Many years ago, the Uzumaki clan was wiped out.
No one knew exactly why, or rather, everyone knew, but no one spoke about it.
The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, their political system, their geographical location, there were far too many reasons for their destruction.
Of course, the most important reason was that they backed the wrong ally. They sided with Konoha, a foolish leader at the time. They had a military alliance in name, but when the time came, Konoha simply watched them perish.
However, Aoba had long suspected that there must be some hidden reason behind the Uzumaki clan's destruction.
Having saved Yumi and Karin, and with his connection to Naruto, he had always kept an eye on matters related to the Uzumaki clan.
Based on the information he had gathered over the years, after the Uzumaki clan was wiped out, much of their ninja resources were deliberately destroyed.
Yes, the forces that attacked them were a coalition led by the Land of Water. But in reality, they did not truly acquire the Uzumaki clan's ninja techniques.
Just look at how things developed afterward. Most of Konoha's high-level sealing techniques were inherited from the Uzumaki clan.
But the other ninja villages? Their knowledge was nowhere near comparable. In other words, when it came to the Uzumaki clan's most important legacy, sealing techniques, they obtained very little.
That was very intriguing.
After all, the Uzumaki clan was no pushover. Even if they weren't one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, they were still a powerful clan with the ability to resist.
Who would attack them without any benefit? The Land of Water didn't go unscathed either, they paid a price for their assault.
And what they gained was nowhere near worth what they sacrificed.
But if you look deeper, you'll find that even Konoha didn't obtain the Uzumaki clan's deepest research, specifically, their studies on the Shinigami.
If not for the Reaper Death Seal being passed down... If not for Orochimaru later discovering the Uzumaki clan's mask and reversing the Reaper Death Seal to free the sealed Hokages' souls, the shinobi world wouldn't have had any deeper understanding of the Shinigami even centuries later.
In fact, even Orochimaru never delved deeper. The only one who remained fixated on both the Shinigami and the Jashin was Aoba.
And just as he started making his move, he was interrupted by Hashirama.
Rather than being frustrated, Aoba was actually pleased. Because this proved that the Sage of Six Paths wasn't all-powerful. He had many weaknesses in the shinobi world.
Whenever someone got too close to these weaknesses, he had to respond. And such responses must come at a cost. Otherwise, he would have already erased those weaknesses entirely.
The Sage of Six Paths couldn't do anything about the Shinigami, so his only choice was to stop anyone from attempting to contact it.
It was highly likely that the Uzumaki clan had gotten too close to this truth, which led to their extermination.
And now, Aoba had done something similar. The other side didn't hesitate to play their trump card.
For Hashirama to attack Konoha without a second thought... That showed just how deeply he was influenced by Asura.
However, Konoha had long been prepared. Aoba had made countless preparations in anticipation of such an attack.
The defensive barrier was just one of them.
"What's the casualty report?" Aoba asked upon seeing the Anbu messenger.
"Two patrolling shinobi outside the perimeter failed to enter the barrier in time and were killed. Aside from that, some buildings in the village suffered tremors, but the extent of the damage is still being assessed."
"That's acceptable. Prepare for a counterattack."
Konoha swiftly launched its counterattack. But instead of sending out elite fighters to face Hashirama head-on, they chose a different approach.
Currently, in the entire village, only Yumi and Kakashi could truly stand up to Hashirama in direct combat. Tsunade and the Fourth Hokage were slightly weaker in comparison.
The Third and Second Hokages were even lower in ranking. Of course, the Second Hokage's situation was different now, Aoba wouldn't allow him to join the fight so easily. His primary role was research and development.
The Third Hokage wasn't weak, but his power had its limits, and he couldn't handle an opponent of this level.
During this time when Aoba couldn't use chakra, Konoha facing Hashirama in a head-to-head clash was extremely dangerous.
But as always, Aoba never relied on just one plan.
Now that Konoha had large-scale chakra cores, they weren't going to use them solely for defense.
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Currently on Chapter 360 - I'm Just a Sage... One Who Pursuited Power