Chapter 17 - Uzushiogakure

Behind the door, we were greeted to the sight of a bustling village. Unlike Konoha, Uzu was made in a more systematic way, with tall buildings in the center, and progressively smaller buildings near the edge. From the center, eight wide straight roads led to the edge of the city, creating a spiderweb of roads, drawing concentric circles with the smaller bent roads connecting to the eight main ones.

The main roads were filled to the brim with people, mostly redheads, about forty percent, followed by some with dark purple hair lastly some with white hair, much like Sakumo, but a shade darker. I could guess, since the number outweighed everyone else, that these three were the main clans, one of which, of course, was the Uzumaki. Other than that, everyone else looked normal, probably mostly civilians, since they seemed to be the ones who ran the stalls and shops along the main road.

"Wow"

I couldn't hold in my opinion of the overwhelmingly beautiful sight before me.

"Wow indeed, I was like that the first time I visited too, it's so different from Konoha, it really gives of a foreign feeling"

Unlike my amazement, Sakumo was more composed, though that didn't stop our guide from letting out some small giggles towards my attitude.

"Welcome to Uzushiogakure, I hope you enjoy your stay, just make sure not to make any trouble, our we will be forced to… fix your attitude, ok?"

'Ok… quite passive-aggressive, true to the Uzumaki attitude I see'

"Sure miss, we will be careful not to make any trouble… now, if you would excuse us, my apprentice and I have an errand with the Uzumaki clan head"

After saying that, Sakumo began to walk into the city, only for the lady to stop him moments after…

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to go alone for security reasons. Although your papers check out, the village is a little tense right now, since we caught a few spies some time ago"

'Spies you say? I think the attack on Uzu is coming soon, hell it might even be while we are here, though I already knew that was a possibility, this almost confirms it'

"Ah ok miss, I'm sure my apprentice would have a few questions for you, it is, after all, his first time in the village"

With that, Sakumo continued on his way to the village, whit me and the redhead following closely behind.

'Sakumo has given me an excuse to gather some information, let's see how loose-lipped this woman is, she leaked the information of the spy earlier, so I can probably get some more out of her, but I got to ease into it first'

"Uhm, miss Uzumaki, can you tell me a bit about the clans in the village? Although we are allies, Konoha's library has surprisingly little about the inhabitants of Uzushiogakure, so I know little about it outside its specialization in sealing and kenjutsu"

She smiled at me, but from her eyes, you could tell she was contemplating on what to tall me, perhaps rather what she was allowed to tell me…

'So, she is careful, maybe she slipped up earlier when she told us about the spy'

"Well, for starters, you should know this village was build by and is governed by the Uzumaki clan. They make up about fifty-five percent of the villagers, with the Suisho and Kusushi as subordinate clans. The two clans were originally branch families of the Uzumaki clan, but through some mutations of the original Uzumaki abilities, they gained their now trademark abilities"

'Suisho and Kusushi… what could these trademark abilities be? Judging from their names, I can at least guess what the Kusushi clan's specialization is, but what's with the Suisho clan?'

"Uhm, the Suisho clan and Kusushi clan, what's special about them? You said they had mutated forms of the Uzumaki clan's abilities, but how?"

"hmm, the Kusushi clan is the youngest of the two. A mutation happened in their progenitor giving him an enhanced version of the Uzumaki natural healing, which also gave him the ability to direct it to others, even outside the clan, and healing them. This great power came at the cost of the ability to manifest his chakra like the sealing chains, and he, unlike any other in the clan, had white hair from birth. Also, when he used his ability on others, they would have to bite him, leaving a permanent teeth mark…"

'That seems like the ability Karin has, but as far as I know, she was an Uzumaki, and had red hair, so how come it was the ability of the Kusushi clan?'

"…Currently there is an experiment to see how the ability interacts with the Uzumaki genes, and the first hybrid was born four years ago, so it's still too early to tell"

'ahh, that would explain it, that hybrid is probably Karin's mother, but since she was half Kusushi, it explains why Karins sealing chains were so weak… though, I must say, this Uzumaki sure has loose lips, what she just told us should at least be classified information…'

"Now the Suisho clan is opposite the Kusushi clan in abilities. Their progenitor was a half-blood Uzumaki, whose mother was from the Yuki clan. Due to the interaction of the Uzumaki chakra manifestation ability and the ice release of the Yuki clan, she was able to produce purple crystals from her chakra, which matched her hair color, which was a mix of the Uzumaki red and the deep blue of the Yuki clan"

'Wow, another unexplained ability from the original… Guren was her name right, the one who worked for Orochimaru… guess her ancestors were from Uzu, never would have guessed that, I wonder what other abilities have sprouted from this place...'

"Other than that, there's the minor clans such as the Gemini clan, the Seijin clan and Toraiamudo clan, which each has the ability to, ohh, were here, guess the explanation will have to wait, I'm sure it not a good idea to let the clan head wait"

'hmm, this is the front of the Uzumaki main family compound, quite pretentious…'

We had made it close to the center of the village, standing before a mansion which was inhabited by the main family of the Uzumaki clan…

'Kushina's parents, siblings and other close relatives lives in there, I'm getting nervous, her grandfather, the clan head, is the best sealer on the planet, and it's almost like I'm meeting my parents in law… well hopefully they will be later…'

With that, I turned my head towards Sakumo, as the guards at the estate opened the front gate after seeing our papers. Sakumo nodded just before walking inside…

'Well, here we go!'