The moment the mist spread across the sea, Uchiha Hayatsuki knew their covert infiltration was finished.
With the battlefield now hidden behind boiling steam, he immediately fired a signal flare and ordered his men to circle around the Mist camp from the opposite direction—
To prevent the enemy from fleeing across the sea to the Land of Iron or the Land of Hot Water.
"Hurry! Move!"
"Captain!"
A Special Jōnin with sensory ability rushed over.
"The Mist have activated the Hidden Mist Technique! My sensing is disrupted. I can't see past it. We'll have to rely on Chiya's Byakugan!"
Hayatsuki frowned and looked back.
Hyūga Chiya arrived with a faintly smug look, completely ignoring Hayatsuki's grim face.
He nodded confidently.
"Leave it to me."
"Byakugan—open!"
Instantly, in Chiya's sight—
The Mist-nin were already burning documents and supplies, destroying temporary structures and equipment.
And in another direction—
The Mist assassination squad had already clashed with the man who released the fire jutsu earlier…
A man with a ponytail and a fox-like mask.
Unfortunately, to see through the mask cleanly, Chiya needed absolute focus.
But with battle erupting, and water-mist chakra flooding the area, he couldn't control his Byakugan finely.
He couldn't see Kaito's face—only the chakra pathways within him.
And even if he could see the "face" under the mask…
It wasn't Kaito's real face—
but the transformed appearance of a lazy, mature twenty-four-to-twenty-five-year-old man.
Kaito vs. Mist Assassination Squad
Kaito dodged a sudden slash from a Mist-nin emerging from the fog.
He countered with a brutal kick—
So hard the man's waist caved inward.
If it were a real body, that kick alone would've ended the fight.
But the "ninja" collapsed into a shape made of flowing water and dissolved back into the sea.
"Annoying."
"You Mist-nin are so damn sneaky. Any jōnin who wanders into your field—
At best ends up crippled, at worst dead."
As he spoke, two volleys of projectiles shot toward him—
Four shuriken and seven or eight senbon.
Kaito back-stepped lightly.
Clink—!
His kunai collided with a sword.
This time—
the real captain of the assassination squad had arrived.
Sparks flashed, lighting up the cold, merciless face of the Mist Special Jōnin.
He spoke icily:
"You dare attack the Mist forces alone?"
"You must have a death wish."
Kaito smirked.
"I look pretty alive to me~"
"But you…
are about to die."
"ARROGANT!!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Black night.
Barely any moonlight.
Layers of water-mist so thick you couldn't see your own hand—
Yet blades clashed again and again, ringing out sharply across the sea.
To the Mist captain, this fog was his domain.
His Water Release let him sense positions faintly.
But the masked youth in front of him wasn't using sensing techniques—
He simply knew the angle of every incoming strike.
After over a dozen exchanges, they broke apart briefly.
Kaito's eyes narrowed.
He tossed his kunai upward—
A spinning arc of steel catching the captain's attention.
Why throw away his weapon?
And then—
In the darkness, it felt as if an unseen pair of eyes opened.
The air itself thickened.
The captain's lungs locked for a moment.
"Ittō-ryū… X-Shaped Hunting Net!"
The Z-pattern slash was already terrifying—a triple slash fast enough to cut steel if performed with focus.
The X-pattern was even faster: two instantaneous strikes whose power dipped slightly due to combat conditions—
But easily enough to deliver two fatal wounds through chakra-reinforced armor.
Rip—!
Warm blood sprayed out—
A Mist chūnin, trying to shield his captain, stepped in one moment too late.
He felt the heat, the metallic taste—
And froze.
"C-Captain…"
Behind the man, Kaito's cold voice sounded:
"Rumor says Mist-nin are merciless assassins—
Perfect killers who never fail."
"But from where I'm standing…"
"You're no different from me."
"Blood is still red."
Before the words faded, Kaito's blade swept once more.
A clean cut across the neck.
The captain's head toppled, rolling through the mist-drenched sea.
Plop—
The body collapsed.
"Dying as a shinobi in battle…
And your comrades don't even dare catch your head."
"What a pathetic way to go."
Then—
FWOOSH—!!
A fountain of blood erupted from the headless neck.
Fortunately, Kaito had already stepped away—
So he calmly delivered his dramatic lines while internally consoling himself…
One step further down the path Duy called "the road to monsters."
"You… you…"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Three shuriken tore past, too fast to see.
Kaito still caught them—
With a kunai.
Cheap tricks like these don't deserve my sword.
(And mostly because he didn't want to damage his sword—
It cost 300,000 ryō, damn it!)
Two surviving assassins stepped out of the mist, standing beside the trembling chūnin.
In front of them—
A headless corpse floated on the water.
The severed head bobbed up and down like a cursed buoy.
"Don't underestimate us," one hissed.
"Even if you can beat our captain in swordplay—
The shinobi world is built on ninjutsu."
Kaito blinked.
His grip loosened slightly.
This guy… has he lost his memory?
But he didn't relax his guard—
He still sensed carefully, watching for a real attack.
The Mist-nin continued, expression deadly serious:
"You just used a massive-area Fire Release."
"If you still had chakra left, why would you fight our captain so long with a kunai?"
"Or better yet—
why not use that suspiciously-ordinary-but-actually-not-ordinary sword from the start?!"
"That blade… must be made from some special material!
Just like the powerful weapons our village once forged—"
Kaito: "…"
If I tell you it's not…
Can you give me a replacement?
HELLO? I'm a Konoha GENIN, okay? I am VERY poor~ please sponsor me one blade…
Before he could answer, a violent flash of fire exploded behind him.
BOOM!!!
Kaito: "???"
There's ANOTHER strong one?!
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