Kaguya Clan patriarch responded casually.
"I picked it up. I'm lucky to be able to find it back."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mizunotsuki Shigure dropped the wine glass in his hand to the ground.
The sound of breaking porcelain exploded in the warm room, clear and harsh, and all the noise of pushing cups and changing cups came to an abrupt end at this crisp sound.
Yagura's drunkenness was mostly gone at that moment.
The warrior instinct suppresses all alcohol when danger signals arise.
The cup shattered on the ground, the fragments glowing coldly under the charcoal fire.
Almost at the same time, figures appeared on the four walls of the courtyard.
Not one or two, but one piece.
Yuki Clan's ice blue shirt, Terumi Clan's dark red battle belt, Kaguya Clan's gray messy hair, Hozuki Clan's dark water pattern.
The jounin of the four clans poured out like a tide from the walls, corridors, and the rocky beach behind the courtyard, silently blocking all escape routes.
The Anbu masters under Suikazan Fuguki filed in through the secret door at the back of the main house. Their eyes under the masks were cold and sober, and none of them had been drinking.
Dozens of them, layer upon layer, surrounded the whole courtyard.
Yagura bounced up, his right hand already pressed on the handle of the knife at his waist.
More than two dozen of his personal guards also reacted at the same instant.
Overturning the table and chairs, he stood in front of Yagura. Kunai took out his sheath and formed a defensive formation back to back, with uniform movements.
The front row holds Kunai with both hands, lowers its center of gravity, and scans every direction.
The fingers in the back row have already touched the ninja bag, ready to throw smoke bombs and gas bombs to clear the way.
These people have been following Yagura for so many years that they don't need orders, they just know what to do with a look.
But the people of the four tribes did not take action immediately.
They just surrounded the yard, tightened the circle layer by layer, and stopped three feet away from the door of the main house.
No one spoke, no one flinched, hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at Yagura and his two dozen personal guards who were surrounded in the center.
Yagura stood in the center of the main room, the charcoal fire next to the bar was still crackling, and the aroma of grilled fish and the smell of spirits still filled the air. He was no different from a few minutes ago, but he had changed from a guest to a caged beast.
He released the handle of the knife, raised his hand, and signaled his guards not to act rashly.
He is the frontline commander and he knows better than anyone else.
In an encirclement of this level, more than twenty people would die if they charged forward.
The jounin on the wall of the courtyard are not ordinary patrols, they are the elite of the four clans. There are seven or eight Ice Release ninjas from the Yuki Clan alone. There are also Suikazan Fuguki's Anbu hidden in the shadows in the corner. The number is at least twice as many as here.
He must find a way to delay time and get an opportunity.
"If you kill me now, Kirigakure, what can you do to stop Konoha?"
Yagura's voice was very cold, so cold that even he could hear the suppressed anger.
He looked at Mizunotsuki Shigure, then swept across Terumi Iroha, Kaguya Momotaro, Hozuki Suichu, and finally landed on Suikazan Fuguki.
"I suppressed Konoha on the front line for several months. Mitokado Homura was defeated by me. Uchiha Fugaku is still recovering from his injuries. If you kill me, the morale of the front line will collapse within three days."
"Mitokado Homura is not a fool. As soon as he finds out that I am no longer on the front line, he will immediately counterattack. By then, what will you do to stop me?"
Mizunotsuki Shigure sat in his original position and did not move.
The ice blue eyes were as calm as a mirror, without any fluctuation.
"Konoha is too busy taking care of himself now. How can he still have the ability to take action against us Kirigakure."
His tone was as calm as water.
"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. Danzo was defeated, Nine-Tails was replaced by Jinchūriki, and 90% of Uchiha moved away, and they still have to pay compensation every year. The Konoha now is no longer the Konoha it was back then."
Yagura's expression froze.
Mizunotsuki Shigure stood up and took out an ice skate from his sleeve.
The blade is transparent, so thin that it is almost invisible, with only an ice-blue cold light glowing on the edge.
Terumi Iroha put down the wine glass, Kaguya Momotaro left the pillar, and Hozuki Suichu raised his eyes.
Suikazan Fuguki stood up from the charcoal fire, his long orange hair hanging on both sides, and Samehada's knife handle was already in his hand.
"You must die here today." Mizunotsuki Shigure said. It was not a declaration, not a threat, just a statement.
Yagura gritted his teeth, making a slight friction sound in the silence.
Can't wait any longer.
His right hand pressed the handle of the knife again, and his left hand gestured to the guards behind him.
Smoke bombs, main entrance, forced breakout.
The guard captain tapped his index finger four times on his sleeve. This was the secret code his team had used for many years, meaning "received, action in three seconds."
"Do it!"
Yagura shouted loudly, and the front row of guards threw several smoke bombs at the same time.
White smoke exploded in the yard, so thick that I couldn't see my fingers. The jonins of the four clans moved at the same time. The Ice Release ninjutsu cut through the smoke, and the sound of explosions and the sounds of metal collisions were mixed together.
Yagura rushed towards the main gate with his bodyguard. His straight knife had been unsheathed, and the blade split the smoke and opened the way at the front.
Several Yuki Clan jonins at the front door blocked him, and Yagura slashed away with his sword. The blade was blocked by the ice shield, and the sound of the ice breaking covered the sound of his footsteps.
He did not hesitate to fight, and took advantage of the force of the counterattack to dodge to the side. His personal guards came up from behind, desperately blocking the pursuing enemy.
Yagura lowered his body and rushed out of the main entrance of the courtyard, almost slipping on the slippery rocky ground.
The sea breeze filled his lungs with salty water vapor, and the alcohol and adrenaline mixed together, making his brain buzz.
A short scream came from behind.
That was the voice of his deputy captain of the bodyguard. The scream lasted only half a second before it suddenly stopped, and then the body fell on the stone slab.
The deputy captain of the personal guard who had been with him for eight years had already blocked a fatal blow for him in those few seconds.
Yagura There is no turning back and cannot be turned back.
Rush, must rush out.
He ran along the narrow road leading to the reef beach, hearing the roar of the sea breeze and his own rapid breathing. The moonlight shone on the reef, making the road under his feet pale.
Ahead is the reef beach, and beyond the reef beach is the sea.
As long as he can rush to the beach, with his Water Release, he can dive into the deep sea and escape from the bottom of the sea.
He can hold his breath underwater longer than any ordinary ninja, and no one can catch him in the water.
A figure walked out of the shadows beyond the moonlight and stood in the middle of the narrow stone path, blocking the only way to the reef beach.
Her white hair fluttered gently in the night wind, and her ice-blue eyes glowed under the moonlight.
In Mizunotsuki Shigure's right hand, he held an ice blade that was so transparent that it was almost invisible. The tip of the blade was pointing diagonally at the ground. Cold air spread from the blade, forming a thin layer of frost on the stone slab at his feet.