Such a massive assault . . . It would take Uzushio's everything to stem the tide.
*
A few hours later, the enemy was on fast approach.
"Hold! Let them come to us!" The Fourth Elder commanded the Uzumaki forces while his fellow elders along with Shiki and the two girls readied themselves for their tasked roles.
Earth Release had been used to elevate and fortify the land beyond the beath, leading a huge stretch of shallow water and sandy terrain to cross without any natural cover.
A Killing ground.
But the enemy was not devoid of sense.
Across the entirety of the fortified beach, the shoreline began to draw back.
There was only one possible explanation.
"Raise the walls!" The Fourth Elder hurriedly shouted.
'Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall of Ten Thousand Li'
With the high chakra volume and density of the Uzumaki clansmen, just a few Earth Release specialists managed to raise all the fortifications under a massive earthen wall.
And just as this happened a massive tsunami rose from the sea and crashed down at them at a speed they never thought possible.
The Uzumaki shinobi directed chakra to their soles, stabilizing themselves as the earthen structure they stood on shook from the massive volume of water that crashed into it.
Still, under the Diagram of Elemental Interactions, Earth suppresses Water so the fortifications held without much damage.
'But damage is not the goal. Kiri is setting up an advantageous field.' Shiki thought, his evaluation running across the minds of many Uzumaki veterans.
Then suddenly his eyes widened.
There was no time to shout out a warning, the boy grabbed Maiko and flickered away from the raised fortifications, trusting the Beni would see "it" coming and do the same.
Her Shuigan already blazing red, the girl did not let down his expectations.
And just as they retreated, streams of pressurized water cut through the hardened earth as if it was air.
'Earth beats Water . . . to an extent.' Shiki sharpened his focus.
Some of the streams had sliced through the rock and harvested the lives of the defenders like wheat.
Others, however, were blocked or dodged with relative ease.
'Looks like I was targeted by one of the strong ones . . .' Shiki remembered his "glorious deeds" against the enemy forces.
'Understandable.' He thought.
His Ryugan: Zenchi however, immediately tracked the source of the jutsu targeting him specifically.
Much to his surprise and disappointment, it was not the Mizukage.
A white haired, purple eyed man, looking like an extremely ugly rendition of Shiki himself, (His own opinion), was responsible.
The boy turned towards Beni, wanting to tell her to focus on that guy first, only to find the girl already glaring with her Shuigan, utterly focused on Hozuki Shingetsu.
'How dare he! Not only does he dare parade hair and eye color somewhat similar to Shiki-sama, as a lesser imitation, he even has the gall to assault his better!? Unforgivable!'
Things like Shingetsu being born earlier of his hair and eyes not being that uncommon amongst the Hozuki clan, such inconsequential things hardly mattered.
Clearly, Benihime's calm, reasonable and very human behaviour, hid a greater psycho than many of the other girls surrounding Shiki.
Maybe he just had a tendency to attract a certain type . . .
But while the two had these thoughts, the enemy did not remain still.
With the Raikage as the tip of the spear, the Kumo forces charged in a blinding speed.
*crash*
As thunder boomed and lightning flashed, a massive hole was torn in the earthen wall, allowing the Kumo shinobi to pass right through and get behind the Uzumaki lines.
To make things worse, under the cover provided by Kiri, Iwa's shinobi were now advancing.
'They want to trap us in between two of their armies, preventing us from retreating and wiping us out. This is bad.' Shiki realized and he was not the only one.
Plans rarely survived first contact with the enemy.
Shiki's earlier success with his preemptive assault had lulled both the boy and the Uzumaki into a false sense of security, making them put their full trust in their previous plans discussed in the Elders' Meeting.
Now though, everything went wrong.
With a rapid multi-stage attack, the enemy had dismantled all of their carefully prepared battle plans, making the earlier gathering all but useless.
'Time to improvise then.' Shiki though, his mind settling in a chillingly empty calm.
On the Uzumaki Elders' side, they too were revising the plan and, through quick and stealthy body signs, swiftly agreed on the next course of action
'Wind Release: Heavy Windstorm' X3
Wind their colossal chakra reserves backing them, the First, Second and Third Elders unleashed a massive Wind Release combination jutsu.
The Kumo forces surrounding them were blasted away with various degrees of injury and, though unharmed, the advancing Iwa shinobi were forced to stop in order to defend.
This gave the Fourth Elder the opening he needed.
Taking advantage of the torn Kumo lines, he led most of the Uzumaki forces in an emergency retreat towards the second defensive line.
Alas, amongst the forces of Kumo, there was a man who, despite specializing in Lightning Release and thus weak against Wind jutsu, could simply eat such large scale destructive attacks without even flinching.
Clad in Black Lightning Armor, the Third Raikage tore through the windstorm that blew away his forces and charged at the retreating Uzumaki, intending on causing maximum damage.
But it was at this time that the First Elder got the opportunity to fulfill his planned role.
Adamantine Sealing Chains soared across the battlefield at blinding speed, fast enough to catch up to and intercept the charging Raikage.
With Ay Senior's lightning enhanced reaction speed however, they might as well be moving in slow motion, allowing him to effortlessly weave through the barrage of spike tipped, flying chains.
Unfortunately for him however, he had to give up attacking the retreating Uzumaki in order to dodge.
'Those chains lack the destructive power to pierce through my Lightning Chakra Cloak but that is not the issue.' The Raikage grimly thought.
The Adamantine Sealing Chains could suppress chakra, getting struck would stop Ay's jutsu from functioning, meaning he would have to stand up to the raw force of the chains with his flesh alone, no chakra enhancement.
The Third Raikage was tough to be sure, but not that tough.
And so, the clash between possibly the two strongest individuals on each side began.
Meanwhile, Iwa's advance continued and, soaring above his forces, was the Third Tsuchikage, ready to rain down destruction.
The Uzumaki Fifth Elder, from the start of the battle, never stopped focusing on the rather diminutive old man for he held the highest raw attack power in the battle.
Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts might beat him in scale but in quality, Dust Release was still superior for the simple reason that it was almost impossible to defend against.
That is, if one lacks overpowered fuinjutsu.
'Dust Release: Detachment of The Primitive World'
The Tsuchikage formed a cylinder of light between his hands and, in an instant, a massive beam of white light rained down on the Uzumaki Elders still on the earthen wall.
+++++
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 -