After both sides issued their orders, the ships of the Land of Fire and the Land of Water soon left port and headed for the Land of Whirlpools. Since the Third Mizukage had not anticipated this, he had to divert some of the ships he had brought for the attack to intercept them. The prepared Land of Fire, however, dispatched far more ships than the Enemy Forces.
Although the Land of Fire did not have a powerful Navy, its merchants often encountered Pirates while trading with the Overseas Minor Countries. Those Pirates might even have had ties to Kirigakure Ninja Village. Whatever the case, they had inadvertently given the Land of Fire's soldiers and Konoha Ninja experience in naval combat.
The moment the two sides met, fierce fighting broke out. The Third Mizukage had issued an absolute order: even if they could not stop the enemy, they had to make the Land of Fire's forces pay dearly. Yet things did not go as smoothly as he had imagined. Konoha Ninja Village had been planning to protect the Land of Whirlpools for a long time, and it had developed its own strategy for dealing with the Land of Water's Navy.
The Land of Fire's Navy was not solely intent on fighting the enemy to a decisive victory. Evading the Enemy Forces was also one of its objectives, but that was not something it could accomplish immediately.
This interval gave the people of the Land of Whirlpools time to gather. Just as the two navies began fighting, the capital received word that the town's defense had succeeded. The entire court breathed a sigh of relief, then began arguing over Hiruzen Sarutobi's proposal to evacuate.
Some were temporarily blinded by the victory before them. They believed that, with the Land of Whirlpools' terrain