situation was that not a single Zetsu returned from the village.

It was a shame he hadn't found a black Zetsu. Clearly, eliminating him now would spare him a lot of trouble in the future.

Either way, he returned to Kushina, landing once again as he lit up the village, shooting through the sky like a lightning bolt.

Minato shone even brighter than Kushina, reappearing at her side.

"So, it's over?" she asked, ignoring the curious ninjas watching. After hunting white beings all around the village, they had certainly caught the attention of many ninjas, who had started following them in their adventures, pulling strange white creatures from the ground, while Minato asked them to level and repair the terrain as they left.

"Yes. Do you want to come with me to meet the Uzumaki?" Minato asked.

"Obviously, yes!" she said excitedly.

Minato smiled. She felt it. He simply took out a scroll right there and began to write, making it disappear, sending it straight to his clone still waiting in his hideout in the Senju clan.

Without any warning, Minato simply vanished with Kushina, leaving the village without giving any explanation or saying anything to anyone.

They entered the Land of Whirlpools in the next moment — more specifically, into the house of an Uzumaki, where he still had a kunai.
Their presence was quickly sensed by the locals, especially Kushina’s, whose chakra exploded with the fox’s power.

For a place full of natural sensors, a chakra burst like that should have woken up half the Uzumaki clan.

The room was suddenly filled by the presence of Mu Uzumaki, along with some members of the Uzumaki clan — his students, obviously — while Mu blinked a few times, entering nervously upon realizing it was Minato, finally relaxing a bit.

"You’re here... Minato Namikaze. And you must be Kushina?" He understood immediately.

Kushina began to remove the fox chakra cloak.
Surely the whole clan must be agitated right now — Mu was looking at Kushina as if he were seeing a strange creature, watching her use that chakra. Not even in his dreams had he believed he’d see the girl using the chakra.

"Yes. We’ve come with urgent matters for the clan. But first, Kushina is a perfect jinchuuriki on her own terms, so you can calm down. We want a meeting with the important members of the clan. A lot happened in Konoha tonight," Minato explained.

It was already past midnight, but certainly, no one could afford the luxury of sleep while so many threats were in the air and the village in such unrest — he needed to speed up his plans. In fact, he had let Kushina appear with the fox chakra on purpose to wake up the key members of the clans.

"Please, follow me."
Mu said nothing more and asked Minato and Kushina to walk through the house, while the two other Uzumaki said not a word beyond a silent nod to Minato.

They stepped outside and walked through the clan village, while the place was already filled with red-haired ninjas watching them — many more than the first time he came here.

"Do you want to see your mother?" Minato asked Kushina as they passed near the house where she lived.

Obviously, many ninjas were staring at them from the rooftops at that moment. But the house Minato had mentioned was still. The woman didn’t come out, and Kushina looked both uncomfortable and full of desire and nervousness at the same time.

"I want to... but I'd like you to come with me," she said in a low voice, taking his hand.
"I really want to see her... but I’d also like to introduce you."

"Alright. We'll do that after we finish talking with your clan’s leaders," was all Minato said, as they passed by the house and continued onward.

At the meeting entrance, Masaki Uzumaki, the clan leader, was already waiting for them, having already received word about the sudden explosion of chakra from the most powerful bijuu.
But that didn’t stop him from being surprised to see them.

"Minato...! Hello. It’s good to finally see you here. I must say, I’m a little surprised. Did something important happen?" Masaki asked, greeting Minato with a handshake.

"A lot has happened, Masaki-san. That’s why we need to talk. The village is divided now, and at this moment, I’m certain you can help me convince Konoha," Minato said.

"Of course. Let’s go in. And you, Mito-sama’s protégé, Kushina — it’s surprising to see you again. You’ve become very powerful... I remember you were just a child when you left here," the man commented.

"Yes... a lot has happened since then," Kushina replied mindfully, with a small, sad smile.
She was a seven-year-old child at the time — it was terrifying to leave her mother behind and go to an unknown place.

"I’m glad you found good friends. You even became a perfect Jinchuuriki for Konoha, from what I heard before you arrived here... That’s incredible. You waited until Mito-sama... And I’m sure Minato helped you with that," the clan leader said.

"She did," Minato confirmed.
"Kushina is a dear friend and my wife. Naturally, my role was to help her grow stronger and support her."

"I’m sure of that. Now, let’s go in. I’ve already summoned the elders," the man said, as they entered the same meeting room where Minato had come the first time.

It didn’t take long for not only the leader of the Uzumaki clan but also all the elders to start arriving and taking seats around the room, all of them looking curiously at the two.

However, no one said a word.

"Well, as you know, this is Minato Namikaze. The one I said was in Konoha trying to help us. He came to the clan again tonight specifically to bring news about Konoha..."

"According to what Mu told me, something big happened in Konoha tonight. And he brought Kushina — the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. As you can all feel, there was a chakra explosion. She is a perfect jinchuuriki and has control over the bijuu. I don’t know the details, but... we’re not here to talk about that," he said quickly upon seeing several furrowed brows and questioning looks aimed at the Uzumaki girl beside the blond.

"Well... should we really trust what this boy has to say? You know Konoha has disappointed us too many times. Half the clan’s ninjas believe that _____’s team was killed by Konoha’s own agents to try and steal our secrets," one of the elders said cautiously, voicing his thoughts.

While others nodded, Minato could see the feelings of frustration, caution, and anger among them.
Which was normal — it wasn’t like everyone would welcome Konoha with open arms.

And they were right in their suspicions... Danzou...

"We have no proof of that," Masaki said.

"He's right."
Minato interrupted the leader before he could give more excuses not to suspect Konoha without solid proof, as all eyes turned to him.

"If you suspect that your ninjas were killed by Konoha’s shinobi, it's true — it was confirmed tonight. I found their bodies in a facility — an organization led by Danzou, inside the village. They were massacred and their bodies were opened up to be studied."
Minato spoke calmly, as the room fell into a dangerous silence.

"They did what?!"
The first to shout was an elderly Uzumaki seated in the back rows, a new fury taking hold of him.

"Calm down."
The leader raised his hand before more voices could begin expressing their rage.
"Minato is being honest here. As furious as I am as well, we must first hear everything he has to say before we begin cursing Konoha. Tell me, Minato Namikaze, what exactly happened?"

"Before that — if you're seeking justice for the fallen Uzumaki and the proof that they were murdered by ROOT ninjas — you can rest assured knowing that all of them have been avenged. The village elder known as Danzou is dead. I killed him myself tonight.
Furthermore, though I wanted to bring your fallen comrades' bodies, we left them in Konoha, as they will serve as evidence — both against Danzou, who is now dead, and the elders we seek to remove from the village's leadership.
I’ll send the bodies back once the trial is over."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I also want you to gather a group to represent the Uzumaki clan, so you can have a voice in Konoha’s crimes and even in the village’s decisions. Since the Hokage was planning to leave you here to be destroyed."

Expressions among the elders began to shift.
Comments arose.
Murmurs spread through the hall, triggering a wave of silent questions and confused glances over what they had just heard.

Then Mu, one of the oldest elders, stood up.
"Well... this is a start," he commented, before anyone could interrupt him.

"Can we really trust them? What if it’s another trap?" — another elder said.

"This is not a trap, stop being fools! Minato is fighting for you and you're still doubting him after everything he did tonight?!" — Kushina snapped, shouting angrily at the elders, outraged at their caution, even after everything Minato had done.

But Minato placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don’t be so angry. They have every reason to distrust Konoha.

However, we’ve reached a proposal in Konoha:
Either the village will leave you to fend for yourselves, fighting here in the Land of Whirlpools against four nations coming to attack you in the next few days,
or you’ll be transferred to the Land of Fire.
The village will be willing to offer you shelter to survive."

Minato didn’t stop there — he continued before anyone could interrupt, seeing many of them ready to protest.

"You, here on this island, are doomed to be destroyed. And Konoha won’t be able to defend you here or send its shinobi this far.
What we offer is shelter.
A new chance to truly join Konoha."
— Minato said.

"Our leader, Masaki-sama, spoke about this... but I don't know if we can accept it...
Many of us don’t want to see our land abandoned, or even lose our independence. Our secrets, guarded for generations, would be at the mercy of another village," one of the elders said.

"Your secrets will be at the mercy of many villages when the attack succeeds.
Tell me, what clan has ever survived independently, without joining a village? All of them were destroyed.
Which means, maybe you're the only ones who still remain independent."

"In the Land of Water, I know that clans are still scattered across the country, but they all answer to the Village of the Mist.
You can do the same. We have some specific clans spread across the Land of Fire.
You can settle there with them."

"But I would recommend that you go to the village — or at least settle near it.
Maybe individuality isn’t as grand as complete independence...
But you’ll have a better chance of survival. Your descendants will have a chance to see tomorrow."

"Or do you want the entire Uzumaki clan to be destroyed and become nothing more than a remnant in the records of this world's history?"

"I’m sure your descendants are more important than even your secrets... or your pride.
Because there’ll be no use in having any of that if you, your grandchildren, and great-grandchildren don’t survive."

"You will be the last of your kind...
Your blood, your history, your jutsus, and your bloodline abilities will be nothing but a memory — like what happened to many over a thousand years ago."
Minato said calmly in his brief speech, making the entire room fall silent.

"You spoke very well," Kushina murmured beside him with a smile.

The Uzumaki clan leader even let out a small smile.
"Well... strong words, Minato Namikaze.
Stronger than any others to convince stubborn old men like us," he said, satisfied.

"Maybe I’m getting good at Talk no Jutsu," Minato muttered to himself, half-jokingly.

"In any case, before we decide anything, we want to hear the full story of what happened in Konoha.
Please, share it," the leader asked.

Minato nodded, beginning to explain from the planning, which clans helped, and what happened that night — the search for ROOT’s secrets, the schemes of Danzou and Hiruzen to try and stop him and the clans, and the battle that followed, with no deaths except the elder by Minato’s hands, while Konoha was caught off guard by several individuals everyone had underestimated, who appeared that night with new powers that had been hidden until then.