The Kirigakure fleet.
On the deck, over a thousand Shinobi stood in silent reverence, like statues.
Their aura was chilling, and the scent of blood clung heavily to their bodies.
They were monsters who had crawled out of the meat grinder that was the Blood Mist Policy.
Feelings like kinship or friendship… such things had long been severed by their own hands.
They were the sharpest, most ruthless blades in Yagura Karatachi's hand.
A lookout Shinobi, just for dozing off for a brief moment.
In the next second, the captain behind him emotionlessly drove a blade through his heart.
No mercy.
The body was kicked into the sea, splashing up a small wave before sinking.
No one turned to look.
No one said a word.
As if garbage had simply been disposed of.
Inside the attic at the top of the flagship, Yagura sat quietly, his delicate face devoid of expression.
Only deep within his purple eyes flickered a trace of brutality and mockery, unfitting for his appearance.
"How much longer until we reach the target?" he asked flatly, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Reporting, Mizukage-sama, we are expected to reach Reef Island in thirty minutes."
"Mm."
Yagura responded lightly and said nothing more.
After the messenger retreated, Black Zetsu, clinging to his shadow, peeked out slightly.
After scanning the surroundings, it merged back into the darkness.
Eliminate the rebels.
Leave no one alive.
Then completely control Kirigakure.
This was the sole purpose of this trip.
After that, it would be time to make a move on the Tailed Beast.
...Reef Island.
Inside a cave, the campfire's light flickered.
The one-armed Nagano suddenly opened his eyes, startled awake by an inexplicable sense of dread.
He stood up, walked to the cave entrance, and looked out over the calm sea.
Everything appeared normal.
But that unease still lingered in his heart.
"Strengthen the defenses," he ordered in a low voice.
The Resistance forces members on guard immediately took action, gripping their crude weapons.
The young Keisuke wiped the kunai in his hand, eyes filled with fierce determination.
Revenge.
That was what kept him alive. His only purpose.
He wanted to personally cut off Yagura Karatachi's head.
Just then.
A lookout Shinobi suddenly rushed in, his face filled with terror.
"Nagano-sama! On the sea... the sea..."
Nagano's heart sank.
Without waiting for the lookout to finish, he rushed out of the cave.
Everyone inside woke up and followed close behind.
In the distance, a black dot on the sea approached at astonishing speed.
It was… the village's messenger!
He was still alive!
Just as a trace of joy rose in everyone's hearts.
They saw the massive shadow behind the messenger that obscured the horizon.
The fleet!
A massive fleet!
Everyone's faces instantly turned pale.
It was over.
They had been exposed.
"Enemy attack!"
A roar pierced the silence of Reef Island.
The messenger finally made it ashore.
His legs gave out and he collapsed forward, using the last of his strength to raise a soaked scroll.
"A thousand men… Mizukage… leading them…"
Before he could finish, his head tilted and he stopped breathing completely.
Chakra depleted, mental energy overdrawn. He had completed his mission, burning out his life in the process.
A thousand men.
The Mizukage.
The news made several young Resistance members turn pale.
"How… how could this happen? How was our stronghold exposed?"
"A thousand… we only have three hundred! And there are wounded and children!"
Someone, unable to suppress the fear, began trembling violently.
It was over.
"All of you, shut up!" Nagano's roar silenced the chaos.
He stood tall with one arm, scanning the terrified faces, his gaze finally settling on Keisuke, the young ones, and the wounded behind them.
"Is crying going to help?"
"From the moment we defected from the village, we should have known this day would come!"
Suddenly, he pointed at Keisuke and the others.
"You! Take the wounded and the children! Use the secret path in the back mountain!"
"Immediately! Now!"
Everyone was stunned by the order.
"No! Nagano-sama! We're not leaving!" Keisuke was the first to react, shouting with veins bulging in his neck. "We want to stay and fight!"
"That's right! We're not afraid to die!"
"If we die, we die together!"
The young Shinobi were agitated. They would rather fall in battle than be remembered as cowards.
Slap!
Nagano slapped Keisuke across the face.
The scene instantly fell silent.
Nagano's chest rose and fell violently. He pointed toward the approaching fleet now visible in the distance, his voice urgent.
"What are you going to fight with?"
"With your tears?"
"Dying here means nothing! It's just throwing your lives away!"
He stepped forward and gripped Keisuke's shoulder tightly.
"Listen to me, Keisuke."
"We old guys… if we die, we die. But you can't."
"You are the spark of the Resistance forces."
"Living takes more courage than dying here."
"Carry our hatred. Live on. Then… wait for your chance. Come back and take revenge for us."
Nagano didn't shout this time. His voice was filled with desperate pleading.
Keisuke's tears finally overflowed.
He understood.
This wasn't abandonment.
This was their way of giving the young ones a chance to survive.
"Hurry and go!"
Nagano shoved Keisuke, then turned and shouted at the hundred or so veteran Mist Shinobi behind him.
"Everyone! Prepare to meet the enemy!"
"Buy us time!"
"Yes!"
Over a hundred Old Mist Ninjas responded in unison, all turning to face the sea without hesitation.
Their backs were like walls.
Resolute. Unyielding.
"Go!"
Nagano shouted at the still-hesitant ones.
Keisuke clenched his teeth, bowed deeply, and led the crying children toward the back mountain's secret passage.
The children's cries, the young Shinobi's angry shouts, and the unyielding backs of the Old Mist Ninjas blended into one.
Just as they entered the secret passage.
An overwhelming barrage of Water Release Jutsu crashed down on Reef Island.
The entire island trembled violently.
The battle had begun.
Boom!
Towering waves swept in.
The crude defenses on the island's outskirts were instantly destroyed.
At the front, Nagano formed a hand seal with his single hand. A massive wall of water rose.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Boom!
The violent current crashed into the wall with deafening force.
It only lasted a few seconds before shattering apart.
Nagano spat blood and staggered back.
But he didn't fall.
He couldn't fall.
"Kill!"
Hundreds of Shinobi from the Kirigakure pursuit squad, under the cover of the waves, landed on the island.
No words. No expressions. Only killing intent.
The battle instantly devolved into brutal close-quarters combat.
Pfft!
An elderly Resistance Shinobi grabbed and tore out an enemy's throat.
But his own heart was pierced by another kunai.
On his dying face, there was a fierce grin.
It was worth it.
He took one down with him.
"Hold them off!"
"Buy time!"
Nagano roared, wielding his kunai with one arm, abandoning defense entirely.
His wounds multiplied, his clothes soaked with blood, but his movements only grew faster.
The Kirigakure pursuit squad came like waves, endlessly crashing in.
The Resistance's Old Mist Ninjas fought to the death, not a single one retreating.
Each who fell took one enemy with them.
Or, at the very least, delayed them by a few seconds.
Each second was paid for in blood.
A Kirigakure Jōnin closed in behind Nagano, slashing down with his blade.
Nagano noticed, but didn't dodge.
Two enemies still stood before him. If he retreated, the line would break.
"Come on!"
He roared, lunging forward and driving his kunai into an enemy's chest.
Pfft!
The long blade carved into his back, cutting to the bone.
Agonizing pain surged through him.
Nagano's body trembled.
He turned slightly, trying to glimpse whether the children had escaped.
But darkness quickly swallowed his vision.
He couldn't see anymore.
A smile spread across his blood-streaked face.
Blood foamed from his lips. Relying on pure instinct, he reached back and grabbed his attacker.
Then he detonated the explosive tag hidden in his chest.
"For... the future… of Kirigakure…"
Boom—!
The explosion engulfed him and several nearby enemies.
Under the fiery glow, the expressions of the pursuit squad remained blank.
They pressed forward, stepping over the corpses.
The Resistance's defense line collapsed.
The remaining dozens of Old Mist Ninjas were quickly surrounded and overwhelmed, falling one after another.
Before long.
There wasn't a single member of the Resistance still standing on the island.
Blood flowed from the reefs into the sea, staining the waves red.
Yagura appeared at the island's highest point.
Looking down at the bodies scattered beneath his feet, he coldly ordered, "Count the dead. Search for survivors."
"Pursue."
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)