Ashina's Decision – Beneath the Temple of Seals
A chamber deep beneath Uzushiogakure.
The walls were covered in glowing inscriptions — seals older than Konoha, pulsing faintly like a sleeping beast.
Ashina Uzumaki stood before the gathered Council of Sealing, composed of Uzu's most elite fūinjutsu masters. Grey hair. Scarred hands. Silent resolve.
He raised a weathered scroll — its wax still stamped with the first Uzukage's personal sigil.
"Operation Tekkai Enjin – The Iron Ocean Protocol."
Gasps. Murmurs. One elder dropped his ink brush.
"That's… a last-resort contingency!"
"It would cost—"
"Everything," Ashina cut in.
His voice remained calm, but his gaze was steel.
"If Uzu falls, it will not fall quietly. We will drag their armies into the ocean itself."
---
The Technique
Ashina opened the ancient scroll.
Massive, intricate diagrams unfolded across the floor:
A village-wide sealing web capable of forming a multilayered chakra barrier, complete with:
Anti-summoning zones
Elemental absorption glyphs
Chakra-draining latticework
Final phase: Tidal Collapse – A compression seal that would drag the invaders and village center into a dimensional pocket of seawater and crush them
Silence.
Then nods.
Each elder stepped forward and signed with blood.
Ashina whispered:
"Begin quietly. No disruptions. We finish this in seven days."
---
The Mission Briefing – Cliffside Watchtower
Moonlight glinted off the stone floor as Akashi, Aiko, Riku, and Tama gathered in the hidden tower near the Western Ravine.
Ashina appeared before them, cloaked, tired, but firm.
"This is not just recon," he said. "This is confirmation."
"You are to infiltrate the ravine sector tonight. If Kumo is indeed preparing for an invasion, they'll have scouts, jamming seals, and marking beacons."
He placed a folded paper onto the table — a hand-drawn relief map of the ravine, detailed with blind spots and trap zones.
---
Objective:
Primary: Confirm presence of Kumo beacon seal or supply cache
Secondary: Mark retreat lines with Flying Thunder God prototype kunai
Tertiary: Leave one scroll drone with decoy information to mislead enemy scouts
Ashina handed Akashi a carved stone seal — palm-sized, pulsing faintly.
"If your chakra enters this and shatters the crystal, it will activate one of the barrier veins I've begun placing."
"That means I'll come for you. With everything."
Akashi accepted it, bowing slightly.
"We'll be shadows. They won't see us coming."
Ashina nodded, then turned to leave.
Just before disappearing into the stairwell, he said:
"You four remind me of myself… before the First War."
A pause.
"Make sure history doesn't repeat through your blood."
---
The team, cloaked in light gear, vanish into the forest under a silent moon.
Their silhouettes barely ripple as they leap from tree to tree — toward the Western Ravine.
Beneath them, the wind howls.
Above them, the clouds churn.
And ahead of them…
War waits.
---
Western Ravine – 3km Outside Uzu Territory
The forest was unnaturally still.
Akashi's team moved like whispers through the trees, their chakra suppressed, gear tightened, steps memorized. The mist clinging to the ravine was too thick for Kumo work — but it wasn't just Kumo they had to worry about now.
Aiko gave a hand signal: "Unnatural terrain disturbance, east quadrant."
Akashi nodded and led them toward it.
There, beneath a hollowed-out slope, covered in a genjutsu-wrapped paper wall, they found a stone cache. Sealed and branded.
Riku whispered, "Kumo?"
Akashi narrowed his eyes.
"No. The sealwork is… different. Older. And there are four styles of chakra residue."
He placed his hand over the cache.
Sensory Pulse: Activated.
His eyes widened.
"Kiri mist seals… Iwa terrain displacement… Taki sensory dampeners… and Kumo jutsu markers."
The realization hit him like a thunderclap.
"This isn't a Kumo operation."
"It's a multi-village pincer invasion."
Aiko swore under her breath. Riku turned pale.
"They're not just after us… they want to wipe the Uzumaki completely."
---
The Scrolls of War
In the next cache, Akashi recovered four separate encoded scrolls — communications between various factions.
One line stood out:
"The Uzumaki barrier core will be divided by dawn. Hit with synchronized front lines and extraction squads."
Another:
"Konoha has confirmed non-intervention. Proceed with full force."
A final, chilling note signed by a Iwa commander:
"Seal users fetch a high price. Keep their heads intact."
Akashi's fists clenched.
"They don't fear us.
They fear what we might become."
---
Escape and Pursuit
As the team tried to withdraw, a Kiri hunter-nin patrol appeared. Silent, masked, and already mid-ambush.
> Clang—whistle—boom!
Traps activated. Exploding mist tags detonated.
Riku launched wind blades. Aiko parried a poisoned kunai. Tama took a shallow slash across the shoulder.
Akashi's eyes sharpened.
"Defensive formation. I'll clear the path."
His Emperor Eye didn't activate, but his movements were exact, efficient — tactical perfection.
He used the Flying Thunder prototype tag he'd marked earlier, grabbed all three teammates, and warped them 1.6 km west — far enough to escape pursuit.
They didn't stop running until Uzu's outer sentries picked them up.
---
Ashina's Chamber – War Table Room
Ashina slammed his fist onto the old stone table.
"Four villages."
"Even Takigakure?! What madness is this?"
Akashi laid down the intercepted scrolls. His voice was steady, but inside, something cold had settled.
"This is not war.
This is extermination."
"They believe we are alone. They believe no one will stop them."
Ashina, silent, turned to the other elders.
"Then they will learn what happens when you corner the wrong clan."
---