Mangetsu Hozuki, as the strongest among the future Seven Ninja Swordsmen, was an extremely conceited existence.
He had always considered himself a child of destiny, so he never expected that a single defeat in the Land of Rivers would cast him into the abyss.
During that battle, Mangetsu had provoked Shiraishi only to be instantly defeated in a single move. Shiraishi's mockery—claiming to "surpass genius"—had become a recurring nightmare that haunted him.
Black Mist Shiraishi had become a psychological demon; Mangetsu believed that if he didn't kill the man, his own growth as a ninja would be permanently stunted.
Driven by this obsession, he decided to orchestrate an assassination attempt. Alongside Mangetsu, the Kaguya clan held a similar grudge.
After all, Shiraishi had killed several of their top elites, and their bodies had even been stolen.
In recent years, the Hidden Mist high command had lost significant control over the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and the Bloodline clans.
They weren't even aware that these groups were planning an operation that could be viewed as a direct provocation to the Hidden Sand.
Conversely, although Orochimaru had defected from the Leaf, his subordinates remained embedded within various intelligence systems and key departments.
Consequently, he had quickly gathered the relevant details.
"They plan to attack me at sea?"
Black Mist Shiraishi's most renowned ability was his Sand Control. After years of observation, the major villages generally hypothesized that he possessed a secret art for absorbing chakra, but assumed it required a desert environment to function effectively.
Therefore, they believed fighting Shiraishi in a desert was far more dangerous than any other setting. As the ocean was the Hozuki clan's natural turf, it was Mangetsu's first choice for an ambush.
"So, I'd like to ask you to prepare a few good experimental subjects for me—preferably alive. Here is their gathering point; there are six Jonin and fifteen Chunin.
Besides Mangetsu, there is one elite powerhouse from the Kaguya family," Orochimaru said.
Orochimaru didn't want to personally move against these Bloodline and Secret Technique clans yet. Since Shiraishi was already on a collision course with them, he used the intelligence as a bargaining chip to voice his requirements in advance.
Beyond the test subjects, Orochimaru was deeply interested in the computational methods Shiraishi used for his silver sand trajectories. As a scientist, Orochimaru was driven by curiosity for the unknown.
After exchanging research data, Orochimaru vanished from the coach, leaving Shiraishi alone with the still-snoring Maki.
For a moment, Shiraishi's mood soured. A perfectly good trip with Maki was being interrupted by these pests. Shiraishi found Mangetsu's "third-wheel" behavior quite irritating.
Back in the Land of Rivers, Mangetsu had perfectly played the role of a delusional chuunibyou teenager; having been one-shotted once, he was still coming back for more. This time, Shiraishi wouldn't be lenient.
Choosing the sea for an attack was based on the assumption that Magnet Release, Sand Control, and Sand Gathering wouldn't function properly.
Shiraishi, however, was unconcerned. Even without his sand, Origin Pulse, and his bubble-based genjutsu were more than enough to handle Mangetsu.
However, Shiraishi didn't intend to sit around and wait to be ambushed—it would ruin the mood of his vacation.
He turned to the waking Maki and smiled. "This port in the Land of Rivers has a wonderful fireworks festival tonight. How about we stay over for the night before heading to Kusunoki?"
Shiraishi knew Maki loved fireworks festivals. She responded enthusiastically, "No wonder so many vendors are gathering! It looks like there will be quite a large festival tonight."
Since they were attending a festival, they needed to bathe and change into yukatas. Maki was very particular about etiquette and tradition, even more so than Shiraishi.
"I'll drop our luggage at the inn first. Maki, why don't you go ahead and pick out our yukatas for tonight? And take this guy with you!" He held up the dizzy orange cat, which seemed to be suffering from motion sickness.
What a useless cat...
Shiraishi handed Maki his well-stuffed wallet along with the cat, letting her choose several sets of new yukatas.
"Okay!"
As Maki turned away, clutching the heavy wallet, she silently prayed for his safe return. After being together for so long, Shiraishi's subtle behavioral shifts couldn't fool her.
She knew he likely had a sudden mission to execute, but she acted as though she hadn't noticed to avoid distracting him.
Watching Maki's departing back, Shiraishi stowed their heavy luggage at the inn and turned his gaze toward the distant coastline. Magnet Release suddenly coalesced beneath his feet.
Though his Magnet Release couldn't reach full power over the water, it served as a perfect transport vessel, kicking up a massive wake as he streaked across the sea toward the hidden island.
To finish things quickly, Shiraishi opted for a brutal, direct assault. Using his telekinesis for a simple sensory lock, he quickly located the isolated island mentioned in Orochimaru's intel.
Without a word of dialogue, Shiraishi's hands blurred into seals. As the sea currents rose, the water energy transformed into countless azure orbs of light gathering around him.
The chakra consumption for Origin Pulse was immense, but its power was equally domineering.
Countless points of azure light converged into a single, violent beam in front of Shiraishi, which he slammed directly into the island.
Unlike the smaller light-pulses he had used against Kisame, the current Origin Pulse manifested as a massive pillar of azure light.
The brilliant beam illuminated the entire island like a descending judgment, signaling the doom of the ninjas gathered there.
As the island exploded, three shadows blurred away from the impact site, moving in different directions. Shiraishi's sudden strike had been too overwhelming; most of the ninjas hadn't even realized what was happening before the pillar of light obliterated the island.
Aside from Mangetsu and two others, the rest of the strike force sank into the ocean along with the landmass.
While the trio was still reeling from the shock, the light behind Shiraishi didn't fade. As a second Origin Pulse fired, Shiraishi utilized the flow of chakra to activate a Body Flicker, moving like a stream of photons to appear directly behind Mangetsu.
Recognizing the intruder, Mangetsu's face twisted into a look of predatory excitement. "It's you..."
"It's me."
"Haha! I didn't expect you to come knocking on my door! Die, Black Mist Shiraishi!"
Mangetsu swung the bizarre Hiramekarei at him. Shiraishi blocked the strike, just as Mangetsu spat a high-pressure water jet—only for the liquid to be instantly vaporized by the azure light of the Origin Pulse!
Is this the Black Mist's unique photon-based Water Release...? Mangetsu thought frantically. What a disgusting ability. His sand was already hard enough to deal with, but now at sea...
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