Chapter 221: "30,000 Iwa Troops Are in Position! ATTACK!"
With the arrival of Yagura Karatachi, three Kage were now gathered in one place.
Sakumo Hatake stared at Yagura, his voice low and serious. "Mizukage-dono, we will withdraw immediately after completing our mission."
Yagura shook his head slowly. "Immediately withdraw? Numerous fishing villages along the coast of the Land of Water felt the tremors of your battle. An island was destroyed. The Daimyo will demand answers. You cannot simply say, 'We will leave after we're done,' and expect that to be enough."
Onoki floated nearby, deliberately stirring the pot. "Hokage-dono, if you're finding things difficult, this old man can lend a hand. Particle Style is quite effective against Tailed Beasts."
Sakumo cursed internally. Onoki was clearly here to disrupt them, and since he was flying, dealing with him was extremely difficult. As for the Mizukage, it was hard to say whether he would interfere with their capture of the Nine-Tails.
To fight through Onoki's interference, gamble that the Mizukage wouldn't intervene, and then forcibly capture the Nine-Tails...
It was not a good set of options.
And it didn't end there. Onoki, fearing the world wasn't chaotic enough, began openly recruiting right in front of everyone.
"Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! If you're unhappy in Konoha, why not come to Iwagakure? This old man gives you his word—I can satisfy all your conditions."
Sakumo's gaze turned icy. Onoki was intent on causing trouble. It seemed a peaceful resolution was impossible today.
Just then, the sea became even livelier. Someone else was approaching. From his vantage point in the sky, Onoki—and the towering Nine-Tails—spotted the newcomer first.
It was Nagato, being chased by over a dozen furious Konoha ninja, sprinting towards the chaotic battlefield.
A moment later, everyone else noticed the commotion. Sakumo thought to himself, That kid can really run. He still hasn't been caught after all this time? Meanwhile, Yagura and Onoki assumed Konoha had simply brought in more reinforcements.
The Konoha ninja trailing behind Nagato were practically foaming at the mouth, clearly pushed to their limits.
"Don't run!"
"Brat! You're dead!"
Whatever Nagato had done to provoke them earlier, they were absolutely livid.
Nagato ignored them completely, his speed increasing even further. From a distance, he made eye contact with the surrounded Nine-Tails.
Perhaps the gaze of the Rinnegan was like a candle in the darkness to a Tailed Beast. Even the Nine-Tails didn't understand how it interpreted Nagato's meaning through his sunglasses, but it understood something. The beast, which had been preparing for a desperate last stand, suddenly calmed down.
Nagato drew closer, his legs moving so fast they blurred. Then, he roared at the top of his lungs, his voice catching everyone's attention.
"TSUCHIKAGE-SAMA! 30,000 IWA TROOPS ARE IN POSITION! ATTACK!"
Countless heads snapped toward Onoki. "NANI?!"
Onoki himself: "NANI?!"
Few people actually believed it. They were on the endless open ocean—where would you hide 30,000 people? More importantly, Iwagakure didn't even have 30,000 active ninja to deploy!
Especially Sakumo, who knew this kid was full of dirty tricks, didn't believe a word of it.
Although they had never met, Nagato easily recognized the flying figure as the famous "Onoki the Fence-Sitter." Shouting that line was purely a distraction.
Just as Nagato was about to collide with the crowd, he veered slightly to the right, carving an arc that took him fifty meters past the group.
Before anyone could figure out what Nagato was doing...
POOF!
Suddenly, the surrounded Nine-Tails deactivated its Tailed Beast Mode. After a puff of white smoke, the massive body vanished instantly, leaving Kushina, dazed and unprepared, free-falling through the air.
everyone's attention snapped back to the center of the encirclement. That was the most important thing!
Sakumo jumped without hesitation, reaching out to grab Kushina.
Onoki immediately steered his floating rock, intending to intercept her mid-air.
Several Konoha ninja simultaneously fired ninjutsu to block Onoki's path.
Yagura, foreseeing unavoidable combat, slowly unslung the iron hook from his back.
Chaos erupted. Just as Sakumo—whose reaction speed was the fastest—was less than a meter away from grabbing the falling Kushina...
"Bansho Ten'in! (Universal Pull!)"
Kushina's free-fall abruptly turned into a horizontal flight. Without warning, she was yanked sideways, flying straight toward Nagato.
Sakumo grabbed empty air.
Onoki grabbed empty air.
Countless eyes watched as Kushina flew right out of the encirclement.
Before Kushina even reached him, Nagato turned and ran. One hand maintained the Bansho Ten'in, dragging her along like a kite, while the other hand aimed at the sea surface behind him!
"Shinra Tensei! (Almighty Push!)"
Pushing the ability to its limit, he blasted the ocean, creating a massive wave. The recoil launched Nagato forward, boosting his speed even further.
Kushina trailed behind him in mid-air, pulled by an invisible tether.
"Damn it! Where do you think you're going?!"
"Stop him!"
The first to react was Sakumo. After missing his grab in the air, he landed on the water, immediately changed direction, and sprinted after Nagato and Kushina.
"Don't let them escape!"
"Chase them!"
Onoki followed closely, flying overhead. The Konoha ninja swarmed after them like a cloud of angry hornets.
This left the Fourth Mizukage and his entourage standing alone on the sea, staring blankly.
A moment later, Yagura gritted his teeth. "After them!"
Fuguki Suikazan asked, confused, "Mizukage-sama, why are we chasing?"
According to the plan, they were just here to show their faces and assert sovereignty. The destroyed island was just a tiny, uninhabited rock. They were supposed to talk it out, get Konoha to give them some face, and call it a day.
But halfway through the "talk," everyone just ran off! This made Yagura angry. You come to my turf, cause trouble, and then don't even give me the courtesy of finishing the conversation?!
Yagura's face was grim. "Idiot! If we don't chase, do we just stand here looking stupid? Konoha will give me an explanation today!"
After a night of fighting, the sky was turning gray with dawn. The sun peeked half its head over the horizon. amidst the morning glow, a massive group of ninja sprinted across the ocean surface. Due to the difference in speed and stamina, the pursuit team stretched out into a long, scenic line.
If a certain green-jumpsuit-wearing ninja (or his future son) were here, they would surely be screaming about "The Youth of running under the morning sun!"
...If you ignored the constant cursing coming from the line.
At the very front of the pursuit was the fastest, Sakumo Hatake.
Next was Onoki, flying in the air. Although he sat leisurely cross-legged, his advantage was ignoring terrain, not raw straight-line speed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been left in the dust by the Four Heroes of Mount Tenmoku years ago.
Behind him was the main group of Konoha ninja, led by Minato.
Behind them was the Kirigakure squad.
And finally, completely out of sight and noticed by no one except Onoki, were Hiroto and Kayo.
This was the definition of long-distance tracking—trailing from 10 kilometers away.
"That guy is incredible," Kayo said to Hiroto. "Not only did he dare to block the Hokage alone, but he also snatched Kushina from under so many noses. How did he do that?"
Hiroto shook his head. Even he had to admit, this stranger they had never met was insanely brave.
Initially, the siblings suspected he was an agent from another village. But now, that theory was dead. Aside from Suna, all the major villages were present here, and this guy wasn't with any of them.
Suddenly, Kayo spoke up. "Eh? several Konoha ninja seem to be dropping back voluntarily. They're breaking off to the side... Are they flanking?"
In her sensory range, seven or eight signatures lagged behind the main Konoha group, then circled wide, seemingly unnoticed by the others.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Feeling his speed drop, Nagato fired another Shinra Tensei behind him, using the recoil to boost himself forward again.
He had to do this every five seconds just to maintain a speed high enough to keep Sakumo from catching up.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Cough! Spat!
The continuous recoil damage was taking its toll. Even with Nagato's Uzumaki vitality, he was getting injured. Coupled with the strain of maintaining Bansho Ten'in to carry Kushina, blood surged up his throat, and he spat it out.
Floating behind him like a kite, Kushina cried out anxiously, "Nagato-kun! Are you okay?!"
Nagato shook his head. "I need to find an island. I have one big move left, but it doesn't work well on the ocean surface. I need solid ground."
"Shinra Tensei!"
Just as Nagato felt he couldn't hold on much longer, a dark silhouette appeared on the horizon. An island!
It was pure luck. They had lost all sense of direction long ago.
Nagato relaxed slightly. On the open sea, there was nowhere to hide; it was purely a contest of speed, and he couldn't sustain this recoil-boost method forever.
Upon reaching the shore, Nagato immediately used a combination of Bansho Ten'in and Shinra Tensei to fling Kushina away, ignoring her protests.
"You keep running! I'll try to stop them with that technique!"
The island wasn't large and appeared uninhabited. Nagato didn't give Kushina a chance to refuse, launching her toward the other side of the island. Then, he stood his ground, hands behind his back, secretly preparing.
This technique was the hardest to control among the abilities his eyes had awakened. He had only tried it once during a mission—attempting to trap a wild boar. The result was... excessive. Half the mountain vanished. Not only was the boar sealed, but hundreds of fruit trees planted by the villagers were also sucked in. It had resulted in the village chief chasing him with a pitchfork. He hadn't used it since.
It seemed to be an ability he instinctively knew how to use, but right now, the burden on his body would be immense.