After withstanding three relentless waves of attacks from the Coalition Force, the Bloodline faction's ninja force finally collapsed.
Although the Bloodline faction still had greater numbers, they were at a significant disadvantage in terms of readiness and preparation. Under the relentless Ninja Tools Barrage launched by the enemy, human morale was easily broken.
Furthermore, the Coalition ninja deployed a constant stream of new tactics, especially Secret Jutsu that effectively countered the Hidden Mist's usual Water Release techniques. The Bloodline faction found themselves unable to cope with these continuous countermeasures, suffering heavy casualties. With wounded comrades practically receiving no timely medical treatment, morale inevitably plummeted sharply as expected.
The Anbu commander personally appointed by the Third Mizukage was utterly incompetent. Even as the main headquarters' ninja force neared the brink of collapse, he maintained an irreverent, carefree attitude. Left with no choice, the Bloodline upper-jonin who took over command could only order a gradual retreat inland, abandoning the beachhead positions to move deeper into the island, avoiding enemy shipborne ninja tool fire.
However, retreat is an art not everyone can master.
Especially when at a disadvantage, this requires excellent coordination and teamwork among all ranks of the ninja force.
When orders came down from the battlefield for the vanguard to withdraw while the rearguard provided cover, those long-suffering Bloodline faction ninja saw this as a beacon of salvation. They fled the battlefield—their hellish nightmare—with reckless abandon, like birds startled by the sound of arrows.
Consequently, what should have been an orderly staged retreat quickly devolved into total chaos. Discipline vanished completely, replaced entirely by primal survival instincts driving each person to flee wildly in all directions.
Seeing his enemies collapse unexpectedly, Sanshouo Hanzo naturally seized the opportunity. He gave the decisive order to launch a full-scale assault once more, utterly crushing the already overwhelmed Bloodline faction's ninja force.
Yet because the Coalition had engaged in successive brutal battles, its forces were extremely exhausted. To prevent being ambushed and routed themselves, after fully securing the beachhead, Sanshouo Hanzo consolidated his forces without pursuing further.
In this battle, two thousand Coalition ninja deployed northward sustained casualties nearing a thousand, including over five hundred fatalities. However, they also achieved impressive results.
Bloodline faction corpses littered the battlefield numbering no less than a thousand, with over two hundred severely wounded captured. These figures undeniably demonstrated that the southern reinforcements of the Bloodline faction had suffered heavy losses, completely losing their capacity to advance southward any further.
As Sanshouo Hanzo settled into a period of consolidation and rest, an unusual visitor arrived outside Hidden Mist's main headquarters.
"Is this really Hidden Mist?"
Peering through his telescope at the desolate and ruined entrance to the ninja village in the distance, and at the empty, silent streets within, Jiraiya felt rather uneasy.
He couldn't tell whether this move would ultimately prove brilliant or disastrous. After all, the Hidden Mist Village currently appeared far too suspicious.
There was no sign of patrolling or guarding ninja—a plausible explanation being that all forces had mobilized southward in support. The village itself showed no signs of life, desolate and run-down, likely due to the evacuation of civilians to other areas. That part wasn't entirely unreasonable. But the unnervingly sweet, metallic scent lingering in the air—it was just *wrong*.
Furthermore, even from his current position, Jiraiya could clearly smell this intense odor. One could only imagine how suffocatingly thick it must be right at the village's core.
If he had to compare it to anything—rotting flesh or congealed blood—it still wouldn't quite fit. After all, Jiraiya was a seasoned ninja who'd witnessed countless wars, death, and gore—these scents were familiar to him.
Yet if that wasn't what it was, then where could that unmistakable iron-rich stench unique to blood possibly come from?
After much thought, Jiraiya finally came up with a fitting analogy: flower fragrance soaked in fresh blood!
Only by imagining something like that could one explain the peculiar nature of the smell in the air.
"Hey hey hey, Jiraiya, I'm starting to feel unwell!"
Kousuke, the messenger frog hiding inside Jiraiya's robe, suddenly poked its head out nervously. "It feels like something monstrous is watching us."
"It really does seem off," Jiraiya agreed.
Though his Sage Art cultivation was not particularly advanced and his Sage Mode remained unstable, the Sage Chakra coursing through his body was behaving strangely—boiling and churning, as if trying to tear free from his body.
This was an unprecedented phenomenon.
So after hesitating briefly, Jiraiya decided to form a hand seal. [Use Shadow Clone Jutsu], creating one clone to proceed toward the entrance of the Hidden Mist Village.
After all, he had already come this far. And reaching out to Kirigakure had been the result of careful deliberation—the only possible ally among the hidden villages across the Ninja World. If he gave up now, Mount Myoboku would have no choice but to keep sacrificing their ninja frogs' lives and strength—until there were none left.
Facts had already proven clearly after a crushing defeat that Myoboku alone stood no chance against the overwhelming forces of the Ninja World. Therefore, both the Great Toad Sage and Elders Fukasaku and Shima agreed that securing external allies had become essential.
The Great Toad Sage took responsibility for contacting Tsunade's group in Shikkotsu Forest and former enemies in Ryuchi Cave, while Jiraiya, possessing the innate advantage of human appearance, returned to the Ninja World to seek potential cooperative factions.
However, plans rarely kept pace with changing circumstances.
Originally, Jiraiya had planned to approach Kumo and Iwagakure—two hidden villages harboring deep conflicts with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation. However, once the corporation proposed forming a Combined Ninja Force, nearly every faction on the mainland joined in, including even Suna, located far southwest of the Ninja World, sending over a sizable observer team. So, to avoid raising suspicions too early, Jiraiya reluctantly set those options aside and turned his focus to Kirigakure—the village now poised to become the world's next target.
But something about the Hidden Mist Village today felt distinctly wrong.
As Jiraiya's shadow clone advanced deeper into the village, a sense of foreboding grew stronger within him.
If the outskirts of the village already carried an oddly sweet and metallic scent, then as the shadow clone advanced closer, the air grew increasingly thick with a bizarre, unplaceable odor.
If one had to put a word to this smell, it would be something like undiluted perfume essence—extremely pungent and difficult to describe in words.
"Huh? Where the hell did you come from?"
Just as Jiraiya's shadow clone was about to step through the village entrance, a strange voice suddenly sounded behind him!
A chill immediately ran down the clone's spine!
It was just a shadow clone, sure, but that didn't mean its senses were any weaker. Most importantly, even though a voice came from behind, its perception remained completely blank!
"Who are you!"
Instantly, Jiraiya's shadow clone leapt high into the air, twisting his body mid-flight as he turned around fully alert.
Standing before Jiraiya's shadow clone was a ninja dressed in standard Mist Anbu gear.
However, judging purely by demeanor, he appeared overly laid-back, with a posture full of openings—as if he were some low-class thug or hooligan.
"You're asking who I am?"
This comical Mist Anbu pointed at himself and replied with a question.
"Sorry, maybe I'm just being too—"
The clone paused for a moment, unsure exactly what to say.
Because this whole situation was just *too* weird!
Even now, although they were face-to-face, apart from visually seeing the Mist Anbu standing there, Jiraiya sensed absolutely nothing—he felt like there wasn't even a living being present.
More importantly, the clone couldn't detect even a trace of "human scent" coming off this Mist Anbu.
It was as if what stood before him was a piece of long-dead, decayed wood, completely devoid of any vitality.
In fact, even a corpse wouldn't give off such a bizarre sensation.
"Hehe, it's been ages since anyone came by—and even better, you're still breathing."
Seemingly indifferent to the clone's defensive stance, the Mist Anbu twisted his body strangely, laughing gleefully: "So great, so great."
"I've come to pay my respects to the Mizukage. Would you kindly announce me?"
Jiraiya's shadow clone asked calmly.
Although this Mist Anbu seemed extremely odd, perhaps his strangeness itself was some kind of special ability, so the clone didn't dare to let his guard down even slightly.
"Hehe, you wanna see the Mizukage?"
The Mist Anbu tilted his head sideways, comically inspecting Jiraiya up and down, still wearing that same foolish expression.
"And just where do *you* think you're from?"
At that moment, another oddly humorous yet slightly different voice emerged from right behind Jiraiya's shadow clone.
Now, even though the clone technically lacked internal organs, his heart nearly jumped straight out of his throat.
"Ka-ka-ka..."
Slowly craning his head around, Jiraiya spotted yet another bizarre figure wearing Mist Anbu gear standing behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. This one looked similar to the first but somehow different.
Moreover, both of their legs were buried in the soil, giving the impression that they had just arrived through [Earth Release] techniques.
However, Jiraiya's shadow clone hadn't detected even the slightest trace of chakra fluctuation from beginning to end!
In theory, that shouldn't have been possible.
After all, every ninja technique—no matter how secret or bizarre—requires chakra to work. Any activity would inevitably leave traces. There was no way for someone to leave absolutely no chakra fluctuation whatsoever.
Now, Jiraiya's shadow clone truly couldn't remain calm.
This was a complete violation of logic; even Sage Arts from Mount Myoboku didn't reach such levels.
Still, keeping his mission in mind, Jiraiya's shadow clone responded, "I'm from the Mainland—the Ninja World."
"Heh, a land-dweller visitor—how unusual indeed!"
"It's like sending a swan feather from afar—it's the thought that counts!"
The two Mist Anbu laughed and chatted as if they didn't take Jiraiya's shadow clone seriously at all.
But Jiraiya's shadow clone soon realized something else: these Mist Anbu with formidable stealth abilities seemed completely unaware he was actually a chakra-formed shadow clone.
Although the Shadow Clone Jutsu created chakra clones that could almost pass as real, difficult to distinguish by naked eyes alone, elite Anbu ninjas from each Hidden Village had mastered advanced detection methods to ensure they wouldn't waste precious efforts hunting down mere fleeting chakra illusions.
Yet it appeared these oddly-capable Mist Anbu either lacked such skills or simply weren't conscious of them?
Jiraiya's shadow clone instantly regained his composure.
"Huh!"
Suddenly, the first emerging Mist Anbu exclaimed, "Madara and the Mizukage have issued orders!"
"Oh! Our guest may now proceed!"
The other Mist Anbu also reacted exaggeratedly.
Still, Jiraiya detected no chakra fluctuations at all, remaining clueless about how they had communicated.
"Well then," said one Mist Anbu, still half-buried in the earth, gesturing toward the entrance with an absurdly theatrical welcome, "come along with us, honored guest from the Ninja World—as the saying goes, even a single feather sent from far away carries great meaning."
Maintaining composure, Jiraiya's shadow clone entered the Hidden Mist Village Headquarters flanked by the two Mist Anbu.
Exactly like what his original body saw while observing through a telescope from outside the village, the Hidden Mist Village Headquarters was eerily silent now.
And the strange smell grew stronger, so intense that it nearly overwhelmed Jiraiya's senses and caused him to vanish entirely.
"Hmph…"
Jiraiya's shadow clone exhaled sharply, then sealed his nose and mouth to block out the odor, preventing the returning memory of this sensory experience from plunging his original body into unconsciousness upon releasing the shadow clones.
Guided by the Mist Anbu, Jiraiya's shadow clone approached a strange tall building.
Meanwhile, during the entire walk here, he kept observing carefully but found not a single living creature—not even the most common flies or mosquitoes!
Thus… this place was utterly dead.
Jiraiya's shadow clone couldn't shake off a strange sense of unease.
The strange tall building before him gave an even stranger sensation, as if it were a living creature mimicking a structure. It almost looked like it was twitching slightly—similar to the inner walls of a giant toad's belly back in Mount Myoboku.
"Go on in. Honorable Lady Mizukage is waiting for you."
The Mist Anbu halted together and mockingly said to Jiraiya's shadow clone.
"The Bian Da must be scared!"
"That's only natural. After all, the Bian Da is just the Bian Da."
Seeing that Jiraiya still hadn't moved, the two Mist Anbu began teasing him again.
Although Jiraiya didn't understand why these Mist Anbu enjoyed constantly referencing the Bian Da, after a moment's thought, he strode into the building.
He'd come this far already. It was just a shadow clone—it wasn't like he had anything to lose.
At worst, if something felt off, he would simply dispel the ninjutsu himself, carrying his memories and consciousness back to inform his real body waiting outside the village.
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