Learning from the disastrous defeat suffered by the Privateer Ninjas, Mist Ninja Clan's operatives fragmented into small groups and navigated around the sea to strike deep behind the Land of Water, attacking the islands like ravenous wolves descending upon prey. Wherever they went, destruction followed.
Once-proud courtiers, arrogant samurai retainers, and ruthless wealthy merchants—all suffered the same fate as the commoners they once scorned, falling victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the ninja clans.
Indeed, before these ninja forces, those self-important elites were worth less than the very peasants they held in contempt!
According to the tactical guidelines for enemy territory operations, every noble and member of the elite class encountered was executed without exception, while their movable wealth was seized.
However, due to the need for long-distance maneuver warfare, large cargoes such as fabrics and grains couldn't be taken along.
It would have been a waste to merely set everything ablaze, so during the planning phase, Hyuga Soushu specifically ordered that such non-precious but essential supplies be distributed among the local populace.
Although ordinary civilians meant little to ninja, that strange and mysterious thing called public sentiment could still be swayed in one's favor.
"Open the granaries! Distribute the food!"
After capturing yet another city and wiping out its Guardian Ninjas and samurai defenders, Suiton Clan Head stood atop a towering pile of grain sacks alongside his ninja. He watched as joyful crowds lined up to receive food and cloth.
Even before the ninja clan arrived, a few scattered civilians beyond the wilderness had spread news of their approach—promising open gates and free food. This caused panic within the city walls and placed heavy psychological pressure on the defending ninja and samurai.
Moreover, such rumors were not confined to a single city.
Identical tales appeared simultaneously in surrounding cities near the target, leaving defending ninja completely unsure of where the next attack would come. Forced into confusion, they could only adopt the most foolish strategy—holding fast in place without daring to unite or offer mutual support.
"Hurry up! We leave in half an hour!"
Suiton Clan Head roared angrily, and immediately the pace of distribution quickened.
After breaching city defenses, opening grain stores and looting the mansions of aristocrats and rich merchants had to happen concurrently. Most importantly, this precious and fleeting "window of opportunity"—the crucial half-hour immediately after a city's fall—was far too short, for reinforcements from distant locations would soon swarm in. Therefore, if the ninja clan units wished to avoid direct confrontation, they must complete their mission and withdraw swiftly within this critical timeframe.
"If we coordinated multiple squads for joint operations," suggested a Suiton Jonin, "perhaps our gains might be even greater."
"Once a city falls, nearby garrisons will inevitably be redeployed in a scramble for reinforcement, leaving those weakened cities vulnerable—an ideal opening for us to exploit."
"There's no need to take unnecessary risks."
"The incident with the Privateer Ninja is still fresh in our minds. We shouldn't risk lives for such minor gains. If we get surrounded and wiped out, it would be a real disaster!"
"The Suiton Clan Head's caution is wise. I admit my suggestion was short-sighted."
The Suiton Jonin who proposed the plan immediately bowed apologetically.
The Suiton Clan Head waved her hand dismissively.
It had been more than three days since they started infiltrating from the southern islands toward the rear of the Land of Water. Along the way, all their targets were guarded only by weak ninja forces—not even enough high-ranking ones to properly defend a single city. Under these conditions, organizing joint operations just wasn't worth the trouble.
"Sigh..."
Suddenly, the Suiton Clan Head exhaled deeply, her expression turning solemn.
Although she outwardly claimed indifference, deep inside she felt that this form of widespread plundering was undignified.
More importantly, if the Crimson Mist faction's main forces on the frontline mounted a major counterattack, seizing cities wouldn't be so simple anymore.
Besides, as a Ninja Clan without permanent territory seemed improper. Continuing with this guerrilla warfare approach long-term would likely drain away the entire clan's strength before long.
And then—what would become of those Ninja Clan kin descendants held hostage within the territories controlled by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation?
"Suiton Clan Head, time is almost up," one Suiton Jonin whispered beside her ear.
"Very well."
The Suiton Clan Head nodded, opening her mouth to issue orders.
"Large enemy force detected in the south! Immediate withdrawal advised!"
At that moment, the Hyuga scout ninja reported through his Byakugan observations.
"Abandon all uncollected supplies on site—evacuate everyone immediately!"
Without hesitation, the Suiton Clan Head gave the command, never considering engaging the approaching enemy forces in battle. She ordered her hundred-strong unit of ninjas to retreat at once.
The Ninja Clan ninjas immediately dropped what they were doing, following the Suiton Clan Head while employing the Shifting Body Technique toward the northwest direction, hoping to quickly escape the city's vicinity and execute large-scale maneuvering.
Meanwhile, the civilians still waiting in line for rations and cloth supplies erupted into panic.
A short while later, someone shouted into the crowd: "Take what you can get!" Immediately, the fragile order maintained under the ninjas' intimidation completely collapsed as civilians swarmed the warehouses like wild animals fighting over spoils.
"Suiton Clan Head, ahead—the city is already completely abandoned."
The arriving Ninja Force belonged none other than the Crimson Mist faction led by Fuguki Suikazan, arriving in full force.
Due to distance limitations, the Hyuga scout ninja only noticed the vanguard units, mistaking this Ninja Force merely as temporary reinforcements hastily assembled from nearby cities.
"These fellows who've got noses sharper than any hyena's!"
One Crimson Mist Jonin muttered discontentedly.
As they marched back, their massive formation could easily intimidate any enemy squads—but inevitably attracted attention too, making covert movement harder.
But Fuguki Suikazan refused to divide his forces for separate attacks, so the Crimson Mist faction's main army could only march forward in full force. Although they had reclaimed over a dozen cities from the retreating Ninja Clan's ninjas, they had nothing substantial to boast about.
"According to our previous tradition, it's now time for the 4th Battalion to move out!"
After Fuguki Suikazan slightly waved his hand, an immediate Mist jonin stepped forward, bowed respectfully, then used Body Flicker to return to his directly commanded Ninja Force and issued orders for his battalion to follow him into battle.
Though this "tradition" sounded mundane enough on the surface, its underlying brutality chilled people to the bone.
Within cities that had been captured, nearly all prominent figures had already been slaughtered, while treasures and valuables were looted by the Ninja Clan's ninjas. Therefore, if they wanted any gains themselves, they needed to get creative within the city walls — an old saying meaning to make bold moves for personal gain.
And this process of "getting creative," in plain terms, meant removing commoners' heads from their shoulders. Fuguki Suikazan's logic was straightforward: if these civilians survived under the cruel Ninja Clan ninjas' tyranny, that alone proved their suspicion of colluding with enemies; and if they still possessed resources that shouldn't rightfully belong to them, that evidence solidified their traitorous guilt.
Therefore, the Crimson Mist faction ninjas assigned to enter cities for cleansing operations could proceed exactly as Mist Village had always done — eliminating every potential threat thoroughly.
This extremely brutal method, though bloodthirsty and savage, encountered no repercussions thanks to local aristocrats and wealthy merchants having already been wiped out completely. Without influential voices to expose these atrocities directly before the Daimyo himself, these massacres might as well never have happened at all.
As for any subsequent investigations? Convenient scapegoats remained readily available through rebellious Ninja Clans.
After all, tensions between Ninja Clans, the Crimson Mist faction, and the Land of Water had already escalated beyond reconciliation. These blame-laden tasks would fall squarely on their shoulders whether they liked it or not!
Beyond military calculations, Fuguki Suikazan harbored personal ambitions too.
To win his men's loyalty, you either dangled dreams of future glory or handed them unimaginable riches right away. Considering his mediocre persuasion skills, Fuguki Suikazan chose instead to offer innocent civilians as gifts for consolidating power among fundamentally ruthless Crimson Mist ninjas.
Once cultivating insatiable greed within these men, besides himself — the sole provider of endless conquests — even the Third Mizukage would find commanding this arrogant Ninja Force impossible.
Wasn't becoming Mizukage itself merely about possessing unmatched military strength?
With endless killings continuing unchecked, Fuguki Suikazan's ambition blossomed rapidly as the carnage spread to distant cities.
Unending slaughter transformed the rear areas of the Land of Water into utter wastelands in extremely short time.
Rebel Ninja Clan squads coordinated seamlessly with Crimson Mist sweeping squads — one eliminating local strongmen, the other obliterating everything within cities entirely. Moving at measured paces yet working together with apparent coordination, direct confrontations barely occurred between them.
Half a month later, aside from the Daimyo's court and the Kinki region, every single city in the country had been thoroughly cleansed.
Even the densest Daimyo and courtiers could no longer ignore that things had gone completely off the rails.
Although reports of victories claimed by Fuguki Suikazan continued to arrive, most nobles dispatched afterward to take control of the region were ambushed and killed en route. Even those few who managed to reach the recovered city found nothing awaiting them but a deserted ruin littered with corpses.
It could be said that within an extremely short time, the entire Land of Water had suffered a population decline of no less than seventy percent!
This terrifying conclusion finally shook the daimyo and courtiers from their inertia.
Historically, the aristocrats seldom cared for commoners unable to defend themselves, treating them like wild weeds—they believed these people would multiply recklessly if left unchecked. However, faced with such a massive population reduction, they clearly understood the serious consequences it would bring immediately.
The most immediate consequence was that the noble class's exalted status would become meaningless—surely no one expected noble families to personally plow fields or spin thread after such drastic population losses?
Thus, the urgently alarmed Water Daimyo immediately summoned the Third Mizukage, stationed at the daimyo's court, intending to discuss suitable countermeasures.
"The Mist ninja forces can no longer be allowed to act recklessly!"
As soon as the Third Mizukage stepped into the daimyo's hall, a noble official from the Land of Water immediately stood up to accuse him: "Mizukage-sama! It is the nobility who are the rightful rulers of this nation—the ninjas must not dare destroy noble property!"
To the nobles, those despised commoners were nothing more than assets to exploit.
And these once-disposable resources suddenly became incredibly valuable following the massive population drop.
The Third Mizukage merely glanced at the outspoken Grand Chancellor without responding, then calmly walked over and took a seat beside the daimyo's royal chair.
A few nobles near the palace entrance cautiously peered outside, confirming that this time, the Third Mizukage had indeed come alone—his ever-present Mizukage Guard was nowhere to be seen.
This realization made them stand even straighter.
In truth, the nobles' impression of ninja wasn't much better than that of commoners.
Moreover, due to the Land of Water's geographical isolation overseas, nobles had never successfully incited wars to consume these resource-intensive ninja villages. Additionally, successive Mizukages had always maintained a certain distance from the aristocracy, preventing them from interfering in village affairs—thus fostering long-standing resentment among the nobility toward the existence of the hidden villages.
Now, this large-scale civil war within Hidden Mist presented itself as a rare opportunity.
Though the infighting between the Bloodline faction and the various ninja clans had left nine out of ten homes empty across the Land of Water, with unimaginable devastation, to some courtiers, this was actually a rare chance.
If they could use this opportunity to eliminate the Mizukage line resisting noble interference, then total control over Hidden Mist would no longer be an impossible dream.
Therefore, as per their usual custom—to ensure legitimacy before taking action—the nobles rose together in protest, petitioning the daimyo to reprimand the Bloodline faction ninjas' reckless conduct.
"Mizukage-sama, do you have anything to say?"
After a long while, the vicious accusations finally quieted down, and the Grand Chancellor, the highest-ranking among the courtiers, finally spoke up.
"The secular belongs to the secular, and the Hidden Village belongs to the Hidden Village. This unbreakable boundary was established when Hashirama brought peace to the warring shinobi clans."
The Third Mizukage said slowly.
"Who is Hashirama?"
A few nobles looked puzzled.
"You actually obey a long-dead ninja from the Land of Fire as your master while serving as a subject of the Land of Water! Mizukage-sama, there's something wrong with you!"
Seizing the opportunity, the Grand Chancellor immediately advised the Daimyo, "Your Highness, the current Mizukage has lost the ability to lead the Mist Village. Please issue an order to appoint a new Mizukage!"
As his words fell, a group of Guardian Ninjas rushed out from the inner chambers, surrounding the Third Mizukage while protecting the aristocrats.
"There are quite a few of you, huh?"
The Third Mizukage slowly scanned the crowd, finding the situation somewhat ridiculous.
"Mizukage-sama would like to make an excuse?"
The Daimyo's sharp voice echoed calmly.
"For someone about to die, there's nothing more to say."
The Third Mizukage smiled slightly, then closed his eyes.
In the eyes of the courtiers, this was a sign of surrender!
"We've won!"
Immediately, some nobles began congratulating each other, overjoyed beyond measure.
They had expected to witness a deadly ninja battle, but victory came far easier than they'd imagined!
But the Grand Chancellor wasn't willing to stop here; he was even unwilling to merely confine the Third Mizukage.
With a wave of his hand, the Guardian Ninjas lunged toward the Third Mizukage.
"Crack!"
Out of nowhere, a giant war fan appeared in the Mizukage's hand. With just a single swing, those Guardian Ninjas instantly lost their heads.
"Eugh!"
Panic erupted in the hall.
Then, a group of white-skinned beings burst forth from underground, rampaging through the crowd of aristocrats!
Though weaker than real ninja in terms of overall combat strength, [Taijutsu] alone allowed them to match Chunin-level opponents. Moreover, their victims were helpless nobles without any martial prowess.
Soon enough, blood flowed like rivers within the Daimyo's palace, with heads rolling across the floor.
Treading slowly through the pool of blood, the Third Mizukage approached the pale-faced Daimyo, silently contemplating this nominal ruler of the Land of Water.
"Why have you betrayed us, Mizukage-sama?!"
The Water Daimyo shrieked angrily.
"Your destruction has nothing to do with you!"
Slowly raising the strange war fan, the Third Mizukage gave it a gentle flick, and the Daimyo's head rolled off.
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