Chapter 32   - Reestablishment!?

"Haha, no need to make a face like that, Shikaku. I don't mind revealing a few things about me under certain conditions."

"And what are these conditions?"

"I want to meet the Hokage in secret and bring one additional person with me. A person that has helped me a lot."

Although Shikaku seemed calm on the outside, he was cursing his bad luck on the inside.

'Sh*t, so she really has had someone to help her secretly all these years. Was it really an Uzumaki clan member?'

"Why would you want to meet the Hokage."

"To find out whether he can be trusted or not."

Shikaku immediately stood up in outrage.

"Of course, he can be trusted!"

Yuna, however, only looked at the angered Shikaku with indifference.

"Since it seems so obvious to you, please tell me: Why should I trust him? Please don't start spouting some nonsense about the previous wars or how he protects Konoha as its Hokage. Why should I, Yuna Uzumaki, as a person, put even the smallest amount of trust into Hiruzen Sarutobi, considering what has happened so far?"

The room descended into a heavy silence. Yuna simply waited for Shikaku's next words with an indifferent face.

'Let's see where Shikaku stands in all of this. If he starts to dribble about the will of fire, I'm leaving. If he can see things from my viewpoint, he might actually be worthy of a little bit of my trust and if he tries to wiggle his way out of the question, then I will just use him until he stops being useful.'

Shikaku, meanwhile, was still in deep thought.

'I see, from her perspective, she was abandoned by the village at the age of three. She has, since then, shouldered everything on her own and in the process even protected her little brother from harm. When she heard Hokage-sama's speech at the academy entrance ceremony and heard him say how he considers the whole village as his family, she definitely wasn't elated like the other children. She probably felt sick hearing it. That was probably the moment she lost her trust towards him, as well. *Sigh* What a mess.'

"Haa… I see the village has truly wronged you."

"Yeah, but I stopped giving a sh*t about that years ago. I am not here to assign blame or seek compensation. I have my own goals and to reach them, the Hokage's help would be useful, but not strictly necessary."

'Useful, but not necessary, huh? Since it is something she wants Hokage-sama to help with, it probably isn't something bad for the village.'

"And what are these goals? Knowing what I am dealing with might make it easier to convince Hokage-sama to meet you in secret."

Yuna pondered for a while and then nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"Fair point. I'm willing to tell you the goal that's relevant to the situation, but only if you tell the Hokage about it in this very room."

"Why would I do that? The Hokage's office also has a privacy seal."

"Because there is a certain person close to him, that I trust even less than the Hokage."

Shikaku's eyes widened for a moment, as the figure of a certain bandaged person came to mind.

'Does she know about Danzo? How much does she know about him exactly? No, more importantly, did she just hint at Danzo being capable of spying into the Hokage's office? There is no way he would do… He might actually do something like that.'

While Shikaku was judging whether Danzo really would do something like this, Yuna tried to hide her smirk.

'Hehe, another little stab at his reputation and if they actually find something, it will be a pretty good stab, as well.'

Yuna took out another scroll and casually tossed it towards Shikaku, who, despite being caught off guard, easily caught it.

"Guess I might as well sweeten the deal a little. Inside that scroll is a sealing tag, that helps detect living beings. Just activate it and you should be able to see the presence of people in a radius of 100 meters. It is a one-use item and stays active for about a minute. If everything goes well during the meeting, then these will be sold in Konoha for a reasonable price in the future."

'Of course, the one I gave Shikaku is a little bit special. I might have, yet again, completely by accident, of course, hidden some seals in there to spy on the Hokage office.'

Shikaku, meanwhile, had to hold himself back from salivating over the possibility of such a sealing tag.

'Scouting would be so much easier with this. It would be like every one of our scouts had a limited form of the Byakugan. Since she hinted at there being a spy inside the Hokage office and tossed me a scroll that could detect hidden people seconds later, her intentions are rather easy to read. She wants me to show off the scroll right in front of Hokage-sama, huh? Guess I will have it tested for traps and then I might as well give it a try.

There is still something else. Considering Yuna just took out a seal I have never even heard of, the likelihood of another Uzumaki clan member being involved pretty much became 100%. This, however, could be a great chance for Konoha, as well. Having someone from the Uzumaki clan inside the village, who is willing to sell his seals, would be an amazing boon for Konoha.'

"Alright, I agree. I will only speak about this whole conversation with Hokage-sama when I am in this room."

"Good, here is my goal: I want to reestablish the Uzumaki clan, but this time, as one of Konoha's clans."

Yuna had actually been thinking about this for a while now. She wants to establish her own base of power. She might be a powerful individual, but some things are almost impossible to do alone. Especially, when it comes to gathering information. The more she spreads her net, the harder it will be to sort through everything.

From what she has heard, the people of the Uzumaki clan are all fiercely loyal to their own families. There will certainly be some survivors from the lands of Whirlpools. If these people hear that the Uzumaki clan is gathering again, they will, without a doubt, come over as quickly as possible.

As for why she wants to do so inside Konoha instead of the land of Whirlpools? She would rather not have her new base of power be overrun by the three villages that did it the first time, just a few years after rebuilding it.

Shikaku, meanwhile, was busy picking up his jaw from the ground. That was certainly quite the bomb Yuna just dropped on him.

'I see, reestablishing the Uzumaki clan. That certainly is a grand goal and explains why she wants Hokage-sama's help. The best way to do this is probably to do it stealthily. Collect a lot of members without anybody noticing and then let them have a compound for their clan before anyone even gets a chance to complain. That's probably also why Yuna doesn't want even a single person more than necessary to know about it.

It took the combined efforts of three villages and heavy casualties to take out the Uzumaki clan the first time. There is no doubt that they'll be far from being that powerful if we manage to gather them now, but having a clan with this much potential would be a great addition to Konoha. Additionally, the Uzumaki never cared for politics or reputation. They just want to have a fun life together with their family. If they can have their children accept Konoha as their family, they will give everything they have to defend it.

Hide the Uzumaki clan for as long as possible and when they ultimately get revealed, show the world just how much of their strength they have recovered. That should stop people from getting any funny ideas. This would also give a great boost to Konoha's troops. With the Uzumaki clan inside the village, our shinobi can use seal tags like they use shuriken. Just casually using them without a care in the world.'

"Good! I like it. Having a clan as powerful as the Uzumaki clan will certainly boost Konoha's strength. I will try to convince Hokage-sama to accept the secret meeting."

"Haha, great, don't worry, Konoha will certainly benefit from this as well."

"I am looking forward to it. The Uzumaki have always been allies of Konoha, it would be great to re-establish that relationship, as well."

Although Yuna sneered inwardly, she still gave Shikaku a happy smile when she answered him.

"Of course, that would be great."

'Always been allies? What a joke. Used until no longer worth using is much more fitting. I can't wait, until every single seal in Konoha is made by the Uzumaki clan. Let's see how they'll abandon us when that would mean no longer being able to use any kind of seal during battle.'

They quickly wished each other a good night, Yuna left the Nara clan compound and returned home with a satisfied smile.

'Spy seals in the Hokage's office and the office of his aide. A pretty good harvest for one night. If I can get that secret meeting, things will get even more interesting. I can't wait to introduce them to the supposed second person I am allowed to bring with me.'