Shu Shiraishi took the scroll, which smelled of the sea.
The parchment was damp. The edges were blackened, and it had a salty, damp smell.
His thumb pressed against the red wax sealing the opening. He squeezed hard with his fingers.
"Thud."
The red wax crumbled.
Several small, dark red wax shavings, about the size of a fingernail, fell onto the wool carpet.
The intelligence-delivering Anbu knelt on one knee. His uniform was soaked through, water droplets dripping from the hem and onto the floor.
This is a lookout post stationed on the edge of the East China Sea. He ran back across the sea, and his calf muscles are still shaking uncontrollably.
Shu Shiraishi unrolled the scroll.
The writing was slightly blurred by the moisture.
This is a coded message just deciphered by the Yamanaka Clan's frontline listening station. Sender: Kirigakure ).
Hozuki Gengetsu, the Second Mizukage.
The writing on the scroll was very detailed.
The Land of Water has assembled an assassination fleet of over a thousand people.
One hundred and twenty large wooden warships. The bows were covered with pig iron, and the blood-mist sails of Kirigakure were hung on the mainmasts.
Fifty light assault boats were deployed around the perimeter, with Explosive Tag launchers strapped to both sides of the boats.
Fully armed elite Kirigakure.
The tactics were written down very clearly.
Taking advantage of the moonless night, create a large area of sea fog for cover and cross the strait.
The target is a supply transshipment port 30 nautical miles off the east coast of Konoha.
That was Konoha's newly built Chakra ore distribution center. The warehouse was piled high-grade lightning-attribute ore that the Land of Lightning had just given to Konoha as compensation.
The Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu personally led the team.
This battle maniac, who liked to comb his mustache, gathered all the Jonin) in the village.
The intelligence report concluded with the statement, "When Hozuki Gengetsu was mobilizing his troops for the expedition, he said that his Water Release and Steaming Danger Tyranny were unstoppable at sea."
The ninjas of Konoha are a bunch of landlubbers waiting to drown once they get into the water.
Shu Shiraishi looked at this line of text.
He didn't laugh. He just found it absurd.
Invincible in naval warfare. This is the arrogance ingrained in the Land of Water for centuries.
Surrounded by the sea on all sides, everyone there is a master of Water Release. On the sea surface, their Chakra consumption is minimal.
Wooden warships, combined with the combined Water Release, truly made them a dominant force in the old era. Neither Ōnoki nor the Raikage dared to provoke them at sea.
Shu Shiraishi pinched the edge of the scroll with two fingers.
He turned around and walked to the copper brazier next to the desk.
Several pieces of smokeless charcoal burned in the brazier, the flames emitting a faint blue light.
He let go.
The sheepskin scroll fell into the brazier.
The flames shot up instantly, engulfing the paper in one gulp.
The scroll curled up, turned black, and turned into a few specks of ash floating in the air.
More than a hundred wooden boats.
Shu Shiraishi patted the dust off his gloves.
"They've developed a sense of superiority from being pirates."
He grabbed the black trench coat draped over the back of the chair and put it on his shoulders.
Where is Orochimaru?
The Anbu on the ground quickly looked up.
" Lord Orochimaru is in the No. 3 underground dock. The watertightness test just ended half an hour ago."
"Walk."
Shu Shiraishi stepped out of the office, his military boots slamming heavily on the floor.
East coast of Konoha. 300 meters underground.
This is a secret heavy industrial base that has completely hollowed out half of a rocky mountain.
There were no leaves. There was no soil.
All that could be seen were haphazardly placed steel bars and cement pillars, and the pungent smell of heavy machinery oil.
Shu Shiraishi walked on the metal mesh corridor, his shoes making a clanging sound as he stepped on the steel plates.
High-temperature white steam spewed out from the large exhaust pipes overhead.
Below the passage.
Several shirtless Akimichi tribesmen were carrying solid steel shafts weighing over ten tons on their shoulders, panting heavily as they walked forward. The steel plates beneath their feet were slightly deformed from their weight.
In front of the blast furnace not far away.
The two Uchiha clansmen had Sharingan darting around their sockets. Their hands were pressed against the pipe walls, precisely channeling Fire Style Chakra into the boiler's core to control the temperature.
Inside the crane tower further up.
The Hyuga Clan members activated their Byakugan, acting as human flaw detectors, intently watching every weld seam, searching for air bubbles.
The entire base was like a living, steel behemoth, relentlessly consuming war resources day and night.
Orochimaru stood at the end of the corridor.
He was wearing a white lab coat, the hem of which was stained with several patches of stubborn black grease that couldn't be washed off.
His long black hair was casually tied back. He was holding a rag and wiping a heavy-duty wrench.
" Lord Shu."
Orochimaru turned around, his narrow, yellowish eyes gleaming with fanaticism.
He threw the dirty rag into the metal trash can next to him.
" The Chakra power reactor is operating smoothly. The Sealing Jutsu's watertight chamber pressure test is all green."
Shu Shiraishi walked to the tempered glass railing.
He placed his hands on the stainless steel railing and looked down.
Below is a huge dry dock.
It is 60 meters deep and surrounded by thick concrete walls.
Hundreds of high-pressure sodium lamps hung on the walls, illuminating the dock in a stark white light.
There was no water at the bottom of the dock.
Three thick steel cables, each as thick as a thigh, hung down from the gantry crane.
Three enormous objects covered with black waterproof tarpaulins were suspended from the ceiling.
It is over eighty meters long. The edges of the canvas faintly reveal the cold, black metallic sheen.
" Hozuki Gengetsu brought over a thousand people and one hundred and twenty wooden boats."
Shu Shiraishi looked at the black cloth below.
"Arrive at our port tonight."
Orochimaru tapped his fingers twice on the stainless steel railing.
"A wooden boat." He chuckled softly, his voice hoarse.
"The ship's planks are three inches thick. They've coated the outside with waterproof sealant. They think that's what makes it an iron wall."
Orochimaru put his hands into the pockets of his white coat.
" Lord Shu, the outer shell of these deep-sea submersibles is made of high-density manganese steel, forged using Amaterasu by the Uchiha. It's thirty centimeters thick."
"The exterior is coated with wave-absorbing insect glue extracted from the Aburame Clan. Regular Chakra sensing can't detect it at all."
"The power source is four Chakra turbochargers powered by Sealing Jutsu."
He pointed to the three huge outlines below.
"Weapon configuration: fully loaded with Chakra high-explosive torpedoes. The warheads are sealed with extremely compressed Lightning Release."
Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked his dry lips.
"Just one shot is enough to detonate it."
"The seawater within a 50-meter radius will instantly be electrified. Even Water Release ninjas won't be able to scream."
Shu Shiraishi didn't listen to those technical parameters.
He only cares about the efficiency of killing.
"The torpedo tubes are fully loaded?"
"Fully loaded. Six launch tubes per ship. Forty rounds of ammunition," Orochimaru replied.
That's enough.
Shu Shiraishi straightened up.
" Konoha doesn't need to capture prisoners, nor does it need to break planks."
"I want them, men and ship, all left at the bottom of the sea."
He turned and walked towards the control panel next to him.
The control panel is a rectangular metal cabinet.
The top is densely packed with red and blue levers and indicator lights.
In the very center, there is a green button about the size of a fist.
It was covered with a transparent plastic protective cover. There was a little bit of blackened machine oil on the cover.
Shu Shiraishi reached out and lifted the plastic cover.
"Let those country bumpkins who play in the water see what's what."
Rough fingertips pressed against the green button.
What is meant by "dimensional reduction attack"?
"Thud."
The button was pressed down firmly.
The alarm suddenly went off.
"Waaaaah--waaah--"
A piercing red light flashed wildly throughout the underground dock.
The rotating warning lights cast shadows of people and machines that appeared to be of varying lengths.
Orochimaru took a half step back, gripped the railing tightly with both hands, and stared intently at the abyss below.
A dull rumble came from the massive concrete wall directly in front of the dock.
"Boom!"
It's like a giant smashing a mountain with a hammer.
The metal mesh corridor beneath our feet shook violently. Dust was shaken down from the gaps in the ceiling.
That was a heavy-duty waterproof gate, three meters thick.
The massive steel gears began to mesh. The clicking sound was deafening.
The hydraulic rod contracted rapidly.
Shu Shiraishi pressed the green button on the dock control panel.
The heavy waterproof gate was slowly pulled up.
A blinding white line of water squeezed in from the gap at the bottom.
Immediately afterwards, the water flow turned into a raging waterfall.
The icy seawater outside rushed into the dried-up dock through the opened sluice gates.
Seawater crashed against the bottom of the dock, creating white waves tens of meters high.
The water level is rising rapidly.
The black canvas covering the three enormous structures was torn by the seawater, and the fasteners snapped.
The huge canvas slid down with the current.
The water was boiling.
A large number of bubbles surged up from the bottom of the water.
Three jet-black steel monsters, shaped like giant black fish, revealed their cold, metallic backs on the water's surface.