Yagura gave the order, and countless Kirigakure Shinobi rushed toward the back mountain.
Before long, a cave entrance hidden behind dense foliage was exposed.
Around the entrance, layers of fresh footprints were still visible.
"A bunch of rats," Yagura said flatly, a mocking smirk curling on his face. "Chase them down, and kill them."
That command sealed the fate of the remaining rebels.
Hundreds of Kirigakure Shinobi plunged into the damp, narrow cave the moment the order was given.
The passage was cold and slippery.
Keisuke bit his lip tightly, one hand pulling along a small child, the other clutching a kunai, as he ran through the tight, moss-covered tunnel.
Behind him were dozens of young companions, many no older than him, and wounded individuals being carried or supported.
The muffled cries of children, the strained gasps of the injured, and the panicked heartbeats of everyone present...
All of it was magnified in the stifling silence of this dark escape route.
Nagano-sama… and the others…
Keisuke's mind was a blank, only Nagano's final roar echoed repeatedly in his ears.
"Live on!"
"Carry our hatred, and live on!"
The moss beneath his feet was dangerously slick, and he slipped several times.
To steady himself, his hands braced against the stone walls, already scraped raw and bleeding.
Blood mixed with muddy water, thick and sticky, yet he didn't feel a thing.
Behind them, the steady, rhythmic footsteps of the pursuers were drawing closer.
Like a death knell, each step thudded against their nerves.
"Faster! Even faster!" an older Resistance member growled.
Suddenly, he stopped and spun around.
"You go first!"
Seeing the shadows of pursuers closing in, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
A torrent of muddy water burst from his mouth, temporarily slowing down the Kirigakure Shinobi.
But in the next instant, several kunai shot through the water and embedded themselves in his body.
He groaned, collapsing where he stood.
He used his life to buy them time.
Only a few seconds.
But precious seconds.
Keisuke didn't look back.
He didn't dare.
He was afraid that if he turned around, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from fighting to the death.
Tears mixed with sweat blurred his vision, but he kept running, legs numb and heart pounding.
Running forward.
Always forward.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared ahead.
The exit.
Hope surged through the group, and everyone instinctively sped up.
Keisuke was the first to rush out of the cave. The sudden brightness made him squint.
But the moment he saw the scene before him, the spark of hope was instantly extinguished.
A cliff.
A sheer drop, with nowhere to go.
Below was a rocky descent dozens of meters high, with jagged black reefs like fanged monsters being pounded by raging waves.
If it were just him, maybe he could survive with some luck.
But with children and the wounded...
He couldn't abandon them.
The sky had darkened without warning.
Thick clouds loomed overhead, and the sea breeze carried a salty chill that seeped into their bones.
"How… how could this be…"
"It's a dead end. We're trapped!"
One by one, the young Shinobi who followed Keisuke out of the cave froze as they took in the view, their faces paling.
Despair began to take hold.
At the cave entrance, the silhouettes of their pursuers appeared.
They didn't rush forward but moved slowly and deliberately, tightening their encirclement.
They were patient.
Like a pack of wolves.
The leader, a Kirigakure Shinobi with a large scar across his face, looked at them with cold, bloodthirsty eyes.
"It's over."
He slowly drew the long blade on his back. The overcast sky reflected a dull sheen along its edge.
Keisuke stepped in front of the two small children, his body shaking from fear and anger.
He raised the kunai in his hand, pointing it at the enemy.
Even if he died, he would go like Nagano-sama—dragging someone down with him.
The other young rogue Shinobi followed suit, raising their weapons. Their eyes burned with madness and resolve.
A sneer tugged at the scarred Shinobi's lips.
Just as he was about to give the order to eliminate them.
A sudden change occurred.
Boom!
A thunderous roar echoed from the sea.
The entire island trembled.
Beneath the cliff, where the sea had only been turbulent before, now a massive whirlpool had formed.
A vortex over a hundred meters wide spun violently below them.
The deafening roar of the swirling water seemed to swallow the sky.
"What is that?!" a Kirigakure pursuer shouted in alarm.
Everyone stared, overwhelmed by the power of nature, temporarily frozen.
Even the anchored Kirigakure fleet swayed violently from the sudden shift in the sea.
"Mizukage-sama! It's the Death Whirlpool!" a panicked captain shouted. "The currents have changed! The legendary Death Whirlpool has formed!"
Yagura stood at the bow of the ship, watching the churning vortex below.
His face remained expressionless.
Only a trace of irritation flickered in his eyes.
A variable outside the plan.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak.
Another change erupted.
The suction from the whirlpool intensified sharply.
Several pursuit ships closest to the edge were dragged in before they could even turn their bows.
The Shinobi aboard screamed in panic.
They channeled Chakra to their feet and leapt from the ships.
But what could human strength do against nature?
In the next instant, both Shinobi and ships were pulled into the vortex.
On the cliff.
Watching his comrades get devoured, the scarred Jōnin's face turned pale, and the killing intent in his eyes intensified.
They absolutely couldn't be allowed to escape.
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning tore through the sky.
Heavy raindrops began to fall.
The wind howled.
The sea raged.
A storm had arrived.
An old, wounded Resistance Shinobi, however, suddenly had a strange gleam in his eyes.
His gaze swept toward a vine-covered section of the cliff.
There, several small rafts were hidden, makeshift escape vessels capable of holding dozens of people.
That was their final fallback.
"Jump!" he shouted with all his strength. "Skirt the edge of the whirlpool—there's still a chance!"
Jump?
Everyone froze.
Wasn't that the same as suicide?
But going back meant being butchered by Kirigakure's blade.
Moving forward meant risking everything against a storm and sea with only the slimmest hope of survival.
"I'll take the chance!" Keisuke's expression turned grim.
Holding a child under each arm, he rushed to the cliff's edge and jumped without hesitation.
"Go!"
Seeing that, the others no longer hesitated.
One by one, they ran to the edge and leapt into the raging sea below.
"Stop them!" the scarred Jōnin roared.
He took a step forward but froze when he saw the raging whirlpool below.
He backed away.
He could butcher his own comrades, but he couldn't face the wrath of nature.
He could only stand and watch as the remnants of the Resistance forces leapt into the sea, swallowed by the storm.
On the sea.
Yagura watched the scene silently.
"Mizukage-sama, should we pursue?"
"No need."
He turned and stepped into the cabin. "Just a few rats who managed to escape. The storm will take care of them."
To him, jumping into that storm was no different than dying by his hand.
"Return to port. We still need to head to Kumogakure."
The fleet slowly retreated, pulling away from the whirlpool.
And in that raging sea, forgotten by the world...
A few broken rafts drifted between monstrous waves like fallen leaves.
Then were slammed down again by the current.
In the face of nature, humans were truly insignificant.
Keisuke clutched the children in his arms tightly, lying on a raft as the freezing seawater crashed over him.
He looked back.
The outline of Reef Island grew distant in the storm until it vanished completely.
So many of their companions were gone.
Sorrow engulfed him.
They had survived.
But where was the future?
A giant wave slammed down.
Keisuke slowly lost consciousness...
(To be continued.)