Inside the city, the Uzumaki clan members formed hand seals, collectively supporting the barrier's power.
The samurai's arrows didn't even cause a ripple, breaking and falling to the ground.
Following this, Water Dragon Bullets heavily impacted the barrier's surface, causing a slight, almost imperceptible distortion, but it immediately returned to its original state.
"Tch, the Uzumaki clan's barrier has always been troublesome," Hozuki Gengetsu spat.
"Originally, with the number of Uzumaki ninja, the barrier shouldn't be able to last for too long, but coincidentally, their chakra reserves are quite large."
"We'll have to rely on you all; our attacks are not very effective," the samurai leader beside him said, as their supplies were limited and couldn't withstand such consumption.
"I know," Hozuki Gengetsu impatiently waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to use Water Release once again.
Fortunately, the chakra requirements for using Water Release were lower here; in other places, this combat method would not be feasible.
A large number of Water Dragon Bullets crashed into the barrier one after another, the exploding water splashing down the barrier's surface like a waterfall.
The soldiers inside the city couldn't see the outside clearly; the figures on the other side became a blur.
Of course, they weren't afraid of the enemy secretly infiltrating, as the Uzumaki clan's barrier defense was all-encompassing.
Without the corresponding key, one could only force their way in through brute force.
But as Hozuki Gengetsu said, the Uzumaki clan's population was too small.
Even with their immense chakra, the time they could sustain the barrier was very limited.
If the Uzumaki clan's population were as large as the Five Great Shinobi Villages, their barrier could completely block an army of thousands, and it wouldn't be breakable by the forces led by Hozuki Gengetsu.
After a period of bombardment, ripples had already appeared on the barrier's surface.
Although there were no signs of collapse yet, if this continued, they would only be able to defend passively without being able to counterattack, and the barrier would eventually be breached.
Both sides were very clear about this.
"Concentrate the attack on the city gate!" Hozuki Gengetsu watched for a while, then re-determined the target for the ninjutsu impact.
Although he didn't understand scientific principles, through everyday observation, he understood that concentrating power on one point made it easier to break through.
"Yes!" Upon receiving the order, the Kirigakure ninja once again condensed their chakra, focusing all the released Water Release on the city gate.
Even the Uzumaki clan's barrier began to ripple, yet it was still not enough to break through.
Seeing that his subordinates were starting to pant, Hozuki Gengetsu felt that this couldn't continue.
Ninja were not a troop type with excellent stamina.
Although they used amazing ninjutsu, chakra needed to be converted from physical energy, so their stamina would be depleted more easily than that of samurai who couldn't use ninjutsu.
As a commander, Hozuki Gengetsu couldn't allow his subordinates to completely lose their stamina.
Although there was the samurai corps to back them up, the enemy might still have Konoha ninja.
If their ninja lost their combat capability, the enemy would launch a strong counterattack, resulting in heavy losses.
Hozuki Gengetsu waved his hand towards the rear, and a Kirigakure ninja stepped forward, kneeling on one knee before him.
He heard Hozuki Gengetsu say, "I'm leaving it to you.
Don't disappoint us.
You don't have to worry; if anything goes wrong, we will contain it in time.
Although our village's sealing jutsu isn't as powerful as the Uzumaki clan's, merely preventing the leakage of some power is something we can do."
"I understand," the Kirigakure ninja lowered his head, indicating his awareness.
"Just, please, Lord Hozuki, stop the Uzumaki clan from performing sealing jutsu."
"Don't worry, as long as we attack here, their sealing jutsu, apart from the Adamantine Chains and such, won't reach here.
Even if they use those sealing jutsu, we can block them for you," Hozuki Gengetsu said.
"Then I'm relieved," the other person said, then slowly closed his eyes where he stood.
Such an action might not be appropriate in front of Hozuki Gengetsu, but Hozuki Gengetsu wasn't angry because he knew it was a necessary action.
After a while, the clothes on his body billowed without wind, and gradually, a visible surge of chakra emerged.
Normally, if it hasn't undergone nature transformation, pure chakra is invisible to ordinary people.
The only kind of chakra that can manifest so clearly is Tailed Beast Chakra.
That's right, this person was the Jinchuriki of Kirigakure, and the Tailed Beast sealed within him was the Three-Tails.
Among the two Tailed Beasts controlled by Kirigakure, the Three-Tails was the most suitable for Water Release and had the greatest destructive power.
It was precisely for this reason that he was sent here to participate in the war to conquer the Land of Whirlpools.
Except for Uzumaki Mito, other Jinchuriki were unable to completely suppress the power of their Tailed Beasts, and couldn't use it as easily as she could.
However, although they couldn't fully transform into a Tailed Beast or extensively use Tailed Beast chakra, after many years of practice, Jinchuriki had also mastered a certain amount of power.
And even just this amount of power was beyond what ordinary people could achieve.
This Kirigakure ninja emitted faint sounds of pain; the skin on his body subtly twisted, resembling fish scales.
Then, his entire body was enveloped by foamy chakra.
His eyes gradually became bloodshot, and others felt as if they were being stared at by a wild beast, instinctively moving away from him.
During the process of controlling Jinchuriki in shinobi villages, a certain amount of sacrifice was inevitable.
It was precisely because of this that people feared Jinchuriki, considering them monsters in human skin.
Even knowing they were merely vessels for Tailed Beasts, to ordinary people, the difference between a vessel and the monster itself was not so obvious, and not everyone could distinguish between the two.
"That's… Tailed Beast chakra.
They actually deployed a Jinchuriki," the soldiers on the city wall quickly noticed the blood-red figure not far away, and the sensory ninja immediately exclaimed, informing the commander of the figure's true identity.
"If it's a Jinchuriki, the barrier won't be able to last much longer," Uzumaki Masanori felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
In terms of destructive power alone, the strength of a Tailed Beast was currently top-tier.
The only thing the Uzumaki clan had to counter Tailed Beasts was sealing jutsu, but sealing jutsu couldn't provide defense.
If it was just about sealing Tailed Beast power, the Uzumaki clan had many methods.
However, sealing jutsu had to hit the opponent first; if it couldn't hit, what good was it?
And among the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu that combined sealing with destructive power, the best was the Adamantine Chains.
But the Adamantine Chains could only be mastered by those with excellent clan bloodline and aptitude.
As for other compulsory sealing jutsu, they required sacrificing one's life or other costs—
It wasn't that Uzumaki ninja were afraid of death; facing a situation where their nation was about to be destroyed, every Uzumaki clan member was not afraid of death.
But they feared dying meaningless deaths.
The Kirigakure ninja nearby were not mere decorations; would they just stand by and watch Uzumaki ninja run up to a Jinchuriki to use sealing jutsu?
It should be known that the Uzumaki ninja's direct combat ability was not very strong; there was a high probability they wouldn't even make it close before being killed by the Kirigakure ninja.
"What should we do? What should we do? This barrier alone can't withstand a Jinchuriki's attack," the samurai commander was clearly panicking, showing fear.
When the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, captured the Three-Tails, because it was located near the Land of Whirlpools' sea area, he had accompanied Uzumaki ninja there.
He had personally witnessed the immense power of a Tailed Beast.
Although it posed no great threat in front of Senju Hashirama's Wood Release, the problem was that they didn't have a Senju Hashirama here.
Faced with the appearance of a Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Masanori also became somewhat restless.
He couldn't help but look towards the back.
In a room behind him, someone was watching him.
That person pondered for a moment, shook his head at him, then nodded.
These two actions slightly eased Uzumaki Masanori's expression, though it still carried a hint of tension.
After a while, he gritted his teeth and said to the samurai commander, "There's no choice; we can only gamble.
Defend with all our might; there will still be opportunities."
The samurai commander also looked at the room inside, took several deep breaths, suppressed the fear in his heart, and said to the Uzumaki ninja maintaining the barrier, "Everyone, success or failure rests on this one move.
Use all your strength to sustain the barrier!"
The previous attacks by the Kirigakure ninja had not greatly depleted the Uzumaki ninja; they still had enough energy to speak.
But upon realizing the Jinchuriki's appearance, everyone fell silent, simply increasing their chakra output and pouring all their strength into the barrier before them.
At this moment, the Kirigakure ninja's Tailed Beast Transformation had reached its second stage.
The skin on his surface was scorched by the powerful chakra, and the Tailed Beast Cloak adhered to it, making him look as if his entire skin had been burned off.
This stage of Tailed Beast Transformation already made it difficult for the Kirigakure ninja to maintain his sanity, but he desperately tried to stay conscious, because only at this stage could he use the ultimate secret technique of a Tailed Beast—the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Controlling the power of the Tailed Beast Bomb was incredibly complex, something ordinary people could not replicate.
No matter how skilled a Jinchuriki was, they had to be in their Tailed Beast form to use the Tailed Beast Bomb.
At the Kirigakure ninja's level, he couldn't form a Tailed Beast Bomb by himself while conscious.
Therefore, he could only enter a state of deep erosion by Tailed Beast chakra and execute it instinctively.
The Tailed Beast Bomb, which Jinchuriki needed training to master, was as simple as breathing for a Tailed Beast.
This could also be considered a last resort.
"Lord Hozuki, I can barely hold on.
I'm going to attack now," the Kirigakure ninja said painfully.
"Alright," Hozuki Gengetsu, the only one still standing beside him, nodded upon hearing this and said to the others, "Clear the area if you don't want to be caught in the blast."
The Kirigakure ninja quickly cleared a path, looking with fear at the inhuman Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
The Three-Tails Jinchuriki seemed to take a deep breath, and at the same time, pale purple chakra condensed in his mouth.
Hozuki Gengetsu could see that it was formed by the convergence of blue and red chakra.
With Hozuki Gengetsu's discerning eye, he naturally understood that this required extremely complex nature and form transformations, likely reaching the limits of what a human could achieve.
It was no wonder that Jinchuriki had to enter this stage of Tailed Beast Transformation to use this ultimate secret technique.
"Even the Uzumaki clan's barrier can't completely block it.
If one isn't enough, then another," Hozuki Gengetsu muttered to himself, looking into the distance.
When the Tailed Beast Bomb was condensed to its maximum, accompanied by a loud roar, it shot out like an arrow from a bow, so fast that one could almost only see a flash of light.
This was immediately followed by a fierce wind that made everyone's clothes flap wildly.
They could only widen their eyes, watching the Tailed Beast Bomb rush towards the barrier.
Boom—
With a colossal sound that seemed to deafen people, the Uzumaki clan's barrier almost instantly rippled, even deforming visibly.
The faces of the Uzumaki ninja inside the city were covered in a layer of blood, their chakra heavily depleted as they maintained the barrier to prevent it from being breached.
The light from the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion stung everyone's eyes, but while the Kirigakure ninja felt awe for this power, they were also ecstatic, because the Uzumaki ninja's situation was already showing signs of crumbling.
Even if they could recover, they wouldn't be able to last much longer.
"Jinchuriki are indeed strategic weapons that will surely change the battlefield in the future," Hozuki Gengetsu thought to himself upon seeing this scene.
"I wonder if the First Hokage of Konohagakure ever thought that the Jinchuriki he intended to use for power balance would become the culprit pushing his distant relatives towards extinction."
At this moment, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki once again condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb, then fired it out.
The huge sound and light reappeared, and the Uzumaki clan's barrier shook again but still did not break.
Soon, a third Tailed Beast Bomb was fired, heavily impacting the barrier.
The Uzumaki ninja inside were pale, and Uzumaki Masanori, who was among them, also felt a significant loss of chakra, breathing heavily.
They nervously watched into the distance, waiting for the next Tailed Beast Bomb to arrive, but it never came.
Uzumaki Masanori immediately felt his body go limp, with only one thought in his mind: they had won the gamble!
Just as the city's defenders breathed a sigh of relief, the Kirigakure ninja on their side became flustered because the Three-Tails Jinchuriki could no longer maintain his sanity.
Hozuki Gengetsu immediately ordered people to perform sealing jutsu, suppressing the leakage of the Three-Tails' chakra.
After much effort, they finally managed to suppress the Tailed Beast's chakra back into its seal.
"Useless fellow," Hozuki Gengetsu said to the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, who was burned and unconscious, feeling exasperated.
He was so close to breaking the Uzumaki clan's barrier, yet problems arose at the critical moment.
"Never mind.
The Uzumaki clan's barrier is already like a candle in the wind; one or two more bombardments will be enough to finish it," Hozuki Gengetsu shook his head, smiling at the distant town with a somewhat sinister expression.
He raised his hand, "Everyone, let's do it."