Chapter 270: Final Clash for Uzu III

Back on Isobu’s side of the battlefield, things were . . . not so simple.

In the sense that it was weird, not that things were going particularly bad or good.

A Kage level shinobi like the Mizukage could match up, at least temporarily, to Tailed Beast but there were conditions.

First, the battle could not be allowed to become one of attrition. Barring stamina monsters like the Third Raikage and Super Kage like Hashirama, matching a Tailed Beast in a battle of endurance was nothing but a fool’s errand.

Second, one needed to have a way to deal with the Tailed Beast Bomb. Broken defensive abilities of the Adamantine Sealing Chains used by the Uzumaki Elders might have given the impression that that attack was easy to deal with but that would be a massive misunderstanding.

Tailed Beast Bombs were capable of erasing mountains and vanquishing armies with a single well placed use, unless one had special means to tank, dodge or prevent their use, fightning a Tailed Beast was a suicidal endeavour.

Third, and last, one should always take into consideration the matter of compatibility.

Tailed Beasts were absolute masters of their special abilities, even if one lacked a direct compatibility advantage, trying to beat them at their own game or worse, fighting from a disadvantageous position was a path to certain doom.

Alas, unfortunately for the Third Mizukage, as a shinobi fully specialized in Water Release, he was simply unable to deal any meaningful damage to the Three Tails.

Their compatibility was the worst so the man could not deal with Isobu decisively which turned the battle into one of attrition.

If not for his skill and experience allowing Kiri’s Kage to prevent his opponent from charging up his Tailed Beast Bomb, the battle would have already been settled.

Even then, the muddied contest of attrition was dragging things in that direction, especially since the Third Mizukage had yet to fully recover the chakra he expended fighting Shiki when he was forced to face Isobu.

So the man’s only option was tying down the beast while his subordinates prepared a sealing formation to suppress and recover it.

Knowing this, the Sixth Elder who was the one maintaining the Three Tails’ summoning, was content to let the beast tie up the Mizukage as well as the forces supporting him, draining their chakra while occasionally dealing damage.

And, should they ever get close to restraining and sealing Isobu, the Uzumaki Elder would just immediately undo the summoning.

*

With the Tailed Beast side of the battlefield settled, all that was left to check up on was the main clash of armies.

On one side, Kumo’s forces, supported by a portion of Kiri’s and led by Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage.

On the other, Uzushio’s forces, led by the Fourth Elder and supported by the First while the Second and Sixth Elders remained safely within the Village Barrier to manage the summoned Tailed Beasts and jump in when needed.

Surprisingly, despite the rather pessimistic predictions Uzushio, Mito and Shiki had regarding the war if the Uzumaki matriarch did not step in herself, the battle was favoring their side.

Victory, once believed to be an impossibility, now felt achievable.

However, achievable and desirable are two completely different things.

A defeat where one gets to preserve most of one’s troops and resources was far better than a pyrrhic victory where one sacrifices far too much just to make sure the enemy ends up even worse.

The big problem was that even if Uzushio gambled everything to win a decisive victory, they would likely be unable to make the enemy Kage stay.

Having suffered a major loss, they would then likely abandon their intentions towards the larger world and launch a proper offensive at The Land of Uzu after replenishing their forces at their villages and they would be far better prepared for the schemes under which they suffered.

Meanwhile, Uzushio was already employing all of their forces, there was nowhere else to replenish from.

So the end goal was to strike a deal.

Even if Uzushio had to bear some losses, so long as the enemy’s attention was redirected towards the Land of Fire and the Land of Uzu would be left alone, then it was worth it.

As such, the Uzumaki Elders’ goal was to give the enemy the win, the smallest possible win.

The question was how to do it.

Uzushio’s regular forces, especially with the Village Barrier that only let them through behind them, were doing extremely well.

Rotating the injured or exhausted into the village’s protection where their Uzumaki lineage ensured a quick recovery, after which they could sally back out again.

Slowly but surely, the Kumo forces along with their Kiri support were getting grinded down.

Meanwhile, the First Elder kept Onoki in check.

Once again, the Tsuchikage’s ability to fly put him beyond the range of retaliation.

Even when targeted by long range attacks, he could easily dodge away.

Conversely, he could not do any significant damage from afar either.

The First Elder was far more powerful than the Third and Fifth Elders which he had fought before and comfortably used his overpowered Adamantine Sealing Chains to block all of Onoki’s Dust Release ninjutsu.

The result was a stalemate that favored the defensive side due to their ability to better withstand attrition.

Without a significant change in the situation, it would be hard for the Uzumaki to justify handing a win over and even harder for the Coalition to push the Uzumaki into negotiations.

But suddenly, the unexpected occurred.

It was supposed to be a known quantity, something they were already expecting and were ready for.

Alas, even with all their preparations, it was still an underestimation of their hidden enemy.

The almighty barrier of Uzushio suddenly broke with the sound of shattering glass.

The Uzumaki forces froze in bewilderment for a moment and in doing so, they gave their foes a critical opening.

*

Black Zetsu.

This schemer who manipulated the entirety of the shinobi world for over a thousand years.

In the end, Shiki had thought too simply of such an ancient being and Mito, far too confident in her own abilities, underestimated the means of the creature.

Black Zetsu was a being created by Kaguya using Yin-Yang Release, its nature and properties rather mysterious.

It was not very powerful but it was nearly impossible to kill.

Its documented weakness was Fuinjutsu, the creature could be captured and sealed through it however, Shiki underestimated the potency of Fuinjutsu required for this endeavour.

In the original series, the only fuinjutsu that successfully trapped Black Zetsu perfectly, was the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei which sealed Kaguya herself.

No matter how sophisticated Uzumaki Fuinjutsu was, without Six Paths Power, sealing the wretched creature was all but impossible.

And so, when Mito believed it trapped after it sneaked into Uzushio and was caught in the matriarch’s sealing ambush, Black Zetsu suddenly slipped through its restraints and subsequently dismantled a critical part of the formula sustaining the Village Barrier.

The creature’s skill would leave the foremost of Uzumaki Sealing Masters weeping in awe.

Despite the graveness of the crisis, even Mito, at least a part of her, reacted in much the same way.

Unfortunately, this failure to stop Black Zetsu was going to cost Uzushio and the Uzumaki dearly.

+++++

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