Chapter 26: The Land of Whirlpools
Ishiro's hope of finding inspiration in the Barrier Division's B-rank sealing archives had yet to bear fruit, when another opportunity unexpectedly presented itself.
Onoki once again summoned the Barrier Division's top sealing specialists. This time, fewer people were called than before. Besides a few Jōnin, only Meisha and Ishiro were included.
When Ishiro and the others arrived at the Tsuchikage's office, the village leaders were already waiting. As soon as the Barrier Division group entered, Onoki opened the discussion:
"We just received an invitation from the Raikage, asking us and the Mist Village to join a surprise attack on the Land of Whirlpools, to seize the Uzumaki clan's sealing arts. Now that we have the Five-Elements Seal, do we really need to participate in attacking the Land of Whirlpools? My advisors and I would like to hear your opinions."
Only then did Ishiro recall the historical destruction of the Uzumaki clan. In his memories, that event wasn't shown in detail, but from the fact that Uzumaki Kushina arrived in Konoha around this period, he guessed it must be happening now. So it turned out that Kumogakure was the one to instigate the idea, and it appeared that both Iwagakure and Kirigakure had joined them in canon.
Thinking it through, the timing made sense. All the countries had just ended the war. Though Konoha had emerged victorious, they'd suffered heavy losses, and the villagers might be reluctant to commit to defending Uzushio at the risk of confronting three major nations again. In the original storyline, that seemed to be why Konoha never intervened, only stepping in afterward to take in Kushina—someone with great potential as the future Nine-Tails jinchūriki—and moving the Uzumaki clan's "Mask Storage Temple."
But to Ishiro, it looked like the Raikage wanted a stealthy strike before Konoha could react.
While Ishiro was sifting through these thoughts, the Barrier Division members around him were debating the worth of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques. Indeed, Uzumaki fūinjutsu surpassed that of the Land of Earth. If they destroyed the Land of Whirlpools and seized the Uzumaki clan's legacy, Iwagakure's sealing arts would skyrocket. Yet now that they possessed the Five-Elements Seal, they weren't quite as desperate for more advanced fūinjutsu.
In the latest war, although none of the Kage personally took the field, each side's jinchūriki had appeared, and they'd gleaned intelligence about each other's situations. The Raikage seemingly believed that the Land of Earth, like Kumogakure, was plagued by uncontrollable tailed beasts. That was an assumption Onoki could exploit.
While everyone debated whether it was worthwhile to ally with Kumogakure to plunder the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, Ishiro suggested:
"Tsuchikage-sama, we don't necessarily need to steal their sealing arts—well, I mean, we can aim for something else. For instance, we could capture some Uzumaki children. Perhaps in time, we could cultivate a new 'Uzumaki clan' right here in the village."
Several of the senior advisors perked up, and even Onoki seemed tempted. That angle indeed hadn't occurred to them. Regardless, if the Land of Whirlpools was doomed, and they managed to secure a few promising Uzumaki-blooded children, they could raise them as Iwa's shinobi.
At this point, the usually silent male elder from the previous meeting spoke up:
"Quite a good idea. We don't have to limit ourselves to children—if we find some young adults capable of bearing children, that works, too. Even if the older generation isn't willing to serve us wholeheartedly, as long as we arrange partners for them, the next generation will be raised with loyalty to Iwagakure."
Ishiro was momentarily stunned. Goodness, they're talking about forcibly transplanting the Uzumaki lineage to improve the Land of Earth's genetics—these guys are forward-thinking.
It didn't take long for Onoki and the other elders to settle on a plan: They would join the war. Their objectives would be twofold: First, secure people from the Uzumaki clan; second, seize as many fūinjutsu texts as possible.
Ishiro had underestimated how desperately the ninja world craved inheritable powers. The Uzumaki clan might not have a flashy Kekkei Genkai, but their massive chakra reserves were an irresistible draw. Everyone, not just Ishiro, felt their chakra was never enough.
With Onoki and the advisors set on striking, Ishiro decided to give a final nudge:
"Tsuchikage-sama, we could promise the Raikage to help, but leak the news to Konoha, so the Leaf, Cloud, and Mist fight each other first, while we stay behind and stealthily 'claim' people and fūinjutsu. Then we haven't openly attacked, so any survivors we bring back won't harbor the same hatred toward us, right?"
The advisors all nodded, now looking Ishiro up and down with interest. Onoki, a seasoned expert at this sort of scheme, grinned. Indeed, with just a hint from Ishiro, he'd already come up with over a dozen ways to let Konoha, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure tear each other apart while Iwa slipped in to grab the loot.
After exchanging glances, Onoki told the Barrier Division:
"Alright, that's enough for you to know. This matter is top secret, so no one speaks a word of it outside this room."
They chorused their assent and left together. A short while later, only the upper echelons remained. Onoki intended to move straight into planning the Uzushio operation, but one of the older female advisors spoke up:
"Onoki, what do you think of Ishiro?"
Onoki blinked. "What do you mean?"
She clarified:
"I'm asking whether it might be worthwhile to groom him for a future advisory role, or even as a candidate for Tsuchikage someday."
Others looked visibly surprised—wasn't it too early for that?
Seeing their reaction, the elder woman snorted:
"In Iwagakure, our majority of ninjas are straightforward and united, but we lack those skilled at…underhanded methods. That young man has both skill in ninjutsu, fūinjutsu, and a mind unbound by typical ninja thinking—he reminds me somewhat of Konoha's own 'dark manipulator.' Even if we don't see him as Kage material, we could think of him as a future advisor."
Onoki mulled it over, then said:
"I see your point. I'll keep it in mind. There's no hurry, so let's return to planning for Uzushio."
Hearing that, the advisors let the topic drop.
---
Ishiro had no idea his casual suggestion had sparked such discussions. Right now, he was too distracted: Once we obtain the Uzumaki clan's fūinjutsu, would any new ideas I come up with still be valuable?
Perhaps it was a waste of time to keep scouring the B-rank library, so he decided to shift direction.
---
Just over a month later, a bombshell shook the ninja world: The Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed.
The news was too big to hide, and, in any case, no one wanted it concealed. Along with talk of the country's downfall, some details of the war leaked out.
When Ishiro first heard the rumors, he'd been practicing Earth Spear Gun. By now, he'd learned to precisely control the spear's placement—though the intervals were a bit tight. He'd also made the spears considerably sharper and somewhat lethal.
He already knew from the last meeting that Uzushio's demise was imminent, so he initially wasn't surprised—until he heard the jaw-dropping details of how it happened.
Onoki had truly orchestrated a masterstroke. While publicly agreeing to the Raikage's plan, he secretly let slip the operation to Konoha—through an Iwa agent in the Land of Lightning. Even more cunningly, he leaked it not to Konoha's official intelligence, but specifically to Root under Danzo's control.
Then Danzo, having twisted the truth, passed the intel to Hiruzen in such a way that it painted Kumogakure's mission as a mere "theft of sealing scrolls from Uzushio." Through more behind-the-scenes manipulation, Hiruzen sent newly famous Sannin plus the revered White Fang and an elite Anbu squad to reinforce Uzushio.
The result: White Fang fought the Third Mizukage, while the Raikage's personal guard nearly annihilated the Sannin. Jiraiya sustained serious injuries covering Orochimaru and Tsunade, only surviving by a reverse summoning to Mount Myōboku. Orochimaru and Tsunade evaded capture but were themselves rescued by White Fang, who finally escaped the Mizukage.
The fiasco wasn't over yet. On their retreat, White Fang's group tried to regroup but fell into a Sunagakure ambush led by the "Strongest Kazekage," the Third Kazekage himself, along with Chiyo, who bore a deep grudge. The entire Konoha Anbu force was wiped out. White Fang, Orochimaru, and Tsunade split up and fled to the Fire Country. If the Kazekage hadn't hurried off to get his share of Uzumaki spoils, he might have killed them, too.
Meanwhile, behind all this chaos, Onoki never personally fought. Instead, he took a small elite squad, sneaked deep into Uzushio territory, and—without shedding a single drop of blood—looted a batch of sealing texts before departing. Another team, including two Iwa advisors, didn't push into Uzushio. Instead, they combed outlying regions for Uzumaki-blooded individuals, capturing them to bring back to Iwa—again without resorting to mass violence.
Thus, aside from the annihilated Land of Whirlpools itself, the biggest loser was Konoha. As planned, Danzo took the blame for passing flawed intel, but the fiasco still cost Konoha's Anbu a massive chunk of their hardened elite—comparable to their entire losses in the Second Great Ninja War. The Sannin were battered, especially Jiraiya, who remained in Mount Myōboku convalescing. White Fang lost the trust of the villagers, who blamed him for failing to salvage the situation. So the fiasco triggered internal power struggles, with Danzo almost ousting the Third Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen was only saved by the backing of other advisors and Uzumaki Mito. But they still punished White Fang and the Sannin for failing their mission. Overall, the turmoil left Konoha in no position to retaliate.
Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and then Sunagakure carved up the physical spoils of Uzushio, then returned home to digest their gains. Meanwhile, Iwa, which had reaped the greatest benefits with minimal losses, also needed time to assimilate what they'd taken.