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The Kirigakure fleet.
On the deck, over a thousand shinobi stood in silent respect, like statues.
Their presence was chilling, and a strong scent of blood gave off from their bodies.
These people were all monsters who had crawled out of the meat grinder of the Blood Mist Policy.
Those feelings of kinship, friendship... all such emotions had long been cut away by their own hands.
They were the sharpest and most deadly blades in Yagura Karatachi's hand.
A shinobi on lookout duty dozed off for just a tiny moment.
The next second, the captain behind him stabbed him through the heart with a blade without any emotion.
Without mercy.
The body was kicked into the sea, splashing a small wave before disappearing.
No one glanced over.
No one discussed it.
It was as if a piece of trash had been thrown away.
In the cabin on the top floor of the fleet, Yagura Karatachi sat there, his delicate face empty of any expression.
Only in the depths of his purple eyes did a hint of violence and mockery, not fitting for his body, sometimes flash.
"How much further is the target?" he asked, his voice flat, empty of any emotional change.
"Reporting, Mizukage-sama, we are expected to reach Reef Island in thirty minutes."
"Mm."
Yagura gave a soft sound of agreement, then said no more.
After the person left, Black Zetsu, who was attached to his shadow, peeked out.
After looking around, he merged back into the darkness.
Wipe out the rebels.
Leave no one alive.
Then completely control Kirigakure.
This was his sole purpose for this trip.
By then, he could make a move on the tailed beast!
Reef Island.
Inside the cave, the campfire's light moved.
The one-armed Nagano suddenly opened his eyes. An strange feeling of danger startled him from his light sleep.
He stood up, walked to the cave entrance, and looked out at the calm sea.
Everything was as usual.
But that feeling of danger stayed in his heart.
"Make the defenses stronger!" he ordered in a deep voice.
The resistance forces members responsible for watching immediately took action, holding their simple weapons.
The young Keisuke wiped the kunai in his hand, his eyes fierce.
Revenge.
This was what kept him alive, his only reason for living.
He wanted to personally chop off Yagura Karatachi's head!
Just then.
A shinobi on lookout duty suddenly rushed over, his face filled with fear.
"Nagano-sama! On the sea... on the sea..."
Nagano's heart dropped sharply.
Without waiting for the lookout shinobi to finish, he quickly rushed out of the cave.
Everyone who woke up in the cave followed him out.
They saw a black dot on the distant sea approaching at an amazing speed.
That was... the village's messenger!
He was still alive!
A hint of joy had just risen in everyone's hearts.
The next second.
They saw the huge shadow behind the messenger that blocked the horizon.
The fleet!
A massive fleet!
Everyone's faces instantly turned gray.
It's over.
They were found.
"Enemy attack!"
A roar broke the quiet of Reef Island.
The messenger finally rushed ashore.
His legs gave out, and he fell straight forward, using his last breath to raise the wet scroll.
"A thousand men... Mizukage... leading the team..."
Before he could finish, his head tilted, and he completely lost his breath.
Chakra drained, mental energy used up, he had done his mission and burned himself out.
A thousand men!
The Mizukage!
This news made the faces of several young resistance forces members turn gray.
"How is this possible... How could our stronghold be found?"
"A thousand men... We only have three hundred! And we have wounded and children!"
Someone, unable to hold back the fear in his heart, began to shake hard.
It's over.
"All of you, shut up!" Nagano's roar drowned out all the noise.
He stood with one arm, looking at the fearful faces, finally stopping at Keisuke and dozens of young people, and the wounded behind them.
"Is crying useful?"
"From the day we left the village, we should have expected this day!"
He suddenly pointed at Keisuke and the others. "You! Take the children and the wounded! Go through the secret passage in the back mountain!"
"Immediately! Right now!"
This order shocked everyone.
"No! Nagano-sama! We're not leaving!" The young Keisuke was the first to react, shouting with veins showing in his neck. "We want to stay and fight!"
"That's right! We're not afraid of death!"
"If we die, we die together!"
The young shinobi were excited. They would rather die in battle than be deserters and live without honor.
Slap!
Nagano slapped Keisuke across the face.
The entire scene instantly went quiet.
Nagano's chest moved hard as he pointed at the fleet, whose shape was now clearly visible in the distance, his voice urgent. "What will you fight with?"
"With your tears?"
"Dying here has no meaning! It's just adding a few more corpses!"
He walked in front of Keisuke, gripping Keisuke's shoulder tightly. "Listen, Keisuke."
"We old guys, if we die, we die. But you can't..."
"You are the sparks of the resistance forces!"
"Living requires more courage than dying here!"
"Carry our hatred, live on! Then, wait for the chance, come back... and get revenge for us!"
Nagano didn't roar. His voice was full of begging.
Keisuke's tears, no longer held back, poured out.
He understood what the adult meant.
This was not abandonment.
This was using their own lives to buy these young people a chance to live.
"Hurry up and go!"
Nagano pushed Keisuke, then shouted at the more than hundred old Kirigakure shinobi behind him with firm eyes. "Everyone! Prepare to meet the enemy!"
"Buy us time!"
"Yes!"
Over a hundred old Kirigakure shinobi roared together, all turning to face the sea, not one of them backing down.
Their backs were like walls.
Firm and unyielding.
"Go!"
Nagano roared at those who were still unsure.
Keisuke bit his teeth, bowed deeply, then immediately led the crying children towards the secret passage in the back mountain.
The children's cries, the young shinobi's unwilling roars, and the firm backs of the old Kirigakure shinobi mixed together.
Just as they entered the secret passage.
Overwhelming water release ninjutsu slammed onto Reef Island.
The entire island shook hard.
The battle had begun!
Boom!
Rising waves crashed in.
The simple fortifications on the outer parts of Reef Island were instantly swept away.
Nagano stood at the front, forming a hand seal with one hand, and a massive water wall rose from the ground. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Boom!
The violent water current crashed into the water wall, creating a loud roar.
It only lasted a few seconds before breaking with a crash.
Nagano spat out a mouthful of blood, stepping backward.
But he did not fall.
He could not back down.
"Kill!"
Hundreds of shinobi from the Kirigakure pursuit squad, under the cover of the waves, landed on the island.
No words, no expression, only killing intent.
The battle instantly entered brutal close-quarters combat.
Pfft!
An elderly resistance forces shinobi grabbed and broke his opponent's throat.
But his own heart was also pierced by another kunai.
On his fading face, there was a hint of a fierce smile.
It was worth it.
He took one down with him.
"Hold them off!"
"Buy them time!"
Nagano roared, swinging a kunai with his single arm, completely giving up defense.
His wounds kept growing, blood soaked his clothes, yet his movements became faster.
The shinobi of the pursuit squad were like a tide, wave after wave.
The old Kirigakure shinobi of the resistance forces, however, fought to the death without backing down.
Each person who fell would use their last breath to take down an enemy.
Or, just to hold an enemy for a few seconds.
Those few seconds were time bought with lives.
A Kirigakure jonin circled behind Nagano and slashed down with a blade.
Nagano noticed it but didn't dodge.
He still had two enemies in front of him. If he backed down, the defense line would break.
"Come on!"
He roared, moving forward instead of retreating, pushing his kunai into the chest of an enemy in front of him.
Pfft!
The long blade cut into his back, deep enough to show bone.
Sharp pain struck.
Nagano's body went stiff.
He turned his neck, wanting to see if the children were safe.
Unfortunately, darkness quickly covered him.
He couldn't see anymore!
On his blood-stained face, Nagano broke into a smile.
Blood foam kept pouring from his mouth, and relying on experience, he grabbed the attacker behind him with his backhand, setting off the explosive tag hidden in his chest.
"For... the future... of Kirigakure..."
Boom—!
The explosion covered him and several enemies around him.
Under the firelight, the pursuit squad's expressions were numb.
They pressed on without stopping, stepping over corpses.
The resistance forces' defense line fell apart.
The remaining dozens of old Kirigakure shinobi were cut off and surrounded, falling one by one.
Soon after.
There was not a single resistance forces member standing on the island.
Blood flowed down the reefs into the sea, spreading a red stain.
Yagura Karatachi appeared at the highest point of the island.
He looked down at the corpses beneath his feet and coldly ordered, "Count the numbers, search for survivors."
"Chase them down."