Even without the daimyo's orders, Yagura couldn't stomach the three navigation groups claiming the northern sea under their own nas. What the hell did that make the Hidden Mist look like? How would the rest of the ninja world see them now?
"Assemble the army!"
Yagura gathered his forces and marched north at full speed.
"Even if all three groups team up, they're no match for . By planting flags on fixed territory they think they look strong, but they've actually trapped themselves. This battle is already ours. The three navigation groups will cease to exist."
But the mont Yagura's army approached, the three groups didn't even put up a token fight. They turned tail and ran.
Yagura frowned.
"What the hell? They're just abandoning the northern sea? They made that big announcent about claiming it, and now they're running like cowards the second I show up? Don't they care about becoming the laughingstock of the entire ninja world? They're just giving up all those profits?"
The three groups had already calculated the odds. After seeing how overwhelmingly Yagura had crushed the Shark Skin and Exploding Blade crews, they knew a direct fight was suicide. Running wasn't cowardice—it was survival. Face could be earned back later. Lives couldn't.
The benefits of the northern sea belonged to the Land of Water and the Mist anyway. Losing them wasn't worth crying over. And the Mist couldn't stay parked there forever. Once Yagura left, the groups could just take it back. If he stayed? Even better—they could hit the village itself while he was busy.
Yagura instantly understood their ga. His face turned black.
"Shaless bastards. Completely shaless."
A jonin stepped into his tent.
"Lord Mizukage, what are your orders?"
Yagura's eyes flashed.
"Leave an elite squad here to hold the position. The rest of us return to the village."
"But Lord Mizukage, if the three groups attack again—"
Yagura cut him off.
"You think I can stay here forever? The village is more vulnerable without ."
Word spread fast that most of the Mist army was withdrawing.
Uchiha Hachidai, Taketori Den, Fuguki Suikazan, and Jinpachi Munashi gathered.
" Yagura's gone. The Mist shinobi left behind are nothing. We can take the northern sea back right now!"
Taketori Den was already itching to move.
Uchiha Hachidai shook his head.
"Not yet. Yagura pulling back doesn't an he's really gone. Politicians like him are all snakes. He's probably hiding sowhere waiting to ambush us. We wait."
The other three exchanged looks.
"…Fine. We wait."
A full day passed. No attack from the navigation groups. The stationed Mist forces finally exhaled.
"They didn't hit us. Guess those three groups aren't so tough after all. They must be scared."
They conveniently forgot that the Taketori clan had already rebelled inside the Mist village itself—and that Uchiha, Jinpachi, and Fuguki were all dangerous as hell.
Taketori Den looked at Uchiha Hachidai.
"Hachidai, still waiting?"
Uchiha Hachidai nodded.
"I say we wait a little longer. But if you can't hold back, go ahead. Just know my Uchiha won't be joining the fight."
Jinpachi snorted.
"We don't need your Uchiha help. With my Exploding Blade, I don't fear anyone except Yagura."
At Taketori Den and Jinpachi's orders, the Taketori Navigation Group and Ninja Sword Glory Navigation Group assembled and charged the island where the Mist forces were camped.
"Kill them all!"
"Die, you Mist dogs!"
"Traitors who sided with Yagura and betrayed the true Mist—none of you deserve to live!"
Jinpachi waded into the fight with his Exploding Blade, every swing triggering massive blasts. Regular Mist shinobi couldn't dodge at that range. One after another they fell. Taketori clan mbers fought with blood-red eyes, completely lost in the kill.
The Mist forces panicked.
"Enemy attack!"
"Shit—they're coming!"
Hidden in the shadows, Yagura watched.
"Taketori clan, Jinpachi, Fuguki… all of them showed up. The Uchiha stayed out. Smart bastards."
He heard the desperate cries of his own shinobi and his face darkened.
"No more waiting. If the Uchiha won't co, they won't co. Their lucky day."
Right as the Taketori and Ninja Sword Glory groups were carving through the Mist forces with savage joy, Yagura appeared.
A layer of crimson chakra erupted from his body, cloaking him like a burning coat. He leapt high into the air. A dense sphere of compressed chakra ford in front of him.
"Taketori clan! Jinpachi! Fuguki! Eat this Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"You really thought you could act this arrogant? Weaklings should know their place. The Hidden Mist isn't sothing you get to keep provoking. And I, Gouju Yagura, am not soone you can afford to ss with."
"Tailed Beast Bomb—go!"
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