Facing Nara Shikaku's speculation, Uzumaki Ryōta had no objections. At this moment, what he needed most was a sharp mind to help him handle what was coming. And Shikaku was the perfect choice.
"Pass down my order," Ryōta commanded calmly. "All chūnin and below are to work together with the shipwrights in the capital. At first light tomorrow, head into the inland forests and start cutting lumber. We are building a massive evacuation vessel."
"Yes!"
"Makoto," Ryōta turned to the jonin beside him, "tomorrow you'll move with all the village's jōnin—except the Barrier Corps. Protect the workers. Prevent Kirigakure's shinobi from slipping ashore for a sneak attack."
"Go notify everyone."
"Yes!"
Uzumaki Makoto responded, but his footsteps paused. He turned back.
"Then what about the defense of the capital?"
Ryōta answered without a change in expression:
"The Tsuchiya clan head will remain and hold the line."
"Besides, my father and I will still be here."
"Understood! Then I'll leave it to Senior Seiichirō!"
The black-haired Tsuchiya Seiichirō nodded solemnly.
"The Tsuchiya clan will spare no effort."
"Please do," Makoto said, bowing slightly before leaving the dining hall.
With the intelligence in hand, Shikaku wasted no time. Not only would he cooperate with the strategy of the Land of Whirlpools, he also needed to pass this information to the jonin stationed at the border—Uchiha Uzuki.
#
Night fell, and danger crept over a radius of more than a kilometer outside Uyeno, the capital.
Even Uzumaki shinobi didn't dare patrol with old-style oil lamps anymore, for fear of running into Hidden Mist shinobi—or worse, their traps.
Only when dawn arrived did the people of the Whirlpool Country finally mobilize. They gathered in an open clearing and began constructing what they called their own "Noah's Ark."
Hundreds of Uzumaki shinobi were already there—more than five hundred chūnin and genin—working under the shipwrights' urgent instructions to fell a massive stretch of forest.
There was no thought of resting.
Axes swung.
Weapons cut through thick trunks.
They had only two days to build an enormous sailing ship capable of carrying tens of thousands of civilians along with their possessions, and flee toward the Land of Fire for refuge.
And aside from the mid- and low-ranked shinobi, there were also jōnin.
By Kaito's count, there were seven.
This was after the village had held back two Uzumaki jōnin to maintain the barrier and sensory network.
With the Uzumaki leader, the former leader, and the Tsuchiya clan head, the village had at least twelve jōnin-level combatants—though aside from the Tsuchiya and Mizuhara families, none of the smaller clans had jōnin.
The Tsuchiya specialized in Earth Release.
The Mizuhara specialized in Water Release.
Their names fit them perfectly.
As part of the guard unit, Kaito didn't need to swing an axe.
He leaned against the trunk of a large tree at the forest edge, arms folded, watching the countless Uzumaki shinobi work.
Nearby, Nawaki and Might Duy kept lookout in different directions.
Kaito murmured in his heart:
As expected…
Uzumaki's strength isn't as weak as the world imagines.
Even their not-yet-graduated students must number in the hundreds.
Yet such a powerful clan was wiped out before Konoha could even react.
It's absurd.
Konoha's border forces could have arrived in less than a day.
The fall of the Whirlpool Country must have been a lightning war—over a thousand shinobi sweeping through the nation before the Leaf's leadership had time to hesitate.
In the original timeline, Nawaki's death and Kushina's arrival in Konoha were staggered strangely. Nawaki died, and shortly after, Kushina arrived.
Given this boy's earlier desire to rush to the frontlines to earn merit—Kaito had no doubt that, just like in the original history, he would've died on the battlefield within the second or third day.
"Kaito, two-o'clock direction is clear. None of the traps have been triggered," Nawaki reported.
A moment later, a young man in tight green spandex landed beside Kaito.
"Six-o'clock and four-o'clock directions are also safe!"
Might Duy flashed his glittering thumbs-up.
Kaito: "..."
Ordering people around felt way too comfortable.
"Be careful not to trigger the Uzumaki's explosive tag traps," Kaito said, glancing at Nawaki. "You especially."
"Me? Impossible~ It's all written in books! As long as I don't step on the ground while traveling, I'm totally safe!"
Kaito let out a silent sigh.
What if there are no trees? What if the explosive tags are disguised as rocks or fallen trunks—your landing points?
"..." Nawaki scratched his head. "Then… I'll just be careful?"
"Are you a human mine detector?" Kaito complained. "Come with me. I'll show you something."
He turned to Duy.
"Keep watch. If anything happens, head toward me. And don't trigger traps."
"Understood!"
Kaito leapt away from tree to tree. Nawaki followed curiously as the environment blurred around them.
"Where are we going?" Nawaki asked.
"To give you a lesson on traps," Kaito answered flatly.
"I don't want to end up collecting your corpse. Tsunade-sama still treats her disciple's little brother pretty well."
Two medical jutsu already… and soon he was planning to teach the kid an A-rank medical jutsu.
As payment, he'd tutor her gambling-addicted little brother separately.
Before long, they reached a sparsely wooded area. Ahead stood a half-man-tall boulder and a fallen, hollowed-out tree trunk.
"You see what kind of trap that is?"
Nawaki tried recalling last night's defense map, rubbed his chin, and guessed:
"Explosive tag trap? Step on the rock or trunk and boom?"
"…"
Kaito glanced at the kid who was talking nonsense with a straight face. Before he could scold him, he suddenly felt a foreign gaze—someone hidden, watching them.
"What nonsense are you spouting? There's nothing there."
"I'm telling you: that type of location is terrible for placing traps."
"Only flat ground and surrounding tree trunks make for optimal trap spots. Got it?!"
Kaito intentionally raised his voice.
Nawaki was left blinking in confusion.
"??? What? Is that even in trap theory?"
Right then, a Hidden Mist shinobi landed right on top of the boulder.
"Hehehe— As expected of Leaf shinobi. Very well educated."
"But unfortunately, you've run into a shinobi of the Mist—"
Snick—
Thin wire glimmered across the top of the boulder, disguised in the same color as the stone. Stepping on it would yank the victim into the air.
Kaito wondered if Mist shinobi didn't study properly—how could this guy fall for such an obvious fake-out?
"E–Enemy!" It was Nawaki's first time encountering an enemy shinobi.
"Don't panic," Kaito said. "He's just—"
He yanked Nawaki aside.
A split-second later, a Mist chūnin appeared behind them on another tree trunk, kunai flashing—though it cut only air.
The Mist ninja retreated to another branch.
"As expected of Leaf. You even saw through my feint."
What had been standing on the boulder was a Water Clone.
Now, liquefied water dripped down into the hollow tree and onto the soil below.
The lingering chakra presence from the clone triggered a sensory trap nearby.
Uzumaki Makoto, stationed in another sector, immediately received the signal.
"Not good!"
"That's Water Release chakra!"
"Hidden Mist shinobi have appeared!"
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito