Beacon Fires Rise Outside Uzushio Village, Allied Forces Gather by the Great River

The transmission of goodwill at the chakra level can be said to be the most convincing form of communication. Although Shingetsu harbored various hidden agendas in his heart, he genuinely liked Uzumaki Kushina as a person.

So, the moment their fists touched, Uzumaki Kushina knew that the person before her held no malice toward her; on the contrary, he was filled with an indescribable sense of affection.

Consequently, Uzumaki Kushina, who had been boisterous since childhood, lowered her head for a rare moment of shyness.

"Since that is the case, we must now discuss how to relocate our clansmen." Uzumaki Takumi was quite pleased to see this scene. Although, in terms of a political marriage, Uzumaki Kushina's personal wishes were not actually important, who wouldn't want such a good thing to be perfect?

"Second Elder, take the Fifth Elder with you. The two of you organize the children, the elderly, and the weak to retreat first. The rest will follow me to engage the enemy!" Uzumaki Takumi commanded the evacuation of the vulnerable clansmen in an orderly fashion, leaving a portion of the force to block the enemy's offensive.

"We must let them know that the Uzumaki Clan is not to be trifled with! If Iwagakure and Kumogakure dare to take a bite out of us, we will make sure to break their teeth!" Uzumaki Takumi said bitterly.

All of this was caused by the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces. If it weren't for them, the Uzumaki Clan would still be eating hot pot and singing songs at this moment; how could they be forced to leave their homeland like this?

After finalizing the deployment, Uzumaki Takumi looked at Shingetsu, "Once we reach the coast, will Kirigakure be able to send people to meet us?"

The Uzumaki Clan alone might not be able to stall for very long, so to ensure nothing went wrong, he requested that Shingetsu send a message to Kirigakure immediately to have them send reinforcements.

However, to Uzumaki Takumi's surprise, after hearing this, Shingetsu immediately proposed another suggestion.

"Does the patriarch really intend to just leave like this? Don't you want to pull a trick on that group of people?"

"You mean..." Uzumaki Takumi narrowed his eyes, looking at the confident smile on Shingetsu's face. He recalled everything Shingetsu had done in Uzushio Village during this time, and for some reason, he suddenly felt happy.

"Lord Moody B, ahead is Uzushio Village!"

Moody B and Lie stood on the branches of a tree, looking into the distance. From this angle, they could vaguely see the Tenshukaku rising from the ground in Uzushio Village.

"Finally here. The sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan truly live up to their reputation!"

Recalling the events along the way, even the arrogant Moody B had to marvel at the strength of the Uzumaki Clan. Their naturally abundant chakra, combined with the wealth earned by Uzushio Village as a trade hub in recent years, had given the Uzumaki ninjas a brand-new combat method—using shadow clones to fight with explosive tags.

This resulted in the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces frequently finding themselves surrounded, even though only about a hundred Uzumaki ninjas were on the front lines. These fearless shadow clones fully embodied the spirit of human suicide bombers; their goal was to trap the enemy's movements and then manually ignite the explosive tags.

Not only that, because they were Uzumaki shadow clones, they were also proficient in various sealing techniques. Furthermore, they often avoided lethal sealing techniques, opting instead for control-type seals, using explosive tags as their primary means of attack.

Because the range of control-type sealing techniques was wider, combined with the Uzumaki Clan's familiarity with the terrain, the Allied Forces were once driven to despair.

However, the Uzumaki Clan was small in number, and with a severe shortage of jonin, this tactic was merely a temporary measure. When top-tier ninjas like Moody B and Lie joined the battlefield, the situation became one-sided, which was why the Uzumaki ninjas had retreated.

"Lord Lie, we have scouted that Uzushio Village is now empty. Everyone is heading toward the coast; they are trying to escape!"

Lie looked toward the east, where smoke and fire were faintly visible. It was clear that the Allied Forces' vanguard was constantly delaying the Uzumaki Clan's advance.

Consequently, Lie and Moody B naturally issued the order to pursue.

"All forces to the east! Capture the Uzumaki alive!"

Soon, with all ninjas accelerating, despite the harassment from a small number of Uzumaki ninjas, they caught up to the main force of the Uzumaki Clan in less than thirty minutes.

At this moment, the main Uzumaki force was crossing the river. Through the hazy mist, one could clearly see various elderly, women, and children on the opposite bank, followed by the teenagers crossing the river, while Uzumaki Takumi and a group of high-ranking Uzumaki officials stood on the riverbank.

"I've finally caught you!"

Moody B and Lie were very excited. As long as they held onto the main Uzumaki force, the Uzumaki Clan could not hold out for long in a frontal battle. They would soon complete their mission and bring the sealing techniques back to their villages!

Once the village's Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts succeeded, wouldn't surpassing Konoha be a matter of a snap of the fingers?

"Uzumaki Takumi, I respect you as a clan leader and a ruler of a land. As long as you surrender, I can promise on behalf of the Tsuchikage to spare your lives! But the condition is that you come back to Iwagakure with us and offer up the sealing techniques! Otherwise, the Uzumaki Clan, regardless of age or gender, will be wiped out today!"

Lie's heart stirred, and he shouted.

If they could lure the Uzumaki Clan back to Iwagakure, that would be much better than simply bringing back the sealing techniques.

Moody B, standing to the side, had clearly figured this out as well, but being a man of pure muscle, he couldn't think of how to persuade them to surrender. He could only smash the ground in anger and shout, "Me too!"

The Kumogakure ninjas behind him also voiced their support for their leader, shouting "Me too!", "Me too!", completely ignoring the looks of the Iwagakure ninjas who thought they were idiots.

"We have entered the designated area. You may initiate."

Shingetsu on the bank glanced at the distance, then took a firework from his bosom, lit it, and released it upward.

Sssss~

BOOM!

A massive Kirigakure symbol shone in the sky, clearly visible within a hundred-mile radius.

"Not good! Charge straight in!"

Seeing this, although they didn't know what kind of trick the Uzumaki Clan was pulling, Moody B and Lie felt something was wrong and immediately ordered their troops to charge forward.

However, it was too late.

From beneath the great river, nearly a hundred Kirigakure ninjas suddenly surged out. One after another, their hands moved like butterflies weaving through flowers, forming seals in unison, and they all shouted together: "Water Release: Water Shockwave!"

In an instant, the water in the river seemed to be controlled by a mysterious force. The rushing river stopped for a split second, and the next moment, the water of the entire river section surged into the air, transforming into a torrential tide that rushed toward the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces!

At such close range, although the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces wanted to retreat, most were swept into the surging river, unable to find their footing.

That wasn't all. After the water descended, dozens of other Kirigakure ninjas appeared, forming seals in rapid succession, and shouted: "Ice Release: Ice Storm!"

The plummeting temperature caused the river water to freeze instantly, trapping the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces within the solid ice.

In the distance, Shingetsu saw this scene, smiled slightly, and simply spat out a single word.

"Explode!"

Swish!

Swish!

The group of Uzumaki clansmen, who had appeared frail and elderly, suddenly perked up, straightening their backs and waving their hands incessantly as a dense barrage of kunai shot out from all directions like raindrops.

Following the release of the massive volley of kunai, the explosive tags tied to their tails began to burn fiercely, and amidst the terrified gazes of the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces...

BOOM!

"Truly a spectacular sight!"

Shingetsu watched the scene unfolding before him, unable to help but exclaim with emotion.