Mukai felt things were too difficult for him.
On the other side were three people, each an expert not weaker than, or even stronger than, himself.
Moreover, since Kirigakure mostly operated within the Land of Water, the outside world's understanding of them was extremely limited.
Even for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, whose fame was widespread in the Shinobi World... their weapons' specific abilities were not well understood.
In contrast, the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist characteristics were widely known in the Shinobi World, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of intelligence.
With strength already evenly matched, and the other side having both numerical and intelligence advantages, how was he supposed to fight?
There was simply no way to fight.
Mukai had just landed when Fuguki closed in. The nearly two-meter-long, as thick as two adult palms wide Samehada was slammed down with immense force.
Fortunately, Mukai possessed the Byakugan, detecting this enemy lying in wait at his landing spot in advance.
Thus, he made preparations ahead of time.
He drew a kunai with each hand, crossing his arms to block overhead.
Ding!
With the heavy sound of metal clashing, immense force transmitted through his arms.
Mukai felt as if a small mountain was pressing down; he could no longer maintain Chakra Control underfoot and was driven into the water's depths.
"Underwater is our turf, you know!"
Seeing this after clearing the miscellaneous soldiers, Yagura smiled faintly and formed hand seals once more.
Instantly, the water flow accelerated, becoming turbulent and surging.
A massive whirlpool churned, shaking the coastline.
Several seconds later, the whirlpool dissipated, and the water calmed.
Yagura gazed at the calm sea surface. After waiting several minutes without seeing any sign of the person, he smiled faintly. "If he's still alive after that, we'll count him lucky."
Then, he turned to look at the Uzumaki Clan's members hiding by the shore. "You're all ordinary people. If you proactively disclose what we want, even the Bloody Mist won't make things difficult for you."
The Uzumaki Clan's members exchanged glances. A youth with a resolute expression stepped forward.
"We know nothing."
"Is that so?"
The smile on Yagura's face gradually stiffened, a hint of chill entering his tone. "In that case, we have no choice but to use Shinobi methods."
"Scatter and run!"
The youth shouted, choosing a random direction to flee. The others also scattered like birds and beasts, trying to escape.
"Capture them!"
As Yagura's order was issued, the five hundred Kirigakure's Shinobi poured out, chasing after the people fleeing in all directions.
...
There was an insurmountable gap between ordinary people and Shinobi, not to mention such a huge numerical disparity.
In less than five minutes, the thirty Uzumaki Clan's members were captured and brought back.
Yagura approached the leading youth and smiled. "You should know that even from corpses, Shinobi can obtain the intelligence they want. I'll give you one more chance. If you don't speak, we'll have to use our own methods."
No one responded.
Although many were trembling with fear, and the children couldn't hold back their tears, no one spoke.
Because they truly didn't know.
Seeing this, Yagura also frowned.
The learning conditions for sealing technique were very high; even among Shinobi, few mastered them.
He didn't expect these ordinary people to know, but he still hoped they might.
Because if they didn't know, they were as good as dead.
Shinobi could indeed use forceful methods to obtain desired intelligence, but these methods weren't very friendly to the targets.
Light cases resulted in brain paralysis; severe cases led to immediate death.
Although born in the Bloody Mist, Yagura didn't want to shed unnecessary blood.
But reality didn't go as he wished.
"Haah~"
Yagura deeply sighed, raising his hand and beckoning.
Two Kirigakure's Shinobi understood, approaching the captured Uzumaki Clan's members, preparing to form hand seals to use memory-searching technique.
Suddenly, the sky darkened abruptly.
Everyone looked up to see a massive shadow descending from behind the clouds.
"What is that!?"
Someone couldn't help but exclaim.
The unknown induces fear. The enormous shadow appearing from behind the clouds, beyond human imagination, made the Kirigakure's Shinobi feel unprecedented pressure, heavier than a mountain pressing on their hearts.
Even Yagura and the two swordsmen looked at the sky with grave expressions.
The shadow grew larger and larger, finally breaking through the clouds.
What seemed like an inverted mountain peak and continent appeared in everyone's vision, stretching as far as the eye could see, as if the sky itself was blocked by the continent.
"That's..."
"The Mechanical City!"
Yagura's youthful face turned grim.
The Mechanical City's fame had spread throughout the Shinobi World a week ago.
Although many were dismissive, they couldn't ignore the result of nearly destroying Konoha.
Now, with Kirigakure conducting a covert operation, the Mechanical City arriving here was not good news for them.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!
Dense puppets flew out from the Mechanical City, descending upon the Kirigakure's forces like locusts.
"Stay alert!"
Yagura shouted. The Kirigakure's Shinobi scattered and gripped their weapons.
His warning wasn't in vain.
The knight puppets initiated attacks mid-air, launching kunai attached to Chakra Threads from launchers mounted on their shoulders.
Although each launched only two, the number of knight puppets was enormous. The result of each launching two was that the sky was blotted out by kunai and Chakra Threads.
If not for Yagura's warning, this wave of assault would have been enough to annihilate them completely.
But even with warning and preparation, facing such a massive offensive, individual strength seemed so pale.
Some were so stunned they froze, forgetting to resist!
"Tch!"
Yagura frowned deeply, forming hand seals.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!]
The sea surface suddenly erupted. A massive dragon head rose from the ocean, then soared upward.
A dragon as thick as a water bucket, with a twenty-meter-long body, writhed through the air, sweeping away all the kunai.
Fuguki and Jinpachi also employed their respective means to defend.
But there were too many kunai.
Even with three experts joining forces, they couldn't knock down all the kunai. A large number of kunai still rained down, snatching away one vibrant life after another.
But compared to the earlier completely hopeless assault, now at least they had the capital to resist.
Some agile Shinobi swung kunai, swords, or used other means to knock down the kunai aimed at them.
But before they could catch their breath, a sea breeze blew in, and the knight puppets brandishing fancy weapons arrived one after another.
Pfft pfft pfft pfft...
Blood blossomed, dyeing the nearby sea red. Screams rose and fell.
The Shinobi who had barely survived the kunai rain now faced slaughter once more.
"Bastards, don't look down on me!"
Jinpachi sprinted across the sea surface, swinging his large blade as he ran. Each slash caused an explosion, destroying one puppet per strike.
Fuguki formed hand seals. His orange long hair transformed into numerous tentacles spreading in all directions, each one entangling a puppet, then crushing it to pieces.