The Uzumaki ship was fast and carried us forward without having to wait for the wind to shift. All the big waves that would have thrown our old boat sideways simply split before the bow, then went curling around the vessel in smooth walls before crashing together behind us... No wonder nobody else could easily travel around here if they had this much control over their land. Or water, in this case.
"How long until we are there?" Jiraiya-sensei asked, walking up to Genta.
"Less than an hour," He answered. "However, the message should already be with the council. By the time we get there, they should be briefed and waiting."
He didn't lie as the closer we came to Uzushiogakure, the more activity I noticed. I watched as tall stone pillars rose up above the water, with different seals glowing on their bodies. Although I couldn't see it clearly, I had a feeling they were erecting various kinds of barriers around the island. I just really hoped that they had really listened to my warning. Then, the closer we got, the more people gathered at the main harbor, and I could see their shinobi running back and forth, mobilizing.
Genta was right: the whole leadership was waiting for us. As we got off, Sensei quickly whispered to us that Ashina Uzumaki, the current head of the clan, was standing at the front, so we should behave. The man was probably old as hell, and I mean old-old, because he looked the same age as Hiruzen... and counting that in Uzumaki years could put the man twice our Hokage's age.
"Welcome," Ashina's eyes passed over all of us briefly, then he turned directly to Jiraiya, "We received and reviewed your message. How many vessels do they have? What do you reckon?" He asked simply, not even questioning our news.
"Whatever they have... they moved all of it towards you."
Ashina's face remained calm even when hearing that answer, which, sadly, I had to agree with. To eliminate a whole clan... Kiri for sure mobilized everything. As for the rest? I couldn't guess, but my assumption is that a sizeable force was ready to pounce on this island.
"We have already begun raising every active barrier," the old Uzumaki said as we began walking, "The leading channels to the island are being sealed as we speak, and all of our patrols have been recalled."
"Good," Jiraiya replied.
"Not good enough." He shook his head as he looked toward the harbor where another patrol ship was arriving. "We prepared for escalating harassment, but... When the recall went out, we failed to contact a quarter of our ships. We are indeed already under attack... Haaah... Jiraiya, take the boys to the inner district and have them examined and fed. It had to be exhausting to get here this quickly."
"We don't need—" I began, but I was then shut down.
"Go and rest. You two will only be standing around getting in the way when tired."
"We can help," Minato argued, agreeing with me.
"I know." Sensei raised a hand, but he wasn't arguing, "But before that, refresh yourself! That's an order."
...
....
...
In the end, we were led away, checked, and fed... then we both fell asleep, which I blamed on my full stomach. Somehow... we both slept until the next morning, but after waking, we were unable to stay still like this. So, we found the first Uzumaki shinobi whom we spotted, so we could ask for some tasks. To our luck, it was Shizuna, the same woman who was training Kushina. To my surprise, she didn't even try to send us back to rest; instead, she nodded and told us to follow her.
"What do we do?" We asked simultaneously, all fired up.
"We need your help to prepare the evacuation. We are not abandoning the village," she said after seeing my eyes go wide. "But if everything fails, the Uzumaki clan will not be allowed to end here, so the civilians, children, and the elderly are going to be shipped out. We are sending them toward the Fire Country, and we have three transport vessels prepared and four warships available as escorts."
"If we are in time, we can send them out before they completely close the blockade..." Minato muttered, counting the days, remembering the message.
"Let's not waste time then," I patted his shoulder, but honestly, I wasn't prepared for it.
Helping people pack their lives into a bag because an army might destroy their home felt like nothing I had experienced before. The panic in their eyes, their voices, or hearing the cries of children as they had to leave what they knew behind, only taking one or two of their toys, clinging to their mothers... Tsk... Even I fail to joke sometimes, and this moment was one of those. The only silver lining was that it was happening. In the past, they were totally wiped out... Now? We could save thousands.
I just hope we weren't late. What brought me out of my thoughts was when one grandmother slapped an armed chūnin so hard that everyone nearby stopped speaking.
"You want me to run?" she yelled at him. "I was sealing enemy summons before your father learned to walk! I will not leave!"
"Yes, Grandmother... But let's go now..." The young chūnin muttered as he rubbed his cheek, trying to still usher her towards the boats.
Haaah... Seeing the worry on the young man's face, I simply grabbed the two bags she had left behind and followed, while Minato carried a sleeping child whose mother was trying to manage three others at once, doing her best not to lose any. The largest transport ship prepared for them could carry several hundred people if packed tightly. From the outside, it had three enclosed decks, a pretty well-reinforced hull, and seals everywhere for added protection. However, watching people get packed onto it like sardines, I still thought it looked too small. If one of them gets sunk... it will be a worse event than the Titanic.
However, there was no Plan B in sight. So, if we weren't helping carry stuff and people, we were checking lists. Crossing out names, family groups, making sure nobody was being left behind, checking their homes, because there were some teens who weren't shinobi, managing to sneak back, wanting to help protect their island. It was a pain in the ass to deal with those, even if I understood why they were doing it. But the hardest to deal with was a little girl, barely about... six... or eight. She refused to budge. She was adamant about going back to her dad, who was staying behind, until I put her under a sleeping genjutsu.
Haaah... Whatever happens next, I will never get used to this, because there is no real way to explain to a child that she has to go and that there is no chance of staying behind. Or that she may not see her dad ever again. Yeah... War is hell, and we were walking into it. By the time the sun was setting, the transports were filled to the brim while the Uzumaki's warships waited beside it, fully armed and ready.
We were triple-checking everything when a horn sounded from outside, making me flinch, activating my Sharingan, and looking towards the darkening horizon. It turned out to be an Uzumaki vessel, a single, previously lost patrol ship limping back home. Its hull was damaged, one side burned black, and two figures were doing their best to bring it in. Only two...
When the news they brought back reached us, it was nothing good. Apparently, the blockade is already finished, so if the transport wants to leave and reach Konoha's territory, they will have to break through. But... they couldn't stay either now. They will have to do it, which means that the four escorting vessels will become the spearhead... They will slam into the blockading ships, create an opening, and stay behind to make sure nobody can follow the others. A suicide mission... and nobody was complaining...
Tsk.
I wanted to say something, but had nothing to say. I just watched the sun sink completely below the horizon as night fell on us. My thoughts were disturbed only when Genta approached from behind us, now wearing full armor, cracking his knuckles in clear annoyance and expectation.
"Come on, boys, you two are being reassigned after the convoy departs."
"To where?" I asked, turning my head away from the soon-to-be leaving vessels, filled with crying children and anxious parents.
"Upper defense, up on one of the terraces. You will help our new air defense force."
"The what?" My head turned sharply, "Aerial... defenses?"
"Yes." He nodded, "Lord Ashina specifically requested you."
Oh...? Me? Wait... they did listen to me! Hah! Without hesitation, we began following him.
"What about our Sensei?" Minato asked.
"He is still with the command council, working on securing the beaches that are most enticing to storm. After he is done, he'll meet you there."
That was when a horn sounded from the lead warship before the convoy, and they began moving out into the night. There were no lamps glowing on them, nothing, sailing completely blind. They were using their expert sensor-trained shinobi to navigate and try to find the weakest spot they could cut through. They would bet on the dark night and, possibly, on any fog they might deploy to make it work. Haaah... damn it. I hope they make it!
I just turned away from them when I saw a flare shot into the sky at the opposite side of the island, blooming into a bright, red, glowing flower. Fuck, that's never good! Especially when a second flare rose, then a third, and I lost count, but about seven more got shot into the sky, all around the island. They weren't even warning flares; they were shot up to light up the darkness, and when I saw why, my stomach dropped.
"No way," I whispered, "I was fucking right, wasn't I?"
"..." Genta looked upward, following my gaze, his mouth falling open, "What... Are... Those?"
"Birds," I snorted as I activated my Sharingan. You couldn't see every one of them, as thick clouds covered most of the stars, but they were there. Sometimes dropping below, going back up, trying to use the spotty clouds and dark night as a cover. However, they couldn't hide from an Uzumaki shinobi's sensory skills.
There they were, white-brown shapes, gliding silently, caught in the flarelight, with broad wings and a long pointed beak. It wasn't like the white ones Deidara would make in the future, but I now know where his skills came from. Whoever designed them was now using the jutsu to transport shinobi and bypass the Uzumaki's sea-based defenses. They were here to paradrop their warriors onto the island and wreak havoc, likely to disable all the seals and defenses, allowing the Kiri ships and troops to land.
I just don't know what the Uzumakis managed to prepare against something like this, because the more I looked, the more I noticed that the sky filled with them. Dozens upon dozens of enormous clay constructs, each carrying maybe both Iwa and Kumo shinobi... Then... The first clay bird folded its wings and dropped toward the evacuation harbor, right where we were.
"INCOMING!" I screamed, and whatever aerial alarm they implemented, also began screaming just a breath later.
Then, a deep wolf-like howl spread across Uzushiogakure as the new defensive seals they built had come to life. I watched as sealing lines came to life along the cliffs and terraces, drawing enormous patterns of red light across the air. I stared upward through my Sharingan as more clay birds emerged from the clouds, carrying hundreds of enemy soldiers directly toward the heart of the island, and watched as the first that began diving, hit the energy shield... and splattered all across it, breaking apart. At least there were no explosions, as that had to be Deidara's addition. This one just 'exploded' like it was shattering china.
"Get fucked!" I laughed, as that alone managed to kill about five or seven shinobi, who also fell to their death just then. Serves them right! It is good to be at the opposing end of an Independence Day scenario.
I just don't know how long their shields could last... especially when, from the massive flying fleet that had halted their advance now, lightning-based jutsus began to fly down, hitting the red dome over and over again. Whatever was about to happen next would be something different than how history should have played out, I was sure of that.
The only similarity was that the Third Shinobi World War had indeed begun, and I was in the thick of it already.