Chapter 51

"Now!!" The Mist Ninja's voice echoed over the tumultuous waters.

In the next moment, his clone positioned to the east completed a series of hand signs and summoned a ninja scroll. With a swift, practiced motion, he thrust his hand onto the scroll's surface, activating numerous seals.

Instantly, a barrage of hundreds of paper bombs hurtled towards Tatsuya, who was diving headlong into the eye of the whirlpool.

The sheer number of paper bombs would easily destroy one body if it didn't have any defense.

"Hehe, let's see how you handle this. No dodging in mid-air," the Mist Ninja thought with a smirk, though he felt a pang of regret. Using such a powerful jutsu on a kid felt wasteful.

This was a one-time jutsu, created with his limited knowledge of seals, which he thought he would only use on a suicide mission. Using it now, he felt like he was throwing away a precious creation.

'I have to run as soon as this kid is taken care of. I've bitten off more than I can chew this time. Besides, I haven't seen that other woman who was with them. Who knows how strong she is?' he thought, watching the paper bombs about to collide with Tatsuya.

'But why isn't he fazed?' he wondered.

Meanwhile, Yumiko struggled against the chaotic swirl of water, which prevented her from maintaining her balance or swimming. She was continuously swept away by the current, almost drowning more than once.

Converting her chakra to air at the last moment was the only thing keeping her alive, but it took immense concentration, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could manage.

{Let me swap... It's not like I was going to take over you.}

"Yeah, right..." She didn't believe those words one bit.

{You are weak, at most chunin level, let me swap. I can easily end this.}

'Damn it! Sensei, where are you? Don't tell me you left us here to fight alone!' she thought frustrated.

{If you want him to live... I would suggest you swap,} the voice in her mind said again, more urgent.

'What?' She tried to ask but immediately stopped when she saw hundreds of paper bombs hurtling toward Tatsuya.

"Fuck! Swap fast! And if you don't save him, I'll make sure to kill you," she said coldly and let her consciousness sleep.

{Good...kukuku.}Suddenly, Yumiko's eyes dilated, somehow giving an evil glint to them, her Sharingan swirling into three tomoe.

"This should be enough," she murmured to herself. The world around her seemed to slow down as her kinetic perception heightened to the point where she could even track the small fish in the sea."Let's save Tatsuya first," she thought, swimming like a bullet against the swirl with far more finesse than before, launching herself straight towards Tatsuya.

"So it was paper bombs that clone of his was preparing," Tatsuya thought as he saw the ignited bombs hurtling towards him. They were already about to explode, and he couldn't body flicker away or use a defensive jutsu in time.It was quite a clever surprise and would have worked perfectly against an average ninja. But unfortunately for his opponent, Tatsuya was far from average.

{Hollow Phase}

Boom!!!

The explosion was deafening, sending shockwaves through the water and sky. The Mist Ninja smirked, certain of his victory, but his expression quickly changed to one of confusion and shock.

"Surprised?" Tatsuya taunted as he landed in the middle of the eye.

"How did you...? No, it's impossible!" The Mist Ninja wanted to refuse the possibility, but the reality was in front of him, undeniable.

"Tatsuya!" Yumiko called out as she landed beside him, her Sharingan reverting to two tomoe.

"Nice timing," Tatsuya said with a brief smile, acknowledging her presence. He was genuinely surprised she had escaped the pull of the whirlpool.

"Don't get too comfortable," Yumiko replied, her tone serious. "Let's finish him first."

"I know. We have at least 30 seconds before the eye of the whirlpool closes and all that water collapses on us. So we have to do it fast, understood?" he said, taking his stance.

Yumiko merely nodded, drawing her katana. 'How did he escape that blast?' she wondered internally.

With a nod, Yumiko and Tatsuya moved in unison towards the Mist Ninja. The ninja, tense, quickly summoned a water clone beside him.

The fight began with a flurry of movements. Tatsuya launched a rapid series of Gentle Fist strikes, aiming for the Mist Ninja's chakra points. The ninja deflected some, but a few hits landed, causing his chakra flow to waver.

Yumiko darted in, her katana flashing in swift arcs. The Mist Ninja's water clone intercepted her, parrying her strikes with a kunai. She twisted, slashing at him, but the clone quickly bent its body to dodge while clawing at Yumiko's stomach with its right hand. But she expertly shifted her grip and thrust her katana downward, piercing the clone's stomach and dissolving it into a splash of water before its claw could connect with her.

While Tatsuya pressed the attack, his hands blurred as he struck again, each attack laced with chaotic chakra that continuously disrupted the man's chakra flow, preventing him from using any jutsu properly. The Mist Ninja barely blocked a powerful blow aimed at his chest, feeling the force reverberate through his arm.

He tried to retaliate with a vicious kick aimed at Tatsuya's head, but Tatsuya ducked, countering with an uppercut that sent the Mist Ninja staggering back.

Yumiko seized the opportunity, leaping forward and delivering a precise thrust with her katana. The Mist Ninja twisted, avoiding a fatal blow but receiving a deep cut across his side.Grimacing, the Mist Ninja formed a series of hand seals, trying to forcefully use a jutsu despite his disrupted chakra flow. But Tatsuya was quicker. He surged forward, his palm glowing with chakra, and struck the ninja's chest.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"

Each hit landed with pinpoint accuracy, shutting down the Mist Ninja's chakra points one by one. The ninja's body convulsed, his control over his chakra vanishing.

Yumiko followed up, her katana slicing through the air with lethal precision, severing both of the Mist Ninja's hands.

"Don't kill him completely; we need to interrogate him," Tatsuya said quickly, stopping Yumiko from delivering a final blow. He was also a bit shocked at her viciousness. 'Was she this cold-blooded before?'

".... I was just making sure he doesn't use any jutsu anymore," she said, her voice coming out a bit different.

Before he could respond, the whirlpool's eye began to close, the water rushing in. "Let's get out of here," Tatsuya said urgently.

"Hehe, cough! Do you think I will let you leave? Since you cut off both of my arms, I should also take both of your lives in return," the Mist Ninja laughed, full of hate.Immediately, the water, which had been closing in at a certain pace, began to surge violently. The whirlpool's collapse accelerated, the thousands of tons of water threatening to fall directly on them.

"How is he still able to affect the—no, I get it." Yumiko's eyes suddenly narrowed as she threw a kunai towards the east.

"Now his last clone is done," she said as the bleeding Mist Jonin's face became ashen.

'Such precision and strength?' Tatsuya raised his eyebrows. But he didn't have the time to wonder about that, as he saw the thousand tons of water collapsing on them. If they didn't get away, they would be turned into meat paste.

"Come near me, we don't have much time!" Tatsuya said to Yumiko as he lifted the man's body onto his shoulder. He would use one full burst of his leftover chakra to try to leave the whirlpool.

Yumiko nodded and quickly came to him. Tatsuya held her waist, ready to jump to the side of the swirl, but just before he did, the entire whirlpool, which had been spinning with a speed that easily swept anyone away, suddenly started calming down. Even the water that was about to collapse on them began to recede.

"What happened?" he asked. Yumiko just shrugged, equally surprised."Let's go then," Tatsuya said, and they started to swim to the top. Since the sea had calmed down, it was effortless for them.

As they reached the surface, they heard a loud, frustrated shout, "Are you still not satisfied? I have already stopped the whirlpool. Can you stop attacking me!"

Turning their heads, they saw a tall and slender woman with fair skin. She had green eyes and ankle-length auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and four bangs at the front. She had a haggard appearance, and Tsubasa stood against her with her sword drawn.

It seemed both of them had gone through a hard battle. "Who is she?" Yumiko asked.

The Mist Jonin, seeing who it was, trembled a little before losing consciousness. Tatsuya quickly sealed his wounds so he wouldn't die.

"She is Mei Terumi," he answered while walking towards them.

Mei glanced at Tatsuya, then at the unconscious Mist Jonin. "I see you've dealt with him," she said, her voice a mix of relief and irritation.

"Yeah, and it looks like you've had quite the fight too," Tatsuya replied, noting her disheveled state.

Tsubasa lowered her sword slightly but kept her eyes on Mei. "What are you doing here, Mei Terumi? You know you are on foreign soil.

"Mei sighed, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I was tracking down some rogue elements within my own village. Looks like we had a common enemy." She glanced at the unconscious ninja. "He was a thorn in my side too."

Tsubasa raised her eyebrows and spoke in a cold tone. "We don't have a common enemy, Mei Terumi. You are our enemy. But I will give you a chance to leave peacefully now; after all, we don't want our countries to go to war."

'Tch, what a hard-headed woman. Sigh... It's all my bad luck that I had to meet her,' Mei cursed her luck internally.

Mei nodded. "I know what you're thinking and why you are here. But what if I said I can help you in your mission."

Tsubasa chuckled as if she had heard a joke. "Really? All the ninja lands know how trustworthy the treacherous Mist are. And you're saying you will help us, especially after a ninja from your village attacked us and tried to kill us. Do you think we are fools?"

Mei grimaced at the words. "I understand your skepticism. But that ninja was acting on his own. His actions don't reflect the intentions of my village."

"Good joke, Mei Terumi. But next time, try to be a bit funnier," Tsubasa retorted.Even the composed Mei Terumi felt her composure slip a bit as she gritted her teeth. "Fine, I will leave, but take this scroll. If you want my help, just summon my summon through it, and it will let me know." She threw a scroll, which Tsubasa, of course, did not catch. Who knows what it might contain?

"Why is she trying to ally with us? Isn't she our enemy?" Yumiko asked in confusion. He noticed her accent had somehow changed a bit, but he answered, "I don't know."

No, he actually had a pretty good theory about why she had come here.

When he was researching the mission, he had noticed one interesting thing: the current Mizukage of the Mist is actually not Mei Terumi but Yagura. He hasn't died yet, which means Obito is still in control of the Mist.

Maybe that's why Mei had tried to form an alliance with us, or more precisely Konoha, to help maybe kill Yagura. And since it was never actually shown how Yagura died, even I didn't know what had happened exactly.

Maybe she even manipulated this so-called rogue ninja to attack us, to play damsel in distress and win our trust.

Tatsuya's thoughts were interrupted as Mei spoke again. "I understand your hesitation, but my offer stands. Think it over. We may have more in common than you think." She turned and flickered away.

Tsubasa watched her go, still on guard, before finally relaxing a bit. "Let's get back to the ship."

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