"Ice Release: Ice Storm~"
Just as Seimei destroyed five warships and was preparing to repeat the process on the sixth Mist Village warship, the Mist ninjas sent to support finally arrived from afar.
Leading them was a fierce-looking ninja who, even before getting close, unleashed an Ice Release ninjutsu.
In an instant, a fierce wind arose!
The howling cold wind, mixed with vast amounts of water vapor, began swirling wildly. In no time, the surrounding area turned into an icy wasteland.
The water vapor rapidly condensed into snowflakes due to the sudden drop in temperature, which then combined into small ice crystal shuriken, all heading straight for Seimei.
"Ice Release?"
Watching the incoming ice storm, Seimei muttered under his breath.
He immediately halted the ninjutsu he was about to perform. Without hesitation, he controlled his chakra wings and flew high into the sky.
Although the ice storm covered a large area, it moved slowly. Before it could get close, Seimei had already moved beyond its attack range.
Thus, even as the storm passed beneath him, it didn't harm him in the slightest.
Only then did Seimei stop destroying the Mist Village warships and turned his gaze toward the reinforcements.
*Swish~*
A figure suddenly appeared, standing beside the Mist ninja who had just cast "Ice Release: Ice Storm." It was none other than Dazawa Yuki.
At this point, the Mist reinforcement squad now had four jonin, all of them genuine elite ninjas.
In addition to them, there were dozens of chunin and genin, almost forming a small battalion.
However, while this lineup would be effective against most opponents, against Seimei... it wasn't enough!
The next moment, Seimei raised his hand, made a series of seals, and after taking a deep breath, unleashed a jutsu: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Seimei's tactics were as consistent as ever—when facing enemies at the platoon level or higher, his opening move was always the jutsu that could disrupt formations: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
However, this time the enemy was different from before.
Almost the moment the hurricane burst from his mouth, the ninja from the Yuki clan, who had just used the Ice Storm, unleashed another Ice Release ninjutsu.
"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"
In the next moment, vast amounts of seawater gathered and crystallized, forming a huge ice wall about ten meters high and twenty to thirty meters long.
The hurricane Seimei released slammed into the ice wall, leaving deep gashes, but it couldn't penetrate the wall or harm the Mist ninjas behind it.
Seeing this, Seimei remarked, "As expected, the sea environment really gives these Ice Release ninjas an advantage."
He had realized this issue the first time he encountered a Mist ninja from the Yuki clan, like Yuki Kaze, and had been thinking about ways to counter it ever since.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found a good solution.
Unless the battlefield shifted to land or a hotter environment, the Ice Release ninjas would have a significant advantage in a water vapor-rich setting like this.
Obviously, his enemies wouldn't follow him to a less favorable environment.
Likewise, he couldn't leave this place.
In the past, in such situations, he would either engage in close combat to kill his opponent or deplete their chakra.
Even though his Fire Release would only be about 50-60% effective in this environment, he could still outlast his opponent by draining their chakra.
But today was different; there was no need for him to engage in a head-on fight. His goal was to draw them away from the front lines, easing the pressure on the battlefield and forcing the Mist to retreat.
So, all he needed to do was continue attacking the ships.
With this thought, Seimei didn't hesitate. He immediately abandoned the standoff, flapped his wings, and flew toward the farthest Mist warship.
Seeing this, Dazawa Yuki and the other three Mist jonin looked grim.
Without any hesitation, they threw a barrage of poisoned kunai and shuriken, all with explosive tags, toward Seimei.
However, the distance was too great, and Seimei had already moved ahead, so none of the attacks hit him.
With just a light flap of his wings, Seimei dodged the attacks and sped toward his target ship.
"Chase!"
Dazawa Yuki immediately ordered the team to pursue.
He was already leading the charge as he spoke.
Seeing this, the others had no choice but to follow.
Soon, Seimei reached the target ship. The Mist ninjas on board attacked, but Seimei easily dodged.
In return, they were met with a dragon of fire and a fireball.
Without paying much attention to the damage, Seimei glanced back at the rapidly approaching Mist reinforcements and immediately selected a new target, flying toward it.
Like before, he picked the farthest ship.
Seimei was using his "Wind Release: Wings of the Wind" to capitalize on his speed and agility, playing a hit-and-run game with the Mist ninjas, leaving them in the dust.
Were Dazawa Yuki and his team aware of his strategy?
The answer was clearly yes.
But they had no choice but to play along with Seimei's "game."
Why? Because, whether in his past life or the present, when ships sail on the sea, they maintain a certain distance to avoid collisions.
Although the Mist warships had moved closer together after stopping, they hadn't gotten too close, to allow for a quick retreat if necessary.
So, even though the Mist warships were closing the gap, there was still some distance between them.
Under such circumstances, to prevent more ships from being destroyed, Dazawa Yuki and the others had to pursue Seimei relentlessly, leaving him with little time to act.
That's why Seimei was confident in his hit-and-run tactics.
However, as time went on, Seimei's space to maneuver gradually shrank.
Especially when the Mist warships closed the gap even more and Dazawa Yuki and his team split into four groups to guard the four directions—north, south, east, and west—Seimei no longer had the opportunity to destroy the Mist warships.
As for defeating them one by one?
That wasn't realistic either.
And he didn't want to do that anyway.
First, the four team leaders were all genuine jonin.
Although he was stronger than them, without activating his Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't take them down instantly.
Plus, they had around ten chunin and genin assisting them.
There was no need for him to engage in such a thankless battle.
Second, while the four groups were divided, the distance between them wasn't far. They could easily support one another, making it impossible to defeat them one by one.
Finally, and most importantly, he had no reason to take such a risk.
His goal was to pressure the Mist ninjas on the front lines, not to cut off their retreat entirely.
If all the ships were destroyed, the Mist ninjas would have no choice but to keep fighting, even if they didn't want to.
Therefore, holding back a little was necessary.
(Chapter End)