As the first hidden village to set its sights on the tailed beasts, Kumogakure possessed more information about their whereabouts than anyone else.
They had already pinpointed the locations of the Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails.
The awkward part was that they still hadn’t managed to capture a single one.
In Konoha, Senju Tobirama had noticed the same thing.
He thought further ahead than Hashirama did and was already considering persuading his elder brother to gather the tailed beasts before the other villages could.
As for the Seven-Tails, Tobirama had no intention of making an enemy of Uchiha Mu over it.
For now, neither side was interfering with the other.
He had merely stationed a large number of ninja along the border as a precaution.
If Uchiha Mu could subdue a tailed beast, then Tobirama had every confidence his brother could do the same.
Uchiha Madara, who was currently wandering the shinobi world like a man with nowhere better to be, naturally heard that Mu had subdued the Seven-Tails as well.
And being Madara, he immediately fixed his sights on the Nine-Tails.
He planned to bring it under control first, then continue roaming the shinobi world to see whether this world was truly beyond saving.
Mu, meanwhile, paid some attention to reports about the Two-Tails and then stopped tracking the tailed beasts altogether.
Collecting too many of them would be asking for trouble.
He had no desire to attract the attention of the shinobi world’s number-one filial son, Black Zetsu.
His next destination was the Land of Whirlpools, home of the Uzumaki clan.
He needed their barrier techniques.
Their sealing techniques would be useful too.
And if he could somehow trick a princess into coming home with him, like Konoha had done, that would be even better.
‘A political marriage?’
Mu thought of Hyuga Ryono and immediately felt that perhaps he should forget about that idea.
He would leave everything to fate.
Having more than one woman wasn’t exactly unheard of.
The shinobi world was strange in that regard.
Nobles and daimyo often had several women, while ninja were almost universally monogamous.
Still, Mu’s current priority was development.
He had no desire to stumble into some emotional battlefield more terrifying than an actual war.
Better to simply exchange ninjutsu.
A clean transaction, and no one owed anyone anything afterward.
This time, Mu brought the three little ones with him.
Hyuga Ryono and Chomei remained behind to guard the country.
As long as Madara and Hashirama didn’t personally show up, the combination of a Hyuga and the Seven-Tails was practically unbeatable.
With Chomei providing aerial mobility and Ryono’s Byakugan providing pinpoint guidance, the pair already possessed Kage-level combat effectiveness.
“We’re going back, huh?”
Uzumaki Mon sounded a little emotional.
He had once been an orphan before Mu brought him away.
Since then, his life had completely changed, and his sense of belonging had gradually shifted from his clan to his country.
“Those are your clansmen, right, Mon?” Yucheng asked curiously.
“Do all Uzumaki have that much chakra?”
“Probably.
Teacher mentioned it before.
The Uchiha have the Sharingan, while the Senju and Uzumaki are known for their bodies,” Mon explained.
“Must be nice.” Yufeng sighed enviously.
“I can only practice the Rasengan for a little while every day before I run low on chakra.”
Although Yufeng was a talented civilian-born ninja, there was only so much his chakra reserves could grow at his age.
“If chakra’s the problem, then when you’re a little older, go ask Chomei for some,” Mu said with a laugh.
As the first successful fusion of Uchiha and Senju power, on top of having a cheat of his own, Mu hadn’t had to worry about running out of chakra in a very long time.
“Chomei can give us chakra?” Yufeng’s eyes lit up.
Yucheng was also a civilian-born genius.
Being pretty didn’t magically increase her chakra reserves, so naturally she was interested as well.
“Yucheng, we’ve got to work hard,” Yufeng declared.
“Since we’re traveling this time, let’s bring Chomei back something delicious and bribe him.”
Yucheng stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“Doesn’t Chomei eat bugs?”
“Hahaha!
You three really are something.” Mu looked ahead.
“We’re almost at the Land of Iron.
Want me to get chakra-conductive blades made for you?”
The Land of Iron was a neutral nation founded and governed by samurai.
Of course, one major reason it had managed to remain neutral was because it was poor enough that none of the surrounding powers particularly wanted it.
“Yes!” Yufeng answered immediately.
“Teacher, what kind of swordsmanship are you going to teach us?”
In his view, his limited chakra needed to be used efficiently.
Swordsmanship suited him perfectly.
“Uchiha swordsmanship isn’t right for you.
It works best with the Sharingan,” Mu said.
“I’ll teach you some of the sword techniques I’ve copied over the years instead.”
Most of those techniques had come from the Senju.
Mu might have kept a low profile in the past, but he had still possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan, and the opponents he faced were Senju of roughly the same level.
Their swordsmanship had been quite good.
For the samurai of the Land of Iron, swords were their primary means of combat.
Their blades might not be legendary weapons with names known throughout the shinobi world, but their quality was dependable.
Mu selected two short swords suitable for ninja and then continued on with the children.
Mon declined one.
He felt he already had more than enough to work with, especially after learning the Rasengan.
A powerful ninjutsu requiring no hand seals was simply too convenient, and he could see himself using it for many years.
“These things are pretty damn expensive,” Mu muttered, looking painfully at the chakra-conductive weapons.
Only after running a household did one understand how expensive firewood and rice really were.
He was still burning through the money he had stolen at the beginning.
The great nations, meanwhile, had reached an unspoken agreement: absolutely none of them were sending missions to the country he had founded.
“Teacher, are we poor now?” Yufeng asked.
Mu paused, then laughed.
“Hahaha!
Why am I complaining about money to you kids?
Come on.
Next stop, the Land of Whirlpools.”
The group resumed their journey.
The Land of Whirlpools wasn’t far from the Land of Fire.
It was essentially an island nation, though nowhere near as distant as the Land of Water.
A competent ninja could simply run across the sea to reach it.
The Uzumaki clan possessed enormous chakra reserves and excelled in both sealing and barrier techniques, so the moment Mu approached, the village detected him.
Once his chakra was identified, Uzumaki Ashina personally came to meet them.
“Uzumaki Mon, huh?
Looks like you’ve been doing well.”
Ashina naturally recognized the clansman Mu had taken away.
“Clan Head.”
Mon stood straight and tall, his bearing confident and strong.
“Clan Head Ashina, I’ll get straight to the point,” Mu said.
“I came here to trade for sealing techniques and barrier techniques.”
“Oh?
And what are you offering?”
Ashina was interested.
Uchiha Mu was famous throughout the shinobi world now.
Many people had already started treating him as a second Uchiha Madara.
“These two.
They suit your clan extremely well.”
Mu formed the necessary hand seal.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Then, in his other hand, chakra began to spin.
Rasengan.
As the leader of a clan that effectively governed its own village, Ashina immediately understood the value of both techniques.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique in particular was practically made for the Uzumaki clan.
“Fine,” Ashina agreed.
“I’ll give you the less critical forbidden techniques.
Mon can also learn the clan’s techniques while he’s here.”
“Good.
Then gather the village’s ninja.
I’ll first use genjutsu to let everyone experience these two techniques directly, then I’ll explain how to train them.”
“Very well.”
Ashina nodded and ordered the village’s ninja to assemble.
Mu’s earlier visit came back to mind.
Back then, when Mu had asked to take some orphaned Uzumaki children with him, he had posed Ashina a simple question.
If one ninja clan went to war against a village composed of dozens of ninja clans, which side was more likely to win?
Mu had specifically told him to answer without considering Konoha.
Ashina hadn’t been able to give a confident answer.
The Uzumaki had vast chakra reserves, numerous sealing techniques, and forbidden arts of their own.
But dozens of ninja clans?
Every clan that had survived the Warring States Period had its own hidden techniques and trump cards.
If that many clans united, even the Uzumaki could not guarantee victory.
The Uzumaki also had a large civilian population.
Their number of actual ninja couldn’t compare with dozens of clans combined.
Mu had followed that question with another remark.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
The Land of Whirlpools needed to spread its investments and create another possible future for its people.
Ashina had taken those words seriously.
That was why he eventually trusted Mu enough to let him take some of the clan’s orphans.
Now, seeing how much Mon had changed, Ashina could tell that Mu hadn’t treated the boy unfairly in the slightest.
For an Uchiha, he really was a strange one.