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Main command tent, Konoha camp.
It was like someone had hit pause. Every hand froze mid-motion. Every head turned toward Taiichi.
Even Tsunade stopped with her teacup halfway to her mouth, staring at him blankly.
"Say that again."
"Mist's entire camp is empty. From the traces, they pulled out shortly after my clone left yesterday. Current location unknown."
Taiichi gave a more detailed report. The tent immediately exploded back into noise.
This time it wasn't strategy talk. It was pure frustration.
"Goddamn it, I just finished redrawing the entire operation map!"
"Those Mist bastards don't even follow the damn script!"
"Our whole plan's screwed and we still don't know where the hell they went!"
The grumbling rose like angry flies. Tsunade's patience snapped.
"Quiet! All of you sound like children!"
The tent went dead silent.
She turned straight to Taiichi. "You—take Hizashi and Inuzuka Tsume right now. Use Flying Thunder God and get them to the site. See if there's anything left to track."
Then she spun on her staff officers. "Expand the search. Not just the ocean—check the mainland too. Send word to Orochimaru and Jiraiya. Tell them to watch the coasts of the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rivers. Mist might try circling through them."
Orders flew. People moved. Taiichi didn't waste a second. With a soft pop he turned into white smoke and vanished.
The tent went quiet for half a second, then everyone went back to work like nothing had happened. They'd seen enough of his shadow clones by now.
Someone muttered "brat" under their breath, but no one was sure who it was aimed at.
Taiichi's real body got the memories and left the training ground immediately. He found Hizashi and Inuzuka Tsume on the way, gave them the quick version, then created a shadow clone. Each of them grabbed a shoulder. In a flash of yellow light, all four disappeared.
They reappeared on the abandoned island where Mist's camp had been.
"This… is what Flying Thunder God feels like?" Inuzuka Tsume muttered, looking a little green. Her senses were sharper than most, which made the spatial jump hit harder. "Not exactly pleasant."
Taiichi didn't waste time talking. Green medical chakra lit up in his palm and he pressed it to her back, easing the nausea fast. Tsume's color returned quickly. She gave him a grateful nod, then grumbled, "Flying Thunder God really isn't for everyone."
Taiichi just smiled and got to work.
Hizashi activated his Byakugan and swept the area, especially the sea, checking for any Mist lookouts. Inuzuka Tsume summoned a large white dog and the two of them started working the ground, noses to the dirt, reading every scent left behind.
Half an hour later they regrouped. Taiichi looked at Hizashi first. The Hyuga shook his head. Nothing.
Then he turned to Tsume. The Inuzuka was grinning and scratching behind the white dog's ears like he'd just won a prize.
Taiichi knew that look.
"Good news?"
Tsume nodded. "Big White picked it up. Mist loaded up on the north side of the island, but they didn't head north. They circled once and went straight south."
Taiichi raised an eyebrow. Even he was impressed. The dog had tracked them after they put out to sea.
He didn't ask how. Shinobi secrets stayed secrets.
South meant the direction of the old Whirlpool Country ruins… or even farther.
He didn't have time to puzzle it out. He grabbed both men and teleported them straight back to camp to report.
For the next two days, Mist seemed to have vanished. Even the scouting teams found no trace of attacks or movements. The longer the silence stretched, the more uneasy everyone became. A fist you couldn't see was always scarier than one already swinging.
The entire eastern front felt it. Without solid intel, all they could do was throw more people into the search.
Tsunade, working off the Inuzuka report, ordered the whole camp moved a hundred kilometers south to tighten control over the lower coastline. Splitting their forces wasn't an option. If Mist caught one group alone, the whole line could collapse.
That was the frustrating part of fighting Mist. The other great villages were on the mainland. Even if you lost track of them, you could still reach their territory in a day or two. But Mist was an island nation. Fighting them meant building fleets and crossing open water. Long supply lines, constant risk, and you never really knew who had the advantage at sea.
If this had been Sand, Tsunade would've already marched straight for their village the moment their main force disappeared.
On the fourth day, the news everyone had been waiting for finally arrived from the far south.
Mist had landed on the southern coast of the Land of Fire. They had swung wide around the original front, traveled over a thousand kilometers, and opened an entirely new battlefield.
Tsunade stared at the report for a long time. She couldn't figure out what game Mist was playing. They couldn't beat Leaf here, so they thought running south would change that?
Nobody in camp understood it either.
Understanding didn't matter. What mattered was that they finally had a location. Tsunade gave the order. The entire camp packed up and started moving south at full speed to limit the damage Mist could do in the new area.
Taiichi didn't wait for the main force. The moment he heard, he used Flying Thunder God to reach the nearest marker and flew straight toward the new Mist camp to scout.
His arrival didn't go unnoticed. Mist sensors picked him up immediately. The Third Mizukage walked out with his top jonin to face him.
This time Taiichi didn't stay in the sky. That was why the Mizukage had come out himself.
"Well, if it isn't the Third Mizukage. Traveled all the way from the Land of Water just to clean up after your bottom-feeders?"
Taiichi wasn't subtle. He pointed straight at Yagura, Hiyori, and the River Puffer Ghost standing beside the Mizukage.
"These the best you've got left? Looks like you brought the whole collection of washed-up trash."
The Mist jonin weren't the type to take insults quietly. Even knowing they couldn't beat him, they were on home ground now and fired right back.
The Mizukage raised one hand and the shouting stopped.
"Matsushita Taiichi. You're supposed to be one of the famous ones. Is this really how you want to spend your breath?"
The Mizukage's tone was calm, almost polite, but the message was clear—he was putting himself above the argument.
Taiichi saw the man wasn't going to lose his cool, so he dropped the cheap shots.
"Still hard to believe one of the Five Great Villages has fallen so low they're slaughtering civilians. Can't wait to see how the rest of the ninja world reacts when that story spreads."
The Mizukage's expression flickered for a split second.
"Don't spout nonsense. Mist would never do something like that. If your village can't clean up its own bandits and criminals, that's your problem. Don't try to pin it on us like the ninja world only listens to Konoha."
He delivered the denial with perfect outrage. Even the jonin beside him looked impressed. The man could lie with conviction.
Taiichi gave him a slow, mocking thumbs-up.
"Impressive, Mizukage. I'll give you that—your face is the thickest in the entire ninja world."
The Mizukage's jaw tightened.
"Enough. Words won't change anything. You have no proof. Just Konoha's mouth. Shinobi settle things with strength. If you've got the guts, fight me. First one to run is the coward."
While he spoke, his left hand moved behind his back, flashing quick signals to the jonin around him.
Taiichi caught the motion but didn't care. He had come to scout. Now the entire Mist force was right in front of him. That was even better for watching them.
"I was hoping you'd say that. Just wondering if you'll run like the rest of your people usually do when things get rough."
The Mizukage didn't bother replying. He flicked several shuriken forward and started forming seals mid-charge. Only five hand signs.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bite Explosion.
A massive water dragon surged up from beneath him, jaws wide, and lunged at Taiichi faster than the Mizukage himself.
Taiichi's eyebrow rose. The Mizukage had simplified a technique that normally took over fifty seals down to just five. Not bad. Almost on par with how the Second Hokage used to streamline Water Dragon Bullet.
But Taiichi was better.
He sidestepped the shuriken with quick footwork, brought his hands together, and formed only two seals.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
A much thicker, more powerful dragon exploded upward and slammed into the Mizukage's dragon, coiling around it and crushing inward.
The two dragons tore into each other in midair. After a few brutal seconds they both burst apart, raining water across the clearing.
The whole exchange had taken barely two seconds.
Before the last drops fell, the Mizukage was already on him. Taiichi shifted his seals. The falling rain turned into a storm of ice senbon and shot toward the Mizukage.
The Mizukage didn't even change his hand signs. A spinning dome of water erupted around him, shredding the ice needles and expanding outward like a waterspout straight at Taiichi.
Taiichi leapt back lightly, forming seals while still in the air.
Ice Release: Ice Crystal Continent.
Everything near him flash-froze. The waterspout shattered into brittle chunks.
The Mizukage burst through the broken ice, fist cocked and glowing with chakra, and swung straight for Taiichi's head.
First real hand-to-hand exchange.
They traded blows fast and heavy. On the surface it looked even. But the Mizukage knew better. Every punch from Taiichi was heavier than the last. Every kick hit harder. After more than a dozen exchanges his arms and legs were already going numb.
He was in trouble and he knew it. He had expected to at least stall Taiichi long enough for the trap. He hadn't expected the kid to be this strong up close.
From the corner of his eye he saw his jonin moving into position in the trees. The Mizukage's mouth twitched—half pain, half relief.
Almost there. Just a little longer.
They clashed seven or eight more times. Then a sharp whistle cut through the air from the direction of the Mist camp.
The Mizukage's eyes lit up. He took one final heavy kick to the ribs and used the momentum to break away.
The instant they separated, lightning bolts rained down from above, illuminating the dark forest. Wind blades and water bullets filled the air in a dense web. The ground beneath Taiichi's feet turned soft and muddy, trying to trap his legs.
A perfect killing field.
Taiichi stood in the center of it all, watching the Mizukage fly backward from his kick. He didn't even glance at the incoming attacks. His voice cut through the noise, loud and mocking.
"Why's the Mizukage running too?"
The storm of lightning, wind, and water swallowed him whole.