Inside the former Konoha Sea Outpost No. 1—
The terrifying Fire Release barrage hammered the Mist-nin before they could react.
Chaos erupted.
Mist forces scrambled to stop the Konoha squad from advancing. To avoid getting picked off individually by Mist assassins, Uchiha Hayatsuki immediately regrouped his men for a unified push in a single direction.
Just as the deployed Mist defenders were on the verge of being wiped out—
The overall commander, Hōzuki Suikyo, stepped onto the battlefield.
His body flickered with Water Transformation, slipping through the sea mist with speed, combining seamlessly with supporting Mist-nin using Water Release.
Wherever that pale blade flashed—
Konoha shinobi fell.
"That's a Hōzuki clan shinobi! Use Lightning Release—now!!"
Hayatsuki's voice echoed across the water.
Konoha had many Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water users—
But relatively few Lightning Release users. Lightning jutsu were harder to develop, and Konoha lacked any high-tier lightning arts.
Of their sixty-five ninja, excluding the dead and gravely injured—
Only two specialized in Lightning Release.
"You think I'll give you the chance to use lightning?!"
Suikyo surged out of the water in fluid form.
His hands blurred through signs—much faster than the two Lightning-nin could track.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
But to Hayatsuki's Sharingan, Suikyo's speed was not fast at all.
Hayatsuki's own hands flashed through the exact same seals—
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Two massive water dragons burst upward from the sea, colliding midair, wrapping around each other, tearing, biting—
BOOM!!!
Water exploded outward, raining down on the two leaders at the front lines.
Suikyo's eyes widened in disbelief.
"A Uchiha—keeping up with my Water Release?!"
"This is impossible!!!"
"Please."
Hayatsuki exhaled, steadying his breathing.
"I'm a Uchiha proficient in both Fire and Water Release."
"You think they stationed me on the Mist border for nothing?"
"Let's end this."
"Demonic Illusion: Sharingan!"
"—Damn!"
Suikyo had been unsettled after seeing Hayatsuki perfectly copy his ninjutsu.
That emotional slip was all it took—
He accidentally made eye contact with the Sharingan.
He forced his hands together.
"Release!!"
The simple genjutsu snapped—
Suikyo tried to form water for a substitution…
But a combined attack was already descending:
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Lightning Release: Ground Surge!!" ×2
"Combination Jutsu: Thunder Dragon Bomber!!" ×3
Three chūnin unleashed their fusion technique.
Lightning-infused water surged like a raging electric beast, swallowing Suikyo whole.
The current shocked him violently—
The curse of mastering Hōzuki clan secret arts:
They were vulnerable to lightning.
The same fatal flaw as Deidara's earth-based clay.
"CAPTAIN!!" ×N
Within the outpost, the sensor unit detected Suikyo's fall.
Two more assassination squads immediately launched forward to save him.
Others, having finished destroying documents, prepared to evacuate by ship.
"You want to rescue him? Not happening."
Hayatsuki swept his arm, signaling his troops forward.
Konoha ninja advanced across the sea, stepping over Mist corpses.
Tap, tap, tap—
"Third squad! Four o'clock! Enemy approaching—don't close distance!"
Hyūga Chiya barked the warning.
A Konoha ninja swung instantly, clashing against an enemy blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three consecutive strikes, then two more Konoha shinobi rushed in.
But their blades hit only air.
The squad captain noticed a disturbance in the mist to his comrade's left.
"Chika! LEFT!"
Slash—!
Sparks flew through the fog again.
Mist had abandoned maintaining the hidden-mist barrier—
Every assassin, every Water Release user was now charging forward in a desperate attempt to retrieve Suikyo.
A Mist Special Jōnin back at camp feared Suikyo's intel might fall into Konoha's hands—
Even if it meant dying together with the enemy, they couldn't allow tomorrow's arrival of Mist and Cloud reinforcements to be exposed.
—Of course, most of that intel had already been leaked by a certain someone…
And Shikaku had already deduced everything.
And on Kaito's side—
Clang!!
Steel rang out as Kaito's kunai locked with a Mist chūnin's blade.
Then—
Splurt—
To Kaito's surprise, the Mist-nin suddenly abandoned his weapon, driving his kunai straight into his own torso—
Then grabbed Kaito tightly.
"NOW!! This is our chance—die with me, Jōnin!!"
"I understand, Fuyu-kun!!!"
The female Mist-nin behind him bit her lip as tears fell.
Her hands blurred through seven complex seals—
Kaito recognized it instantly.
Water Prison Technique.
"Water Release: Water Prison!!"
She slammed her palms onto the sea surface.
A surge of chakra spread through the waves.
A sphere of water erupted beneath Kaito and the suicidal chūnin—
WHOOSH!!
Water engulfed them up to the head.
(If Kaito's Devil Fruit had a seawater weakness, he would have died instantly.)
Good thing it didn't.
"Interesting," Kaito murmured, watching the water swirl around him.
"So this is what it feels like to be Obito.
What now? You gonna spit concrete at me?"
The Mist-nin clinging to him released his grip.
Cold hatred twisted his expression.
He cast one last look at a fallen comrade floating behind him… and then at the tearful female Mist-nin maintaining the jutsu.
"I won't let you die so easily."
"Come with me—
to hell!!"
"Summoning Technique!!"
"This time… everyone can feast."
POOF!!
Inside the water sphere, dozens of small piranha-like ninja beasts materialized.
They saw their summoner's bleeding wounds—
Tears welled, but their jaws curled into wicked grins.
Then all their murderous eyes turned toward Kaito.
"…Wow. Guess I'm the villain now," Kaito muttered dryly.
"But come on—piranhas? Do you think that's enough to kill me~?"
The summoned beasts understood his words.
Their eyes filled with rage.
They surged forward, teeth bared.
As they attacked, the chūnin coughed blood but smiled cruelly.
"Go, everyone…"
His life flashed by—
each piranha and the name he gave them appearing in his fading thoughts.
Outside the sphere, the female Mist-nin wept openly.
"Goodbye… Fuyu-kun."
"ROOM."
A soft voice echoed.
The woman blinked, vision blurring—
A pale blue dome expanded before her eyes.
She was still channeling chakra into the sea—
When—
Invisible blades swept through the water.
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