Thirty years in Konoha-the Land of Whirlpools.
(T/N) oh... this is the time skipped that i missed.. fuck my life... i was like sleep deprived when i translate this book.. by the way currently as of writing this T/N i'm currently translating chapter 90.. fml...)
At night, the coastline stayed eerily calm. Waves tapped the rocky edge in rhythmic intervals, turning the dark silence into nature's lullaby. The moonlight scattered silver across the water's surface while the wind moved with only enough force to carry the sea's salt into the air and across the shore, calming even the most restless soul.
None of that mattered once the Mist Ninja began advancing from the opposite side of the beach.
Even from this distance, Uzumaki Yusuke could make out enough by the way they moved-fast, coordinated, teeth flashing with confidence. He saw them marching in worn formation under moonlight's haze and felt nothing but disappointment.
"You guessed right."
He exhaled when his gaze drifted toward the red-haired man standing next to him-he looked identical to the bastard responsible for making his daughter into a widow and forcing him into loneliness for three decades. Especially since this man also dared to go by the name Akira.
Had his daughter not written, had she not explained it was someone come to help, he would've gutted him on sight. Even now the resemblance made him second-guess himself. That bastard would've been fifty by now, but this one looked no older than twenty.
Akira looked ahead without answering.
Even though he expected this-the Water Country attacking just as it happened in the original timeline-it was Hiruzen's behavior that pissed him off most.
"They pull their forces at noon, and Mist invades by night," Akira scoffed under his breath. "I'm not Colonel Ka-I know how these five powers play their games."
Even if Konoha had some ninja stationed here, Akira already knew their only objective-recruit Kushina and drag her back when things collapsed. Anyone who'd read the original story knew that part. No way someone Kushina's age could escape Mist's elite and swim across the ocean to reach Konoha alive without significant help arranged ahead of time.
Uzumaki sealing techniques later surfaced in Wind Country tech. Even Xiangling-an orphan-could use [Kagura Heart's Eye] and [Vajra Seal], both advanced Uzumaki ninjutsu no outsider should know. This wasn't preservation-it was asset harvesting.
Konoha had taken its piece of the Whirlpool pie long before the first bodies dropped in the sea. Akira would bet his life that move had Sarutobi Hiruzen's signature on it somewhere.
Yusuke didn't care for Akira's thoughts. He kept watching the horizon and moved only after he saw what he wanted. The enemies had entered range.
"Now," he said flatly toward another elder standing to his left.
"Yes, Patriarch!"
From beneath the waterline near the shore, shadows began rising-silent and precise. Dozens of them emerged under the Mist Ninjas' path without warning or sign. Each one came into position just beneath visible range, waiting beneath surface tension like loaded traps.
Confident in their surprise raid, the Mist Shinobi didn't expect resistance. Overwhelming numbers? Check. Advantage in terrain and weather? Check. Konoha's sabotage in their favor? Also check.
They thought they were steamrolling amateurs with nothing but sealing techniques to defend themselves-and took no time to plan anything except brute-force assault.
None of them expected what happened next.
One by one, scattered Mist Shinobi started yelling over wind and waves-
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!?"
Many turned thinking there were miscommunications-they were supposed to be ambushing villagers here, not being intercepted mid-ocean by ambush tactics of their own. Some figured it was confusion-friendly fire or paranoia from being too hyped up on adrenaline-but that delusion ended fast.
Boom-boom-BOOM!
Gouts of water shot up from underfoot-laced with shredded limbs and steam from vaporized skin. Shouts became screams as human torsos erupted into scattered gore against moonlight-drenched sky.
"Shit!"
Those who survived initial bursts launched retaliation blindly beneath them-those who panicked launched bigger attacks upward into empty sky with no aim or target locked.
"Water Style: Raging Wave!"
"Water Style: Flow Sever!"
"Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
Water surged from dozens of sources-rising, twisting-until tide pools broke into sweeping whirlpools that sucked at everything below surface level, turning rip currents into meat grinders. Beneath that pressure alone most would've drowned within seconds or been crushed outright as vortexes pulled from every direction at once.
It worked-for now. Proud of their "counterattack," Mist Shinobi sneered toward where they presumed survivors might remain onshore-
Until fog started creeping toward them from inland-with teeth bared behind it.
Thick plumes rolled across sand dunes and poured down toward water level. What should have been impossible had begun spreading fast across open coastline-and worse-it blew straight into their lines.
With wind at its back-it wrapped around them faster than any natural fog wall could manage.
"It's Mist Concealment!"
Fury replaced confusion as recognition spread among captains and mid-rankers alike. Fog wasn't supposed to be used against them-not here-not ever-and especially not effectively!
They howled for counterattacks again-
"Wind Release! Great Breakthrough!"
Single-use wind techniques scattered forward like hammers through smoke-and for a few moments-they cleared large gaps through rolling fog walls.
Their victory lasted seconds.
Whoosh-whoosh-whooshwhoosh-
Multiple sounds sliced through air around them-familiar metallic notes-all razor-edged and spinning with intent behind each arc of motion through mist-thick space between bodies.
One shinobi laughed-
"What-they think they'll just throw kunai into fog and get hits!?"
His question barely left his mouth before he saw it-a singed paper tag flickering toward him-seconds from its endpoint burn-
BOOM!
Boom boom boom!
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