Above the sea, Shimura Danzo was leading several large ships straight toward Kirigakure.
Not long ago, Whitebeard's fleet had utterly destroyed Danzo's whaling ship. Some lucky crewmen survived the wreck and managed to swim back to Danzo's coastal base to report.
When Danzo heard the story, he was livid.
"Me, Shimura Danzo, the so-called king of the seas, getting ambushed like that? Ridiculous!"
He refused to believe their wild claims.
"A ship rising out of the sea? Artillery powerful enough to tear steel apart? Lies!"
He blamed everything on illusions or tricks.
In his mind, it was obvious. "Must be the Mist Village. Damn them! Just because I snagged a few of their fish, sunk a couple of their little boats... now they're jealous of my wealth and power. Probably plotting in envy."
Danzo decided to go to Kirigakure himself to demand they hand over whoever attacked him. Otherwise, he threatened, "no Mist ship will sail these waters without paying the price!"
He felt confident. After all, he was Danzo Shimura.
Just as he was dreaming of extorting compensation, a strange buzzing filled the air.
Danzo and his men looked up.
"What the hell is that?"
They saw dozens of ninja soaring through the sky on bizarre contraptions that looked like winged harnesses. Each ninja lay flat, piloting the wings like giant birds.
They dove toward Danzo's fleet.
Danzo scowled. "What are these things?"
Then the air shinobi attacked.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rocked Danzo's ships as the flying ninjas hurled bombs and chakra-tagged kunai down on them.
"It's an ambush! Attack back!"
Danzo roared, unleashing Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere at the nearest attackers, knocking several out of the sky.
His men followed suit, firing arrows and jutsu upward.
But for every wave of flying shinobi they struck down, another came swarming in. They seemed endless, like a plague of locusts.
Two of Danzo's ships went up in flames and sank beneath the waves.
Furious, Danzo prepared to unleash a massive wind jutsu.
"Wait... what the hell is THAT?!"
On the horizon, several colossal metal ships loomed, each the size of a small mountain. From these giants poured more and more flying ninjas.
Danzo's face went pale. "Retreat! Full retreat!"
The flying shinobi chased them relentlessly, bombing Danzo's fleet all the way back to his coastal base.
His base, sadly, hadn't yet installed the new Sand Ninja defense systems he had ordered. When the flying ninjas caught up and bombed it to rubble, Danzo could only watch helplessly as it burned.
Tears streaked down his face.
"I haven't even finished paying off the loan for this place!" he wailed.
It was pathetic.
His base gone, his fleet destroyed, and only debts left behind.
And defaulting on that loan?
Impossible. The lender was none other than the Sand Ninja Bank. If Danzo tried to skip out, every relative he had would suffer.
Still, his loss wasn't entirely in vain. Thanks to Danzo's humiliating defeat, Tsunade received advance warning.
She scrambled Konoha's defenses and activated the full Sand Ninja defense system.
When the flying ninjas finally came for Konoha, they were driven off with minimal casualties. The villagers couldn't stop praising the Sand Ninja products.
"Sand Ninja goods are top quality," they all agreed. The defense system's fame spread overnight.
Meanwhile, during the treatment of the injured, Naruto met a traveling doctor named Shinnō and his apprentice Amaru. Shinnō 's incredible medical skill left even Sakura amazed.
Amaru, though, was wracked with worry about her home village. Ever the knucklehead, Naruto promised to take her there himself, and they set off together.
Back out at sea, on the deck of the Flying Dutchman, Kaedehara perked up. "My lord, I hear cries for help in the water."
Mufasa turned. "Bring us closer."
As they approached, they saw dozens of men struggling in the waves. When they noticed the Flying Dutchman, they shouted frantically.
Mufasa ordered small boats lowered to pull them aboard.
Once safe, the shivering survivors explained they were originally from Danzo's fleet.
Shun reported to Mufasa. "My lord, they were heading to Mist Village when they were attacked by flying ninja from enormous steel ships. Their fleet was completely wrecked."
"Flying ninja?" Mufasa raised an eyebrow. "How exactly did they fly?"
Violet made a motion with her arms. "They described it like ninja kites, wings strapped to their backs."
Mufasa stroked his beard. "So the Sky Ninja are finally showing their hand. And where did they head after?"
"Toward the coast. Most likely to strike at Konoha."
"Well then..." Mufasa smirked. "Time to go hunting. Those floating fortresses alone are worth a fortune."
He leaned over the rail. "Shun, set a course for Konoha Harbor."
When they arrived, Mufasa watched calmly as the Sky Ninja bombed Danzo's coastal base into ash.
Shun asked, "My lord, aren't we going to help him?"
Mufasa laughed. "Why? Whether he burns or not, he still owes me that loan. Why should I lift a finger?"
Violet blinked, speechless.
When the Sky Ninja finished with the harbor and advanced inland toward Konoha, Shun spoke again. "My lord, they're going straight for Konoha Village. Shouldn't we intervene?"
Mufasa grinned. "Actually, I see this as the perfect test for our Sand Ninja defense system. We should let Konoha experience the full value of their investment."
Shun tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"Let them see first-hand just how much our system is worth. Trust me, after this, they'll be begging to pay even more."
Violet gave him a long look. "Really...?"
Mufasa just chuckled. His relationship with Tsunade was friendly enough, but business was business. After today, no one in the village would ever question her budget for defenses again.
"I did this for Tsunade's own good," he said with a grin.
In this defensive battle, the Sand Ninja defense system really stole the show, especially with that powerful light prism tower.
It easily blasted away any airborne targets. A bolt of lightning would crackle through the sky, and a few of those airships or bombers would instantly come crashing down.
Add to that the tight net of automated kunai launchers and explosive tag turrets, and it was enough to make even the most reckless Sky Ninja sweat.
They were forced to spread out and try bombing from higher altitudes, but that only made their attacks sloppy. A few unlucky houses in the village got hit, but nothing too serious.
This gave Konoha plenty of time to evacuate civilians and prepare a proper counterattack.
Inside the Hokage office, Tsunade watched everything unfold on a big screen, showing live feeds from around the village. Operators were calmly controlling the defense network, picking off any Sky Ninja they could.
Tsunade gave a small nod. "That Sand Ninja system is really paying off," she thought. "Their anti-air tech is on another level. Too bad Konoha is way too big to completely cover with that kind of shield. We'll need more money... more factories... more exports." She mentally noted her new economic goals.
Knock knock.
"Come in," Tsunade said.
Nara Shikamaru stepped inside with a stack of files. "My lady, we've confirmed the enemy's identity."
"Who is it?" Tsunade asked.
"The remnants of the Sky Ninja," Shikamaru said.
Tsunade frowned. The Sky Ninja had declared war on the Five Great Nations back in the Second Shinobi War. They got crushed so badly, their entire country was wiped off the map. And yet... here they were again.
Just then, Yamashiro Aoba reported from the console. "Lady Hokage, the Sky Ninja forces are retreating."
"Send Kakashi and a team to track them. I want to know exactly where they're hiding."
Dog-mask Kakashi was already on it. He summoned his ninken, with Neji, Hinata, and Lee racing alongside.
Pakkun grumbled, "The targets are airborne, Kakashi. What exactly are we sniffing for?"
"Use your eyes instead of your nose, and keep moving," Kakashi shot back.
They leapt through the forest, chasing the enemy toward the sea.
At the harbor, Shun pointed. "Lord Mufasa, looks like they're heading back."
Mufasa stood on the deck of the Flying Dutchman. "Good. Dive and follow them. Let's see where their nest is."
The haunted ship slipped beneath the waves. The Sky Ninja had no idea anyone was tailing them from below.
Their airships finally descended near some islands, docking at hidden bases. Kakashi and the others arrived at the shore, panting, only to see the last ship vanish into the horizon.
Lee wiped sweat from his brow. "We... can't exactly run on water forever, can we?"
"Nope," Kakashi sighed. "Report back to Tsunade. We'll watch the coast for now."
Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desk when she heard the news. Maybe it was time to talk to Mufasa and import more of those Sand weapons.
Far out at sea, the Flying Dutchman stalked the Sky Ninja fleet to a chain of remote islands. This was clearly their new stronghold, where they had rebuilt their forces in secret.
Soldiers unloaded from the airships, reuniting with families on the docks. Shun squinted. "Boss, what now?"
Mufasa cracked his knuckles. "Now we show them who runs these seas. Bring us in."
The Flying Dutchman exploded out of the water right in front of the main island's docks. Sky Ninja froze in shock.
"Is that... a ghost ship?!" someone gasped.
Their leader, the Sky Ninja Executive named Endo, stood aboard one of the larger air carriers.
He narrowed his eyes. Was this some weird submarine?
But then he saw the ragged black sails, the glowing green hull.
"My lord, orders?" one of his officers asked nervously.
Endo grabbed a loudspeaker. "Identify yourself!"
Mufasa lightly kicked off the deck and soared into the air. "I am Mufasa, Kazekage of the Sand."
The Sky Ninja instantly tensed. Memories of the Second War flooded back. They gripped their weapons. Without their main leader, Yagura, they didn't know what to do.
Endo swallowed. "Kazekage, why have you come here?"
Mufasa smirked and pointed to their parked airships. "All of this tech... you built it yourselves, huh?"
"That's right," Endo
said carefully.
"Funny," Mufasa went on. "Wasn't your whole nation wiped off the map in the last war?"
The Sky Ninja bristled. "Get to the point, Kazekage. We might look weak, but we've got numbers and firepower now. You can't scare us with one ship."
Mufasa just laughed. "Kid, the ninja world isn't just about who can throw the biggest punch anymore. It's about connections, influence, power beyond the battlefield. You lot? You're relics. Everyone hates you. You try marching out now, you'll be crushed by every village you once tried to conquer."
Endo clenched his fists. "That's rich, coming from one of the Five Great Nations. You all forced us into this!"
Mufasa shook his head. "Don't twist it. You brought this on yourselves, dreaming of uniting the world under your rule when you couldn't even handle your own borders. You overreached and got stomped. That's life. You mess up, you take the hit, you learn. Not play the victim."
He let his words hang in the salty air. Endo stood there, breathing heavy, weapons half-raised, uncertain.
Mufasa floated higher, arms spread. "So here's your choice: keep living like cornered dogs, or work with me. Because unlike you, I have the clout to keep other nations off your back. Think about it."
Endo and his men exchanged uneasy looks.
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Word count: 1903
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