Dont forget to Vote and Review, its makes me happy ...
your comment make me motivate posting here
read full story in patreon : belamy20
Out on the open sea, Yagura finally broke free of the thick white fog and let out a shaky breath of pure relief. That had been way too close. If he hadn't thought fast and used Taiichi's massive fire jutsu to create this giant cloud of mist, Leaf would've run them down and finished the job.
He was still congratulating himself when he looked up and saw the squad of Mist ANBU waiting right in front of them.
One of them called out immediately. "Yagura, what the hell happened? Where's the camp?"
Yagura's stomach dropped straight through the floor. Mist ANBU? Out here? His brain caught up a second later and he looked past them.
Three huge warships were cutting through the waves at full speed, heading straight for them.
The realization hit like a lightning strike. Reinforcements. The Mizukage's backup had arrived.
Too late.
If they had shown up even ten minutes earlier, the entire battle could've gone the other way. Leaf would've been the ones panicking. But reality didn't care about what-ifs. Now Yagura had to face the Third Mizukage and explain how he'd lost everything.
More and more Mist survivors poured out of the fog behind them. Mizunotsuki Hiyori was among them. One look at the warships and the ANBU was all it took. He already knew exactly how bad this was.
Another team of ANBU came sprinting from the direction of the ships. They didn't even slow down.
"Water Moon Hiyori. Yagura. The Mizukage wants both of you. Now."
They didn't get a chance to argue. Hiyori and Yagura could only exchange one grim look before ordering their remaining forces to regroup and falling in behind the ANBU.
On the lead warship, inside the command room, the atmosphere was heavy enough to crush bone. The Third Mizukage sat at the head of the table, his presence alone making the air feel thick and cold. Everyone else stayed dead silent, watching the two disgraced commanders standing below.
Yagura and Hiyori could feel every eye on them. Some looked sympathetic. Others were clearly enjoying the show.
The Mizukage finally spoke, voice low and dangerous.
"You two…"
Everyone held their breath.
"…deserve to die."
Cold sweat poured down both men's backs.
"Two thousand shinobi. A few days later and you've lost three battles in a row, each one worse than the last. Are you both pigs? Is that how you lead men?"
The room stayed completely silent. No one had expected the Mizukage to lose control like this.
He took a slow breath, trying to rein in his rage, but it didn't work.
"Explain. You had the camp on the open sea. You had a defensive position. How the hell did Leaf break you this badly?"
Hiyori and Yagura glanced at each other. Hiyori ended up doing the talking. He laid it out exactly as it happened — the massive wave, the decision to abandon the camp, the fight on the island, and how the medical and support ninja had broken first and surrendered, triggering the total collapse.
He didn't try to make excuses. There wasn't time for that. The only thing he could do was tell the truth and hope it softened the punishment.
The other jonin who had come with the Mizukage listened carefully. On paper, Hiyori hadn't made many obvious mistakes. The biggest error had been putting non-combat personnel on the front line. That decision had cost them everything.
But this wasn't the time for fair assessments. This was the time to assign blame.
The Mizukage stayed quiet for a long moment before he finally gave his verdict.
"Water Moon Hiyori. Yagura. You failed in your command. You cost us three straight defeats and massive losses. Effective immediately, both of you are stripped of rank and reassigned to the suicide corps. You will redeem yourselves through combat or die trying."
He looked at them both.
"Any objections?"
Neither of them said a word. Being sent to the suicide corps was already the lightest punishment they could've hoped for. In the suicide corps, you charged first in every battle. Survive ten missions and you were cleared. For jonin, that was harsh but survivable if you were careful. Most of the real risk fell on the lower ranks.
"Thank you, Mizukage-sama," they both said, bowing low. "We will shed our last drop of blood for the Hidden Mist."
The Mizukage waved them up. That matter was settled for now. Their future would depend on how they performed from here on out.
He turned his attention to the rest of the room.
"Now. Our forces are no longer superior to Leaf's. How do we proceed from here?"
The discussion started immediately, but nobody had any brilliant ideas for fighting a stronger enemy on their own turf. Eventually one of the jonin asked the question everyone was thinking.
"Mizukage-sama… can we pull more reinforcements from the village?"
The room went quiet again. All eyes turned to the Mizukage.
He stayed silent for a long moment before answering.
"The village can't spare anyone else right now. Not in the short term."
Another stretch of silence followed. Then the low murmur of discussion started again. One quiet voice muttered something that caught the Mizukage's ear.
"Why do we have to keep targeting Leaf? Our strength is weakened. Maybe it's time to pick a different target."
The Mizukage filed that thought away without reacting.
Far away, on a newly formed ice platform floating in the middle of the sea, Taiichi's group had finally stopped running.
They hadn't even made it twenty kilometers before some of the chunin started collapsing from chakra exhaustion. Even the jonin were breathing hard.
Taiichi looked back at the exhausted faces and made the call.
"We rest here. Hiashi, anything behind us?"
Hiashi activated his Byakugan and swept the area they'd come from, then shook his head.
"Nothing. They're not following. And we changed direction. Out here on the open water there's no trail for them to track."
"Good enough."
Taiichi released his Yin Seal and poured chakra into the sea. Another wide ice platform rose up beneath them. The moment it stabilized, the entire Leaf force staggered onto it and started popping soldier pills like candy.
Only after the worst of the exhaustion had passed did Taiichi, Fugaku, and Hiashi finally have a chance to talk.
"That was too damn close," Fugaku said, still looking rattled. "If we'd been even a little slower, we would've been the ones getting wiped out."
Hiashi nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching upward for once. "But we weren't. And now Mist is in real trouble. They just lost their entire forward supply base and a huge chunk of their medical staff. They're not going to recover from this quickly."
Taiichi glanced over at the captured Mist personnel being guarded on the far side of the platform and felt a grim satisfaction. Without supplies and without enough medics, Mist's fighting strength was about to take a serious hit.
For the eastern front, the immediate crisis was over.
The three of them talked for a while, the conversation eventually drifting toward what came after the war. Fugaku mentioned his son.
"I heard you have a boy now," Hiashi said.
Fugaku's expression softened. "Yeah. His name's Itachi. Uchiha Itachi. He's four."
Taiichi listened quietly while the two clan heads talked about their children. He didn't have much to add on that subject yet.
Then Fugaku turned to him.
"Taiichi. I want Itachi to train under you. What do you think?"
Taiichi blinked. "You want your son to be my student?"
"Yes."
Hiashi looked surprised too. Fugaku wasn't the type to make that kind of offer lightly.
Taiichi stayed quiet for a moment, thinking it through. His relationship with the Uchiha was already one of the closest any outsider had. He and Yohei were basically brothers at this point. He didn't carry the same old grudges the village leadership did. And he was strong enough that the Uchiha couldn't push him around even if they wanted to.
Taking Itachi as a student would tie him even closer to the clan. That came with risks, but it also came with real advantages. The Uchiha were still a major power in Konoha. If someone was going to influence them, Taiichi would rather it be him than someone else.
He looked at Fugaku.
"If that's what you want, I won't turn it down. But my training style is… different. You might not like everything I do."
Fugaku met his eyes without hesitation.
"I trust you. And so will my son."
Taiichi nodded once.
"Alright. Then Itachi's mine."