However— As Gengetsu swept his gaze across the Uzumaki defensive line, he noticed one of the elderly shinobi suddenly lower his left hand, issuing a strange signal he could not understand.
“Hah!” Gengetsu’s expression changed.
He recognised that cry.
It was the signal to detonate explosive tags.
The next instant, the ground beneath the invading force convulsed violently.
Powerful shockwaves erupted beneath their feet, throwing dirt and debris into the air.
“This is bad!
More explosive tags!” Gengetsu immediately understood the Uzumaki’s plan, but it was already too late.
Countless explosive tags detonated one after another, swallowing more than a hundred shinobi in the overlapping blasts.
“Forward!
Everyone, follow me!” Gengetsu narrowly avoided the blasts around him and roared out his command.
He knew they had stumbled into another Uzumaki ambush.
However, less than a kilometre separated them from the second defensive line.
If they could cross this field and reach the Uzumaki force, nothing but death would await their enemies.
Although the explosions had caused considerable chaos, the invading force consisted entirely of powerful jōnin.
Most escaped the initial barrage with only minor injuries.
“Charge!” “Keep moving!” Large numbers of shinobi broke free from the blast zone.
Then their pupils abruptly contracted.
Kunai!
The sky ahead was filled with kunai—and explosive tags fluttered from every weapon.
“Explosive-tagged kunai!” A powerful sense of danger surged through Gengetsu.
“Retreat!” He issued the order without hesitation.
They had managed to break through the previous explosions, but there was no way they could avoid such a dense volley of explosive-tagged kunai.
Their rear had already been scouted, and no ambush had been discovered there.
For the moment, withdrawing was the safest option.
It was a decision born from years of battlefield experience.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The invading shinobi rapidly gave up ground.
However, Gengetsu soon noticed something disturbing.
Whenever they retreated, the curtain of kunai advanced with them, pressing closer with every passing moment.
That could only mean the Uzumaki shinobi had abandoned their second defensive line and were advancing while maintaining their bombardment.
This cannot continue!
Since they’ve left their defensive line, we can break through to them.
Even if we sacrifice several dozen shinobi, once we reach them— A bold plan had barely formed in Gengetsu’s mind when a shout suddenly rang out behind him.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!” One earthen wall after another erupted from the ground behind them, completely sealing off their path back to the sea.
“This is bad!
We’ve been trapped!” The sight immediately drove Gengetsu’s previous idea from his mind.
The Uzumaki’s succession of seemingly irrational manoeuvres had thoroughly disrupted his judgement.
“Gengetsu, the Uzumaki must have prepared all of this in advance!” Kōtetsu said gravely as he appeared beside him.
“They’ve sealed off our retreat!” Kōtetsu might not have possessed Gengetsu’s sharp mind, but even he could understand their situation.
The Uzumaki clearly had more traps waiting for them.
Wave after wave of explosive-tagged kunai continued to fall.
Despite the extraordinary hardness of Kōtetsu’s bones, large areas of his skin had already been blasted apart.
No one could emerge completely unharmed after being caught within an explosive tag’s blast radius—especially at its centre.
Even a member of the Kaguya Clan would have his limbs torn away if surrounded by enough explosive tags.
Another wave of kunai approached.
A trace of frustration and grim resolve crossed Gengetsu’s face.
“Everyone, attack the wall!
We’re returning to the ships!” Nagakaze and the Uzumaki shinobi accompanying him had already cast the technique several times, reinforcing the wall with layer after layer of earth.
Its thickness and strength had increased severalfold.
However, creating such a large structure had also consumed a tremendous amount of chakra from the dozen-plus shinobi.
After hurriedly completing the remainder of Shigure’s instructions, they split into two groups and raced away along either side of the shore.
The Kaguya Clan’s close-combat abilities lived up to their fearsome reputation.
Despite the wall’s extraordinary thickness, their razor-sharp bones pierced one opening after another through it.
Within only a few minutes, they had created enough tunnels to escape.
“Damn these Uzumaki!” Gengetsu snarled.
“Once we regroup aboard the ships, they’ll experience our true fury!” He cast one final resentful glance behind him before leading the surviving shinobi through the openings and retreating towards the sea.
The instant Gengetsu emerged from the other side, his expression changed dramatically.
Explosive tags!
More explosive tags!
The entire seaward face of the wall was covered in them.
Gengetsu went deathly pale.
Without the slightest hesitation, he accelerated and sprinted towards the sea.
He did not even have time to warn the others.
The frustrated shinobi crawling through the openings had barely emerged when countless explosive tags detonated around them.
RUMBLE!
The violent explosions ripped huge chunks of earth from the wall and mercilessly claimed one life after another.
“Despicable!” Gengetsu roared.
“Absolutely despicable!” By the time the surviving invaders reached the sea, the two clans had lost well over a third of their original force.
What made the defeat even more infuriating was that they had not laid a single hand on the Uzumaki.
What a humiliation!
Gengetsu led the battered remnants of the invasion force back aboard the ships.
Every surviving shinobi carried injuries.
His expression remained dark and unsettled.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
Kaguya Kōtetsu approached in tattered clothing.
Gengetsu released a long breath, forced down his anger, and waited for the report.
“Only one hundred and eighty returned,” Kōtetsu replied, his eyes bloodshot.
“Half of them are critically wounded—especially my Kaguya clansmen.” Kōtetsu felt as though his heart were bleeding.
Unlike the Hōzuki, the Kaguya could not use water to reconstitute their injured bodies.
The Hōzuki shinobi had also suffered grievous wounds in the explosion, but the surrounding seawater had allowed most of them to preserve their lives.
The Kaguya had not been so fortunate.
Of the one hundred and fifty Kaguya shinobi who had come ashore, fewer than forty remained alive.
The meaning was obvious.
The Hōzuki Clan had lost fewer than ten shinobi, while the Kaguya force had been almost completely annihilated.
How was Kōtetsu supposed to explain this disaster to his clan leader?
Seeing the anguish on his companion’s face, Gengetsu placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry.
We will avenge them.” The words had barely left his mouth when the entire ship suddenly shuddered.
“Hm?” Gengetsu looked around.
“Are we being attacked by a sea beast?” Before either man could react, a deafening explosion erupted from the ship’s hull.
RUMBLE!
Standing along the coast, the Uzumaki shinobi stared at the ships disappearing beneath rolling clouds of smoke.
Every one of them wore an expression of indescribable astonishment.
Hironari appeared particularly stunned.
His lips trembled as though his mind had gone completely blank.
Even Clan Leader Uzumaki Takamasa stood with his mouth hanging open, unable to conceal his disbelief.
“So this is the final contingency Elder Shigure mentioned,” he murmured.
“Everything happened exactly as he predicted.” Shigure had secretly instructed Takamasa to dispatch another team around the battlefield and towards the enemy ships.
Once the Hōzuki and Kaguya shinobi rushed ashore, more than a dozen Uzumaki infiltrators approached the vessels and covered their hulls with explosive tags.
At first, Takamasa had not understood Shigure’s intentions.
The enemy had clearly come prepared to conquer the Uzumaki Clan’s territory.
Takamasa had assumed they would continue attacking until one side was destroyed and would never retreat so easily.
Yet Shigure had anticipated everything.
He had known that the invaders would be forced back onto their ships in complete disarray.
The accuracy of his prediction was terrifying.
As the explosions across the sea gradually subsided, a familiar message appeared in Shigure’s mind.
[The Host has intervened in and completely altered a significant event in shinobi history: the Uzumaki Clan’s resistance.] [Reward: 80 World Points.]
Add to library.
Send some Power Stones.