The seven-day deadline was the maximum time given by the Uzumaki clan leader for evacuation, and the entire Uzumaki clan had been leaving the Land of Whirlpools nonstop. As a result, by the fourth day, most of them had already departed.
The sea distance between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Fire was limited. Even with ordinary boats, it would take at most half a day to reach the opposite shore, especially when ninja were assigned along the way to provide protection—this journey posed no real problem.
So far, everything had proceeded very smoothly.
At this point, even if one of the nearby major countries wanted to launch a targeted operation against the Uzumaki, it would already be too late. With more people evacuating, Haseo started to feel at ease too.
During these days, both him and Hatake had remained close to the Uzumaki clan leader, patrolling back and forth between the coastline and the village.
After the departure of the Uzumaki clan, other ordinary residents scattered across the island nation could choose whether to relocate to the Land of Fire or continue living there... In fact, without the Uzumaki clan around, the safety level for the rest of the population had actually increased significantly.
If ninja and civilians lived together, then during battles, ninja certainly wouldn't care about collateral damage. But when a group of normal people live peacefully in regular towns, aside from a few rare lunatics, no ninja would deliberately slaughter innocent civilians.
That evening on the fourth day, Haseo heard an unfamiliar bird call.
He looked up to the sky, spotting a tiny dark figure darting through the pink clouds. It grew larger and quickly came to a halt right in front of him.
It was a falcon.
Seeing this, Haseo immediately stretched out his arm horizontally. After circling above him a few times, the falcon slowly landed.
A pair of pitch-black claws, sharp and barbed, firmly stepped onto Haseo's upper arm.
"It's a message from Konoha..." Haseo explained while using one hand to untie the letter tied to one of the falcon's legs. After confirming that the chakra imprint and seal on the letter remained intact and undamaged, he quickly opened and unfolded it.
With just a quick glance, Haseo translated the coded letter written in cipher, "Oh, it's news from the investigation squad sent to the Land of Rice Fields by Konoha. They've come up with some findings on the destruction of Tajikune Village… It seems Sand might be behind it."
"Sand?" The Uzumaki clan leader echoed back, unsure whether he was questioning or expressing surprise.
"It isn't confirmed yet—it's merely a deduction based upon residual traces left at the scene. Therefore, we can say it's possibly Sand shinobi."
Haseo elaborated, adding, "After all, when Konoha carried out its investigation, some time had already passed since the event occurred, and the site had been burned and destroyed. And from the few clues we gathered… it looks like just one or two people wiped out an entire small ninja village."
"The information I received didn't use any definitive terms either," he continued, "just a speculative direction on who might be responsible."
However, if it was truly Sunagakure behind this, then it indeed possessed the capability to wipe out a small ninja village silently with just one or two individuals—whether it be Chiyo, the poison expert, or that Magnet Release ninja who had just become Kazekage, both were especially skilled in this kind of annihilation warfare where one could overwhelm many.
Then after finishing the job, they could destroy the entire crime scene itself—no gods would know, no ghosts would discover.
As for the reasons why Suna would strike against a minor ninja village, well, there would always be some justification found…
Either eliminating small competitors, or simply because…Suna was also struggling financially.
In a certain sense, Suna was even poorer than Amegakure.
At least Ame's geographical environment and natural resources were decent enough. Fish existed in rivers, game roamed the mountains, and there were forests, grasslands, and farmlands. Even though its climate was perpetually rainy with little sunlight, proper management could ensure these weather conditions caused only poor harvests—not total crop failure.
But what about the Land of Wind nestled within the Sahara? Could anyone really expect something like a "sandfish" (a beast that dwells in sand dunes) to exist?
Peace was the overall trend, but regional conflicts never truly ended. From this angle, an upcoming Great Ninja World War seemed inevitable; once the Second Great Ninja War occurred, the Third would naturally follow.
Fundamentally speaking, those two conflicts—the Second and Third Great Ninja World Wars—were actually one continuous war, only interrupted by a brief pause when both sides grew exhausted.
Haseo put away the secret letter, his mind already troubled over the state of the ninja world for the coming years…small villages seemingly couldn't resist the pressure from great ones. Yet who could've foreseen the Second Ninja War would begin and end in such a manner?
The Uzumaki clan leader was just about to say something when suddenly his expression changed. He immediately issued orders to those nearby: "Go inform the last batch of people to abandon all supplies and evacuate the village at once.
Not a single person should remain besides the specially designated special action teams dispatched earlier."
Then he turned to Haseo: "It's time to prepare for battle, Haseo."
Looks like what everyone feared was finally happening.
Haseo's expression became equally serious. "At this point, the timing is already too late. What purpose is there left in taking hostile actions now?"
Someone attempting to stop the Uzumaki from leaving wasn't difficult to understand—but it should have happened much sooner. By now, the first wave of evacuating Uzumaki might have already reached Konoha. The Uzumaki village had practically been emptied out completely. If someone wanted to cause trouble this late, they were merely scavenging through trash anyway.
To Haseo, it was already pointless.
But the clan head shook his head. "They need time to gather forces as well. Preparations have to be made before any operation begins. Plus, according to the feedback received from our monitoring barrier, judging by the scale of their intrusion, they definitely intend to hunt us down relentlessly—even willing to chase into the Land of Fire."
From the moment they learned of the Uzumaki migration news, to assembling personnel for interception operations, time was inevitably required. After all, nobody would assume wiping out the Uzumaki would be as simple as destroying Tajikune Village.
Moreover, there was another reason why the other villages would never send their Jinchuriki or have a Kage lead the operation—because their target was the Uzumaki clan. Even with thorough preparation, facing them could still easily result in an embarrassing defeat.
Clearly, the sudden mass departure of the Uzumaki had accelerated certain events. Perhaps long before this, someone had already been plotting to attack the Uzumaki, and now that plan had simply been forced into motion earlier than intended.
"Around fifty to sixty enemies are invading from the west," continued the Uzumaki clan leader. Obviously, his Sensor abilities hadn't weakened at all despite his age.
At this point, some Uzumaki ninja began gathering around him while more started abandoning everything and evacuating the village as quickly as possible according to orders.
"Should we try to stop them? And…what about asking Konoha for backup?" Haseo asked.
"Let them destroy the Barrier. We won't be needing it anymore anyway. As for asking for help…not yet." Then, as if sensing Haseo's confusion, the clan leader added firmly, "This will likely be the last war the Uzumaki fight under the name of the Uzumaki."
He wasn't being dramatic or cold—it really was the Uzumaki's final battle, fought for themselves alone.
So Haseo gave a slight nod and stayed rooted in place.
The Uzumaki's Barrier bought enough time for the final evacuation. The enemy may have arrived armed and ready, but they quickly found themselves stuck in a quagmire.
Eventually, when the enemies finally penetrated to the heart of the village, only 26 (24+2) ninja waited there for them.
One side came fully prepared while the other side waited rested and ready. Thus, the battlefield temporarily fell into silence.
"Each person follows their own beliefs and principles. Without conflicting interests, we shouldn't have interfered with each other in the first place. So wouldn't it be better if we just left each other alone?"
Only Haseo's voice echoed out amid the deepening darkness.
However, these words weren't quite right. From the invaders' perspective, the Uzumaki's relocation into Konoha was definitely a threat—how could it possibly be considered harmless?
But the enemy had no reason to respond to Haseo, nor did the Uzumaki wish to hear any reply. In unison, those 24 ninja formed Hand Seals at the exact same moment.
Then, a crimson light screen rose from all four directions, completely isolating this small space.
Those outside the Barrier could come and go as they pleased—but those trapped inside…
The Uzumaki homeland had never been somewhere easy to enter or exit casually. Any Barrier the enemy could break was one the Uzumaki deemed unnecessary to protect.
Despite clear differences in both the number of users and the technique compared to what he remembered, Haseo gazed at the dim red glow barely visible in the night. [Four Red Yang Formation]—no matter how he saw it, this Barrier bore its unmistakable mark.
Therefore, this isolated space was sure to become a tomb, with only one side destined to walk out alive.
But still… the ratio of enemy to ally approached three to one. The enemy was extremely strong, while they were very weak. So Haseo felt a bit scared—what should he do now?
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