As promised, the extra chapter is here.Remember, every time we reach an additional 50 Power Stones, even more bonus chapters will be unlocked.
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Naturally, Sunagakure possessed its own sensory units.
By tracing the lingering chakra signatures and movement trails left behind by Mei Terumi's group, they quickly locked onto their route and pursued at full speed, refusing to let their prey escape so easily.
As the thick fog gradually dispersed, visibility returned,
and the two fleets finally came into full view of one another.
The contrast was impossible to ignore.
The Mist Village's ships were aligned, disciplined, and battle-ready, their formations steady and their chakra surging with confidence.
Sunagakure's fleet, in comparison, looked utterly battered and disordered,corroded hulls, torn sails, wounded shinobi crowding damaged decks.
Mei Terumi had already returned to the flagship.
Standing proudly at the bow, hair and cloak fluttering in the sea wind, she surveyed the pursuing Sand Village forces. Taking in their miserable state, she burst into unrestrained laughter, her voice echoing across the waves.
Kisame Hoshigaki and Mangetsu Hōzuki watched from behind her, their eyes sharp with newfound respect.
She had infiltrated the enemy formation with only two companions,
yet she had left an entire Sand Village force in chaos before they had even laid eyes on her.
Seems we underestimated this woman…
Kisame and Mangetsu exchanged a glance, silently reaching the same conclusion.
On the opposite fleet,
Granny Chiyo fixed her gaze on Mei Terumi, who stood tall and composed at the prow of the Mist ship, radiating confidence and authority.
"Hmph. So it was you, woman, who launched that attack?"
Mei answered with a calm smile.
"Your Sand Village invaded the Mist first, yet you dare call it a sneak attack?"
"Is Sunagakure always this shameless?"
Chiyo's expression remained unchanged.
"In the ninja world, the rule is simple,the strong devour the weak."
"Pretty words won't sway an old woman like me."
Mei's eyes narrowed slightly as she replied, unfazed.
"Exactly. Which means those who were ambushed have no right to complain."
For a brief moment, Chiyo was silent,then she laughed sharply.
"Good. Very good."
"You're impressive, child. If we weren't enemies, we might have become friends."
"Powerful female shinobi are rare in this world."
"Other than Tsunade of Konoha, you're the first woman I've truly acknowledged."
Mei tilted her head, intrigued.
"Tsunade,the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi, one of the Legendary Sannin?"
"I would like to meet her someday."
Chiyo snorted coldly, her chakra beginning to surge.
"That depends on whether you live long enough to do so!!!"
In that instant,
Granny Chiyo finally released her true power.
As Sunagakure's strongest living shinobi, she made no attempt to test the waters. From the very start, she revealed her ultimate trump card,
a forbidden puppet technique said to possess the power to conquer an entire city.
White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets!!!
The true strength of the Ten Puppets had long been underestimated.
Though far fewer than Sasori's Hundred Puppet Performance, each of Chikamatsu's creations was vastly superior to ordinary puppets, imbued with terrifying lethality and precision. In their legendary clash, Sasori's puppets had fallen in droves, most destroyed in an instant.
Now, Chiyo summoned them without hesitation.
It was proof of her burning anger,
and of the serious threat she perceived in the woman before her.
Mei felt a stir of tension in her chest. She knew exactly what this technique represented.
Before departing, Lord Chiba had personally briefed her on Chiyo's Ten Puppets in detail.
She didn't know how he obtained such information,
but his intelligence had never once been wrong.
"So this is the White Secret Technique… Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets."
She exhaled softly.
Chiyo's eyes flickered with surprise.
"You're young, yet well-informed."
Mei smiled faintly.
"Not because I'm knowledgeable."
"Because our Mizukage told me."
"The Mizukage? That brat named Chiba?!"
"Where did he get that information?!"
Mei offered no reply.
Chiyo scoffed,she hadn't expected one.
With a sharp command,
the naval battle finally erupted in full!!!
In a blur of motion, the two leaders,
Granny Chiyo and Mei Terumi,
charged straight at each other, chakra surging like colliding storms!
At the same time, elite shinobi on both sides plunged into chaotic combat.
Sunagakure's veterans,Ebizo, Satetsu, Otokaze, Sajin, and others,unleashed massive waves of chakra, launching Wind Release techniques and precision ninja tools in a relentless long-range barrage.
The Mist Village answered immediately.
Kisame Hoshigaki.
Mangetsu Hōzuki.
Ao.
Bi.
The elite Mist shinobi surged forward without hesitation.
Kisame let out a feral grin as he drew Samehada, its massive body radiating oppressive chakra. Facing the rain of shuriken, he kicked off the deck and charged headlong through the barrage, leaping directly onto an enemy ship.
Samehada awakened instantly.
Its living blade writhed, spines twisting as its massive maw opened wide, hungering for chakra and blood.
BOOM!!!
Kisame swung Samehada in a brutal arc, instantly blasting three or four Sand Village shinobi into the air. Flesh was torn, chakra ripped free, and the blade fed greedily as screams echoed across the deck.
For a moment, the Sand Village forces were completely shaken.
Kisame Hoshigaki's strength was in no way inferior to Mei Terumi's.
With Samehada in hand, he was nothing short of a rampaging sea demon.
Elsewhere, Mangetsu Hōzuki roared as he raised the Twin Blades: Hiramekarei.
"Hiramekarei,Release!!!"
Chakra erupted from the circular vents along the blade, rapidly expanding into a massive shield that intercepted the enemy's opening barrage.
In the next heartbeat, the chakra shifted shape,
condensing into a gigantic battle axe, which Mangetsu gripped with both hands and slammed downward with overwhelming force!
BOOOOOOM,!!!
Half of an already-damaged Sand Village warship was obliterated, the deck collapsing inward as timbers snapped apart.
Screams rang out as countless shinobi were hurled into the sea, splashing violently into the churning waves.
Meanwhile, Ao, Bi, and the others clashed head-on with Satetsu, Otokaze, Sajin, and their peers, elite jōnin battling fiercely amid flying steel and chakra blasts.
And at the heart of the battlefield,
Granny Chiyo had already unleashed Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, sending them surging toward Mei Terumi in a relentless, coordinated assault!
Mei did not retreat.
Her hands flashed through seals, chakra boiling violently around her body.
"Lava Release: Corrosive Monster Technique (Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu)!!!!"