"What? You're going back on your word?"
Seeing the other party speak again, the Kumo ninjas braced themselves as if facing a formidable enemy. After all, bandits breaking promises was only natural.
But what Rin Nohara said next shattered their worldview completely.
"Of course not. I'm a bandit with principles."
"I'm just asking if you want your wounds treated. Special price."
"Rest assured, my Medical Ninjutsu is quite exceptional."
As the green glow rose slowly from Rin Nohara's hand, the Kumo ninjas froze one after another.
What the hell? Beaten, robbed, and now charged for treatment? Was this even real?
And did they even have money left? Any at all? She had taken everything from them already!
Soon, Rin Nohara realized this too and suddenly burst out laughing.
"My bad, forgot—I robbed you of all your money."
"Alright, get lost."
Abandoning her plan to earn a little extra, Rin simply watched them leave. But when she saw the direction they were heading, she called out again.
"You're going the wrong way."
"What?"
"I said you're going the wrong way. You don't need to go back to the village. Go wherever you want—just don't return to Kumogakure."
The Kumo ninjas froze in place.
They never expected this—being robbed was bad enough, but now they couldn't even go home?
Looking at Rin Nohara's smiling face, each of them felt a chill deep in their hearts. She truly had no intention of letting them return.
Submitting to Rin Nohara's tyranny, they could only run toward the village exit.
"Goodness, Kazuyama, your disciple is even more ruthless than you. Beating people, robbing them, charging for treatment—and now forbidding them from returning to their village?"
Chōmei had watched the entire scene unfold and couldn't help but sigh.
Not just him—Kazuyama Gekkō was also a little surprised. Rin Nohara's series of actions had been executed flawlessly.
Truly flawless—blocking the Kumo ninja, robbing them, driving them away—all in one smooth motion.
"Not bad. Looks like Kumogakure will be suffering for quite some time."
If Rin Nohara's actions were this thorough, the others needed no mention.
Kakashi and Obito simply relied on brute force, knocking their six opponents unconscious, binding them, and throwing them out of their area.
Shisui's method was even neater. His Sharingan Genjutsu was inescapable. The six didn't even know what happened before Shisui took them all down at once. Under his control, they obediently marched off.
The worst fate befell the ninja squads sent to the coast.
...
At that moment, they were resting in a coastal village, gathering information from locals.
"What? A giant sea serpent?"
"How could such a thing exist? Are you sure you didn't mistake it for something else?"
The villagers, who hadn't dared venture out to sea in days, nodded repeatedly.
"It's true. I saw it myself while out fishing. A massive sea serpent emerged from the ocean and devoured a giant fish."
"Several fishing boats have already been attacked these past few days."
"No one dares go out anymore."
After collecting intelligence, the six arrived at the shore. Staring at the calm surface of the sea, they fell silent, their expressions grim.
If such massive sea serpents truly existed here, there was no way they could deal with them.
"BOOM!"
Suddenly, the water erupted. A gigantic serpent head burst from the waves, staring directly at the shore.
"The sea serpent! It spotted us!"
"No—it's coming straight at us!"
Before they could react, the serpent dove back underwater, then surged toward the shore with violent waves crashing behind it.
It was clear—it intended to kill them.
"Damn it! Form up! Take it down!"
"Are you sure?"
"What choice do we have? If we don't, fishing here will be impossible!"
The two squads were skilled—Chūnin-level ninjas, all six proficient in Lightning Release.
"Roar!"
As the sea serpent reached the shore, the six unleashed their jutsu in unison.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"
The attacks struck its head, golden sparks exploding across its scales.
"Roar!"
The serpent roared in pain and thrashed wildly, its massive body rampaging across the coastline. Their attacks no longer had any effect—pain meant nothing in its frenzy.
When the sea finally calmed, only two of the six ninjas remained. The serpent had vanished back into the ocean.
The survivors, both gravely wounded, barely made it back to the village alive.
Medical squads rushed to treat them—after all, they were the only ones who returned.
Raikage and Dodai came to see them personally.
"What happened? Out of two squads, only the two of you survived?"
"What exactly did you encounter?"
Hearing Dodai's question, the battered ninja trembled, eyes full of terror.
"Sea serpents. Enormous sea serpents."
"The coastal waters were swarming with them—not just one."
"We thought there was only a single serpent. We almost had it down, but suddenly several more burst out of the water."
"Our team collapsed instantly. The other four… were devoured."
"Only the two of us survived."
Sea serpents? Giant sea serpents? How could this be?
Dodai's eyes filled with doubt, while Yonraishi's face turned cold.
"Damn it! Why would sea creatures come this close to shore?"
"And snakes, no less! Could it be those bastards from Konoha!?"
The moment he heard "snakes," the names that came to Raikage's mind were Orochimaru and Kazuyama Gekkō. After all, both were synonymous with snakes.
Dodai pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"Unlikely. Sea serpents may be snakes, but they're marine creatures. Orochimaru and Kazuyama Gekkō's snakes are land-dwellers. They're entirely different species."
"I suspect it's some pirate clan, attacking the Land of Lightning's territory. It could even be the work of Kirigakure."
"Lord Raikage, you've read the files on the Third Mizukage. The man who perfected Water Release—his summoning beast was an electric eel, something very much like a sea serpent."
Brilliant reasoning, Dodai—his analysis was flawless. Except it completely ignored the real answer.
Raikage nodded. Years of war had led Kumo to investigate every Kage thoroughly. And Kirigakure's summons were usually sea creatures. Dodai's words made sense.
"Hmph! Then I'll go myself. Just a bunch of sea serpents."
"I'll slaughter them all."