"Uh… yes!" The Anbu Guard accepted the order and retreated.
On the rooftop of the Security Division building, twenty members of the Illusion Division under the Anbu simultaneously formed hand seals and activated Illusionary Transformation.
In an instant, white feathers began to drift down from the sky.
The noisy and panicked Konoha civilians fell unconscious one by one, slumping into heaps.
Next came the transportation phase.
Thankfully, Uzushio Island wasn't far from Konoha's coast—only a short stretch of sea separated them.
Over eighty thousand unconscious Konoha villagers were transported in batches by the Anbu to Uzushio Island.
At the same time, Naruto used Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a hundred clones to move toward the island.
Upon arrival, the shadow clones activated Sage Mode.
Then, they got to work—along the island's perimeter, they cast Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
This wasn't something Naruto was willing to entrust to others. He didn't trust their quality.
Infused with senjutsu chakra, the Earth-Style Wall was hard as solid rock—five meters wide and fifty meters tall!
One massive wall after another rose and connected, forming a colossal and awe-inspiring barrier!
Naruto's shadow clones were full of motivation.
Not only did they build the wall, they also used the opportunity to grind their Earth Release proficiency.
Uzushio Island wasn't large—it took less than two and a half hours.
By then, the entire perimeter of the island was surrounded by fifty-meter-high walls.
Combined with the island's geography, it was basically a natural prison.
And just then, the first batch of Konoha villagers began arriving.
They had awoken from Illusionary Transformation, bound hand and foot, and lay crowded on the decks of the boats.
When they saw the towering Earth-Style Wall—so tall they couldn't even see the top—their faces turned pale with despair.
'Wait, this is real?'
Only now did they truly realize: this was real.
They were really going to be imprisoned for twelve whole years, just like the rumors had said!
Not just them—even some of the Anbu were stunned by the enormous Earth-Style Wall enclosing the entire island.
Three days later, all 80,000+ Konoha villagers had been sent into Uzushio Island!
The once-desolate island instantly turned bustling.
On the island, there were still signs of the Uzumaki Clan's former residence—many homes were still livable.
Among the crowd, a scruffy old man flopped down on the ground with a carefree grin.
"Heh, good! Lock us up tight! Perfect for me—food every day, comfy life, and so many people to chat with. What a life!"
His attitude rubbed off on a few others, who also joined the "lying flat" faction.
However, by midnight, no one had come to feed them.
After a full day and night without food, the villagers began to panic. They shouted at the Anbu maintaining order:
"Hey! It's been an entire day! When are you feeding us? You trying to starve us?!"
The Anbu had no answer—their orders were simply to maintain the site.
The next morning, a fleet arrived at Uzushio Island.
Shipments of cargo were offloaded and moved onto the island.
The starving villagers, eyes red with hunger, thought food had finally arrived and surged forward.
But when they saw what the cargo actually was, they all froze in confusion.
The Anbu had not brought food.
Instead, it was tools and materials for blacksmithing—ordered by Naruto and transported via sea from the Land of Iron.
Batch after batch.
Driven to the edge by hunger, the villagers snapped.
"What the hell is this?! Why are you bringing iron?! We can't eat metal!"
"Bring us food! I want chicken!"
"I want beef!"
"And rice!"
But the Anbu ignored them. Only after the final shipment of iron was delivered did an Anbu squad leader shout:
"If you want to eat, then SHUT UP!"
The desperate hunger finally silenced the crowd.
Seeing their compliance, the Anbu captain raised his voice:
"From today on, you will work for your meals."
"Only those who work twelve hours a day forging iron and meet their quota will receive one meal."
The moment those words dropped, the crowd exploded.
"Bullshit! Twelve hours of forging for one meal?! You trying to kill us?!"
"I protest! I'd rather starve or jump into the sea than work twelve hours for food!"
"Protest! Protest!"
The brutal conditions sparked uproar.
Especially from the scruffy old man who had once vowed to "lie flat"—his protests were the loudest.
But their protests were destined to be in vain.
Don't want to eat? Jump into the sea? That was perfectly fine by Naruto.
At first, everyone was in unspoken agreement—they would stand together and resist this unfair treatment.
But after a day passed, their faces turned pale from hunger. Still, no food. No one cared.
The burning emptiness in their stomachs filled them with panic.
If this continued… they really might starve to death!
Forging might be hard work, but at least it wasn't fatal.
Eventually, someone picked up a hammer.
It was like opening Pandora's box.
Within the sealed iron walls of Uzushio Island, the sound of hammers began to ring out like a symphony.
Naruto stood atop the wall, looking down at the Konoha villagers now forging iron.
Some wore blank expressions, some sobbed as they worked.
But none of it stirred the slightest pity in Naruto.
'You reap what you sow—you must be ready to face the consequences.'
As his body grew stronger, Naruto's vision became sharper than an eagle's.
In his gaze, he noticed a group of people not content with forging iron.
A dozen or so individuals had gathered in a remote corner.
They seemed to be shinobi—agile and skilled.
Using the iron tools, they were chiseling tiny holes into the wall.
At this rate, they might really be able to climb up and escape into the sea.
But their strange behavior was quickly spotted by the patrolling Anbu and stopped.
Silently watching, Naruto's eyes flickered.
Although Anbu were patrolling now, over time they were bound to grow lax.
And Naruto himself would soon be leaving Konoha.
So he needed to set up one more layer of insurance for this prison.
As Naruto pondered his plan, a few meters out at sea, a large shark burst from the water and splashed back in.
"I got it!"
Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai with three prongs.
He coated the kunai with Wind Release chakra and hurled it toward the distant shark.
Whoosh!
With a sharp whistle, the kunai pierced the shark's back cleanly—800 meters away.
The moment it struck, the shark thrashed in pain and instinctively darted forward.
But no matter how fast it swam, it couldn't outrun the Flying Thunder God.
A moment later, Naruto appeared atop the shark's smooth back.
With chakra adhered to the soles of his feet, he stood firmly.
Sensing danger, the shark tried to dive into the depths to shake off this strange two-legged creature.
But Naruto stomped down with his right foot.
With a sickening crunch, the shark coughed up blood and lost all ability to move.
In its small black eyes, fear began to emerge.