_________ POV Narration_________

'This is quite problematic...'

Ken couldn't help but ponder on his conversation with the leader of the Uzumaki Clan as he left their village.

Yorihhiko didn't give him much information directly, but what he did give allowed Ken to speculate on the rest. And it certainly didn't paint a good image...

Not only did he learn more about the current situation of the Uzumaki Clan, but he also found out why exactly he had encountered that many patrols.

Usually, all Lands had Shinobi patrolling them. But in times of peace, things were always more relaxed.

That wasn't the case for the Uzumaki Clan. And, by Yorihhiko's admission, that hadn't been the case for the Uzumaki Clan at any point in the period of peace after the Second Shinobi War...

Yorihhiko already expected his clan to be ruined. To the point where he sent his daughter, the heiress of the Uzumaki Clan, off to another village.

It was under the pretence of her becoming a Jinchuriki. But it was really just so that they could secure the continuation of their bloodline.

The Village Hidden in the Leaf was the one ally they entrusted with the life of their bloodline. At least publically.

Unfortunately, the Leaf Village wasn't going to be able to assist the Uzumaki Clan in any other way.

The Leaf Village was the most powerful hidden village at that time, but even they couldn't hope to match up against the powers aiming for the Uzumaki Clan...

What powers were those exactly?

Well, nothing short of just about every other Hidden Village in existence.

The way that the Uzumaki Clan ran their business, the stranglehold they had on higher class Fuinjutsu techniques, and their 'enticing' bloodline.

Those were the things that made the Uzumaki Clan a prime target for every single power in the world.

Yorihhiko realized that early into the Second Shinobi War, and he started taking steps to protect their bloodline.

He even considered going into hiding with their entire clan, but that was simply impossible. They would simply be hunted down and systematically murdered.

He still planted the seeds, making sure to spread the offspring of the Uzumaki Clan in more corners of the world. He didn't want the burden of rebuilding the Uzumaki Clan to just lay on his Daughter's shoulders.

No one expected the world to actually band together. The Uzumaki Clan could stand on its own, but it would never be able to win against the combined might of the entire Shinobi World.

The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was imminent in Yorihhiko's eyes. He could at most try fighting till the end, to try and uphold the dignity of the clan.

He fully understood that his Clan had become a powder keg. One that was going to explode and jumpstart the next Shinobi War.

The Clans and Villages were definitely going to fight over the resources taken from the Uzumaki Clan. And the Leaf Village was going to strive to avenge them... At least Yorihhiko hoped so.

Regardless, he had already steeled himself to make a last stand in Uzushiogakure, which he had worked hard to turn into an actual fortress.

Whatever forces came their way, they were bound to be met with... Adversity.

Yorihhiko was going to inflict as many casualties as he could. The only thing he couldn't bring himself to do was to burn the Techniques of his family...

They were what their clan had researched and worked towards for generations. He simply couldn't do it.

Though he did impart them to his daughter, he still wanted the original copies to exist in the world...

Regardless, very few of their 'high-end' techniques could actually be performed without the bountiful Chakra reserves of the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu experts.

Yorihhiko had turned Ken away, both because forming an alliance with the Dark Brotherhood wasn't going to benefit the Uzumaki Clan, and because he had no assurance that Ken would even uphold his part of the deal in the first place.

At the end of the day, Ken did specify that he wasn't willing to face off against too many great powers. The Uzumaki Clan's situation didn't allow for such thoughts.

The Blind Swordsman couldn't help it though. He wasn't alone anymore.

Even if he was to be hunted down by the entire world, he wouldn't be afraid. With his skills, he was confident that he could still survive.

But he couldn't sneak around with around 140 people following after him. The Dark Brotherhood was as much a blessing as it was a curse.

It both gave Ken a way to reach his aspirations and limited his actions in situations like the one he was currently in.

The Uzumaki Clan's plight was still concerning. Ken had felt plenty of women and children in that village, he had assumed that they would all be evacuated, but it seemed that most were unaware of their impending doom...

Maybe evacuating all of their villagers would be too big a move? The other powers were certainly going to notice it. Not like they had anywhere to go either, they'd all be hunted down like dogs.

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Regardless, one thing was clear...

'A lot of innocent people will die alongside Yorihhiko and the Uzumaki Clan...'

Innocence had always been a sore topic for Ken. No one was fully innocent.

But Ken believed that civilians had no reason to be involved in the conflicts of the Shinobi.

In his mind, he had separated their current world in two. The Regular World, with civilians and their day-to-day struggle, and the Shinobi World, with bounty hunters, bandits, hidden villages and their wars.

Sometimes they overlapped, as Ken believed most criminals to be part of the Shinobi World, regardless of whether they performed Jutsu or not.

It was just about the way that killers conducted themselves. That bloody way of living could never really be considered part of the 'regular world'.

Ken had seen plenty of civilians inside Uzushiogakure, plenty of non-fighters in the Uzumaki Clan.

Even if they were living in a 'Shinboi Clan', Ken believed them to be part of the Regular World... Letting them die simply left a sour taste in his mouth.

But what could he even do about it?

Could he face off against the world by himself?

Hell no. Well... At least not yet.

He was strong, sure. Likely stronger than anyone the Uzumaki Clan had on their side. But his personal strength had its limits.

Facing off against thousands of Shinobi, as well as several Kage, was going quite far beyond those limits.

But, there was still something he COULD do...

Ken was, at the end of the day, an assassin... Someone that specialized in stealth...

And the Shinobi were many, numerous... Thousands of men and child soldiers, all prepared for a short conquest, likely lacking food, clothing...

They were unlikely to be prepared for a long campaign.

'But the Uzumaki Clan is a fortress... They are bound to spend a day just waiting to attack at their gates...'

Slowly but surely, a plan was forming itself in the mind of the assassin... But he knew that he couldn't act as he was. He needed a disguise...

And thankfully, he had the perfect one! It didn't require any transformation either...

He had collected several masks and different items from the many shinobi he killed. He decided to just steal the identity of one of the shinobi.

With 0 hesitation, Ken also took out a small knife and sliced off his long spiky hair in one swift motion. His hair was going to grow back at the end of the day.

He also took off his samurai armour plates and put on a simple linen vest that he had stolen in the past.

He couldn't be the Leader of the Dark Brotherhood during his mission. But that was also fine.

The only person that knew how he looked now was the Leader of the Uzumaki Clan. The rest of the shinobi world had the description of a short man... But he had grown already.

So, when donning a random Fox Ambu mask, he was basically a completely new person to the world.

He didn't even need a name for his 'new identity'. A name wouldn't have any practical use.

But thanks to said identity/change, Ken now had the possibility to interfere with the ensuing war...

He still wasn't strong enough to make a difference in a fight, but he had PLENTY of other routes he could take, other options to make things more... Favorable for the Uzumaki.

His aim was to at least give the Clan leader some leeway in evacuating the non-fighting members of the Uzumaki Clan.

'I need to gain his cooperation first... Better get to work right away. I'll send a few messages his way, but I need to keep my name out of the record entirely.'

The Blind Assassin had already given up on gaining the techniques from the Uzumaki Clan. He figured he'd be able to salvage some after the entire mess was over.

Possibly even trade with some of the other big powers to gain a few... He would have plenty of flexibility after more techniques came into the possession of others.

But that was going to come after the ordeal was over...

At the very least Ken was going to do his best to save the 'Regular' people that were going to be involved in that conflict.

And while Ken was strategizing and preparing for his plan.

The coalition of Shinobi that had been aiming for the Uzumaki Clan was finally starting to gather up at the only point of access...

Thousands of shinobi poured through the borders of the Land of Fire and into the Land of Waves.

Neither Land got involved, the forces gathered being simply too much for either of them to want to contend with.

Most of the Shinobi World was banded together now, but it wasn't anything more than a temporary alliance, and only for one common goal.

Even then, some Lands choose to abstain from getting involved in that matter. The Land of Fire stood still and could only watch, they were both unable to help and unwilling to go after their ally, the Land of Whirlpools.

Besides that, the Land of Grass didn't get involved. They weren't in a much better situation than what Ken had left them in. They hadn't even repaired the Kage Building yet...

Some of the other smaller Lands also didn't get involved. But the most notable missing power in that conflict was the Land of Wind...

Yes, the Village Hidden in the Sand was not participating.

Despite being among the 5 Great Hidden Villages and not having good relations with the Uzumaki Clan, the Sunagakure was unable to participate.

They had lost a vast majority of their power in the Second Shinobi War, with Konoha's White Fang Almost single-handedly dominating the entire battlefield on that front.

They were in no shape to go after the Uzumaki Clan. They would just get shredded during the 'afterparty' of the Uzumaki Clan's demise.

After all, dividing the spoils of war was not going to be a peaceful endeavor in any way.

The Third Shinboi War was going to start right then and there, that much was obvious to all of the people involved...

Besides them, there was also another one of the '5 Great Villages' that wasn't getting involved... And that was the Land of Water and Kirigakure.

They had just lost the Second Mizuakge at the end of the Second Shinobi War. Their council was still in disarray even after a year, and no new Kage was appointed.

They were simply in no position to make such a large decision and get involved in the Third Shinobi War that early...

Now, even without the few forces that abstained from the 'temporary alliance', there were still thousands of Shinobi gathering at the edge of the Land of Waves.

It was only a matter of days before everyone was gathered in one place. The boats were already being prepared, as several were being 'borrowed' from local fishermen in the region.

The power of almost 8 thousand Shinobi, an army which also contained 2 of the most powerful people in the world...

The Third Raikage, A. The Third Tsuchikage Onoki.

The Raikage had also brought along his son, A. But he didn't bring B. A Jinchuriki was always better left in the village, that way both the Jinchuriki and the village would be safe.

So Killer B was left to protect the village, while his sworn brother was off to gain more experience in the field...

The Third Tsuchikage was a short man. Already past middle-aged.

He had just a bit of grey hair left on his balding head. Despite his balding head, he still had a rather thick moustache and a long beard.

He wore a split-apart green coat divided into four sections with yellow trimmings, and a red collar Underneath that he donned the traditional Iwagakure outfit consisting of a light green vest and mesh armour.

He paired all of that with a pair of sandals.

But truly, his most defining feature was still his large red nose.

Despite his relatively harmless and even comical appearance, he was one of the strongest Shinobi alive, wielding what was arguably one of the strongest Kekkei Tōta(bloodline Limit compromised of 3 nature releases) ever... The Dust Release.

The old Tsuchikage was confident in the upcoming raid.

He flew above the rest of his men as he stared at the seas in front of him.

In the darkness of the night, the moonlight was barely reflected on the wavy waters in front of him. And for some reason... He couldn't help but get a foreboding feeling when looking at the scene in front of him...

'... There's no way things could go wrong at this point... Right?'

Onoki then shook his head.

'No, no matter how strong the Uzumaki Clan is, they will die regardless. I need to worry more about what comes after...'

And so, the old man set up camp there on the shore, as they were going to wait a bit more for all of their 'allies' to gather up.

Unbeknownst to Onoki... The upcoming march was going to be a lot more gruelling than anticipated...