In the month of December, the Land of Lightning had already experienced several heavy snowfalls.
Although this land wasn't like the Land of Iron, where the entire terrain would be buried under ice and snow as soon as winter arrived, the temperature here was still significantly lower compared to the Land of Fire.
For ordinary people, unless absolutely necessary, no one would choose to start a war during this season.
But ninjas were not ordinary people. Due to the existence of chakra, even a newly graduated genin could easily withstand most extre weather conditions. Therefore, neither the Third Raikage nor any other high-ranking officials of Kumo ever considered the weather a problem.
Braving the biting sea wind, Kei and his teammates from the Toroi Squad, along with another standard squad led by a jonin, set sail from the southeastern coast of the Land of Lightning.
Their mission was to thoroughly investigate the islands along the sea route leading to the Land of Water. It took them over ten days to complete their search of the Land of Lightning's territorial waters before entering the borders of the Land of the Sea, where they prepared to land on a nearby island.
The Land of the Sea was situated between two great nations—the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.
If war were to break out between Kumo and Kiri, unless one side could swiftly annihilate the other, the Land of the Sea would likely suffer the sa fate as the Land of Rain during the Second Great Ninja War, becoming a battlefield for both sides.
And this strategically crucial island, would inevitably beco a contested stronghold!
As their vessel approached the port, still about a nautical mile away, a chunin stationed in the watchtower spotted a Kiri ninja warship hidden among the many ships docked in the harbor.
Kei, who had been eagerly awaiting the appearance of an enemy, let out a slight sigh of relief upon receiving this news.
The island was their final destination for this mission. If no enemies had shown up here, he would have had to play the role of the enemy himself just to give the mission so action!
Glancing at his comrades, who had already begun using the Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves as sailors and fishern, Kei took advantage of the fact that their team lacked any highly perceptive ninjas.
While performing his own Transformation Jutsu, he discreetly activated a Sensing Technique.
His perception ability extended across a ten-kiloter radius, allowing him to detect chakra signatures even from fifteen kiloters away. As his sensory field swept over the harbor, he detected a total of fifteen distinct chakra signatures, causing him to raise an intrigued eyebrow.
Gazing at the bustling harbor from afar, Kei leaned against the ship's railing, a smirk of interest appearing on his lips. Among the fifteen chakra signatures, fourteen were unfamiliar. However, the last one left a deep impression on him!
Dark, ominous, and bloodthirsty!
There was no doubt—it belonged to the Chinoike ninja who had ambushed Yugito more than half a month ago!
Kei glanced at the location where he kept the sealing scroll containing a three-tomoe Sharingan.
His fingers itched just a little!
Their mission in Kumo had yielded little gain, and if he didn't bring back so kind of souvenir, it wouldn't feel like the trip had been worth it. Their ship slowly docked and ca to a stop in an empty berth at the harbor. With their plan already in place, the team left two chunin behind to guard the ship while the remaining six mbers, including Kei, disembarked under the guise of their transformations to scout the island.
As they stepped onto the dock, Kei's peripheral vision swept across the seemingly calm sea.
Following Toroi, the team advanced toward the town behind the port. The small harbor was bustling with activity—dozens of sailors and dockworkers were energetically loading and unloading cargo.
At first glance, nothing seed out of the ordinary.
However, these people were subtly shrouded in the eerie Yin Release aura of the Ketsuryūgan.
As Kei's group passed by, the movents of these workers stiffened slightly, and a faint crimson glint flickered in their eyes. A few of them, seemingly unintentionally, edged closer to the group.
One of the burly n carrying a wooden crate suddenly appeared to lose his balance and stumbled toward Toroi.
"Sothing's not right!" Toroi's gaze sharpened as he quickly scanned his surroundings, imdiately alerting his squadmates.
In a flash, he dodged to the side, putting over ten ters of distance between himself and the falling man.
Seeing this, Kei and the others swiftly followed suit, retreating alongside him.
The burly man, who had collapsed to the ground, did not explode. Instead, he hurriedly apologized while picking up the scattered cargo. Clearly, whoever was orchestrating this did not wish to reveal their intentions just yet. However, their patience seed to be wearing thin.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion erupted behind them!
The ship they had arrived on was torn apart by the blast, its fragnts sent flying into the air. From the flas and smoke, a Kiri ninja erged—his head wrapped in a cloth and a white mask covering his face.
Wielding a massive, bizarre sword, he swiftly cut down the two chunin who had been guarding the ship and had barely managed to leap away from the explosion.
Another explosion followed imdiately after!
The two chunin, who had tried to defend themselves with kunai, had their arms blown apart into a bloody mist.
The force of the blast sent them plumting toward the sea.
SWISH! SWISH!
A harpoon-like weapon shot out of the water, controlled by thin steel wires that slithered like a living serpent.
In an instant, the two falling chunin were sewn together midair.
As the harpoon subrged back into the sea, the wires tightened with brutal force—tearing the two bodies apart into chunks of flesh, dyeing the waters red!
The Seven Ninja Swordsn of the Mist…
The wielder of the explosive blade, Shibuki, Munashi Jinpachi… And the wielder of the long blade, Nuibari, Kuriarare Kushimaru…!
Kei curled his lips in disdain, his eyes full of contempt.
Among the Seven Swords of the Mist, the most valuable in his eyes was undoubtedly Sahada. Next in line were Kiba, Hirakarei, and Kubikiribōchō, which were at least sowhat useful.
As for the remaining three—Kabutowari, Nuibari, and Shibuki...
What a pile of garbage!
One was just an axe attached to a hamr, claiming it could shatter any defense. Another was basically a sharpened steel needle tied to a wire, supposedly able to pierce through any enemy and stitch them together. And the most ridiculous one—Shibuki. It rely summoned explosive tags that detonated on impact or could be scattered around, with its ultimate move being a self-destruct that supposedly could kill an immortal being.
What a joke! Shattering defenses? Piercing anything? Try that against Susanoo!
And killing an immortal? Konan used 600 billion explosive tags and still didn't kill his target.
You think one sword will change that?
"Heeheehee~ Toroi. I heard you're the bane of the Seven Ninja Swordsn?" Kushimaru, sporting a bizarre hairstyle and an ANBU mask, carried Nuibari on his shoulder while emitting a chilling laugh. He slowly erged from the blood-stained waters.
Around him, a total of twelve Kiri ninja surfaced, each wearing the Kiri forehead protector.
Two mbers of the Seven Ninja Swordsn.
A full standard jonin squad. And the Chinoike clan mber lurking in the shadows.
Judging purely by the visible forces, they already far outnumbered Toroi's squad. Dozens of blood-drunk civilians, controlled by the Ketsuryūgan, stood blocking the path onto the island. Kiri ninja sealed off the sea route.
A brutal battle was about to break out.
Tsk—so Kiri is planning to shift its internal conflicts outward, just like Suna?
One glance at the enemy lineup, and Kei knew that despite Madara's remote manipulation being cut off, Kiri hadn't fallen into complete chaos.
Otherwise, with their hands full dealing with their own ss, they wouldn't be sending such a lineup to counter Kumo's military threats.
Made sense.
Just like how Suna still functioned after losing the Third Kazekage thanks to Chiyo and Ebizō holding the fort.
Kiri had Genji, an equally respected figure.
Two villages, facing similar crises, making similar choices.
"I'm no nesis, but as a user of the Magnet Release, dealing with you guys shouldn't take too much effort." Toroi bit down on a storage scroll from his waist.
With a puff of chakra smoke, a set of shuriken infused with magnetic chakra appeared in both his hands.
"Wait for the right mont to break through. Nigai, don't get reckless." Kei lowered his stance, gripping his kunai in reverse. He spoke in a hushed tone to the young jonin beside him, who was already itching for a fight.
Nigai was montarily stunned and instinctively glanced at Toroi. Seeing the older ninja give a barely perceptible nod, he swallowed hard.
Bro, didn't you just say it wouldn't take much effort to deal with them?
I was about to charge in!
If it wasn't for Osoi's warning, I might've been the first one to die!
Toroi's dead-fish eyes showed a hint of exasperation. Kid, do you even know how to play the bluffing ga?
Those two mbers of the Seven Ninja Swordsn—both were famous figures in the ninja world!
Even in the best-case scenario, he could only use his Magnet Release to barely keep them at bay. That still left a full jonin squad—one jonin, four chūnin, and a few genin.
And here they were, just one fresh jonin, one special jonin promoted through battlefield rits, and a couple of chūnin.
Not to ntion the eerie civilians behind them, whose behavior seed completely off. Who knew what other enemies lurked in the shadows?
If they didn't run, who would be left to collect their bodies?
Nigai's two remaining subordinates exchanged looks, then silently decided: If we survive this, we have to reeducate our captain. Otherwise, who knows when he'll lead us to our deaths next ti?
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