The latter half of the night.
The bright moon hung high.
On the side of Eagle Beak Cliff facing the sea, four Leaf ninja were chatting idly, saying a word here and there.
Suddenly, one of them seemed to spot something. He pointed toward the distant sea and said urgently, "Captain, look! What is that?"
Hearing this, the captain of the four-man squad immediately looked in the direction he was pointing.
On the vast, boundless ocean, several black dots were rapidly drawing closer.
He widened his eyes and carefully tried to make them out.
The next moment, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly said, "Send the signal, quick! It's an enemy attack!"
However, no one answered him.
A faint smell of blood reached his nose.
Sensing something was wrong, he instinctively turned his head to look.
At some point, two ninja wearing black robes and masks had appeared behind him.
And his three teammates had already had their throats slit.
"Kirigakure Anbu?"
Looking at the four curved lines on the two men's masks, like flowing water and like misty clouds, Ikeda Takeshi cried out in shock and doubt.
As he spoke, he tried to retreat.
However, it was already too late.
Pffft~
The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh rang out.
A Kirigakure Anbu drove the Kunai in his hand into Ikeda Takeshi's heart.
Pfft~
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Ikeda Takeshi's mouth.
He endured the pain and tried to cry out a warning.
However, before he could make a sound, another Kunai swept over and cut straight through his throat, stopping him from uttering even a single word.
At this point, all four members of Ikeda Takeshi's squad had been wiped out. Even in death, they failed to send out the slightest signal.
After doing all