"We've been ambushed! Kill, break through!"
"How could this happen?"
"Idiots, hurry and charge back!"
"Quick, quick, don't you know we're ambushed? Break out!"
...
Just as these wandering samurai and ninja were frantically trying to fight their way out, Gato roared, "Everyone shut up! I'm not dead yet!"
With Gato's shout, the wandering samurai and ninja slowly fell silent. Then Gato turned to the Feudal Lord and said, "You see the situation now. Are you sure you want to fight me to the death? Why don't we sit down and talk?"
The Feudal Lord didn't speak, just looked at Kisuke. When he saw Kisuke nod, the Feudal Lord didn't look at Gato, but quickly returned to the Guard Squad's formation.
Gato saw the Feudal Lord didn't speak and went back to his line, so he quickly returned to his own line too.
"Feudal Lord, think carefully. If I get out of this, it's not over."
"Ever since you killed my father, this was never going to be over."
The Feudal Lord yelled back, telling Tamaki Ran to make sure he was protected.
Gato immediately knew this wouldn't end well. He had Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, so Gato thought he was a sure win. But he never expected the Feudal Lord to secretly recruit 1000 guards, which caught him completely off guard.
So he ordered his samurai to charge the samurai squad, hoping to break through. At the same time, he told Zabuza, "Zabuza-san, if you kill the Feudal Lord, I'll give you a million ryo."
Zabuza's eyes lit up at the price and he nodded. A million ryo was the price of an A-rank mission. To Zabuza, killing the Land of Waves' Feudal Lord was easy. Zabuza was an elite Jonin from the Hidden Mist Village, a Hidden Mist Jutsu, plus a Silent Killing technique, it would be a piece of cake.
Zabuza immediately formed hand signs and charged towards the Feudal Lord.
"Water Style, Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Zabuza vanished into the thick fog. Suddenly, Zabuza appeared from the air, directly above the Feudal Lord.
"Feudal Lord, your head is mine."
"Tamaki, save me!"
The Feudal Lord looked at Zabuza in terror. Zabuza threw several kunai. Tamaki Ran desperately tried to deflect them, but it was no use. The kunai were about to hit the Feudal Lord.
At that moment, a dark figure kicked in from the side, deflecting Zabuza and all the kunai that were about to hit the Feudal Lord.
It was Koga, and this was Kisuke's trump card, and also Kisuke's promise to the Feudal Lord, that Kisuke's people would hold off the ninja.
This was Kisuke and the Feudal Lord's plan, Kisuke's people would hold off the ninja, then the samurai squad would wipe out Gato's men. During this, after ensuring the Feudal Lord's safety, the Guard Squad would support the samurai squad.
However, because Kisuke intentionally delayed the samurai squad's arrival, Gato's men and the Feudal Lord's Guard Squad clashed head-on.
With the arrow already shot, the Feudal Lord had no choice but to grit his teeth and let the plan continue.
So, Kuroba led the samurai squad and Tamaki Ran led the Guard Squad to surround and kill Gato's men. Kisuke stood behind the samurai squad, observing the situation. The Feudal Lord, with 200 guards, returned inside the mansion to watch from there.
While the samurai on both sides fought fiercely, Koga and Zabuza clashed.
"Water Style, Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Koga watched the water dragon fly towards him, his right hand's fingers glowing with a dark, flickering psionic energy. He raised his right hand and punched the water dragon.
"Boom!"
The water dragon instantly burst into a spray of water. Before Zabuza could react, Koga stomped on the stone ground and charged at Zabuza.
"Water Style, Water Clone!"
A punch landed on Zabuza, and again, water splashed everywhere.
Zabuza's voice drifted from all directions, "Who are you?"
Koga didn't speak, he just punched in another direction, feeling no solid hit, another water clone.
Zabuza looked at Koga, his mood shifting. He couldn't figure out how Koga found him. And Koga's fighting style was so different from a ninja's, it left him unsure, making him afraid to make a rash move.
Koga found him for a simple reason, a quick energy scan showed exactly where Zabuza's energy was.
Kisuke also realized that Zabuza and Koga's fight was like a tank against an assassin, neither could really hurt the other.
It's well known that ninja in the Naruto world are high-attack, low-defense, fragile beings. So most ninja fighting styles focus on dodging, gathering information, and then using that information to find the opponent's weakness and defeat them.
Now Zabuza was facing Koga, who just charged in, and was incredibly tough. Zabuza was unsure how to fight him.
Koga and Zabuza's fight was a stalemate. Meanwhile, Kuroba leading the samurai squad and Tamaki Ran leading the Guard Squad were already close to deciding the winner.
Just as both sides were about to finish, a person suddenly appeared from behind the Feudal Lord, a quick slash, and the Feudal Lord's head fell to the ground.
The person held up the Feudal Lord's head and yelled, "Gato-sama, the Feudal Lord is dead!"
Seeing this, the battlefield instantly fell silent.
Tamaki Ran saw this and screamed, "Feudal Lord, ah, I'll kill you all!"
Saying this, he led the Guard Squad, eyes red, charging towards Gato.
"The Feudal Lord is dead, are you still resisting?"
"Are you crazy? Stop now, and I'll let bygones be bygones."
Gato yelled. Actually, when the Feudal Lord died, nearly 200 of the Guard Squad dropped their swords, most of them newly recruited. But another 300 charged wildly at Gato. In this world, samurai still held onto their loyalty to their lord.
"Kill Gato, avenge the Feudal Lord!"
"Kill!"
"The Feudal Lord is dead, I am guilty, I'll make you all pay!"
"Charge!"
Tamaki Ran, leading the samurai, charged wildly at Gato.
Kisuke watched the Feudal Lord die, nodded slightly, and told Kuroba to speed up wiping out Gato's men.
A short while later.
Tamaki Ran, holding a disarmed Gato, came before the Feudal Lord's body. He knelt on one knee and forced Gato's legs into a kneeling position.
"Feudal Lord, I'm sorry, I failed to protect you. I'll make Gato join you now."
Tamaki Ran cried as he finished speaking, then raised his sword to strike Gato. Just as the sword was about to hit Gato, Gato instantly exploded.
"Boom!"
With an explosion, both Gato and Tamaki Ran were blown away. Gato died on the spot, and Tamaki Ran was also on the verge of death.
The people nearby were stunned and quickly ran to Tamaki Ran's side.
"Commander, wake up!"
"Sir, please get up! The Feudal Lord is dead, you can't die too!"
As he was about to die, Tamaki Ran's mind flashed through the events of the past few days. He realized that this situation might have been planned by Kisuke, that this merchant had orchestrated everything.
He immediately looked at Kisuke, saw Kisuke's smile, and Tamaki Ran opened his mouth to speak, but could only make gurgling sounds.
And so, Tamaki Ran died, filled with unwillingness.
The person who killed the Feudal Lord was a Katana Robot Soldier. Because the Guard Squad had been secretly recruiting these past few days, it was easy for the robot soldier to join them.
Gato exploded because he had a bomb on him, placed on his wrist when his arm was cut off. This bomb cost 50 energy points, very expensive, but totally worth it.
With Tamaki Ran dead, among the survivors, Kuroba's rank was the highest. To win over these samurai, Kisuke had Kuroba kill all of Gato's men.
Now, only Koga and Zabuza's fight remained on the entire battlefield.