"Tick-tock."
Warm tears fell onto the wet wooden deck, shattering into a few small splashes.
The Third Mizukage on both knees, his eyes tightly shut.
He trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.
The severed right arm hung in a sling around the neck. Blood was still seeping from the gaps in the wooden splint.
Blood and tears mingled and seeped into the grain of the wooden floor.
The sea breeze felt biting cold on my skin.
The surrounding sea was crowded with boats.
Tens of thousands of wooden warships and dilapidated fishing boats, their sides pressed together.
As the waves rose and fell, the wooden planks pressed against each other, making a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound.
This sea area is now as still as a giant floating morgue.
On the flagship's deck.
Hundreds of Kirigakure ninja lay prone on the ground.
No one dared to look up. No one dared to breathe heavily.
A Jonin pressed his face tightly against the deck. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead and streamed into his eyes, stinging painfully.
He didn't even dare to raise his hand to rub it; all he could do was blink frantically.
He bit his lower lip until it bled.
There is no sky above.
That Chakra aircraft carrier, stretching for a kilometer, resembled a black wall cast from cast iron.
It blocks out all the sunlight.
A massive shadow loomed over the sea.
Hundreds of nuclear submarines revealed their black backs, surrounding the Kirigakure fleet like an iron barrel.
The secondary cannon of the planet destroyer was pitch black, with lingering blue Chakra arcs inside its barrel.
"Sizzle."
A faint hum of electricity could be clearly heard in the sea breeze.
despair.
Like a large, cold quilt soaked in water, it covered everyone's mouths and noses.
The top of the broken mast of the flagship.
A greyish-white seagull was perched there.
It was swept in by the thick fog that had just dissipated.
The seagull tilted its head and preened the feathers on its wings with its yellow beak.
Suddenly, a plume of scalding, high-pressure white steam billowed out from the massive smokestacks of the aircraft carrier's island superstructure.
"Laugh--"
White vapor shot straight into the air, emitting a sharp whistling sound.
The seagulls were startled.
It suddenly spread its wings and kicked off the mast with its claws.
flapping its wings.
It flew desperately upwards toward that single glimmer of light.
It wanted to escape this lifeless Black Sea.
high altitude.
A silver-white Chakra fighter jet is circling.
The Uchiha pilot was wearing an oxygen mask and had his hands on the control stick.
The ruby radar screen on the dashboard suddenly flickered.
A tiny green dot is rising from the sea level.
"Unidentified flying object."
The driver stared at the screen, his Sharingan slowly rotating within their sockets.
He extended his thumb and pried open the metal safety cover at the top of the control lever.
No instructions were received. No need to ask for permission.
In this blockaded sea area, even a leaf floating in the air must be shot down.
Press the red fire button with your thumb.
The hydraulic motor of the six-barreled machine gun under the fuselage rotates.
"Buzz."
Press down the muzzle to lock.
"Clatter!"
Just one sound.
No burst fire.
The machine gun spit out a half-foot-long orange-red tongue of fire.
A large-caliber armor-piercing round tore through the sea breeze, whistling sharply as it hurtled downwards.
The seagull had flown less than thirty meters.
The bullet pierced its thin layer of feathers in an instant.
"Puff!"
A cloud of blood mist exploded in mid-air.
There was no complete corpse. There were no bones.
The seagull, no bigger than a palm, was instantly reduced to a mass of red, mangled flesh by the violent kinetic energy.
The drops of blood fell like a red drizzle in the sea breeze.
A few grayish-white feathers scorched by the high temperature.
It spun around and floated down, wobbling and drifting.
A feather landed in front of the Third Mizukage.
It fell right onto that pool of bloody water.
The edges of the feathers were burned and curled black, emitting a foul odor of burnt flesh.
Mizukage opened her eyes.
Look at that feather.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he couldn't swallow a single drop of saliva. His throat felt as dry as if it were stuffed with sand.
Even a bird. A seagull the size of a palm.
They can't even fly out of this sea area.
This is an absolute blockade that is ruthless to the extreme and leaves no room for negotiation.
The steel monsters of Konoha have no emotions. They only care about crushing anything that moves.
Mizukage's taut back collapsed completely.
He gripped the deck tightly with both hands, his fingernails curling up and splinters digging into his flesh.
"Throw..."
His voice was cracked, like a broken gong with a leaky roof.
The surrounding Kirigakure Ninja didn't hear clearly.
Mizukage suddenly sat up halfway, then slammed her head heavily onto the deck.
"Bang!"
His forehead slammed into the hardwood, breaking the skin. Blood streamed down his nose.
"Throw away the knife!"
Mizukage roared hysterically, her voice filled with desperate sobs.
"Everyone down! Surrender!"
He didn't want the villagers to end up like that seagull, reduced to bits of flesh scattered across the sky.
The flagship store fell silent for a second.
Clang.
A Jonin released his grip, and the short sword at his waist fell onto the deck.
The sound was like dominoes falling.
"Clang! Crash!"
Long sword, Kunai, Senbon.
The sound of cold weapons striking the wooden deck echoed like a tsunami.
Tens of thousands of Kirigakure Ninja, whether on the flagship or on the surrounding dilapidated fishing boats.
They threw all their weapons away.
No one resisted.
Standing before that colossal cannon capable of evaporating oceans, holding a mere piece of iron looks both comical and pathetic.
Everyone covered their heads with their hands and clung tightly to the slippery deck.
The side of the aircraft carrier.
More than a dozen heavy steel doors overturned and crashed onto the sea, creating huge white waves.
Dozens of armored landing craft with cast iron skin rushed into the sea along the sliding rails.
The diesel engine emitted a piercing roar.
"Tap tap tap tap!"
Black smoke was billowing from the exhaust pipe.
The landing craft cleaved through the waves like a group of iron-headed sharks baring their fangs.
It crashed straight into the Kirigakure wooden ship fleet.
"Bang!"
The iron bow of a landing craft slammed violently against the side of the flagship.
The wooden boat hull shattered on the spot, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
The flagship shook violently. Several genin clinging to the edge Genin tumbled into the sea.
The landing craft's ramp slammed onto the flagship's deck.
A group of Uchiha Jōkan wearing black vests and red ribbons tied around their arms.
He jumped out of the iron ship.
The military boots clicked on the wooden floor.
They weren't carrying any knives.
Each person had a long string of black electronic ankle bracelets hanging from their shoulders.
The heavy metal objects collided, producing a harsh, clanging sound.
The leading Uchiha officer had half a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
He walked up to Mizukage and looked down at the cripple covered in blood.
Cigarette ash fell onto Mizukage's back.
"Straighten your legs," the officer said coldly.
Mizukage didn't dare to look up. She moved her intact left leg forward a little.
The officer removed one of his shackles.
It roughly gripped Mizukage's ankle.
Click.
The lock engaged. The red light on the shackles flashed twice before turning into a solid green light.
"Go, put them on all these people playing in the water."
The officer waved his hand.
Dozens of Jōkan dispersed and headed towards the Kirigakure High-Rise building, where people were lying on the deck.
Left foot!
A Jōkan kicked Elder Kirigakure on the shoulder.
The elder was an old man with a completely white beard.
He shivered as he stretched out his leg. The cold iron ring stuck into his flesh.
Locked.
If their Chakra exceeds the safety threshold, high voltage can instantly turn them into charred remains.
The deck was filled with the clicking sound of shackles being fastened.
No one dared to utter a sound. They were like a herd of livestock waiting to be slaughtered.
Two Jōkan were carrying iron shackles.
He strode towards the stern of the flagship.
A young ninja was crouching there.
This person was not tall and had a fair, baby-faced appearance.
She was wearing a green sleeveless turtleneck sweater. Her gray hair was messy.
He was gripping a long stick tightly in his hand. The end of the stick was decorated with an exaggerated green flower.
Two Jōkan walked over.
It stopped in front of the young ninja.
The Jōkan on the left frowned and drew his stun baton from his waist.
He tapped the wooden deck with the tip of a stick.
"Clang. Clang."
"Didn't you hear the order?"
The Jōkan stared at the flower stick in his hand.
"Throw away that broken stick. Hands to your head. Left leg straight."
The young ninja didn't move.
He crouched in the corner, head down.
The veins on the back of his right hand, gripping the flower stick, bulged from excessive force.
The finger bones were a deathly pale color.
The wooden handle creaked slightly as he gripped it.
"Are you deaf?"
The Jōkan on the right was getting impatient.
He stepped forward and lifted his right foot, which was clad in a hard-toed leather boot.
He kicked the young ninja hard in the shoulder.
Her feet hadn't even touched her clothes yet.
The young ninja suddenly raised his head.
The Jōkan's movements froze in mid-air.
He saw a pair of eyes.
What kind of eyes were those?
No whites in the eyes.
The entire eyeball was covered with dense, spiderweb-like red blood vessels, so red it looked like it was about to bleed.
His pupils revealed a primal, inhuman savagery.
The temperature in the air suddenly dropped.
A thick, pungent steam, mixed with a terrifying Chakra that made it hard to breathe.
It exploded violently from the young ninja's body.
"Boom!"
The water on the deck instantly vaporized, sending up a white mist.
The light around him was violently distorted.
A massive, incomparable shadow slowly coalesced behind him.
It was the phantom of a giant mud turtle, its shell covered in sharp spikes.
Three enormous, spiky tails lashed wildly in the phantom.
It stirred up a stench that made people lose their footing.
The gust of wind caused the two Uchiha Jōkan to involuntarily take a step back.
Karatachi Yagura. Three-Tails Jinchūriki.
He clenched his teeth tightly.
He bit his lip until it bled, and blood dripped down the corner of his mouth, splashing onto the flower stick.
He slowly stood up.
He withstood the raging pressure of the Tailed Beast behind him.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the Konoha Jōkan in front of him.
"I am Karatachi Yagura."
His voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be stained with blood.
"I'd rather die than be a dog!"