Chapter 370

……

the Akatsuki,

looking at Uzumaki Mito, who shared the same red hair as himself,

Nagato fell silent for a long time.

If the Land of Whirlpools had not been destroyed,

if the Uzumaki clan still existed,

he would not be in this state right now.

He should have been living happily in the Land of Whirlpools,

and not in this place, the Land of Rain!!!

The stronger his power grew,

the more clearly Nagato felt the terrifying constitution of the Uzumaki clan,

if not for the Uzumaki bloodline,

when the Rinnegan awakened,

he would most likely have died long ago,

the physical demands of these eyes were simply too horrifying!!!

Only after reaching adulthood

did Nagato feel he could barely control this pair of Rinnegan!!

Every time he used the Rinnegan,

Nagato felt as though his entire body was being hollowed out,

his own life force draining away at an ever-quickening pace!!!

The reason he now looked so aged and withered

was precisely because, in his youth, he had used the Rinnegan without any restraint,

and that was how he had ended up like this!!!

And seeing the sealing jutsu Uzumaki Mito had just displayed,

a trace of longing even rose in Nagato's heart,

he found himself thinking,

if he had never awakened these eyes,

if he had lived in the Land of Whirlpools,

would he by now have mastered those sealing jutsu to perfection,

and even without the Rinnegan,

the nine Tailed Beasts probably would not have been his match,

and he would not have had to pay such a terrible price!!!

……

Inside the cave,

seeing all of this, Obito Uchiha

could not help but feel that the fate of the Uzumaki clan and the fate of the Uchiha clan were strikingly alike!!!

The Uchiha clan had chosen to join Konoha,

and in the end, failing to fit in, they were destroyed by forces within Konoha itself!!

The Uzumaki clan had not joined Konoha,

becoming Konoha's most loyal ally instead,

yet at their most desperate hour,

Konoha had chosen to stand by and do nothing,

ultimately allowing the Uzumaki clan to be wiped out!!!

As for whether Konoha had played some hand in all of this,

Obito Uchiha could no longer be sure.

After he left Konoha,

Obito Uchiha only then realized

that the place where he had grown up from childhood

had actually been hiding so many things that could not see the light of day.

The darkness and filth hidden within Konoha

far exceeded anything he had ever imagined!!!

So as his ideals shattered,

and as he came to understand Konoha more and more,

he came to despise the hometown he had once loved most,

and even wanted to destroy the place where he had grown up from childhood!!

……

"Ashina, I'm sorry…"

"Let me apologize to you on Hashirama's behalf…"

Senju Butchama turned his head toward his old friend Uzumaki Ashina, a look of apology on his face.

After all, it was they who had been in the wrong,

GLOSSARY:

【Uzumaki Nagato, Uzumaki Mito, Land of Whirlpools, Uzumaki clan, Land of Rain, Rinnegan, Tailed Beast, sealing jutsu, Obito Uchiha, Uchiha clan, Konoha, Senju Butchama, Hashirama, Uzumaki Ashina】

He had already made an agreement with Uzumaki Ashina,

but Hashirama Senju had broken the pact between them.

Otherwise, Hashirama Senju and Uzumaki Mito would have long since been husband and wife!!!

Seeing Hashirama Senju and Uzumaki Mito in the distance,

Uzumaki Ashina shook his head but said nothing.

The two of them had not concealed the content of their conversation,

so everything the two of them discussed was heard clearly by Senju Butsuma and Uzumaki Ashina.

"The children have grown up after all, let the two of them go…"

"Perhaps the two of us have grown old…"

"We can no longer see through the times of today and the thoughts of the children at all…"

Uzumaki Ashina let out a sigh.

Regarding the development of the Land of Fire in recent years,

Uzumaki Ashina found that even he could not quite understand it!!

The commotion created by Senju's reforms was simply too great,

whether it was the founding of the school or the reform of the medical system,

both far exceeded Uzumaki Ashina's imagination!!

Especially the things developed by the Land of Fire's Ministry of Science and Technology shocked Uzumaki Ashina even more!!!!

Even an ordinary person,

a completely mundane person who had never practiced ninjutsu,

holding some of the powerful weapons from the Ministry of Science and Technology could pose a threat to him!!

This left Uzumaki Ashina completely unable to comprehend,

and once such weapons were mass-produced,

to what extent could the Land of Fire's military strength grow by then?

Just thinking about it,

Uzumaki Ashina felt his scalp tingle!!

But now he no longer had too many concerns,

because the Land of Whirlpools no longer existed,

they were now also a part of the Land of Fire,

now only the Whirlpool City remained!!!

"Yes… I didn't expect Hashirama could reach this step either."