[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Uzushiogakure, Year 42.
...
...
While Madara awaited a new report, the Zetsus in the Land of Waterfalls were closely observing the first battles the village fleets were currently facing.
They themselves were some of the visual witnesses; it was difficult to hide in the water — impossible, actually — but they could still use the ocean floor, allowing them to see what was happening.
They saw explosions and attacks, their heads emerging between the rocks and seabed, realizing that the attacking forces at Uzushiogakure were weakening with each passing moment thanks to the assault of a single person who was unstoppable for everyone.
They quickly began transmitting what they were seeing to the other Zetsus located somewhere in the Land of Fire, far from the border due to the concentration of Konoha ninjas there.
"This looks bad," one of them said.
"It seems he's there fighting. We don't know if he can use his teleportation to start evacuating the Uzumaki clan. Konoha is planning something too. We have to warn Lord Madara," another replied.
"Yes. We'll have to send the information. Some of us should do it, while the others stay here to keep watch," they said, talking among themselves before all diving back into the ground; while some returned to the sea, others ran toward the Land of Waterfalls.
At the same time, in the trees along the coast of the Land of Fire, several ninjas wearing Leaf headbands were alert by the shore, watching the sea through binoculars.
Explosions appeared on the horizon; Minato was attacking the enemy fleet on that side with his Rasenshurikens.
"Has it started already?" asked one of the ninjas from the reconnaissance team.
"Seems like it, but we can't see anything from here, and we can't get close either," murmured a third. "Damn it, this isn't right. We should be fighting too."
"I know. I thought we should fight as well. That's why I voted for us to fight..." said his companion, while some lowered their heads around the group, clearly unwilling to give an opinion, as they had chosen to remain neutral during Konoha's vote.
"Minato Namikaze was a war hero. The Hokage was wrong; it was obvious we had only one path," the first said.
"But you know there was no way to tell that the Third Hokage, in the end, was harming the village... Even you and I trusted him without suspecting anything... while our lives could've been thrown away just for threatening his position... even after serving Konoha for years..." said a third with disgust — one who had voted against Konoha going to help the Uzumakis.
"Then, if you really saw that, why did you come back to maintain peace? If you believe he was a threat, don't be a hypocrite," another ninja snarled.
His companions fell silent after that, remaining alert to the sea, their sensors unable to reach what was happening out there, as it was far beyond their range; but they knew Minato must have been fighting at that very moment.
"O que vocês estão discutindo aí?" the team captain arrived, landing near them.
"Commander, I'm just recalling how our comrades are a bit cowardly," said the ninja who was mocking the other, while the rest ground their teeth and glared.
"Stop that," the captain said immediately. "Fighting among ourselves won't change what happened. We're here to follow orders from the new command." He spoke already knowing what they were saying; after all, this was common when Konoha's ninjas split into two factions.
"I don't think it justifies staying here, doing nothing," one of them murmured.
"But those are our orders," the captain said. "In any case, I just received a report: Konoha is raising a huge reinforcement force." This seemed to surprise everyone there.
"Wait... and the village's decision?" one of them asked.
"To hell with the village's decision," another snarled, knowing the Hokage had been cunning enough to even place civilians — who knew nothing of war — in the vote.
"Well, that's the decision of the new council. Sakumo-Sama is acting as the village leader; although he should be announced as the new Hokage, he doesn't consider himself as such. But he uses the role, and the new council decided."
Unsurprisingly, the new council still consisted of the leader of the Uchiha clan, the leader of the Senju clan, Nawaki Senju, and the leader of the Nara, with Sakumo wearing the Hokage's hat. The village had already pushed aside all the old elders who no longer made decisions. Even their clans were viewed with disdain by the rest of Konoha's forces — no one seemed to like them anymore.
That led the council to make a decision that, although unpopular, still gathered a large group of ninjas willing to help the Uzumakis, sending them to the border to receive and rescue survivors, preventing any other enemy force from entering the Land of Fire.
The village was troubled by the fact that Minato had become a rebel and taken the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. Even so, many seemed secretly in favor of Minato.
Meanwhile, the man they spoke of, Minato Namikaze himself, was in the sky, watching the ships drawing ever closer to Uzushiogakure.
"It's almost time," Minato murmured as he watched the movements. Quickly, several Uzumakis began to appear on the island's shores — even the ships could see them at that moment.
While trying to deal with the last kunai and Raijin seals that Minato had placed in the sea and on the enemy fleet itself, and while he was fighting hand-to-hand against Kumo ninjas to the north, Minato encountered an interesting opponent: none other than the future Fourth Raikage.
He looked young, though older than Minato, and he was furious, with small lightning sparks coursing over his body.
"Oh, you seem interesting. You must be A, the son of the Third Raikage," said Minato's clone, stopping in the middle of the deck after kicking several ninjas who had tried to attack him.
"You will pay for everything you've been doing, Minato Namikaze!" A snarled.
"Come, show me your speed," Minato taunted.
This made the young man even angrier. Remembering his adult self very well, he surged forward at high speed — not comparable to his father's, since he was still mastering the technique, but much faster than any other ninja Minato had faced since the start of the assault, with the exception of the Kages themselves.
Minato barely dodged when A launched an attack aimed at his head. The punch, wrapped in lightning, whizzed by, and Minato quickly avoided another blow the young man was already preparing.
"You're good... you're good at facing one of my clones," Minato said, while the youth grew angrier still, launching multiple attacks that he dodged one by one.
Even without using the raijin, his clones could handle that for a while.
Several Kumo ninjas also began to gather around them, trying to hit him, casting lightning-element jutsu and barrages of kunai, forcing Minato to split his attention. That was enough for A to hit him at one point, making Minato raise both hands to block the impact. He slid for five meters, but soon exposed a grin as he opened his arms.
Even being a clone, he had withstood the blow. A gritted his teeth even more.
But before Minato could taunt again, he was grabbed by the neck — this time by an older and far more powerful version of A: his father, the Third Raikage himself. His body emanated intense lightning, sparking like a living storm.
"You're a pain in the neck, brat," the Raikage said angrily.
"I hope you're not still resentful about our last fight. That scar suited you well, Raikage," Minato's clone said with a smile, even as his neck was pressed.
The Raikage fell silent for a moment, furious but also curious. He looked at Minato's scratched headband; he had noticed it since he first saw him.
"Have you become a deserter from the village? I heard the Hokage ordered your death," he said, while Minato was already surrounded. Not that he could escape the Raikage at that moment; his chakra reserves were extremely low, serving only to deceive the enemy and take down part of the opposing forces.
"You seem surprised by that... Why would I fear Konoha's feelings? I severed ties with the village. I'm here protecting the Uzumakis alone. You could even call me a hero, the man who fled the village to fight for what is right and help those in need..." Minato said in a dramatic tone.
"However, I doubt you think that way. In the end, I will not let you destroy Uzushiogakure. Mark my words, Raikage: the only villages that will come out weakened from this will be four of the five great elemental nations. I'm not as naive as the Hokage and the late Danzō were. I know you would launch a Third Great War as soon as Konoha was weakened. You would take advantage of your forces already prepared to fight against Uzushiogakure and then invade the Land of Fire," Minato taunted.
The Raikage stared at him in silence for a few seconds before pressing Minato's neck hard, making the clone explode into smoke.
"Where is this clone coming from?! Didn't you say you removed all the seals from the sea?!" the Raikage barked at his men.
"Raikage-sama, we swear we checked the entire area! There shouldn't be any more seals!" one of his subordinates said, frightened.
The Raikage clicked his tongue and looked down, as if he could see through the deck. His eyes widened when he noticed a seal glowing beneath the ship's hull.
Minato had begun spreading seals there to move more quickly between the ships, confusing the enemies and forcing them to desperately search for traps in the sea.
"Get off this ship!" was the only sensible thing he said before raising his fist and launching a punch, with most still unprepared.
Screams echoed as the ship exploded from a single blow, several ninjas being hurled off the deck as it was destroyed. The Raikage moved to another ship as if nothing had happened, crossed his arms and stared at the enemy island, trying to sense Minato's presence once more. He would deal with that clone himself before there were more losses.
"Look, the Uzumakis are finally appearing," one of the ninjas said, watching the island through a spyglass. From afar they could see multiple spots of red hair beginning to emerge.
"So they didn't flee," the Raikage commented.
To the east, in front of Kiri.
Minato finished all his seals before exhaling and beginning to spit fire with force, causing even the water to boil and turn into steam, which blasted toward three ships. Quickly, the enemies threw up walls of water to protect themselves from the flames.
The flames collided with the water and the steam covered the area. It seemed powerful, but against several water users the offensive ended up giving way, and the ship became engulfed in clouds of steam.
Minato was above them the next moment, using that distraction to deliver kicks to an enemy's neck and leap to the next, stealing his sword. He cut quickly, taking advantage of the steam as cover. However, he barely had time to take down a fifth of the opponents when someone powerful appeared, mastering the very mist.
"Do you really think you can use the mist against us, Minato Namikaze? You're a fool," said a mist swordsman. "I heard you took one of ours. I hope you didn't kill them; otherwise, we'll kill everyone you know in revenge."
Minato fought him using the same sword as before; if he weren't a clone, it could have been an interesting fight, but the outcome soon became clear to those watching, as Minato unleashed several strikes that cut through parts of the ships, yet the opposing ninja evaded each one using the mist itself, and Minato soon began to feel his chakra drain. He was struck shortly thereafter.
"Damn it... I wanted to see the original, to see your blood," the enemy snarled, licking his tongue like a maniac.
"Stay alert. Don't let any clones keep weakening our numbers," ordered the Kazekage, as they withdrew and spread out.
Everyone's eyes then turned to another point: several Uzumakis were beginning to appear along the coast. Minato had once again sent many clones into the sky, which began to disappear one by one, activating the last teleportation seals he had placed on the ships.
At the same time, his eyes fell upon the island; a smile spread across Minato's face as he saw that now all the Uzumakis from the first group were moving toward each corner of the island.
All of them moved their hands quickly, combining seals to perform a jutsu together.
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