Late at night, a thick sea fog, carrying a salty scent, enveloped Uzushiogakure like a giant canopy.
On the distant sea, the ominous sound of waves seemed more urgent than usual, crashing repeatedly against the shore reefs, as if some deep-sea behemoth was approaching in the darkness.
Even the seabirds, usually sleepless throughout the night, were eerily silent at this moment.
"Woo—!!"
The alarm blared in the normally peaceful and quiet Uzushiogakure, startling countless sleeping villagers and Ninja awake.
"It's the highest level alert!"
"What happened?!"
At the same time, the Uzumaki Clan compound, located in the heart of the Village, also fell into an uproar. Many red-haired Uzumaki Clan members, upon waking, immediately gathered towards the shrine.
A moment later, those living near the shrine arrived first.
Inside the shrine, Uzumaki Chihaya, the Clan Head, looked extremely grim as he explained the situation to several Clan Elders and some Clan members.
"A large number of sensory traps in the sea and on the shore have been triggered, and the Village's barrier has also detected powerful Chakra approaching. A large group of Ninja is rapidly closing in on Uzushiogakure."
Upon hearing this news, the Clan Elders also showed extremely grave expressions.
Fortunately, they were all old men who had lived through the Sengoku period and were considered experienced older generation Ninja. They didn't panic, but rather began asking questions in a flurry.
"From which direction are the enemies landing?"
"How many people are there specifically?"
"Is it Hidden Mist or Kumogakure?"
Hearing these questions, Uzumaki Chihaya's face grew even grimmer. He replied in a rapid, low voice, "Enemies are landing from all directions. We cannot currently determine their specific identities or origins."
"Currently, the number of enemy Ninja has exceeded a thousand, and according to the feedback from the sensory barrier, new enemies are continuously landing, and the total number is steadily increasing—"
Seeing more and more Clan Ninja arriving at the shrine, Uzumaki Chihaya stopped explaining to the Clan Elders. Instead, he turned to face the large number of Clan members who appeared somewhat flustered.
Though his expression remained serious, his voice was calm and steady as he began to issue various commands methodically: "Immediately evacuate the civilians in the Village, guiding them to the underground shelters in an orderly fashion."
"Reassure the civilians and prevent widespread panic. Tell them that as long as they don't directly appear on the battlefield, they will not suffer any harm."
"According to the rules of the Ninja World, it's impossible for enemies to massacre civilians on a large scale, so don't waste too much time on this."
As Uzumaki Chizawa had said, civilian casualties in war were reasonable, but no Ninja Village dared to systematically massacre civilians during a war.
Wars in the Ninja World were for plundering resources and wealth, not for dragging opponents down with them like madmen.
Besides being an unwritten rule among the Ninja Villages, this was likely also a restraint imposed on the various Ninja Villages and Ninja by the existence of the Daimyo and nobles of the Five Great Nations.
Uzumaki Chihaya's gaze swept across the faces of the surrounding Clan members. After a brief pause, he sternly reiterated, "No matter who the enemies are, their target must be our Clan's inherited Sealing Jutsu, and possibly even the bloodline of our Uzumaki Clan. Therefore, your primary task is to ensure your own safety."
"I have already ordered the outer barrier of the Village to be raised. The double barriers at the Clan compound and the shrine will also be activated soon. After completing the evacuation mission, immediately retreat to the Clan compound and defend using the barriers and terrain."
The Uzumaki Clan members looked outwards and indeed saw a massive circular light membrane illuminating the Village's periphery. The sense of security provided by the barrier made many of them relax slightly.
The Clan shrine was located within the Uzumaki Clan compound and was protected by multiple layers of barriers, making it extremely difficult to breach in a short time.
This was also why, even though Uzushiogakure, like Konoha Village, had administrative buildings similar to the Hokage Building, when the alarm sounded, the Clan members unanimously ran towards the family shrine.
Uzumaki Chihaya's next words injected a powerful boost of confidence into the hearts of the Clan members.
"I have also sent a request for aid to our ally, Konohagakure. As Hokage, Mori will surely lead his troops out as soon as he receives the message. We only need to hold out until Konoha's reinforcements arrive, and that will be victory!"
As Uzumaki Chihaya's orders were issued one after another, the Clan members seemed to find their backbone and immediately acted according to the Clan Head's commands.
After the Clan members dispersed, the once bustling shrine became quiet, leaving only a few elderly Clan Elders and a small number of core Clan members, led by Clan Head Uzumaki Chihaya.
Only then did Uzumaki Chizawa step forward and whisper to Uzumaki Chihaya, "Father, Big Brother Mori just sent me a message via his summoning animal. He received intelligence in advance through special channels within the Land of Water and is already on his way leading a team."
"So the enemy is Hidden Mist Village?"
A Clan Elder who was standing a little closer heard this and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed expression appearing on his aged face. He couldn't help but exclaim, "I thought so too, the Kumogakure was severely dealt with by Konoha a few years ago, so they shouldn't dare to act rashly again so soon."
However, before anyone present could show joy, Uzumaki Chizawa's next words instantly froze their expressions.
"According to Big Brother Mori's speculation, this time the enemy is likely not any single Village, but a special joint operation involving the other Five Great Ninja Villages, targeting our Uzumaki Clan."
"Big Brother Mori once discussed this with me. Lord Hashirama originally intended to use the Tailed Beasts as the ultimate deterrent between them, to create long-lasting peace between the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Ninja Villages."
"However, things did not go as planned. The excessively powerful strength of the Tailed Beasts instead aroused the covetousness of the various Ninja Villages."
"After First Hokage Lord Hashirama captured the Tailed Beasts and distributed them at the First Five Kage Summit, all the Ninja Villages have been dedicated to researching stable and controllable Tailed Beast weapons."
"However, due to a lack of systematic Sealing Jutsu reserves, the other Five Great Ninja Villages have frequently failed in this endeavor. The previous rampage of the Eight-Tails nearly destroyed the entire Kumogakure—"
Uzumaki Chizawa didn't need to say any more. Everyone present understood the full story in that instant.
With the growing desire for the power of the Tailed Beasts and controllable Jinchuriki, the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools, renowned for its Sealing Jutsu, became like a giant target attracting the attention of the entire Ninja World.
Uzumaki Chihaya's gaze grew even darker, but as Clan Head, he had to calm the emotions of those present.
"There's no need to be overly pessimistic."
"Mori getting the intelligence in advance is good news after all. Since Konoha's reinforcements are already on their way, it means the time we need to hold out has been cut in half."
"The main force of the attackers can only be Hidden Mist Village, which is closest to us. The other three Ninja Villages, if they were to reach the Land of Whirlpools, would have to pass through multiple small countries around the Land of Fire."
"As Mori speculated, this is at most a special operation."
"Since they want to conceal their tracks and launch a surprise attack on us while Konoha is unprepared, they cannot dispatch an excessively large force."