Melee * Romance

My Ise Haruto, the Young Clan Head of the Ise Clan, and the Vice President of the Merchants Association.

Eighteen years old.

As for why such a young man was able to become the Vice President, I've thought about that question myself.

First and foremost, it's because of my outstanding abilities. The knowledge and connections I accumulated during my travels throughout the Warring States Period played a significant role. Those novel ideas gave me many opportunities and benefits, along with good products, and I also got along well with the chairman.

Before I knew it, I was already sitting in the Vice President's seat.

Of course, it could also be because I do look a bit older than my age; after all, the president panicked for a while when he found out I was only eighteen.

Well... I guess that's just the kind of trouble young people face!

In short, having climbed to this position during the Warring States Period, I have every right to boast a little about being a big shot.

My life's pursuits are money, fine wine, and making friends with interesting people.

It is truly a great honor to meet such brilliant and talented individuals as Uchiha Izuna and Uzumaki Enma today!

This is a day I'll remember, and I'll make time to celebrate it every year!

As for what I hate most, it's living a life of routine.

Especially living under the direction of others.

As the heir of the clan, I must admit that the Ise Clan is indeed a large and powerful family, and one of the most formidable noble families.

As the saying goes, there must be someone from Ise among the Seven Lucky Gods.

The Seven Lucky Gods are the very top figures in this country.

One can imagine how much power that was.

But I, Haruto, just don't like that position.

Three years ago, in order to sound the clarion call against all of this, I was able to leave home alone, survive in the dangerous world of Ninjas, and develop trade routes.

Now, of course, I won't be restrained by my mother. Otherwise, how could I face the Chakra extraction methods I learned while scavenging on the battlefield?

How can this extreme speed be Ninja Footwork!

So now I've arrived at the dock, ready to escape by boat.

The dock should be quiet at night, with fishing boats returning to port and workers leaving, leaving only the sea breeze swirling on the empty pier.

But right now, this place is even more bustling than the Hot Spring Street during the day.

The Hiroyama Family, Shipyard workers, Fine-Clothed merchants, and a group of Ninjas wielding swords who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, swarmed in the center of the dock, their torches and lanterns casting an orange-red glow over half the sea.

I stared at the spectacle unfolding before me and remained silent for three seconds.

... I think I chose the worst time to escape.

"Haruto! Come back here!"

However, since we're already here, we should definitely take a boat ride!

Mother! Your cries are my greatest motivation! I will make a brilliant escape and leave this cage you control!

So he ran wildly toward the dock.

In the darkness, his figure stretched into a dark shadow in the torchlight as he rushed into the bustling open space without hesitation.

At that very moment, Masato, who was being held in Tamaro's arms, saw the Ninjas surrounded by the workers.

As if he had found a powerful ally, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Help me!"

This shout had a significant impact. The Ninjas of the Land of Lightning were already on edge. Hearing his voice and seeing someone rushing towards them from the outside, they immediately recognized him as an enemy and sent several of them rushing towards Haruto.

Haruto only felt a blur before his eyes, and several blades were already slashing towards his face.

He instinctively dodged to the side, the blade grazing his earlobe and shaving off a few strands of hair.

A cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.

Just before the second Kunai was about to hit him, a figure suddenly flashed past him.

The man grabbed his shoulder with one hand and pulled him back, while swinging his other hand to steadily deflect the Kunai that was coming at him.

The crisp sound of metal clashing was particularly clear on the bustling dock.

Haruto staggered a step and looked up to see Izuna standing in front of him, his dark eyes now as cold as if covered with a thin layer of ice.

He stood in front of Haruto, turning his head slightly to the side, his tone even carrying a hint of helplessness. "I'm telling you, you should at least pick a time to run away."

Before Haruto could reply, the entire dock was in an uproar, like a hornet's nest that had been stirred up.

It exploded.

While Izuna was blocking the attack, Hashirama and Madara had already launched their attack on the people of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.

The wood burst forth from the sand, and the skeleton appeared out of thin air. The Ninjas from the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning were no ordinary people either; they also unleashed their Ninjutsu. In an instant, lightning and waves surged, and wood chips and blue light mingled together.

Instantly, that area became as bright as day, so dazzling that people couldn't help but close their eyes.

The Tsuchigumo Clan Ninjas attempted to reclaim Miss Shin, but the Land of Water Ninjas wouldn't let them succeed, so they broke out of the encirclement.

When Hiroyama saw the people from the Land of Water and the Tsuchigumo arrive, he assumed they were allies.

So he led his men, armed with Iron Hooks and Short Sword, and charged forward.

The two groups collided and clashed by the pier, the ground shaking so much that the nearby cable posts swayed three times.

The Shipyard workers were holding banners and chanting slogans when someone bumped into them from behind. The mechanic at the front stumbled forward and fell right into the arms of a Merchants' Association employee.

The other party instinctively pushed, and the old technician stumbled and knocked over the fish stall next to him. The stall owner grabbed a fish-cleaning knife and rushed over. Seeing this, Enma grabbed a wooden stick and went to meet him. The workers and the guards of the Merchants' Association also swarmed around.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into a three-way brawl.

Izuna stood in the center of the chaos, his left hand on Haruto's shoulder, his right hand holding Kunai across his body. His eyes scanned the battle rapidly, searching for a way to pull him and Haruto out of this Uzumaki.

But there were too many people at the dock. He had only taken two steps to the left with Haruto when a Geta flew from in front of him, grazing Haruto's nose and slapping him across the face of a Ninja from the Land of Lightning behind him.

Izuna looked in the direction the Geta had come from and saw a Shipyard worker, barefoot, chasing someone through the crowd, shouting, "You little brat, you ruined my daughter! I'll beat you to death!"

The Otogakure heard. "We are in love! Please allow me to marry her!"

"Roll!"

Izuna:...

Oh, there are family dramas like this?

Immediately following was a howl from the other side, "If it weren't for you, you bastard, leading me to falsify the accounts! I wouldn't have had to be separated from my wife and children!"

"Aren't your wife and children dead?!"

"I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Ah, so there's also the opportunity to take revenge.

Should we do something about it?

Then he saw that bastard who was about to be slaughtered get kicked by a passing Tsuchigumo Clan, and fall to the ground with his hands behind his back.

Izuna gave Dead-Fish Eyes, indicating that he didn't need to do it.

"How did this fight even start?" Haruto tried to stay as close to Izuna as possible, his voice broken and fragmented by the shouts and cries of battle around him.

"I want to know too!" Izuna used Kunai to deflect a paddle swinging from the side, and then kicked away a bald Ninja was sneaking up from behind.

"Izuna!" Hashirama's voice pierced through the noise and reached Izuna's ears.

He was pressing down on the heads of two Land of Lightning Ninjas, slamming them together until they collapsed like limp noodles. "Take all the irrelevant people out!"

"You make it sound so easy!" Izuna dragged Haruto back two steps, then casually picked up a Merchants' Association member who had fallen to the ground and tossed him onto the relatively safe pile of fishing nets. "This godforsaken place is full of people like us now!"

He had barely finished speaking when a Ninja from the Tsuchigumo Clan flew in from the side, did two somersaults in the air, and landed precisely in a pile of empty crates, causing them to tumble over.

Izuna glanced at it and realized that it had been thrown over by Hiroyama.

Wow, this power! So these Yakuza have Chakra too?

Then Hiroyama shouted, "Water Release! Raging Waves!"

The seawater responded to his Chakra, and in an instant, the area was submerged by splashes of water. The Tsuchigumo people used Earth Release to defend themselves, but how could Earth Release compare to the natural ocean?

In an instant, the shallows turned into a watery hell.

Then everyone who didn't react in time was electrocuted.

Because there are Ninjas from the Land of Lightning here.

"Ahhh! Hiroyama Boss, help me!"

Hiroyama Takebu hurriedly called for someone who knew how to use Earth Release is a type of magic or technique) to push them out of the water.

Luckily, this is the seaside, and the water receded quickly; otherwise, those who weren't pushed to the surface would have been electrocuted for a while.

Izuna stood out from the commotion, at a loss for words.

Is this guy trying to be funny?

Just then, a Kunai afar and pierced straight into the wooden plank of the bridge at Izuna's feet.

The next second, Tobirama appeared beside him, causing a slight ripple in the air.

"Uchiha Izuna! What have you done now?!" Tobirama blurted out.

"I didn't do anything!" Izuna exclaimed, eyes wide. "I went out to eat with some friends I just met, and when we got back they started fighting here! I really don't know why!"

Madara's voice came from the other end of the crowd. "Tobirama Senju! Don't you dare slander my brother!"

Hashirama's voice also came. "Tobirama! This really can't be blamed on Izuna!"

Tobirama: "... Alright, let's not talk about that now!"

He gave up the pursuit, and in a flash disappeared from the spot, appearing the next second next to a Merchants' Association member who was crouching behind a cargo box, trembling with fear.

He grabbed the man by the back of his collar, activated the Flying Thunder God Formula, and reappeared having already dumped the man on the open ground behind the crowd outside the dock.

The man sat on the ground, and only dared to open his eyes after two seconds. He realized he was out of the battlefield and immediately collapsed.

They did not linger in the Tobirama.

His figure flickered across the chaotic docks, each time he appeared precisely to scoop up an Ordinary People had fallen or was bewildered, and then transfer them to a safe area.

The workers caught in the chaos, the guys who ran in the wrong direction, and the local residents who were knocked to the ground, disappeared one by one from their spots and then reappeared on the open ground outside the dock.

Ban, who happened to be watching this scene, sneered, "This guy is only useful in situations like this."

With a hint of pride, Hashirama used his Wood Release to grab a Ninja from the Land of Lightning and shove him into the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Izuna led Haruto to a relatively safe stone step outside the dock. Just as he caught his breath, his gaze fell upon a suspicious figure in the corner.

Mokushō was crouching behind the pile of fishing nets, curled up in a small ball, with his back to him, exuding a gloomy aura that said "Do Not Disturb".

The Kakkō reflected off his dark green kimono, making the shadow appear even darker.

This guy is definitely up to something!

Izuna strode over, hands on her hips, and looked down at him. "Hey, what have you been doing all afternoon?"

Mokushō sprang to his feet with a start, a ridiculously bright smile spreading across his face, "Ah, nothing! I didn't do anything!"

"Confess honestly!" Izuna narrowed his eyes.

"I just went to fulfill a vow!" Mokushō took a half step back, waving his hands haphazardly in front of his chest. "My followers are here, okay? What could I possibly do? I just went to feel the incense's fragrance, observe the local customs, and incidentally contemplate life—"

"You..." Izuna was about to press further when a piercing cry for help suddenly broke the noise on the dock.

"Help! This person has taken me hostage!"

Izuna and Mokushō turned their heads at the same time.

The one who spoke was the young lady of the Tsuchigumo Clan. She had somehow managed to free herself from the gag in her mouth and was currently being held by the shoulders and arms behind her back by the Ninjas of the Land of Water. That cry for help was shouted out with all her might.

"Stop fighting! This person is the enemy!"

The Land of Water Ninja's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He had originally hoped to use the hostages to slip away quietly amidst the chaos, but unexpectedly, this seemingly frail girl had an astonishingly loud voice, which drew the attention of everyone within a radius of dozens of steps.

Especially the group of Yakuza; they all paused for a moment, then turned to look in their direction.

Tamamo-no-Mae was standing not far behind Hiroyama when she saw this and frowned.

She turned and glanced at Tamaro. Tamaro understood immediately and rushed out.

Under the moonlight, his oddly shaped scythe drew a silvery-white arc, aiming straight for the arm of the young lady held by the Ninja from the Land of Water.

The Ninjas from the Land of Water reacted extremely quickly, releasing the hostage and retreating hastily just before the scythe fell.

The blade sliced a gash in his arm, and a few drops of blood splattered onto the wooden planks of the pier.

Before he could even regain his footing, Tamaro's second strike followed, forcing him to retreat several steps until his back slammed into the cable post, barely managing to steady himself.

The instant he stepped back, Tamaro reached out and pulled Zhen into his arms, becoming like a rugged yet unbreakable wall, firmly shielding her.

His muscles were taut, and he exuded a cold and dangerous aura, forcing the several Land of Water Ninjas around him to hesitate to approach.

She nestled in his arms, looking up at his face so close to hers.

His face was covered in dark spots and was emaciated, making him shockingly ugly to ordinary people. But at this moment, with his back to the Kakkō, the lines of his profile were sharpened and hardened by the moonlight, and his bone structure, which was of the same origin as Tamamo-no-Mae, suddenly became apparent.

She stared at him blankly, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her cheeks flushed red, brighter than the lanterns hanging by the dock.