The main reason the Bloodline faction's ninja forces felt like they were stuck in a quagmire was their complete disadvantage in intelligence and reconnaissance.
With the cooperation of Hyūga ninjas and experienced New Mist clan ninjas, the Coalition Force ninjas conducting dispersed tactical attacks moved about freely like ghosts even in unfamiliar territories of the Land of Water, effortlessly surrounding and eliminating every scout sent out by the Bloodline faction.
As a result, the Bloodline faction's ninja force was like a blind elephant—powerful yet unable to locate the enemy's main force or even find where their detachments were stationed, leaving them trapped in a completely passive defensive state.
However, after the Third Mizukage dispatched dozens of strange Mist Anbu agents, the Bloodline faction's disadvantage gradually improved.
Thanks to the intelligence provided by these bizarre Mist Anbu agents, the Bloodline faction slowly regained basic information gathering capabilities and steadily began counterattacking the Coalition Forces who occupied nearly half of the central islands and surrounding regions.
Although several lost islands were recaptured through multiple operations, the Bloodline faction still failed to break the deadlock, managing only limited initiative at best.
At the same time, before the six Swordsmen responsible for commanding the ninja forces could take any action, they received another enemy report from the Mist Anbu—this time coming all the way from the Ninja World mainland.
"The Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, the Raikage of Kumo, and even Sanshouo Hanzo of Rain ninjas have arrived!"
After reading this shocking report filled with earth-shaking implications, the Swordsmen and senior Bloodline faction jōnin immediately grew restless.
In theory, the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist working together might be able to challenge—and even kill—a Kage-level ninja. However, they also knew this was propaganda designed to boost the Mist's prestige rather than a realistic possibility.
To begin with, the overwhelming power displayed by the Third Mizukage when he suppressed the Bloodline faction rebellion and personally executed Fuguki Suikazan had already thoroughly convinced everyone of his strength.
Now, the situation had worsened further—not only were two extremely powerful Kage-level ninjas arriving in person, but Sanshouo Hanzo, a figure equally famous and formidable, had also entered the battlefield. This placed unprecedented pressure on the already struggling Bloodline faction forces.
Could the Bloodline faction continue holding their lines?
The six Swordsmen exchanged uneasy glances, shivers running down their spines.
No matter how arrogant they were, they all knew their limits.
"When will the Mizukage finally arrive?!"
At this moment, the Swordsmen and senior Bloodline faction leaders reached an unprecedented level of longing and expectation for the Mizukage.
As two former bitter rival Kage-level ninjas arrived separately aboard warships at the forward base in the southern islands of the Land of Water, two additional fleets fully loaded with weapons and supplies also docked ashore.
When the Tsuchikage Onoki rose into the air using his ninjutsu to overlook the bustling harbor below, even he couldn't help feeling amazed.
Thousands of ninjas bustled with tireless efficiency, ferrying countless supply crates to the warehouses. At the same time, endless lines of civilian laborers carried all kinds of supplies, escorted by ninjas toward the front lines.
Fully armed members of the Standing Ninja Army patrolled the harbor constantly, while Byakugan users remained on high alert, scanning every inch of sky, land, and sea with their pale eyes for any sign of movement.
On the distant horizon, several heavily armed warships patrolled the waters, preventing the aquatic experts of the Bloodline faction—renowned for their exceptional swimming skills—from sneaking in underwater to sabotage operations.
"Impressive discipline and remarkable efficiency," Onoki couldn't help but sigh somberly.
Iwa's proud tradition of discipline, once thought unmatched, seemed to have been completely emulated by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation.
Previously, Iwagakure had held a comparative advantage over other villages precisely because of its superior discipline and obedience. Now, however, that edge was rapidly fading—an ominous sign for Iwa's future.
But at this point, Onoki could hardly change his stance. The elite forces of Iwa were already engaged in battle, deployed to the frontline against the Bloodline faction. Even if he—the Tsuchikage—wanted to change allegiances, it would likely be too late to contact those old comrades-in-arms.
As Onoki's face darkened and his thoughts churned, so did the expression of the Raikage beside him.
This time, he had personally brought along five hundred Kumo shinobi. Initially, he'd hoped these newly-formed units of the Kumo Ninja Force might make a stunning debut. But now, they appeared vastly inferior even when compared to the Standing Ninja Army of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, let alone being mentioned alongside Hyuga Soushu's elite Shinsengumi and Instructor Corps.
As both village leaders lost themselves in thought, the figure of Hyuga Soushu also appeared atop a watchtower at the harbor, waving politely toward the warship where the two Kage stood.
Beside him stood another ninja, tall and imposing, wearing a poison gas mask.
Onoki recognized him immediately—it was none other than Sanshouo Hanzo, his deadly enemy from The Great Ninja World War!
"Even the Half-God has yielded," Onoki mused inwardly, quickly forcing a smile onto his face before activating a jutsu and soaring toward the watchtower.
Meanwhile, the Third Raikage stepped forward onto the deck, waved back at Hyuga Soushu, then sprang into the air with a powerful leap, easily overtaking Onoki and landing directly on the watchtower.
"Welcome, Lord Raikage," Hyuga Soushu said warmly, offering his hand first.
"All for peace within the Ninja World!" the Raikage responded respectfully, stretching out his arm to shake hands, maintaining a humble demeanor.
Although this corporation's rise was founded on Kumo's blood and sacrifice, under current circumstances, no matter how many painful memories lingered in his heart, the Raikage knew he must set them aside now and focus entirely on the upcoming battle, hoping to secure a greater share in the feast of spoils that followed.
"Welcome, Master Onoki," Hyuga Soushu said after releasing the handshake, waving again at Onoki, who had just floated up and landed lightly on the railing of the watchtower.
"Throughout history, Iwagakure has always been the strongest pillar upholding peace in the Ninja World!"
Onoki spoke beautiful words too, though he carefully concealed his inner thoughts.
Now that the situation had reached this point and the Allied Forces' momentum seemed unstoppable, Onoki no longer had the power to change anything, even if he wanted to.
So he simply cast aside distracting thoughts and focused entirely on how to gain more benefits from the Land of Water.
"The forward ninja forces are still eliminating the Bloodline faction's resistance like cutting off its tentacles. Meanwhile, military supplies continue to arrive steadily from Hidden Mist's main headquarters. In about three days, we'll complete all preparations before launching the decisive battle."
Hyuga Soushu pointed toward the warehouses and ninja below the observation tower as he explained: "At that time, tens of thousands will march together, completely annihilating the Bloodline faction and restoring righteousness to rebuild proper ninja villages."
"Preserving existence and continuing succession has long been regarded as righteous duty since the Warring States era! Restoring Hidden Mist's rightful authority naturally falls upon our shoulders!"
The Third Raikage declared solemnly.
These words shocked Onoki — he could hardly believe they were coming from the notoriously unreasonable Third Raikage.
"With both of you personally leading the charge, victory should be beyond doubt!"
Hyuga Soushu highly praised these words.
As for the mere mention of Uchiha Madara — such baseless rumors were obviously not worth reporting to these two; after all, Onoki wasn't exactly getting any younger. If he got scared out of his mind, Soushu wouldn't dare take responsibility.
Under the anxious anticipation of the Bloodline faction's command staff, various Coalition units originally scattered across the central islands gradually maneuvered toward the ninja force camp under strong intelligence and reconnaissance support, systematically seizing each outer position established by the Bloodline faction.
Although the Bloodline faction received intelligence support from Mist Anbu, they severely lacked necessary reconnaissance capabilities. Their responses inevitably lagged behind. Even when they rushed reinforcements to the front lines after attacks began, ambushes kept springing up elsewhere, causing heavy casualties and losses.
After experiencing repeated setbacks like these, even Hidden Mist ninja became overwhelmed.
They might be ruthless, but they weren't suicidal.
Indeed, being stuck in a completely passive defensive state felt unbearable.
Moreover, there was more.
The successive collapses at forward outpost positions rang alarms among the swordsmen.
"The Coalition's general offensive is imminent,"
Raiga Kurosuki sighed inside the Ninja Headquarters tent. "Unfortunately, Mizukage still hasn't responded."
"Our headquarters' ninja forces have already marched southward. Mizukage surely won't abandon us!"
Biwa Juzo forced himself to perk up and tried to encourage the others.
"What good are those extra headquarters troops? With just two thousand men, I could crush them all!"
Another swordsman, Akebino Jinin, snarled angrily.
"..."
The other five swordsmen stayed silent — their spirits had never been lower.
The four thousand-strong ninja force sent southward from Hidden Mist's main headquarters represented the last combat-ready force the village had left.
Except for security forces maintaining village safety, the Third Mizukage had committed everything possible, staking everything on achieving total victory in this single decisive battle.
It was a shame that despite their numbers, the Third Mizukage hadn't come along in person. Instead, he had assigned a Mist Anbu ninja as nominal commander and placed other Bloodline faction Jonin in charge of various units.
Filled with unease, the main force of the Hidden Mist's Ninja Force set out on its southern march, moving forward in full formation.
What deviated from the original plan, however, was that Coalition ninjas on the central islands had become unusually active lately. Relief forces meant to support them had been repeatedly wiped out, so the main force received no reinforcements along the way.
The biggest concern for the Bloodline faction Jonin was whether they would face ambushes or interception en route.
After all, for shinobi, surrounding a target while intercepting reinforcements wasn't some novel tactic.
Yet, as the saying goes, when you fear something, it usually happens. Just as the Hidden Mist's main force prepared to cross a bay passage to continue southward, countless pristine white sails suddenly appeared upon the sea surface.
"The Coalition warships!"
The Bloodline faction ninja responsible for scouting couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
Immediately, chaos erupted among the entire Ninja Force!
The Coalition ninjas' sudden appearances kept everyone on edge—it was just too much!
Furthermore, judging from the endless line of sails emerging across the sea, this wasn't going to be a mere raiding party—it was likely an entire main battle fleet!
"Damn it! How could those idiots at the front let them flank us all the way here!"
One Bloodline Jonin spat a curse under his breath.
"Don't waste time complaining—get ready for battle!"
Another more seasoned Jonin barked.
"What about the commander's orders?"
"Why bother asking? Do you really think we can turn back now?"
Before the temporary commander—an Anbu ninja from Hidden Mist—could even speak, the main force had already sprang into action under the direction of the composed and experienced Bloodline Jonin.
"Heh… So they came from the sea. No wonder we couldn't track them down."
At this moment, the masked Anbu ninja with the odd voice finally chuckled out a few words.
Seemingly unbothered by having his command authority directly overridden by his subordinates, he appeared completely indifferent.
"What an oddball. I wonder why the Mizukage put him in charge."
"Maybe that's exactly why."
Though not spoken aloud, the Bloodline Jonin quietly grumbled among themselves while directing their respective units into position.
Standing atop the highest point of the flagship's mast, Sanshouo Hanzo looked down upon the rapidly forming battle lines of the Bloodline faction's Ninja Force, a whirlwind of thoughts racing through his mind.
"Two thousand versus four thousand."
This time, Hyuga Soushu had directly assigned two thousand specially selected Ninja Force troops along with accompanying ships to Sanshouo Hanzo's command, granting him full authority over encirclement and reinforcement operations.
The biggest difference compared to Rain Ninja Village's forces was that these two thousand ninja were drawn from various ninja clans across the Capital Corporation. Considered the elite warriors of the ninja world, their average combat effectiveness was nearly five times that of rain ninjas.
In short, this was already a massive force capable of destroying villages and toppling nations.
"Lord Hanzo, all shipborne ninja tools have been calibrated for firing range. The ninjutsu squad is also ready!"
As Sanshouo Hanzo was feeling contemplative, a Nara ninja and a Yamanaka ninja simultaneously Body Flickered to his side and reported: "Shall we deploy the Suikans ahead of time into the sea to guard against enemy underwater attacks?"
"Send all Suikans into the water! Shipborne ninja tools will begin test fire in one minute!"
Sanshouo Hanzo issued his command.
"At once!"
The Yamanaka ninja immediately responded, then used Mind Secret Technique to communicate with the staff below, preparing to launch a probing assault.
This greatly amazed Sanshouo Hanzo.
Originally, Rain Ninja Village's command system basically relied on runners or verbal messages — their efficiency inherently lagged far behind Konoha-trained clan ninja. Now, while personally commanding this organized ninja force, Sanshouo Hanzo deeply appreciated this fundamental difference stemming from their systems.
This was no longer a gap that could be bridged by sacrificing several generations.
A wave of mixed emotions washed over Sanshouo Hanzo.
"Shipborne ninja tools launching countdown! Five, four, three..."
At this moment, the Nara ninja timely reminded.
"Ninjutsu Squad, stand by! Deploy Combined Ninjutsu immediately after the second volley!"
Sanshouo Hanzo immediately followed up with orders.
Just then, the cluster kunai launch tubes mounted on ships fired devastating long-range attacks toward Mist's main headquarters ninja force lining the coastline!
However, the first round only contained standard kunai, so although numerous, they were easily intercepted by Crimson Mist faction ninjas.
Immediately afterward came the second tool barrage!
Crimson Mist ninjas planned to intercept them as before.
But this time, although those kunai were still simply knocked off course, smoke began rising from their tails before they hit the ground!
"It's an Explosive Tag!"
Experienced Crimson Mist ninjas shouted at once: "Watch out!"
Even so, continuous mid-air explosions rained burning fragments down from above, plunging the entire formation into utter chaos.
Following that,
[Water Release: Waterfall Technique!]
[Lightning Release: Falling Thunder!]
Meanwhile, clan ninja joined forces and launched ninjutsu attacks against Mist ninja formations.
Although these Explosive Tags and other common mid-to-low-level ninjutsu didn't inflict heavy casualties on Hidden Mist's forces, the battle lines they had painstakingly formed were now in total disarray.
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