Uzushiogakure
It had been a few minutes.
The war has started at the shores, traps have begun triggering.
Atop of the wall, Kenji and his friends heard the distant explosions and triggered Seals.
Kenji said without taking his eyes from the shore. "Saki, you're at the front. Shoto, you're our assassin; eliminate powerful ones. Sakuko, lead the defensive formation... Try to thin out their numbers before their real powerhouses make moves.", finally he turned back and shouted for the whole army to hear "Let's show them we are not some sitting ducks that they can hunt as they pleased. WE ARE UZUMAKI!!"
""Whoaaa!!""
Came the battlecry from the gathered Shinobi.
Kenji nodded and unfurled the Scroll on the ground and bit his finger; began the hand signs, not for a summoning but for a blood Sealing Arts.
"Are you sure about this, Kenji?" Shoto's voice was grave. He knew the jutsu and its chakra-draining nature. It would suck Kenji dry before the real threats even appeared. Unless… his eyes widened in realization.
Unless he was preparing it for enemy forces and not for their Powerhouses (jinchuriki). It could turn the tides of this battle… Even if only their cannon fodder died, it would give them time.
"Yes, my friend. If my sacrifice can save my home… Then so be it. He said, resolved in his words, and pressed his hand at the centre of the seal and poured his chakra.
" Sealing Arts: Grand Sacrifice—Release."
When the scroll is activated, it begins to suck chakra like a vacuum.
"Uhh…" Kenji grunted but didn't stop. Seals extended from the scroll, spreading across the walls and connecting with existing seals before spreading into the forest like a spider's web.
The technique consumed all the seals in its vicinity and hijacked them. On the scroll a map of the area appeared——within it, seals ranging from explosive tags to barriers blinked like stars. Some winked out, indicating they'd been triggered.
Shoto smiled self-deprecatingly at the situation 'Sacrifice indeed' because Kenji didn't cast the normal version. He casted the forbidden version; where you signed the pact with your blood, indicating if chakra was not enough the seal can take more than the user's chakra. Blood. Vitality. Life itself. Hence why it was forbidden.
But in return it gave users near-limitless control of the affected area, allowing them to manipulate anything within it.
" Try to leave as many seals as you can." Shoto said to others.
Saki clenched her fists, knuckles turning white. Blood dripped to the ground as her nails dug into her palms. She said nothing from start to finish, but the fire in her eyes intensified.
Saki glanced at the closing enemies… and jumped from the wall.
Midway through the fall she activated her seal—her own personal creation. Her fall slowed considerably.
she created a platform below her feet, perpendicular to the walls and crouched, flexed her leg muscles and..
BOOM-SWISH.
Launched herself towards the closing enemies.
Following her, others also disappeared.
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Kushina's Pov
Kushina knew she was special from a very young age. Her father had told her as much, but she didn't realize the weight of that truth until she met her teacher—the woman who, ironically, taught her nothing yet taught her everything.
Kushina was grateful for it, even if she would never admit it to Saki's face.
She still remembers the first time she met the "Crimson Witch."
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Flashback
When Kushina heard who her teacher would be, she was exhilarated. Saki was the strongest in Uzushio. What would she learn? Forbidden sealing arts? Legendary Jutsus? Kushina spent the morning vibrating with excitement.
On her first day of training, she arrived early.
A few minutes later came a woman out of thin air, long flowing vibrant red hair which was styled in a ponytail. Eyes; Sharp, piercing red that matches her hair, giving her a predatory look. Her expression was cold.
She had a slender, "lithe" build and an hourglass figure that suggests speed and flexibility. Her muscles are toned rather than bulky, giving her the appearance of a specialized operative which she was.
Kushina began to walk with an excited expression.
" Sensei, what are you going to teach me—some forbidden sealing arts or some cool jutsus—"
"...."
Saki just stared at her from head to toe,evaluating but said nothing— and disappeared from Kushina's view.
Suddenly, Kushina felt a stinging pain… she looked down at a long stick? Or was it a pole? was stabbed in her stomach.. Blood began to flow like a fountain when Saki retracted her weapon.
Kushina crumpled, one knee hitting the dirt, both hands pressing over the wound on instinct, warm red spreading through her fingers faster than she could process what had just happened.
"Huh..?? W—why??"
She asked, dumbfounded, clutching her wound, blood still staining her clothes and hands. When she looked up. Red eyes looked back at her. Not angry. Not satisfied. Not anything she could name. She was simply being observed, the way you observe something small and struggling, and find it neither moving nor interesting.
"Pathetic"
For a moment Kushina forgot about the pain, the suddenness of it—instead she felt the anger and rage. This Woman, this lunatic, had stabbed her, and then called her—
"You are Kenji's daughter" Saki said, her voice flat. "And you couldn't even react. It seems he is pampering you."
Kushina blinked… for a moment she just stared at her. This was not what she had imagined. Not even close.
"I will be your teacher, yes. But I will not teach you some 'forbidden' and 'cool' jutsu. Instead I will teach you things that will help you come back alive, even if it means coming half-dead."
Kushina just stared at her for a few seconds, her grip on the wound loosened, forgetting the wounds that were already starting to heal.
"Stand up, we don't have all day for you to kneel from a scratch. You are an Uzumaki, remember that.The sooner the better. " Saki said voice still flat.
Kushina stood with gritted jaws, she did not like her, not a single bit… but the words she spoke had weight, she was right. With fire in her eyes she faced her again on her feet.
Looking at her defiant eyes, Saki expression shifted first time in this meeting, she smiled, a truly beautiful and hauntingly terrifying smile.
Kushina shivered looking at her but did not avert her eyes.
"Good, now I see some hope in you. Now, today's lesson…. Survive."
That's how Kushina's hell started. A hell that didn't teach her jutsus or any fancy techniques but taught her existence.
There was only Saki appearing from nowhere, and pain, and the instruction to get back up. Again. Again. Until getting back up stopped being a decision and became something closer to reflex.
A hell that stripped away the pampered daughter of the clan head and forged a kunoichi who didn't just use sealing arts but incorporated them in her fighting style.
Flashback End
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And why was she remembering that now?
"BOOM"
And that's the reason, it was the second one that hit the barriers and cracks are visible in the barriers now.
But some gaps appeared at the Barrier, from which she could feel enemies closing in.
"Tch... Some gaps were opened in our barriers." she suddenly turned her head; to the incoming enemies, they were moving in their direction. She made a single hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Technique"
Three shadow clones appeared around them and went in different directions.
Then she looked at her team and her aunt, who was unconscious, that was being carried by her teammate.
"We are being followed, don't know their target. But my guess is they are either after me or my aunt." she said with a detached voice. But if you looked at her grip which was unusually white or her clenched jaws, you would know that she was livid at their situation.
They were being hunted like some animals in their own home.
She knew this world was cruel. She had heard it from her teacher, but hearing and experiencing are two different things.
This world was not for the weak.
She stopped her musing and looked behind; at her team as she was leading them, as the only available sensor. And tapped their shoulders one by one. Activating a stealth seal—Which is not yet 'complete' .
"They will hide your presence to some extent but a skilled sensor can still sense you." as she reached for her aunt to place the seal.
"huh??"
The seal just disappeared in her skin. Yes, seals did disappear but not like this. Her connection—chakra—just disappeared or more like absorbed.