Ambushed

What was the shortest route from one country to another?

A straight line, of course. The ministers of the Land of Waves had chosen a straight-line route to the Land of Tea for their Feudal Lord. But the straight-line route between the Land of Waves and the Land of Tea could only be traveled by sea.

When Sakura Mangetsu heard that the mission route would be by water, all her fighting spirit vanished. She was prone to seasickness.

But the mission demanded it, and there was nothing Sakura Mangetsu could do to change that. As a qualified Konoha Chunin, she could only grit her teeth and overcome her seasickness.

Genma was troubled by it too. Mangetsu was bound to feel at least a little seasick on the water. No matter how hard she tried to overcome it, it would still affect her to some extent. Their team's combat strength would inevitably suffer.

According to the accompanying minister from the Land of Waves, the trip by sea to the Land of Tea would take about four or five days one way, assuming everything went smoothly. They would arrive at the capital, Oolong City, in the Land of Tea.

Today was the third day the large ship from the Land of Waves had been sailing across the sea. The first two days had gone smoothly, but around noon on the third day, after Genma Team had finished the lunch prepared by the ship's cook, they decided to go up on deck and enjoy the sun.

But as soon as they reached the deck, they discovered that the fog, which had cleared earlier, had gathered around the ship again without anyone noticing. Visibility was less than twenty meters.

Every member of Genma Team was a ninja, and they reacted immediately to the strange surroundings.

The fastest to act was, of course, the seasoned Genma. He rushed to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves and, after confirming that the lord was safe, took up the duty of protecting him.

At almost the same moment Genma hurried to the lord's side, Kamizuki activated his Byakugan to survey the surroundings.

Only then did Kato Taichi and Sakura Mangetsu move to Kamizuki's side, taking up positions on either side and staying alert for his orders.

In the dense fog, only Kamizuki's Byakugan could see the surroundings and the enemy's movements clearly.

With his Byakugan active, Kamizuki scanned an area one kilometer around the ship. At last, he spotted three or four people hiding underwater beneath the hull, and another person farther from their ship, standing motionless on the water.

After Kamizuki told the two beside him roughly where the enemies were, they reacted at once, facing the direction of the threat and keeping an even closer watch.

They knew nothing about the enemy, so the three of them could only hold their positions and wait for an attack, ready to adapt.

Just as they finished preparing to defend themselves, the four enemies hiding beneath the ship attacked at the same time.

The four split into two groups and leaped out from the left and right sides. In perfect unison, both groups landed on the ship's rail, then immediately threw four kunai.

As the enemies leaped up, Kamizuki warned Taichi and Mangetsu, "They're coming. Be careful—two on each side!"

The fog blocked Taichi and Mangetsu's vision. They couldn't see the kunai clearly until they were almost upon them. Fortunately, Kamizuki had warned them in advance, so as soon as the kunai appeared, Taichi and Mangetsu each knocked two of them onto the deck near the bow.

Just as Taichi and Mangetsu prepared to counterattack, Kamizuki noticed that the kunai they had knocked away were each carrying a Paper Bomb.

When Kamizuki saw the Paper Bombs, he knew he was too late to warn his teammates. He stepped forward to shield Taichi and Mangetsu, then called out, "Eight Trigrams Palm: Kaiten!" As he shouted, Kamizuki spun like a top.

The moment Kamizuki began to spin, the Paper Bombs attached to the four kunai exploded together, setting off four loud blasts.

After the explosions, the entire ship began to rock and sway.

The four enemies hadn't expected their kunai to injure their opponents outright, so as the blasts rang out, they scattered. One went after Kato Taichi, another engaged Sakura Mangetsu, and the remaining two attacked Kamizuki from both sides.

Just like that, the four enemies split them into three separate battles.