95 Descendant of the White Fang?

Kyōichi moved with precision, swiftly creating two shadow clones.

Immediately after.

The clones performed hand seals and unleashed Water Dragon Bullet Technique together.

Boom!

Two water dragons soared, colliding in the middle. Kirigakure ninjas scrambled to defend themselves as a dense fog quickly enveloped the area.

However.

The fog, far from aiding them, proved to be their downfall...

"Ah!"

Screams echoed as a Kirigakure ninja emotionlessly drew his kunai, attacking a spot within the fog. His expression soon turned bewildered.

But.

He had no time to ponder.

Because...

A sword emerged from the mist.

Iaido strike!

A simple, unembellished slash, made deadly as Inoichi delivered another head to the fore.

Kyōichi felt the power of the Yamanaka Clan.

Such secret techniques on the battlefield seemed almost unfair. Who could expect a trusted ally to suddenly turn against them with a blade? The Kirigakure ninjas were utterly unprepared.

The Kirigakure hadn't fully cleared when Hayama Shirakumo and Hayate Gekko quickly eliminated the remaining chūnin, joining Kyōichi.

Kyōichi gestured.

Hayama Shirakumo nodded, disappearing instantly, while Kyōichi quickly formed hand seals.

Then.

The sea water began to churn, forming a massive whirlpool that engulfed everything around.

This was a minor application of Kyōichi's study of Hard Vortex Water Blade and high-pressure Water Release: Rasengan - not hugely useful, but ideal for erasing evidence.

He left a clone to maintain the whirlpool while he escaped. Fast as he was, he wasn't using Flying Thunder God Technique, and any delay could be problematic.

It wasn't only about escaping, but avoiding leaving traces.

Several seconds after he left, the Kirigakure ninjas arrived, stunned by the carnage.

A team of four jōnin and chūnin.

Gone just like that?

Even slicing so many vegetables would take few minutes!

How was this possible?

Moreover.

The scene was a complete mess, bodies entangled, impossible to discern the situation. Clearly, the opponent had professionally cleaned the site.

This was infuriating!

To kill and still have the leisure to tidy the scene, utterly disregarding the Kirigakure's response time, but...

They were indeed too late.

Hozuki Senjin, blank-faced, struggled to speak.

"What do we do now?"

A ninja swallowed nervously, only to be struck.

Hozuki Senjin hit him hard.

"What to do? Report back!"

Hozuki Senjin's face twisted.

He wanted to pursue.

But a quick glance revealed no clues, no way to estimate the number of opponents.

Yet.

This was a team of elite jōnin and chūnin!

To dispatch them so swiftly meant no ordinary foe. Blind pursuit seemed like walking into a trap.

So.

He decided to wait for Yagura to arrive, letting him deal with it.

After all...

Wasn't that guy vying for the Mizukage position?

Much later, Yagura arrived at the scene, taking a deep breath to contain his anger, then asked, "Senjin senpai, did you sense anyone when you arrived?"

"Just a shadow clone, probably left behind to destroy the evidence, so I couldn't confirm the number of people."

Hozuki Senjin reported.

Yagura believed him. After his initial fury subsided, he calmed down.

"Let's try to collect the bodies, if possible. Even if we can't find everything, we might glean some clues."

"Yes!"

In truth, Hozuki Senjin had already ordered this.

But the results were disappointing.

Kyōichi's final whirlpool was ruthless.

The technique wasn't powerful in combat but was exceptionally effective in disposing of bodies at sea. The vortex's water blades mangled the bodies beyond recognition.

Clues?

Impossible to distinguish. They could barely identify the cuts, but determining the number of assailants was out of the question.

Yagura scanned the area, then closed his eyes, contemplating.

He recalled the silver-haired ninja from that day.

Fast, ruthless.

The same modus operandi!

"I don't know how many there were, but the ninja we encountered that day was definitely involved, and possibly another skilled in wind-style sword techniques, given the depth of these wounds, clearly from wind-style chakra manipulation."

Yagura's face was cold. "We must gather information on this individual, or our future operations will be severely compromised."

"Not easy."

Hozuki Senjin shook his head.

In the past, he might have agreed with their previous approach, sending the Seven Swordsmen together for a decisive strike.

But now.

The enemy had already demonstrated the ability to swiftly annihilate a four-man elite team. And if Yagura's assumption that this was the same person who captured Hōzuki Senkei was correct, then the enemy's speed was phenomenal!

A discovered infiltrator would hardly be able to escape pursuit from such an opponent.

"Of course, we can't collect the information here. Let the assassination squad go around to the Land of Fire's interior to check on recently famous young jōnin from Konoha, and exchange information with the Stone and Cloud ninjas."

Yagura's thoughts became clearer as he spoke.

He glanced at the scene, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.

Why take the risk just to kill four teams?

Something was off!

He pondered a moment, then realized – the islands.

His plan was to quietly move cumbersome equipment to the islands, setting traps for the enemy. But instead of coming to the islands, they attacked his transport team...

"Bad news! Support the other ship, the enemy's target is our transport and logistics team, and be careful they don't find our new base."

He immediately realized the danger.

Complacency!

Yagura regretted deeply.

He hadn't expected Konoha to bypass their base and directly target their transport ships.

Now, having dealt with one, but there was another along the route!

Being discovered would spell trouble.

He instantly used body flicker technique to chase after the ships.

His concern was valid, as Kyōichi had indeed planned this, benefiting from having two former Anbu members in the team.

Hayama Shirakumo and Hayate Gekko, both former Anbu, had traveled many places in the shinobi world, including the seas.

"Although we ninjas have the ability to shatter reefs, for convenience, shipping routes are generally fixed. By following these routes, we might just be able to locate their base."

Hayama Shirakumo said.

"Do we kill everyone this time?"

Yamanaka Inoichi pondered.

The last ship was completely taken out, leaving no clues for the enemy, but also consuming a lot of chakra. Even after consuming soldier pills to restore some strength, their mental fatigue was irremovable—

Especially for him.

Relying on mental power as a member of the Yamanaka Clan, his strength was significantly reduced due to fatigue.

"Don't be too greedy, just destroying the ships is enough this time."

Kyōichi smiled.

His previous whirlpool technique had inspired him.

And.

The key was to locate the enemy's new base and sabotage it.

Soon.

They found the second ship.

"This time I'll send a clone. We'll bypass and head straight for their base."

Kyōichi didn't plan to linger.

He sent a clone to infiltrate underwater, suppressing its chakra and moving under the ship.

The Kirigakure ninjas soon noticed him.

But.

By then, it was too late.

Dozens of figures attacked the ship.

This was Shisui's version of the Body Flicker Technique, each "clone" potentially the real body, while Kyōichi's shadow clone manipulated these "clones" to perform different actions.

Real and fake, indistinguishable.

"Don't let him get close, stop him!"

"Ah..."

"So fast, they all seem real."

"No, only one is real, he... he's in the water now, everyone be careful!"

The rear sensory ninja shouted urgently.

But it was too late.

A water column burst forth.

Water Release: Water Severing Wave!

An unstoppable high-pressure water column, no one could block it. Even though the Kirigakure ninjas used defensive techniques like Water Wall, the ship was still bisected.

Then, Kyōichi used a whirlpool technique to drag the broken ship together.

By the time Kirigakure Village's jōnin arrived, Kyōichi's shadow clone dispersed—its chakra exhausted.

Normally, a shadow clone wouldn't deplete chakra so quickly.

But.

After separating, someone had drawn half of its chakra back, although there was significant loss, it was preferable to losing it in combat.

The group quickly thought of the new base.

By then, the ship and equipment were the least of their concerns.

They must defend the base first!

By that time Kyōichi had already found the base.

But.

He didn't do much damage, just used a few fuinjutsu paper bombs blast the island.

Loud, but minimal impact.

More of a message to the Kirigakure Village—

I know your new base!

Then, before the enemy ninja troops could arrive, they left.

Yagura ran for nothing.

The ship wasn't saved, and the base was discovered.

He was speechless.

Soon after, Kuroku Raiga, who had been chasing Kyōichi's team, returned with a grim look.

"Did you catch them?"

"No, they escaped too fast, couldn't even see how many."

Raiga's face darkened.

He was assigned to guard the area, confident in his speed, only to encounter an enemy faster than him.

This...

He struggled to accept it.

"When they destroyed our ship, a person's shadow clone appeared, silver hair, about this tall, wearing a mask, carrying a sword. Looked a bit like Konoha's White Fang?".

"???"

What in the world?

A Konoha White Fang?

Yagura was momentarily baffled, then realized.

The person he had seen that day, wearing a mask and with silver hair, could be a relative of Sakumo Hatake...

But,

"Kakashi Hatake has no siblings, and the Hatake clan has only produced White Fang in all these years. It couldn't be from the Hatake clan."

"It must be from the Senju clan, this person holds a high position in the eastern front of Konoha!"

Yagura took a deep breath.

He must obtain information on this person!

Raiga, thinking about the immediate problem, said,

"Do we still keep this base?"

"No, let's change it!"