"With two of the main threats being neutralized, or at least held back by Shiki-kun and his sister, that leaves the remaining two Kage and two jinchuriki to us." The First Elder now took control of the strategy meeting.
"I will take the Raikage. It is unlikely that I'll be able to defeat him, in fact, he might be able to overpower me after a while but I'm still the best option within our current means." Uzumaki Akao declared.
And then, as the First Elder, he began distributing combat roles to the others.
"Second and Third Elders, both of you will each take a three man squad of our Elites to protect them while they pin down the two remaining enemy Jinchuriki.
Fourth Elder, you will take charge of our larger forces in the battle, acting as the commander while the rest of us focus on our individual tasks.
Fifth Elder, as the most proficient amongst snap defense using fuinjutsu, your singular role will be to watch the Tsuchikage closely and block, or at least attenuate, his Dust Release attacks.
As for you Sixth Elder, using the Whirlpool Linked Fuinjutsu Formations set up around our coast to pin down and seal the Three Tails whenever the enemy decides to release it." Akao concluded the role assignment.
"This kind of fighting will not lead to a victory." The Second Elder cautioned.
"True, it will only buy us time. Will we have to depend on Konoha for reinforcements after all?" The Fourth Elder echoed.
"Getting a clean victory is impossible with our current forces unless Mito-sama takes to the field herself." Akao, the First Elder, began addressing the concerns of his fellows.
"The plan is to take the on at the shore and gradually fall back to successive defensive lines, whittling down the enemy forces while our high level combatants do their best to hold down theirs." He explained.
"So we're basing our plan on the hope that the enemy leaders will not sacrifice the entirety of their soldiers to take us down? A rather foolhardy assumption." The Third Elder interjected.
"In case the enemy does not give up even after catastrophic losses. We can only retreat to Uzushio and use the village's defensive barrier to hold out for Konoha's reinforcements." The First Elder responded.
"If they come." The Sixth Elder, the youngest amongst the elders and the only one that dealt mainly with the modern version of Konoha for most of his life, was clearly not very trusting of their supposed ally.
"They will come. I will make sure of that." Mito suddenly spoke up.
"And if they don't, I'm still here if the worst comes to pass." The Uzumaki Matriarch added, she was the pillar of the whole clan now, her assurance naturally abated most of the Elders' concerns.
"Alright, make your preparations, the enemy won't be long. Shiiki, you and your friends stay behind. I want to talk with you." She concluded the gathering.
The elders all obediently exited the room, no resistance in their faces or their hearts towards Mito's commands.
"Shiki . . . I'll just say this, prioritize survival over all else." The Uzumaki matriarch commanded her ward.
"I am willing to sacrifice many things for the continuation of the Uzumaki legacy and this village but I do not and will never count your life among them. Are we clear on that?" She questioned the boy.
"Crystal." He gave a straightforward, serious and committed reply.
The redhead turned towards the two girls accompanying her ward.
"Keep an eye on him. If he starts acting reckless, taking one too many of his beloved "calculated risks", you grab him and run, regardless of the consequences. Understood, Benihime?" Mito questioned.
"Yes Mito-sama. It will be as you say." The girl dutifully replied.
As for Maiko, the Uzumaki matriarch did not bother addressing her.
Even after "knowing" her for a couple of years, Mito could say with certainty that she could not understand the girl in the slightest.
She talked to no one, only mentally communicated and even that was done exclusively with Shiki. The girl cared nothing for others, their lives, opinions, their very existence was utterly inconsequential for her.
As such, there was no point in Mito telling her anything, Maiko would just ignore it. In fact, her mind would probably filter it out so that the words would not even remain in her memories, though that might be an exaggeration.
"Okay girls! Time to head out!" Shiki loudly declared, taking a page out of his adopted sister's book and acting as if he had not heard Mito's words to Beni.
*
The Land of Whirlpools was an archipelago located just off of the coast of the Land of Fire.
It was composed of one big main island, one secondary island about a third the size of the main one and a tertiary island half the size of the secondary one with countless small islands scattered around these three main land masses.
All three major islands were stuck very close together with water channels wide enough to barely see the other side in the distance.
The tertiary island was the closest to the Land of Fire and had a large fortified port town where trade with the allied nation was carried out.
Its fortifications and the fact that the enemy would be coming from the opposite side of the Land of Whirlpools made it very unlikely to be attacked.
After all, such a route would mean any of their reinforcements would be delayed, their retreat would be needlessly hampered and they would risk leaving their backs open to a Konoha rapid response force.
With these considerations, the enemy would likely make their landing on the Secondary Island.
It was less developed and thus less fortified than the Main Island, the first island most directly in the enemy's path and the water channel between the the two islands made it a perfect staging ground for an assault on Uzushio itself within the core of the Main Island.
The defense plan was to make the enemy bleed for every inch of the Secondary Island and, once its capture became inevitable, the Uzumaki would make a full retreat back to the Main Island and prepare for the enemy's main assault.
With the element of surprise gone, the enemy would need a staging ground and that was the ideal one, they knew that, the Uzumaki knew that.
What the three attacking villages did not know was that the attack had been long expected and as such, while the Secondary Island had not been very fortified, it was filled with traps.
The nasty kind of traps only the foremost masters of fuinjutsu in the whole shinobi world could set up.
But this was the kind of tactic that worked once.
Best case scenario was that the enemy could be repelled at the Shores of Uzu and the trapped island could remain as a trump card for a possible long war, ensuring Uzushio's ability to hold on despite inferior numbers.
Otherwise, even if they managed to repel this assault, they would be far too weakened to resist any follow ups, even for just Kumo or Kiri who were closest to them outside of Konoha.
It was an unrealistic expectation though.
Such a massive assault . . . It would take Uzushio's everything to stem the tide.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -