Arima hired a fast ship and paid the boatman three times the usual fare, urging him to get to the Land of Whirlpools as quickly as possible.
The boatman was overjoyed to meet such a generous client.
Though the boy's face looked young, his attire closely resembled that of the two people the boatman had seen earlier.
It seemed likely he was tracking them. Not daring to ask questions for fear of getting involved in something dangerous, the boatman chose to keep his mouth shut and protect himself.
The sea was rough today, but fortunately the wind was blowing toward the Land of Whirlpools, making the journey smooth. Arima didn't lose much time along the way.
As the boat cut across the waves, Arima kept mulling over one troubling question.
'Could someone from the Uzumaki Clan have rescued the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers?'
Arima had personally performed the seal that imprisoned the brothers, not only did it suppress their chakra flow, it also left their limbs weak and paralyzed.
Anticipating that someone might try to rescue them, Arima had added a special sensory seal unique to the Uzumaki Clan.
If anyone tampered with the seal, he would've sensed it immediately.
But now, not only had they been rescued, his seal had been completely and silently unraveled.
As far as Arima knew, the only ones in the entire shinobi world capable of something like that were members of the Uzumaki Clan.
The whole situation reeked of something deeper at play, as if some unseen hand were pulling the strings. The path ahead was shrouded in mystery.
After about an hour, Arima finally reached the shores of the Land of Whirlpools.
The harbor was bustling with activity. Red-haired residents were few and far between, he only spotted a handful here and there.
Arima remembered Mito once telling him that the Uzumaki Clan now lived in Uzushiogakure Village, largely isolated from the outside world.
For now, he intended to investigate Kinkaku and Ginkaku whereabouts without drawing attention.
The best way to start was to find someone local who might have inside knowledge.
Appearing as a twelve year old boy in this place would only arouse suspicion, so Arima used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as a wealthy middle-aged merchant.
It didn't take long before his appearance, especially the air of wealth, caught the eyes of two thugs who began tailing him, clearly planning to rob him blind.
As they followed him into a deserted alley, the two thugs grinned with excitement. They hadn't expected this merchant to practically walk into their trap.
But just as they prepared to strike, Arima subdued both of them in an instant.
He said coldly, "I'm going to ask you one question. Answer correctly, and you live. Answer wrong, and I'll send you to meet your ancestors."
It was only then the two realized they had been tricked. Their hearts sank.
Arima asked, "Where's your boss?"
The skinnier one asked hesitantly, "What do you want with him, sir?"
Arima's aura flared and he glared at them, making them tremble with fear.
The skinny one stammered, "S-sir, ask anything, we'll tell you everything. We wouldn't dare hide a thing."
Arima nodded with satisfaction. "I'm looking for your boss to ask if anyone saw two horned freaks earlier this morning."
The taller thug's eyes lit up. He grinned and said eagerly, "Sir, I saw those two."
Arima gestured for him to continue.
The man began, excitedly, "It was just at dawn when I got up to take a piss. Sir, you know, people like us don't have steady places to stay, so we make do however we can…"
Arima narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed. "Get to the point."
Realizing he was rambling, the man quickly adjusted.
"Right, sorry. I saw two weirdos with horns, looked like bulls. I thought maybe I could squeeze something out of them, but even though they looked kinda dumb and never blinked, they walked straight toward Uzushiogakure Village without hesitation.
Definitely ninja, not the kind you wanna mess with."
Arima's mind grew even more clouded with doubt. So many things didn't add up.
Why didn't they return to the Kumogakure outpost? At the very least, they should have fled back to their village. But instead, they appeared near Uzushiogakure ?
Who rescued them? And why?
Could it really have been the Uzumaki Clan? Weren't they Konoha's allies? Had they betrayed the Leaf... betrayed the Senju?
After getting the information he needed, Arima waved the two men off.
The two thugs scrambled out of the alley like their lives depended on it, cursing their luck.
Arima stood in silence, a storm of questions swirling in his mind.
He didn't have enough answers yet to make a decision, so he would have to take it one step at a time.
His next move was to infiltrate Uzushiogakure Village by night and investigate the connection between the brothers and the village.
He spent the rest of the day in a local inn, waiting for nightfall. Once it was completely dark, and after making all the necessary preparations, he set out.
Arima had deep knowledge of the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques, so the sensory barriers around Uzushiogakure posed no obstacle to him.
Still, the deeper he went, the more puzzled he became. He hadn't sensed any of the Flying Thunder God markers he had left on the brothers.
Those markings weren't supposed to be removable.
Trying to piece it all together, Arima found himself lost in a fog of confusion. The truth seemed farther away than ever.
So he turned to chakra sensory techniques, scanning for the strongest chakra signatures within Uzushiogakure.
Excluding the village leaders, two powerful signatures stood out, both coming from the village shrine.
Arima knew those two signatures well. They belonged to none other than Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Carefully avoiding the patrols, Arima made his way swiftly to the shrine.
Inside, only two massive candles burned quietly. The flames flickered suddenly, then steadied once more.
Arima stepped into the shrine, and sure enough, there they were. Kinkaku and Ginkaku sat cross-legged below the altar, their eyes dull, staring blankly at the rows of masks above.
Arima remembered Mito once mentioning these masks. They were said to be relics from ancient times, and supposedly, they represented the Uzumaki Clan's strongest sealing techniques.
Only the clan head knew the details, Mito herself had never fully understood them.
The masks looked eerie in the dim light, like the faces of demons.
Arima approached slowly and said in a low voice, "Kinkaku, Ginkaku, I finally found you. This time, your blood will honor the fallen."
But the two remained motionless.
They just sat there in silence, which struck Arima as deeply unsettling. He stepped past them to get a better look at their faces.
Still no reaction. Their eyes were vacant, fixated on the masks above. Blackness had begun to spread across half of Kinkaku's body.
Then, in a hoarse, unfamiliar voice, Kinkaku said, "Arima, you finally arrived."
That voice made Arima's scalp tingle.
He ran through every detail in his mind, linking everything together. If the real goal was to lure him here, then everything made sense.
Why hadn't the brothers fled immediately after escaping? Instead, they wasted time slaughtering people, it must've been to provoke him into pursuing them relentlessly.
Even when he had lost their trail, there had always been just enough clues left behind for him to keep tracking them. At the time, he had thought it was a coincidence.
But now, it all felt orchestrated.
Even choosing to come to the Land of Whirlpools, given the brothers' usual caution, they never would've let the boatman live to tell the tale.
And yet they had traveled so brazenly, making no effort to conceal themselves.
It was all a trap. They were bait. And he, blinded by anger and too confident in himself, had walked right into it.
But one question remained. 'Why? Why did they want to lure me here?'
Even now, the mastermind still only spoke through Kinkaku's body, refusing to reveal himself. Clearly, this was no ally. What was his plan?
Arima realized something else. Killing him wouldn't be easy. Ever since he'd learned Sage Mode, he could heal without hand signs, just like Hashirama.
The only way to defeat him instantly would be to seal him away.
At that moment, a spark went off in Arima's mind. He muttered, "Of course… only the Uzumaki Clan's strongest sealing technique could take me down in one blow…"
The half-darkened face grinned eerily. "Exactly. You're clever. Too bad it won't save you. I'm going to seal you now."
Arima immediately tried to activate Flying Thunder God, but none of his marks responded.
The shadowed face sneered, "Heard of Yin-Yang Release? It can suppress your ability to sense your own seals. You can't escape."
Arima calmed himself completely and asked evenly, "Why?"
The half-shadowed face replied, "You're going to die anyway, so no harm in telling you. You're in the way. Until Indra's chakra reincarnate awakens, I can't let you exist."
Arima caught two critical pieces of information and quickly asked, "What's your plan?"
The darkened face chuckled sinisterly.
"That's none of your concern. Arima, you've been impressive… but you made one mistake. You got in the way. Arrogant little bug... goodbye."
---------------
Guys do leave some power stones and reviews.
pa treon . com / plotplanner
Remove all the spaces in between and then search.
If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.