The journey would be one filled with sadness but also with hope. After they had left and gathered some more supplies for their long expedition ahead, they immediately set to the now ruined Uzumaki village and paid their respects to their ancestors and allies at Uzushiogakure before continuing to venture throughout its lands and beyond for any sight or sound of Uzumaki clan members.
Initially their search was not met with luck, with any rumours the children had heard leading to dead ends. With the mood getting worse, Katsuro made sure to not let time go to waste and to turn their focus elsewhere. He began teaching them all manners of things. From Fuinjutsu as their heritage, to Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. He even taught them basic things they had not had the chance to learn due to their struggles, things a parent would normally teach their child. Katsuro saw himself in all of them, and as his people he hoped he could become somewhat like the parental figure Granny Mito was for him. And luckily for him, the children despite not being much younger than him, soon began seeing him as a parent figure, somewhat able to replace the ones who had lost their lives.
He made sure to pay extra attention to Minari and Souta who displayed special abilities of the Uzumaki clan. Katsuro made sure Minari worked on her chakra control while teaching her Iryo ninjutsu to ensure she wouldn't drain herself from using her own ability. He also cautioned her of the risk, stating if it was not something she wished to do, she wouldn't have to, especially with him around. While fairly meek, she had a strong heart which was determined to look after her friends and family. So she dived into learning Iryo ninjutsu while telling him she would still let people bite on her if they needed to. Katsuro could only respect her resolve while helping her harness her power, it would be hypocritical of him to tell her it was too dangerous.
Noriyu particularly excelled in understanding and using various signature Sealing Jutsus of the Uzumaki clan, which Katsuro took up and helped her to develop, also introducing her to the sealing techniques he had learned from Granny Mito, helping to build her foundation. Considering Noriyu was still young, and had time to progress, he left it at that, allowing her to develop her Fuinjutsu and Ninjutsu for now, before introducing more, since Sealing Jutsus were quite hard to master. But Katsuro had faith in the girl, seeing she was making good progress, which any other regular Shinobi would have found difficult, much less a young girl.
Meanwhile, Tenkai and Masaru both showed more proficiency and potential in other areas.
Tenaki expressed particular interest and ability in Taijutsu as well as Fire Style Jutsus, which were a strong combination together, let alone by themselves. Considering that, Katsuro helped Tenaki to develop his ability in both, giving him lessons in his physical Taijutsu, teaching him the Senju style along with the others to make sure they had a firm foundation. Their Uzumaki bodies were perfect for Senju's strong style. While they would have loved to immediately start diving into learning high level ninjutsu, he could only teach them from the start, ensuring they were comfortable with the principles of nature transformation before delving into D rank Jutsu. The boys in particular were disappointed they had to wait, but when Katsuro performed a D rank Fireball Jutsu, they learned that it wasn't the Jutsu that determined the power, but rather the wielder.
Masaru, better adapted to Kenjutsu, was taught the skill and quickly advanced with it, learning the basic sword moves before transitioning into sparring with Katsuro.
Regardless of the areas that the five youths particularly excelled at individually, the Senju Patriarch still developed their Jutsus in their significant chakra natures, and helped them develop any other weaker ones. Katsuro taught all of them Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but more importantly how to use their immense chakra as Uzumakis. He had to make sure they were equipped with the skillset to survive and win most fights they would ever find themselves in. He also showed them how to work together and fight as a team, not only alone, which would make them an even stronger and deadly unit. But much to their frustration, no matter what they did, they had failed to leave a single scratch on his body.
Katsuro had figured out that unlike other 'geniuses', he was quite good at teaching, and the Uzumaki children now with a comfortable and structured training method, were making remarkable progress. The 'cheat' skill of the Shadow Clone technique also came in handy once they were able to learn it.
Katsuro too used it effectively, leaving shadow clones to teach them while making progress himself. He worked on a number of ideas he had during the war, while perfecting his Flying Raijin and Wind Style Chakra Mode to make sure it could even be combined with his Thunderclap Impulse. When both techniques were put together, Katsuro was sure he would be invincible at close range. He even made sure to pay attention to more wind style techniques, to pay homage to his name as Wind Emperor.
Katsuro paid further attention to Souta, who had displayed signs of having the Mind's Eye of Kagura that he had heard about from Granny Mito was a boon. Katsuro and Souta soon managed to awaken his ability in full force, with it alongside Katsuro's own sense being a major help in identifying other Uzumaki clan members. The Eye of Kagura could sense extremely long distances, allowing ground to be covered without constantly being on the move. This was perfect for Katsuro, who was looking after the children and could still not yet teleport so many people back across such a large distance.
Day by day, they searched. Soon, they managed to locate and collect more Uzumaki clan members who had gone into hiding. Together, they strategised to find even more Uzumakis and their numbers continuously grew…
A year later…
"Hey, you want to go get some food after this?" One of the guards asked his partner at the gates of Konoha.
"Yeah su-"
"What?" The guard asked, before turning to his friend seeing him look toward the distance and tense.
"I sense over 50 high level presences, and one very large one leading them. Quick, go inform the Hokage."
The other guard, also an adept sensory ninja, which was important for their jobs, extended his sensing toward the group who were making no effort to hide themselves.
But instead of departing as quickly as he could, a smile grew on his face and he even visibly relaxed.
"Calm down, I recognise that chakra signature. One of our heroes is returning home, we should prepare to welcome him."
Trusting his partner, as well as the fact the group came without hiding, the second guard also relaxed. "Huh, who? Aren't all of our 'heroes already' in the village? The Sannin are here and even the White Fang came back from a mission recently."
"Not everyone, I fought alongside him against Suna. He, single-handedly, was the reason Konoha was able to win the war as quickly as we did. He's been away for a while, but seems to be back now."
"Wait…you're talking about…you don't mean the Stormbreaker do you?"
The man grinned, "Of course it's him, who else would it be?"
The two waited for him in anticipation as if they were fans about to meet their favourite celebrity.
Soon Katsuro was seen walking toward the village, he seemed older with a slight scruff of a beard forming. He still looked imposing, but with his smile bright it felt welcoming and inviting as well. Behind him were rows and rows of red haired people, ranging mostly from children and teens to older parents. The dye they had once used to hide their hair, was now gone, faded away by their journey to Konoha. They all looked happy, hopeful as if they were seeing the sun after months of rain. They no longer hid themselves, their hair or their heritage. Instead they wore it proudly in the open, under the protection of a man who had promised their safety. A man they wholeheartedly believed in.
As Katsuro made his way to the gates, he greeted the guards who looked somewhat confused at his entourage but also grew happy once the connection was made. Having recognised one of them, he grew even more ecstatic.
"Lord Senju! It is my absolute honour to have fought alongside you, and for you to even remember me!"
Katsuro chuckled, "No, the honour to have fought alongside you all is mine, the war could not have been won without you all."
"Sir!" The other guard began, "Are these perhaps Uzumaki clan members?"
"Yes, I went to gather our allies in the past year and invite them into our home. They'll be staying with the Senju for now."
The Uzumaki behind him, seeing the enthusiasm and reaction of the guards learning they were Uzumaki, left them more assured that it was not Konoha as a whole who abandoned them. They could see that while there were a few bad apples, it did not mean the whole tree was rotten.
After some small talk, Katsuro and the Uzumaki walked into the village. The rest of the guards and nearby Shinobi, seeing their hero, made no attempt to stop them, and didn't even bother informing the Hokage. Katsuro even used his expertise in Fuinjutsu to hide the group from detection from Konoha's sensory barrier maintained by the Konoha Barrier Team, mostly made up of Yamanaka Clan members. Katsuro clearly saw through the degrading state of the barrier which was ironically initially put up with the help of the Uzumaki clan.
The cracks of their failure are already starting to show, they did not realise how good they had it until it was lost. Let's see how they can take advantage of the Uzumaki while I'm here.
The group swiftly made their way to the corner of the village where the Senju compound lay, walking through the streets of Konoha as civilians looked at them in curiosity with some recognising him but being unsure if really was him or not. Not many people saw them due to their haste, ensuring even if the information made its way around the village, it would take a while. Nearing the compounds, Katsuro quickly released a burst of chakra, as people in the village generally had their senses shut off out of respect. Sensing his familiar chakra, a number of individuals instantly made their way to the entrance.
Senju Kaito was one of the first, wearing a pleasant smile even through his usually cold, calm mask.
"Patriarch, welcome back."
"Thanks, Kaito. I assume everything has been going well?"
"Yes sir, well enough. There are a couple of issues but nothing major."
As they spoke more clan members came out to greet him, all evidently curious about the red haired individuals behind him.
"Everyone, as you can see I have brought our family back. Please ensure they are welcomed!" Katsuro called out to the rest of the Senju members within the compound.
To his words, the group made surprised and excited reactions, immediately introducing themselves and welcoming the Uzumaki clan members. Their innate personalities helped to put the nerves of the Uzumaki at ease. Even though Katsuro had assured them his clan would love the situation, they had still felt nervous about intruding.
As Katsuro was watching over the situation, ordering some of his clansmen to arrange the accommodation for the Uzumaki, soon a small ball of red hair ran straight into his stomach, delivering a headbutt. Katsuro smiled fondly, coughing, placing a hand over the head of the young girl who had grown so much in his absence. She had wrapped her arms around his waist and he could feel the tear drops staining his shirt.
"Are you still a cry-baby, Kushina?" he asked with a chuckle to lighten the mood. She backed off slightly before wiping her tears, allowing Katsuo to see the Ninja forehead protector on her forehead.
"Who's crying? I am a Ninja now, y'know!" She said pointing at the metal, proof she was a Genin.
Katsuro smiled somewhat solemnly, realising even more the time he had missed with her and how much she really had grown.
"You've grown," he said with sincerity.
"Yeah." she replied, relaying the same warmth he displayed. "Welcome back, Nii-san."
"Yeah, I'm back."
AN: If you would like to view up to 20 chapters ahead, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 150 POWER STONES for the next BONUSCHAPTER!