Once the young ninjas were saved and the couple had distanced themselves enough to avoid encountering their sensei, Madara posed a question that had been burning on his lips.
"Why did you save Leaf Shinobi?" he inquired.
Throughout their plan, they had rescued numerous civilians and even recruited ninjas, but never before had they saved Leaf Shinobi.
"Because she was my master," Sakura responded, thinking of Tsunade's teachings. "I owe much of who I am today to her."
With this information in mind, Madara began pondering the events to come in this war. He was well acquainted with the tales of Sakura's exploits, and after careful analysis, he concluded that to ensure a solid foundation for his own peace project, he must avoid the destruction of Uzushio and thus the extinction of the Uzumaki.
He needed, in a way, to save them from their impending fate while persuading them to join Heiwa. But he knew it wouldn't be easy. The head of the Uzumaki was formidable in every aspect, particularly in his moral rectitude. Ashina Uzumaki was not easily swayed or manipulated. Furthermore, he was renowned for his inflexible temperament, making him challenging to convince, especially if it involved renouncing Konoha.
Yet, the Uchiha knew there was a weakness in every man, no matter how great. For the leader of the Uzumaki, it would be intolerable to be branded a traitor, especially after giving his word at the wedding of Mito, his daughter, to Hashirama Senju.
Moreover, the patriarch had not demanded his daughter's return to them after her husband's disappearance. Mito Uzumaki, not only a powerful kunoichi due to her exceptional mastery of Fûinjutsu but also inherited her father's character and morals. Even considered a widow, she couldn't bring herself to abandon the village that had welcomed her. It was on principle that she chose to remain in Konoha.
"Sakura, are you sure Uzushio is going to be attacked?" the elder Uchiha asked for the twentieth time.
"Yes, I'm certain," the young woman with pink hair replied once again.
"How is it possible that Konoha wouldn't intervene in such a massacre?" Madara wondered, finding no explanation in history books. "Especially since this event is only supposed to occur in several days, and I am determined to retrieve members of this clan."
"I don't know, it seems to be something that has been deliberately overlooked," Sakura added, recalling her history lessons. "It's as if Konoha has chosen to forget about this clan... at least, there is no mention of them in my recollections."
"Strange..."
"As you say," the woman with pink hair concurred. "Moreover, I wonder how you intend to persuade Ashina Uzumaki to join us, especially with the combined forces of Kumo, Iwa, and Suna preparing to assail them."
As she voiced these words, Sakura realized the magnitude of the tragedy that could unfold if the Land of Whirlpools were to be attacked. Lives would be lost in great numbers, overwhelmed by a wave of enemies. How could she ensure that no one succumbed without her being able to intervene? It was then that she grasped what was missing.
"Madara, do you trust me?" Sakura asked in a voice both serious and gentle.
"After all this time, I thought I had demonstrated that I trust you," Madara replied, well aware that the young woman must have a plan, but she couldn't share it immediately. "Why this question?"
"We're still two or three days away from the Land of Whirlpools, and there's something I need to accomplish, but I can't take you with me," she began, seeing the look of concern on Madara's face. "Don't start playing the protector, I have nothing to fear, and what I must do, I must do alone. All I can tell you is that it will be crucial for the future we aspire to build, you and I."
"Do you want me to wait for you?" the man asked, unsatisfied with the idea.
Despite their shared goals, Madara couldn't imagine moving forward without the young woman by his side. She had become essential to his life. He would do anything for her, but deep down, he feared she might be taken away from him in some way. But he kept that fear to himself, the pride that characterized him refusing to reveal such vulnerability.
"Yes, I won't be long, I promise," she assured him before stepping forward for Madara to embrace her. She nestled against him for a moment, planting a delicate kiss on his lips.
"For how long?" Madara asked as she stepped away from him.
"Less than an hour, I assure you," Sakura said before biting her thumb until it drew blood. The crimson liquid flowed from her wound to spread along her finger. Then, she began performing hand signs that Madara immediately recognized. Kuchiyose No Jutsu!
A large Fûinjutsu seal appeared on the ground as soon as the young woman's hand touched the earth. The formula absorbed the surrounding chakra to activate, and the blood offering allowed the technique to work. And thus, Sakura vanished into a cloud of smoke, summoned by a reversed contract. For at that time, Sakura had not yet made an agreement with the slugs.
Madara picked up some nearby deadwood, assembled and ignited them with his chakra, creating a small fireball.
"Katon..."
The Uchiha sat cross-legged on the ground, lost in thought. He pondered how to convince the Uzumaki clan, particularly Ashina Uzumaki, to join Heiwa. Madara intended to utilize one of his most potent abilities: manipulation.
Meanwhile, Sakura found herself transported to the other side of the world, in the legendary forest of Shikkotsu. It was a mysterious and terrifying land, nestled on a completely isolated continent.
The wintry climate evaporated, replaced by a heavy, humid atmosphere that enveloped Sakura. The temperature abruptly rose by twenty degrees, while the humidity weighed down the air.
No doubt about it, she was in the right place. The sight of the forest stirred memories in the young woman, evoking the signing of her contract with the slugs under her master's tutelage. But she couldn't dwell on her thoughts.
Movement! Sakura turned her head in the direction where she thought she had seen something... but there was nothing. The sun was declining, casting the forest into a semi-darkness that limited visibility.
"Katsuyu-sama!" Sakura called out loudly through the vegetation. "I come to seek your aid."
She knew the entity was somewhere nearby, that it could hear her. No pretenses, no beating around the bush. Sakura knew the giant slug didn't appreciate equivocation.
Yet, barely had she spoken when her voice echoed in the silence, fading into the vastness of the forest before disappearing, replaced by the sounds of the surrounding nature. Seconds stretched into minutes. The oppressive silence, combined with the growing darkness, created an eerie atmosphere. It was quite different from her first visit to these lands. Sakura wondered: had Tsunade felt this tension during her first visit here?
Just as she was about to call out to the giant slug again, a soft voice, coming from all directions, rang out:
"Who are you?"
Her former friend's voice caused Sakura to start slightly, scanning her surroundings in search of its source, in vain.
"My name is Sakura."
"How did you manage to come here?" asked the legendary slug, suddenly intrigued by the young woman.
"Through reversed summoning," Sakura replied straightforwardly, understanding the concept from the research of her time. "The first to establish summoning contracts experimented with reverse summoning. They discovered that it required focusing one's mind on a specific creature: reverse summoning was not a random phenomenon, but a true mental visualization. Thus, Sakura knew exactly which entity she wanted to summon when she used this technique.
"And why come here?" queried the slug, now keenly interested in the young woman.
"Because I need help, Katsuyu-sama. I need your wisdom, your strength, and your chakra to help me accomplish what Ôtsutsuki-sama achieved before us!" Sakura explained with determination and passion.
That name! Katsuyu knew it well. Like her, this being had traversed the ages to become legendary. The slug had heard of the Sage of the Six Paths over the centuries. But what surprised her wasn't so much the mention of that name as the fact that this young woman seemed to be aware of her own existence.
"How do you know this name?" asked Katsuyu, growing increasingly curious. Despite her reputation as a calm and thoughtful creature, she could become as dangerous as her counterparts from Mount Myôboku or the Ryûchi Cave, especially with her powerful acid spray when she deemed it necessary.
"He came to me," Sakura recalled her conversation with the Sage of the Six Paths in the Valley of the End.
"He came to you?" Katsuyu exclaimed, both skeptical and intrigued. "Why?"
"To guide the Child of Prophecy," Sakura answered honestly.
The Child of Prophecy! Katsuyu had heard about it many times. The one who would bring balance to this Earth and lead all toward lasting peace. Many had boasted of having found the Child of Prophecy, of having trained him, of having guided him... only to realize that he was an impostor. Knowing that the Sage of the Six Paths had designated the Child of Prophecy changed everything.
"How does this concern me?" inquired Katsuyu, whose voice still echoed around Sakura.
"Because I cannot accomplish such an act alone, Katsuyu-sama," Sakura explained, feeling judged by her words. This entire conversation was a test to see if she would be worthy of using the power of the legendary slug. The cycle of hatred was deeply ingrained in the world's psyche, and she could not break it without help.
"And why me?" Katsuyu continued, detecting no trace of falsehood or deceit in the young woman's gaze.
"Because to preserve humankind, I must protect it from itself. And what good is bringing peace if there is no one left to enjoy it?" Sakura replied, recalling the ravages caused by world wars.
"For me to help you, you must have the ability to heal physical wounds. Few are those who have succeeded in mastering this," affirmed the slug, who had not often seen people capable of such a feat. Or at least, not enough to catch her attention.
"I already master Iryô Ninjutsu, Katsuyu-sama," Sakura assured, quickly taking a kunai from her rear pouch. She presented it on her forearm to avoid any serious injury, then cut herself.
The blade nicked her tissues, eliciting a grimace.
She quickly focused her chakra into her hand and began to heal her wound, which closed under the watchful eyes of the slug, visibly impressed. On one hand, the young woman had injured herself with precision, and on the other hand, she displayed extremely advanced abilities.
"How?!" exclaimed Katsuyu, knowing that achieving such speed required training.
"Because I was trained by the most formidable of masters, and... and..." Sakura began, hesitating to continue.
"And?" insisted the slug.
"And because you helped me in the past, Katsuyu-sama," the young woman finally confessed, realizing that no one could obtain this kind of information from Katsuyu.
"You seem to know me and suggest that we have met before, yet..." The voice of the legendary slug paused briefly, evoking an old person searching the depths of her memory for a memory that eluded her. "I have no recollection of you or even heard of you," Katsuyu concluded, observing her interlocutor clean her arm, from which blood from a previous wound was seeping.
"The first version of the future was reset by Ôtsutsuki-sama," Sakura said, her gaze filled with pain. She remembered her old life, her friends, her village, her family, everything she had lost forever. These simple words hinted to Katsuyu what the Sage of the Six Paths had potentially accomplished.
"Time travel," murmured the giant slug, but her voice still resonated around Sakura.
"I've missed you so much, Katsuyu-sama," Sakura admitted with a half-broken voice.
Thinking back to her old life revived the pain she had buried within her. Seeing such a familiar face brought her both comfort and suffering.
"Tell me, Sakura-sama," Katsuyu gently requested, adding the suffix "-sama" to Sakura's name. She sensed the truth and distress of the young woman and revealed herself to her. She was present in the surrounding flora, her titanic size allowing her to go unnoticed until she moved. Her immense head approached Sakura to observe her better with her two bulging orbits.
The kunoichi closed her eyes as she sat down on the ground, slowly releasing her breath. She then began to recount her story, focusing on the most important points: her meeting with her former master Tsunade, her initiation with Katsuyu, her battle against Pain, her role in the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
"That's why I need you so much, Katsuyu-sama. I need you as a weapon, as support, but also as a friend," Sakura concluded, looking the slug in the eyes, conveying through her gaze a plea for help. Strong as she was, she needed a pillar not to collapse. Hitomi had been her first pillar, Madara the second, and she hoped that Katsuyu would be the third.
No words were added. The only thing that moved was two slug the size of a dog, approaching Sakura with a large scroll on their backs. What was surprising about these creatures was their speed despite their slug nature.
Sakura remained still, realizing that this scroll meant she had succeeded, that the slug accepted her as a summoner and friend. The young woman knelt down to unroll the scroll, discovering that she would be not the second, but the first summoner of the slugs.
Taking a kunai from her pouch, Sakura cut her thumb and signed her first and last name in blood on the first summoner box. Then, she applied blood on each of her fingers before pressing them on the scroll under her name.
"It is done, Sakura-sama," declared Katsuyu, feeling the bond form as soon as she touched the scroll. "You are now a summoner of the slug clan."
"Thank you, Katsuyu-sama," Sakura replied, performing a slight Iryô Ninjutsu on her thumb.
"Allow me to accompany you for the rest of your journey," said Katsuyu as a slug the size of a hand detached from her large body to land on Sakura's shoulder. As soon as she touched Sakura's skin, Katsuyu gained access to a lot of information about her through her sensory sensors, discovering something unexpected.
"But why didn't you explain your condition to me?" asked the giant slug, realizing that she would have regretted injuring someone in Sakura's situation.
"My condition?" Sakura exclaimed, perplexed.
"Do you not know?" Katsuyu queried, finding the answer in the young woman's questioning gaze. "You will understand soon enough, Sakura-sama."
Then, without warning, the great slug withdrew to disappear into the vast forest, leaving Sakura with a smaller copy of her summoning on her shoulder. As Sakura pondered the slug's words, she vanished from the legendary Shikkotsu Forest in a puff of smoke, reappearing beside Madara.
Meanwhile, Madara was deeply worried. Despite his keen senses, he had failed to detect Sakura during the three hours she had been away from him. His anxiety grew with each passing minute, unsure if she was safe. When she finally reappeared, he was relieved but also annoyed by her prolonged absence.
"Where have you been, Sakura?" he questioned, his voice tinged with concern and annoyance. He immediately sensed the presence of another chakra beside her, different and powerful. "You are not alone!" he exclaimed, ready to act to protect the one he loved.
"Madara, calm down... I will explain," Sakura attempted before being interrupted by Katsuyu's voice.
"You should listen to Sakura-sama and above all, treat her gently. If you claim to love her, protect her and do not rush her. It would bring nothing good for her," advised the slug in a gentle yet firm voice, perched on Sakura's shoulder.
The man froze, stunned to hear the slug speak directly to him. He then realized that she was an ally of Sakura, and her presence on Sakura's shoulder confirmed her status.
Day 303
At the Threshold of the Whirlpool Country
Finally, their destination stood before them, a vast expanse of water that seemed ordinary at first glance. But therein lay all the subtlety and perilous nature of these waters. Many ships had foundered with their cargo and crew, swallowed by the ocean's abyss. The reason was simple: the island of Uzushiogakure was encircled by perpetually moving whirlpools.
Normally, whirlpools would remain relatively fixed, subject to fluctuations in ocean currents caused by differences in temperature between cold and warm air masses. But here, they moved, making precise mapping of the surrounding area impossible and rendering access extremely difficult. The Uzumaki clan had made this instability one of their main assets, relying on the art of Fūinjutsu.
And so, the members of this clan had employed their art with unparalleled ingenuity. They had inscribed formulas on crustaceans all around the island, aiming to alter the water temperature to generate these whirlpools. These living creatures moved perpetually, becoming a dynamic defense.
"Uzushiogakure," Madara murmured as he observed the island in the distance. He had only set foot there once, for the wedding of his former friend Hashirama.
"I've never had the chance to see this place," confessed Sakura, who, despite her many missions, had never set foot on these lands. All she knew of this place was that it lay in ruins.
"From now on, let me lead the conversation and do not interfere, Sakura," warned Madara as he observed the sun rising on the horizon. "Let's go."
With a synchronized motion, they leaped onto the water, running on the shifting surface. The whirlpools demanded impeccable chakra control from them to hope to advance. For Sakura, it was child's play, and Madara simply adjusted his chakra flow to maintain his stability.
At times, immense whirlpools forced them to detour, as even their exceptional control would not suffice to cross them. They advanced like this for long minutes, until Madara perceived approaching chakra signatures. However, they remained invisible, probably underwater.
Suddenly, three violet barriers emerged from the water, rising high into the sky to encircle the duo in a perfect triangle. Sakura immediately recognized this barrier: it was the one Orochimaru had used during his battle against the Third Hokage in the Chunin Exams. It had also been employed by the first four Hokage during the battle against the Ten-Tails.
The two warriors stood still in the center of the barrier, waiting. They did not have to wait long. Rising from the waves, a shinobi with hair as red as fire stood before them. After all, they were in the midst of a war, and two shinobi heading towards Uzushiogakure were anything but ordinary.
"You have ten seconds to identify yourselves!" declared the man sternly. "If I am not satisfied with your response, you will perish! Ten... nine... eight..."
"We wish to speak with Ashina Uzumaki," declared Madara without hesitation, counting three shinobi underwater maintaining the barrier, in addition to their interlocutor.
"Seven... Why should we listen to potential deserters? Six... Five..."
The red-haired man sought a valid reason to stop the duo. Four... Three...
"We are not deserters," Madara intervened, adjusting his straw hat with a nonchalant gesture.
"Of whom do you speak then? Two... One..." the man continued, his incisive tone betraying his distrust. Madara removed his straw hat, dispelling the Genjutsu that concealed his face.
"Uchiha Madara," he stated bluntly. This revelation had the intended effect on the Uzumaki, leaving him speechless. After all, Madara Uchiha was supposed to be dead, and yet here he stood, alive and well before him. It was an unexpected turn, and the Uzumaki found himself faced with a dilemma. They had little chance of triumphing against a shinobi of his caliber. But should they fight him when he simply desired to speak to their clan leader? On the other hand, he was a traitor who had shamelessly attacked Konoha No Sato. What to do?
"Do not decide on behalf of your leader," warned Madara as he slowly advanced towards the Uzumaki. "Lead us to Ashina Uzumaki, or..."
"Or what?" retorted the man, seeming to be about the same age as Madara.
"Or perish trying to stop us. It's up to you. But I advise you to choose quickly," added Madara, increasing the pressure. "Ten... Nine... Eight..."
Manipulation and fear were his allies, complementing his already intimidating reputation. Madara was one of the most powerful shinobi the world had ever known, and he knew it. Thus, when he uttered death threats, the atmosphere became electrifying, exacerbated by the reversal of the previous threat against the Uzumaki.
"Very well, follow us," the man yielded, constrained by the prospect of his own survival. "But know that we are watching you, Uchiha!"
"Hn."
The violet barrier dissipated as if it had never existed, and the three visible ninjas headed towards Uzushiogakure.
The crossing of this part was much faster than the previous one, probably because an Uzumaki could sense their own creations and diminish the whirlpools as they approached the island.
In less than ten minutes, they reached the hidden village of whirlpools, Uzushiogakure. The village was vast, housing nearly two thousand inhabitants, over half of whom were Uzumaki. Of course, not all were shinobi, as mastery of Fūinjutsu was not bestowed upon everyone.
They did not linger in the village streets, instead following the Uzumaki who leaped from roof to roof. Madara's keen eye detected the hand signs of the guide, giving instructions to his comrades. This observation was confirmed when he sensed shinobi following them, surrounding them.
They arrived at a massive stone building, covered in numerous Fūinjutsu formulas. The entire village seemed imbued with this magic: the Uzumaki were truly passionate about Fūinjutsu.
They passed through the gate guarded by soldiers, without anyone paying attention to the weapons of the newcomers. A shinobi was a weapon in their own right, and whether armed or not made no difference.
"Uzukage-sama, I present to you two visitors who would like to speak with you," announced the guide to a figure seated in meditation at the center of a vast hall, where a faint smoke floated.
"Bring them in," Ashina replied without opening his eyes.
"At your command, Uzukage-sama," the man acquiesced, bowing one last time.
Madara and Sakura entered the room, and Ashina abruptly opened his eyes.
"You!" Ashina exclaimed, recognizing Madara's chakra. It was completely impossible for him to be alive. He was supposed to be dead against his son-in-law at the Valley of the End. "How could trash like you still be alive?!"
"The same way you're still standing, old relic," Madara retorted just as sharply as he advanced. Sakura was perplexed and surprised by the exchange. She was accustomed to cordial exchanges, filled with honorific titles... and here... she saw two of the most powerful beings insulting each other as if discussing the weather.
"And how dare you present yourself before me, you traitor?"
