Jenri was close—almost too close—to the fish-shaped puppet.
She rushed forward as her teammate desperately clung to it with their last breath. Without hesitation, she drove her kunai into its joints, dismantling it piece by piece with near-surgical precision.
But just as she moved to help her teammate, she froze.
A face twisted in terror, agony, and bitter unwillingness stared back at her.
She flinched.
Why that expression?
Weren't they being brave? Willing to die for the mission?
Why, then, did they look like a prisoner in the T&I Division, moments before execution?
And just then—
Plunk.
A splash echoed across the pier.
One of the Suna shinobi on the boardwalk had spotted a Konoha ninja underwater and dove into the sea.
Yako had affixed an explosive tag beneath the pier's planks, then slipped into the depths.
He detonated it first, a timed escape from combat.
No one was better at slipping away than Yako.
The moment the blast went off, he was already gone, vanishing into the ocean's dark embrace.
Underwater, firelight shimmered across the waves above, casting long, tentacle-like shadows.
The Nara clan's secret technique had spread across the surface.
In the darkness, the shadows stretched endlessly.
One shadow glided across the water, veering straight for the back of Jenri's head.
Her neck stiffened—she was caught.
Nara Mi swam laterally, parallel to her, slipping past the encirclement while Jenri remained trapped in its center.
He raised a hand—so did Jenri.
She moved unwillingly, placing an explosive tag beneath the pier's structure.
Terror gripped her. The same terror her teammate had shown.
She saw them now—four or five black figures swimming toward her.
But her body was no longer her own. She kept working.
A cephalopod-shaped puppet darted beneath her. Each tentacle was made of interlocking joints, its tips ending in deadly spikes.
The arms of the puppet reached from all directions.
Jenri was small. It was going to devour her whole.
Then—
Whoosh!
A sudden burst of Water Release surged beside her.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Yako flared his chakra, conjuring a circular wall of water around Jenri.
It hurled the puppet away—and more importantly, disrupted the water's stillness, scattering the shadow jutsu.
Control snapped.
Jenri gasped, her body once again her own. She hesitated—but then reached for the explosive tag.
The mission was right in front of her. She had to complete it.
A perfect chance. The wall blocked any interference. No Suna ninja could reach her now.
But then—
Something grabbed her foot.
She was yanked down into the sea.
Just as she submerged, an enormous explosion tore through the surface above her.
Mi had detonated the tag. He hadn't even waited for her to clear the blast radius.
Another crater bloomed on the stone pier.
Beneath the water, Jenri was left shivering.
The cruelty of her team leader… the icy depths… the unknown hand that pulled her down—it all pressed down like a suffocating weight.
Why had the battle turned out like this?
She was prepared to sacrifice herself for Konoha.
But in her mind, that sacrifice had meant unity—her entire squad fighting together, shoulder to shoulder, to destroy the pier.
Yako saw her frozen in shock. He reached out, pinched her round cheeks, and gave her a small shake.
She snapped out of it.
Right. If that had been a Suna ninja… I'd be dead.
Could it have been… Fujikita?
It was too dark to tell.
Yako released chakra into the surrounding sea, scanning the area with sensory technique.
Two enemy signatures. Two puppets.
He weaved a single hand sign in the murky dark.
Self-Binding Curse Mark.
In an instant, the approaching enemies were wrapped in sealing scripts, frozen in place.
Yako shoved Jenri upward toward the surface, then dove deeper, eliminating the two Suna shinobi and their puppets with swift, silent precision.
Jenri burst through the water, her eyes locking on Mi.
He floated on the surface, only his pale eyes showing above the waterline—staring back at her with a ghostly intensity.
A chill ran down her spine.
Then—again—Shadow Imitation Technique lashed out.
She was caught once more.
He couldn't control enemy ninja, sure…
But a freshly promoted chūnin? That, he could handle.
It had been last month, after a mission. Mi had seen a Suna puppet in action—and had an idea.
Why use puppets at all… when teammates could be your weapons?
He'd named it: Shadow Puppet Technique.
Teammates were far more versatile than wooden dolls.
Under the jutsu's grip, Jenri spun around and charged toward one of the pier's supporting columns.
If she could destroy it, the structure would be crippled.
She had no control—her hand pressed the explosive tag against the column.
A bitter sorrow swelled in her chest.
Before the mission, Mi had generously handed her ten explosive tags.
She'd thanked him. Thought he was being considerate.
She'd believed he cared.
Now she understood—he just didn't want to risk himself.
She was a tool to complete the mission.
As she neared the column, two dark shapes swam toward her. Suna? Puppets?
Suddenly, the jutsu released.
She turned sharply.
Where Mi had been… there were only ripples on the surface.
Gone. Dragged under?
She immediately tried to evade the incoming attackers.
Elsewhere, Yako had embedded himself inside half a broken fish puppet, swimming fast.
He rammed the puppet's dorsal spine straight into Mi's exposed side.
Mi was too focused on controlling Jenri to react.
The blade pierced his abdomen.
He sank beneath the waves.
Agony surged through him.
Shadow Puppet Technique… like puppet mastery… has one fatal flaw.
The user's body is the greatest weakness.
He died by the very technique he invented…
Yako swam back to Jenri and pulled her from danger once more.
They surfaced.
"Jenri!" Yako barked. "You set the tags. I'll handle the Suna ninja!"
She didn't hesitate.
She turned back to the column and resumed placing explosive tags.
Yako dove again—and killed the remaining Suna operatives below.
Together, they planted the final explosives and destroyed the supporting pillar.
The mission was complete.
Yako grabbed Jenri and pulled her toward shore.
The pier was in ruins now.
Two craters from the blasts. A shattered pillar. The objective was secured.
All around them, battle raged.
At the next pier over, several Konoha ninja unleashed Fire Release, engulfing a twenty-meter-tall enemy vessel in flames.
Near the dockside warehouse, more fights broke out.
Farther still, Konoha squads ran across the water toward other anchored ships on the outer reef.
Konoha's ambush had caught Suna completely off guard.
Every front was an advantage.
Yako scanned the battlefield and turned to Jenri.
"You're a chūnin. I'm just a genin. With Captain Mi dead, that makes you squad leader. What's our next move?"
Jenri hesitated.
Mi had used her like a tool—again and again—to handle the riskiest part of the mission.
He'd planned everything perfectly.
And still… died to Suna.
Was that really a noble sacrifice?
"…We find the company captain. Get a new assignment."
Yako nodded earnestly.
Jenri was small, but inside, she was steel.
She had barely survived one of the most dangerous fights of her life—and already she was charging toward the next.
She took the lead. Yako followed behind, intercepting enemy attacks as he went—while silently observing.
The captains giving orders.
The lieutenants leading from the front.
The squad leaders making calls.
The stand-out shinobi on the battlefield.
Yako was watching everything.
And all that he saw would become a report—sent straight to the Hokage.
So the Third could know exactly how strong the front line really was.