A girl with vibrant red hair was running. Behind her, others with that same signature hair shadowed her, their faces etched with worry.
They looked at the streets, which were now in chaos as people scrambled toward the shelters.
'How?' Kushina's mind raced. 'How did our ninjas miss them? How is an entire army at our front door?'
As she jumped from building to building, she spotted a familiar figure struggling on the street below. It was her aunt. She was due to give birth in just a few days, and yet this was happening now.
Kushina leaped down. "Aunty, what are you doing here? You should be evacuating to the shelter!"
The woman's breath came in ragged gasps, her eyes filled with worry. "I—I couldn't, Kushina. I can't run. And even if I wanted to, I don't think I can." She clutched her swelling stomach, her face contorting in pain.
This was Medori Uzumaki, Kushina's maternal aunt. A powerful Jōnin and master sensor with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
She had been reduced to the strength of a high Genin due to the strain of her pregnancy. It was the first time in Uzumaki history where a mother's vitality had been weakened to this extent—and the attack had come exactly when the village's "Eyes" were at their weakest.
"Aunt, come with me," Kushina said in a firm tone. At that moment, she looked less like a child and more like her father—the Clan Head.
———
On the Front Lines
A man stood at the village walls, staring at the horizon where the enemy fleet was closing in like hungry hyenas.
He turned to the woman beside him, his voice steady despite the danger. His name was Kenji Uzumaki.
"How... how did this happen?" he asked, his hands shaking as he held a sealing scroll half his size—not out of fear but worry over the implications.
"What happened to our sensory team? Our sensory seals? How did they reach our very doorstep without a single alarm?"
"We lost contact with them. Our sensory seals were tampered with by someone or something," the woman replied, her head lowered.
She was Sakuko Uzumaki, the Jōnin Commander and one of their top shinobi. It was her responsibility to safeguard the borders, and she had failed.
Kenji remained silent. A surprise attack while the village's top sensor—the one with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura—was down did not paint a pretty picture. He should have listened to his friend's advice. Alas, there is no medicine for regret.
"How many enemies, and which village do they belong to?" he asked with a clenched jaw.
"15,000 enemy forces from Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa."
Kenji smiled wryly. 'It will be a tough fight.'
Sakuko continued, "—and they have two Jinchuriki with them, from Kumo and Kiri."
'It seems Uzushiogakure is destined to fall,' Kenji thought.
"What about the reinforcements from Konoha?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"We sent the intel through reverse summoning. If everything goes right, it will take six to ten hours," she replied. Her knuckles turned white from how hard she gripped her sword—a massive blade forged from pure Chakra Metal.
"Also, send word to the Old Hag. Tell her our survival depends on her," he ordered, remembering a final hope.
"Yes, my lord," Sakuko replied with a small smile despite the situation.
"That 'Old Hag' is your sister and the Matriarch of the Senju Clan," a man said as he landed beside the two, followed by another woman.
"How did we not sense them before they reached our borders, Kenji?" the woman asked in a no-nonsense tone. Her name was Saki Uzumaki, and the man was Shōto Uzumaki.
"I warned you, Kenji, that we should increase border patrols and prepare our shinobi," Shōto said gravely, his hair whipping in the wind.
Both were Kenji's childhood friends and served as third and second-in-command, respectively. Kenji could only sigh in resignation at the remark.
Saki turned to Sakuko, her disciple. "How much time until they reach the shore?"
"Thirty minutes to reach the shore, and another thirty to cross the forest," Sakuko replied to her sensei.
"Good. It will buy us time to prepare the ninja and activate the seals around the forest. I can only arrange 1,000 ninja at the moment. They are placing the seals and paper tags as we speak."
"Good. Start evacuating civilians from the shelters through the underground tunnels," Kenji commanded.
"If you've come to the same conclusion as me, then you should know there is no 'safe' tunnel," Shōto replied.
"I know. But if even a few survive, at least the Uzumaki name will not be forgotten in a history book," Kenji said.
The others' faces grimaced with understanding.
Shōto knew the situation better than anyone. They would fall here; the only question was how much time they could buy and how much the enemy was prepared to lose.
He had already sent his best men to lead the evacuation. He could only hope that not all Uzumaki would perish here as he watched the ships draw closer.
———
On the other side of the Battlefield
In the sea of Uzushiogakure, three large wooden boats, which were leading the march of a few hundred smaller ships, were slowly sailing towards the battlefield, which would be a meat grinder for all of them.
Three men were leading the charge to the shores of Uzushio. They were highly capable ninjas of their village.
Leading them was a brown-skinned man with a muscular build and dark messy hair. He said with a heavy voice:
"It seems the intel had been right after all."
As much as it was good news, it was also an alarm to his paranoid mind that someone could bypass Uzumaki's village, which is known for their strong sensory techniques and seals.
Then what about theirs? It seemed he was not the only one concerned about this.
"You are right, I should also inform the Tsuchikage about this," the Iwa ninja with brown hair and a lean build said with a wry smile.
It was not like they could do something about it anyway.
"Anyways, how should we deal with them?" the last man decided to ask in a carefree voice. He was a lean man, if not scrawny. At his waist hung a string-like sword.
It was a chore for him to be here, but alas, orders are orders. He couldn't just leave from here; as one of the Swordsmen of the Mist, he had a reputation to keep.
Suddenly, a weak wave hit their ship. The others ignored it, as it wasn't the first time in this long and short journey.
But the Kiri ninja could feel it: the seas were restless, the wind was becoming more active, and the clouds were moving unnaturally.
He had already informed them about this, so they should expect rain and storms. And everyone knew what storms are at sea—well, everyone in Kiri knew. He didn't know about the other two, nor did he care about these so-called 'Allies'.
'There are no eternal enemies, only interests,' he thought amusingly, looking at the horizon at Uzushiogakure and their fleet, which was more than 12,000 strong men with two nukes of their 'allies' village; and the two nukes were glaring at each other.
It would be hilarious—two men on parallel boats staring at each other—if the two were not radiating a massive amount of malicious intent, so much that from start to now no one dared to step in their line of sight and were keeping a 10-meter distance from them.
Those were obviously the Second and Fourth Tailed Beast Jinchuriki from Kumogakure and Iwagakure, respectively.
'Hhh, I am tired of this. Should I quit and live somewhere quiet and start a family? Nah, Kiri higher-ups will chew me alive and throw me in some ditch. The dilemma of this job.'
Then he saw a movement on the shores; he could see some Uzushiogakure ninjas laying traps and seals all over the place.
If he could see them, so could the other two. As he thought that, the other two also noticed it.
Suddenly a Kumo ninja flickered in front of them.
"Sir, the enemy seems to be setting up traps." They all looked at him like he was an idiot.
'Bro, should they be laying a red carpet for us, so we can come happily and butcher everyone like some cattle and steal everything? And whatever hidden agendas these two have…. especially these Kumo bastards, they are like a group of bandits wherever they spot a Kekkei Genkai for sale.'
———
Sanji's POV
Sanji was barely keeping his eye from twitching at the audacity or stupidity of his own ninja.
'He will discipline them later,' he thought inwardly. 'If we survive, that is.' He had no illusions. Their chances were twenty percent at best, and that was for the elite. The rest? They were just fodder meant to stall the three monsters waiting for them on those shores.
"Hmn," he nodded his head and focused on the horizon, Uzushiogakure.
The Jōnin, taking it as his cue, flickered away.
Kenji Uzumaki, Clan Head and a Seal Master second only to Mito Uzumaki.
Shōto Uzumaki, the Technician of seals second only to Tobirama Senju. It was said he even helped create some forbidden jutsu with him.
And last but not least, the most feared Saki Uzumaki, The Monster, Crimson Witch, second only to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, whose names still terrorized the world.
He could still feel the phantom pain of the spear stabbed in his gut, as she, covered in the blood of her enemies, stared down at him with emotionless eyes and said one word, "Weak," and left.
That word still haunts him to this day, and why shouldn't it? His hundred-man strong infantry had been reduced to only him.
That's why he personally requested this mission from the Raikage, so that he could wash away that fear or die trying.
"How much time till we reach the shore?" he asked that lazy Kiri bastard, who was treating it like a picnic.
"10 minutes," came the lazy reply.
He swore to God he would have killed him if he was not one of the Seven Swordsmen and his army wasn't the second largest in this fleet.
And amusingly, most were Genin to low Chūnin, with few Jōnin few and far between, and almost all of them were Kekkei Genkai holders.
'It seems the Mizukage is cleaning his house, or more like erasing it.'
He didn't know, nor was he interested. Believe it or not, even Kumo didn't want to poke that can of worms.
'I just hope our special ops will do their job and secure the target before those tree-huggers arrive,' he thought grimly.
'If they arrive, that is,' he added with a dark smirk.