Sensing that the situation had completely spiraled out of control, Elder Chiyo did not hesitate. She hastily gathered the remaining forces of Sunagakure and ordered an immediate retreat. However, their escape was anything but smooth. Under the relentless pursuit of Mei Terumi, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Mangetsu Hōzuki, the Sand Village's warships were struck down one after another, sinking into the sea along with soldiers and supplies.
Unlike the front line, Ao and Chōjūrō did not join the chase. Instead, they secured the battlefield, capturing every Sand ninja who had fallen into the water. Along with them came an enormous haul of spoils: intact ships, ninja tools, specialized weapons, and vast quantities of military materials.
It was a crushing victory in every conceivable sense.
Even so, Mei did not order total annihilation. Chiyo was deliberately allowed to escape, fleeing in disgrace with only seven or eight damaged warships left,living proof of Sunagakure's overwhelming defeat.
After the enemy's withdrawal, Mei regrouped with Ao and the others. The battlefield was cleared, the wounded treated, and the casualty numbers were finally tallied.
Kirigakure had lost just over a hundred shinobi.
Sunagakure, on the other hand, had suffered more than five hundred dead, with another three to four hundred captured.
The disparity was brutal.
When combined with the seized ships, weapons, and wealth, the result was undeniable,this battle would be recorded in history.
Mei couldn't suppress her smile.
"This fight… was truly satisfying."
Kisame let out a low, rough chuckle,something rare even for him.
"Sunagakure thought they could fight us at sea," he said coldly. "How foolish."
Mangetsu crossed his arms, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
"A victory like this hasn't happened in decades. We can face the Mizukage-sama without shame."
Mei nodded, though her gaze drifted toward the horizon.
"Yes… I wonder how the Mizukage-sama's battle is going…"
Chiba's figure surfaced in her mind,his calm demeanor, his overwhelming strength, the memories they shared. Without realizing it, her eyes softened and a faint blush colored her cheeks.
At that very moment…
In the heart of the ocean, destiny finally brought two titans face to face.
Chiba had encountered the Kazekage,Rasa.
On Sunagakure's side, Rasa was accompanied only by his absolute elite: Maki, Yura, Sasori of the Red Sand (in disguise), and other fearsome names. This was the strongest core the Sand Village could assemble.
Chiba, in contrast, brought Momochi Zabuza and Ringo Ameyuri.
And standing there as the very spark that ignited this war,
Pakura, wielder of Scorch Release.
The warships of both villages spread out across the sea, forming an oppressive line of confrontation. The air grew heavy, saturated with chakra and hostility.
At the bow of the flagship, Rasa stepped forward, glaring down at Chiba with open contempt.
"So you're Kirigakure's new Mizukage… Chiba?" he said with a cold smile. "From what I can see, you're nothing but a child."
Chiba answered with a calm, almost bored smile.
"When someone lacks ability," he replied evenly, "all they can do is talk about age."
Rasa's face twisted with rage.
"You…!!!"
Before he could continue, his eyes locked onto the figure standing behind Chiba.
Pakura.
For a brief instant, the hatred in his gaze deepened even further.
"Pakura…" he muttered with a venomous laugh. "So it's true. You really did betray Sunagakure."
Pakura remained silent.
But she was no longer the woman who had been abandoned in the past.
And Rasa could feel it.
The wind died.
The sea itself seemed to hold its breath.
Two Kage stared each other down, separated by mere dozens of meters… and by an entire ocean on the brink of freezing solid.
The battle that would decide the fate of two great villages was about to erupt.
After Chiba's guidance,and after experiencing the treatment she received in Kirigakure, so different from the despair she had endured in Sunagakure,Pakura had already made her peace with everything. She no longer hesitated, no longer wavered. Standing before Rasa, her voice was calm, but each word struck like a blade.
"Kazekage-sama… it wasn't I who betrayed you. It was you who betrayed me. You and I both know that very well. I fought for Sunagakure, bled for it, built my reputation through countless victories,and in the end, how did you repay me? You ordered me to die." Her eyes sharpened, burning with restrained fury. "A village that sends its own heroes to their deaths,what meaning does such a village even have?"
Rasa's lips curled into a cold sneer, his gaze devoid of remorse. "Ninjas exist to sacrifice themselves for their village. If your death could bring peace to Sunagakure, then wouldn't that mean you died exactly as you should?" His voice was firm, absolute, as if repeating an unshakable doctrine.
Pakura answered without raising her voice. "If you truly wanted peace, you would never have started this war in the first place. Kazekage-sama, you are both hypocritical and twisted. A man like you will never meet a good end."
Rasa was about to speak again,but Chiba had already grown tired of listening.
"That's enough, Rasa." His tone was flat, yet carried an invisible pressure that weighed heavily on the battlefield. "You and Sunagakure dared to invade Kirigakure. From the moment you crossed our borders, you accepted the possibility of death. You want war?" Chiba lifted his hand slightly, eyes cold and unwavering. "Then I will give you war."
The order was never spoken aloud.
Yet in the next instant, the massive warships of Kirigakure surged forward as one, their hulls cutting through the sea, crashing straight toward the Sand Village fleet with unstoppable momentum. The sound alone was enough to shake the battlefield.
Rasa's expression changed abruptly. He could see it clearly,Sunagakure's ships were lighter, weaker, and far less stable. A direct collision would mean disaster. "Fall back! Evade immediately!!!" he shouted. Orders echoed in panic as the Sand Village fleet descended into chaos, ships turning sharply, formations breaking apart.
"Fūton: Amiuchi (Wind Release: Great Net)!"
"Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Grand Breakthrough)!"
The Wind Release units responded at once. Violent gales erupted across the sea, colossal gusts tearing through the air, attempting to force the approaching fleets apart and halt the impending collision.
And then,
Chiba raised both hands.
There was no hurry. No excess motion.
The sea, the wind, even the sky itself seemed to pause.
"Ice Age."
The world collapsed into sound.
BOOOOOOM,!!!
CRACK,!!!
ROOOOAR,!!!
An immeasurable cold exploded outward, vast enough to swallow the horizon. It was not merely frost,it was annihilation. Chiba stood at the center like an embodiment of winter itself, a singular source of absolute zero that devoured all warmth, all movement, all resistance.
Crack,crack,CRASH!!!
The ocean froze in an instant. Towering waves were locked mid-motion, crushed beneath layers of ice several meters thick. The sea's surface hardened violently, as if reality itself had been sealed.
The ice did not stop.
It surged forward, racing across the water faster than the eye could follow. Before the Sand Village fleet could react, the seawater, the hulls, the keels,everything,was frozen solid. Entire warships were trapped in place, immobilized as though time itself had been arrested.
Still, the cold spread.
It crawled up the ships, devouring the decks, the masts, the sails, flooding into the cabins and corridors. In a single breath, every Sand Village vessel was completely encased in ice. The shinobi standing on deck were frozen where they stood,faces twisted in shock, bodies locked forever in motionless, crystalline statues.
Within dozens of kilometers, the ocean became a frozen world.
A thousand miles of ice.
Ten thousand miles of drifting snow.
And in that moment, it wasn't only Sunagakure that fell into stunned silence. Even the shinobi of Kirigakure,those who stood under Chiba's command,could only stare in disbelief, their hearts trembling.
This was not a battle.
It was absolute domination.