High in the sky, flocks of birds constantly shifted formations.
Out on the sea, ships linked by iron chains churned up wave after wave.
If one looked closely overhead, one would discover that the birds circling above the fleet were not the seabirds commonly found at sea—seagulls, ospreys, storks, cranes, and the like.
They were birds less than half a meter long, their feathers black as ink.
That was right. Crows!
But crows normally lived in groups across plains or forests. They were birds of woodlands and grasslands, so why had they suddenly left their familiar habitats in flocks and come out to sea?
Naturally, this was Konoha's doing.
After their first blunder, where cleverness had backfired on them, Konoha not only summoned more ships from the Land of Fire but also specifically requisitioned several ninjas with special abilities.
Yamashiro Akiha was one of them.
The Yamashiro Clan... calling them a clan might have been an exaggeration. Their numbers were few, and they possessed no Kekkei Genkai, but like the Inuzuka Clan, they had close ties with animals.
The Inuzuka Clan raised dogs, while the Yamashiro Clan raised birds.
However, unlike the Inuzuka Clan's specialized one-on-one training, perhaps because individual birds lacked sufficient combat power, Yamashiro ninjas raised entire flocks at once.
Given that, solitary raptors clearly could not meet their needs. Thus, they set their sights on birds such as crows and geese.
Moreover, they primarily used their animal companions for cover and reconnaissance rather than treating them as their main fighting force.
That was perhaps why the Yamashiro Clan was far weaker than the Inuzuka Clan.
They lacked specialization!
After discovering that Mist Village's ninjas might use seabirds to steal intelligence, Konoha's countermeasure was to dispatch birds as well and protect its own airspace.
Thus, they brought in