area51novel Chapter 283 A Farce, A Fizzy End
Chapter 283 A Farce, A Fizzy End
Chapter 283 A Farce, A Fizzy End
Land of Fire, Eastern Front Camp.
When Kai, who was crying, heard the guard's question, he was taken aback for a moment, but then quickly nodded.
"Yes, my father is Matt Day. Do you know anything about him? Is he already—"
Kai knew in his heart that even if his father had such a secret technique, he would still die after using it. His current actions were just to seek a little psychological comfort.
The guard looked at Kai, whose face was covered in snot and tears, and felt both touched and amused. However, the guard was a kind man, and seeing that the child was crying so sadly, he stopped teasing him.
"Matt Dai was rescued by Taiichi yesterday and is now recuperating at the medical camp. I heard he's alright, so you don't need to cry so sadly."
"Uh—" Kai stopped crying and looked up blankly at the guarding ninja.
Ebisu and Genma were the same; their sorrowful expressions froze on their faces as they stared incredulously at the guards before them.
"What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go to the medical camp. Your father must be very worried about you." The guard reminded him with a smile. Such a happy ending was rare on the front line, and his mood brightened up a lot because of it.
"Yes, yes, Guardian, I'm going right now." After saying that, Kai ignored his companions behind him and ran towards the medical camp with sparks flying. His father was safe and sound, which was the best news for him.
The ending here is happy, but it's not so good in the Hidden Mist Village.
In a tree hollow in the forest, the remaining three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist also arrived one after another.
At this moment, they were completely different from their previous arrogant and domineering self, acting as if they were the only ones in the world.
When the last Watermelon Pufferfish Demon arrived, the two people in the cave only glanced up at it before lowering their heads again as if deep in thought.
After a long silence, Hozuki Mugetsu, the master of the Twin Blades, spoke first: "What do we do next? Should we go back and rejoin the main force?"
Suigetsu Hozuki and Raiga Kurosuki exchanged a glance, both seeing the hesitation in each other's eyes. Unlike Hozuki Mugetsu, they didn't have a large family supporting them.
This crushing defeat will undoubtedly lead to severe punishment upon their return, but at this moment, none of them spoke first.
As if sensing their thoughts, Hozuki Mugetsu continued, "The main force is about to arrive, and the village is in dire need of manpower right now. We are all Jonin, and even if we charge into battle, we are more valuable than ordinary ninjas."
It wasn't that Hozuki Mugetsu was really that kind-hearted as to persuade these two guys to return to Kirigakure, but right now, there were two of them while he was only one. What if they were determined to become rogue ninjas?
He was a model ninja with living parents, a wife, and children; he had no desire to live the life of a rogue ninja living in fear.
Suigetsu Hozuki and Kurosuki Raiga agreed, but the key point was that Hozuki was a trusted confidant of the Third Mizukage, and he really didn't want to defect unless absolutely necessary.
Kirigakure is not only cruel to its own people, but its pursuit of rogue ninja is the worst among the five great ninja villages.
"We should reunite, but we're both quite badly injured right now. Let's wait until we've recovered before we reunite, so we don't run into Konoha ninjas on the way. If we do, we won't be able to escape."
Suigetsu Hozuki made his decision not because he was deliberately delaying, but because he was genuinely afraid. He clearly remembered that Matsushita Taichi had come specifically to hunt them down. If all seven of them were together, he might not be afraid, but now that there were only three of them, he was truly afraid of encountering that nemesis again.
Upon hearing this, Raiga Kurosuki nodded in agreement. Although he hadn't directly fought Taiichi, his thoughts were similar. He had clearly seen how Taiichi had defeated Kusanagi in just a few moves and how he had crippled Fuguki with a single blow.
Hozuki Mugetsu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone was willing to rejoin the main force. As for the time being a little late, he didn't care at all.
East Coast.
A small team of ten people was walking along the beach, a very rare number for Konoha's organization. Unless it was a special mission, a team usually only had four people.
-
This team was certainly not on any special mission; judging by their speed, they could easily be mistaken for tourists enjoying a leisurely trip.
"Elder Yougui, it's not good for us to stay here. The camp is still short-handed."
It turns out that this group of people were all ninjas from the Hyuga clan. Hyuga Yuuki had been following Tsunade's instructions and had been idling around in the rear after forming a reconnaissance team.
He is a member of the Hyuga main family, and his presence at the front lines is more symbolic; Tsunade would not actually send him to the front lines.
However, he couldn't resist his own misbehavior, and he pulled a group of Hyuga ninjas who were protecting him to take on the responsibility of patrolling.
With such a large number of Hyuga ninja gathered together, the utilization rate of their personnel is predictable.
"Aren't we also on a mission? In your eyes, is contributing to the village only possible at the camp?"
An elder is an elder; at least his verbal skills are top-notch. With a series of evasive and sophistry arguments, he left the Hyuga ninja who was speaking speechless.
What could he do? The other party was the main family, and he was from a branch family. He didn't have much say to begin with, and now he could only do his job and protect the safety of the main family.
The group patrolled along the coastline, though only the branch family ninjas were truly dedicated to their patrols.
"Elder, look over there!"
After a long while, a cry of surprise interrupted Hyuga Yuuki's reverie. He opened his Byakugan and looked in the direction the guard was pointing.
In the distant sky, three large ships floated on the sea, and hundreds of ninjas were treading on the waves, rapidly approaching the shore.
Even without a closer look, Hyuga Yuuki knew that this must be a ninja from Kirigakure.
"Great! I didn't expect that we would be the ones to get the credit for discovering the Hidden Mist. It's worth all the effort we put into this patrol."
"Ryosuke, quick, send a signal to the rear: Kirigakure will be landing here."
Hyuga Yuuki waved his arms excitedly, while also giving instructions to the ninja beside him.
Immediately, a signal flare rose into the sky.
The red signal flare emitted a dazzling light, making it conspicuous even in daylight.
The ninjas patrolling the area reacted immediately, and the ninjas responsible for defense were quietly adjusting their defensive positions.
The message was reported up the chain of command, and it wasn't long before Tsunade received the news from the front lines.
The speed of the Hidden Mist was far beyond her expectations, but fortunately they were also prepared. All that was left was a real battle to see who would emerge victorious!
The front line.
As the signal flare rose, Taiyi, who was patrolling the sky, happened to see it as well; it was not far from him, only about 5 kilometers away.
A flight of minutes.
He silently adjusted his angle and accelerated towards that direction. After a while, he saw a group of ten people below.
The commotion in the air naturally attracted the attention of the Hyuga ninja below.
Looking at Taiichi in the sky, Hinata Yuuki still waved politely.
Upon seeing this, Taiyi folded his wings, swooped down, and landed in front of them.
"Elder Hyuga has done a great job this time. Out of so many patrolling ninjas, it was you who first discovered the enemy's tracks."
It's said that flattery will get you through anything, and that's certainly true. Elder Hyuga's smile widened upon hearing this.
"It was just luck that Kirigakure came from here!" Elder Hyuga was still very polite, but his expression looked like he wanted to praise me.
Having had this brief delay, Taiichi was now able to see the group of Kirigakure ninjas through his chakra perception. He decided to stop wasting time and spoke to Elder Hyuga beside him.
"The enemy is coming soon. Elder, you should lead your clansmen to retreat. I'll go and deal with this group of Mist Ninja."
Taiichi meant well. There were only ten Hyuga ninjas, while the Kirigakure ninjas there were estimated to be over two hundred. He could come and go freely on his own, but taking them with him would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths. Besides, Tsunade's orders to the patrolling ninjas were not to make contact, but only to monitor them.
However, there are always those in this world who don't appreciate kindness.
Hyuga Yuuki was quite unhappy with Taiichi's orders, whether he felt slighted by him or for some other reason. In the end, he reluctantly left the coastline after being persuaded by his subordinates.
"Whoever he is, one day I'll make him understand the power of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist."
Yuuki Hyuga was dragged away by his subordinates, grumbling, while Taichi was too preoccupied with the Hyuga ninjas to care about them.
This wasn't the first time Taiichi had faced off against a ninja army single-handedly; he was now quite adept at it.
And here is the ocean, what could be more suitable for the current scene than water jutsu? Taiyi formed hand seals and used this ninjutsu to greet the uninvited guests who had come from afar.
Water Escape·Big waterfall water rushes into the waves.
The seawater beneath their feet surged up, forming a wall of water more than ten meters high that rushed toward the two hundred or so Mist Ninja.
Even within the Hidden Mist, only a few could accomplish such a large-scale water escape technique, and coincidentally, none of the two hundred-plus individuals possessed this ability.
They were merely the vanguard, scouting ahead for the main force's landing; the real main force was still on the large ships at the rear.
Faced with such towering waves, these Mist Ninja were helpless, but fortunately, as Mist Ninja, they were quite experienced in dealing with Water Release techniques.
Some of them dived directly into the water to avoid being hit by the waves, some used water escape techniques to lift themselves into the air, higher than the crest of the wave, and others relied on their speed to rush directly to the top of the wave.
However, Taiyi's ninjutsu was not so simple. He changed his hand seals and pressed down into the water.
Water Escape: Thousand Water Dragon Dance.
This is a ninjutsu developed by Taiichi by combining the effects of Water Dragon Bullet and Thousand Shark Eater, designed to deal with scenarios where there are a large number of enemies in an aquatic environment.
Amidst the surging waves, countless menacing water dragons materialized, targeting all enemies, whether they were underwater or on the surface.
Of course, ninjutsu is powerful, but when it attacks so many enemies at once, its individual power is inevitably somewhat insufficient. As long as one's strength reaches the level of an elite Chunin, or if one has a way to counter it, one can escape safely.
However, among these two hundred-plus people, only a minority of ninjas possessed such skills; one by one, the Hidden Mist ninjas were bitten by the water dragon.
Entangled, then dragged into the sea.
In just one exchange, at least forty Kirigakure ninjas who were unable to react in time were killed by Taiichi.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately! We've been ambushed! Let's go back and regroup!"
This commander is quite talented. Faced with the situation where he couldn't defeat Taiyi, he simply said that he had been ambushed, leaving Taiyi completely stunned.
Seeing the Hidden Mist ninjas scattering and fleeing, Taiichi didn't even bother to pursue them. He hadn't expected the vanguard of the Hidden Mist to be so weak. However, the real battle was yet to come, and Taiichi was also looking forward to sparring with the Hidden Mist's experts.
Once there were no more Mist Ninjas in his chakra perception, Taiichi's figure abruptly disappeared from the spot.
Konoha Camp.
Taiichi reappeared at the camp, and amidst the awe-inspiring light of the ninjas, he arrived at the central command tent.
The place was still bustling with activity, with people constantly coming and going, and orders being issued continuously from the tents. Anyone who didn't know the situation would surely think that Tsunade was incredibly busy.
But only those who got close to her knew that Commander Tsunade was bored and thinking about where to find some amusement.
When Taiyi entered, this was the scene he saw. The staff officers were all extremely busy, analyzing the course of the battle, coordinating logistical supplies, and distributing combat missions.
Only occasionally would one or two documents be delivered to Tsunade, and even then, she would only glance at them briefly before signing her name with a flourish.
Even so, not a single staff officer complained. They called it "Lady Tsunade's trust in them."
Upon seeing Taiichi approach, Tsunade immediately became interested.
"Taiichi, how's it going? Did you take care of those Mist Ninja?"
"Does the teacher know that the Mist Ninja aren't strong?" Taiichi asked curiously. Logically, the front lines had only reported the discovery of Mist Ninja, so how could Tsunade be so sure that she could handle them?
To his surprise, Taiichi's question earned him a glare from Tsunade.
"Aren't you underestimating your teacher? I'm a veteran of World War II, after all. Do you think I can't guess whether Kirigakure will send out scouts?"
Well, it's just that Taiyi himself is too inexperienced and made some assumptions.
He composed himself and recounted his encounter with the Fog Shadow Vanguard.
Tsunade listened in silence. Her disciple had made such great progress that she really had nothing more to teach him. Even on the battlefield, she could only impart some experience.
"After your disturbance, the Hidden Mist Village will definitely be more vigilant in their subsequent attacks. During this time, you should also scout out to the outer sea as much as possible. If you can find their foothold, that would be best. Otherwise, we can only wait for them to come to us, which is too passive."
"No problem. I'll increase the patrol area and try to find their hideout within the next couple of days."
Taiyi was full of confidence. It might be really hard to find on land, but at sea, the difficulty was several orders of magnitude lower. There were only a few islands in the near sea. He could just search every single one of them. He didn't believe he couldn't find the location of the Hidden Mist base.
Just as Taiyi was reporting what he had seen and heard, the vanguard of the Mist Village that he had driven back returned to the Mist Village's warship.
The leader of the vanguard, the Mist Village Vanguard Captain, honestly reported their experiences to the commander above.
"You mean, you were ambushed by Konoha's experts, and he alone routed over two hundred of you, forcing you to retreat in disarray? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
The one who spoke was Minazuki Asuka, the commander of the Kirigakure unit. His handsome face was now covered in frost, and even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop a few degrees under his influence.
"Commander, everything I've said is true. All the ninjas who have returned can testify to this. If I've uttered even one lie, you may take my head."