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GSiN: Ch. 64
🕑 Added 2025-04-13 16:11:09 +0000 UTC---Third POV---
A few months had passed since the successful conclusion of the "Reclaim the Byakugan."
During this time, Ryouma had finally lit up the entire coastline of the Land of Water with his sweeping flames. The coastal front had transformed from a stalemate into a one-sided massacre. What had once been contested territory was now littered with the abandoned outposts of Kiri forces who fled rather than face the possibility of encountering the Leaf's Gale.
In the process, Kiri suffered the loss of a significant number of elite ninjas.
Ryouma had refined his technique to cruel perfection. First came surveillance with the Rikugan, mapping every squad's position and potential threat. Then the ambush which was a sudden assault from an impossible angle. The survivors, if any, would regroup only to find him waiting.
No witnesses. No mercy.
For ordinary ninnjas, there was really no escape.
The Third Mizukage even issued a special order: "Any ninja who encounters the Leaf's Gale during a mission may abandon the mission voluntarily without it being counted as a failure."
To force a Kage of a great ninja village to issue such a command speaks volumes about Ryouma's ruthlessness. By now, he had become so infamous within Kiri that children told ghost stories about him at night.
Of course, as the villain.
Funny thing, in Kiri's training academies, instructors had begun using him as an object lesson in why ninjas must never become predictable. Children whispered his name in fear, adding fantastical elements to his abilities with each retelling, in their stories, he could dominate others with his mere presence, harden his body against any blade, or predict the future.
One senior instructor had been stripped of rank when he refused a mission after drawing a deployment near the southern coast. "Better dishonored than dead," he'd said. No one could argue his logic.
On the flip side, the Konoha ninjas at the Kiri battlefield, which had been stuck in a defensive state for a long time, suddenly found their morale skyrocketing with the arrival of such a peerless warrior.
At this rate, the war between Konoha and Kiri was starting to mirror the one from last year in the Land of Rivers, Konoha versus Suna. If Kiri didn't take decisive action soon, the Land of Water would inevitably become the third defeated nation of the Third Great Ninja War.
---
Important figures had assembled in Kiri's council chamber to discuss their next course of action.
"Our losses at the coastal front have exceeded acceptable thresholds. Three squads lost just last week," announced a council member.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "I'm well aware of our casualties."
"With respect, Mizukage-sama," another council member ventured, "the retreat order has damaged morale. Our ninjas believe we've conceded the coastline."
"Would you prefer I sacrifice more men to maintain appearances?" Byakuya snapped.
Silence fell over the council chamber.
After a moment, he spoke again. "The Seven Swordsmen have returned from their reconnaissance mission in the Land of Rivers."
Hope flickered in the council member's eyes. "Then we can deploy some to—"
"I'm sending all seven to eliminate Ryouma," Byakuya interrupted.
Murmurs of shock rippled through the chamber.
"All seven? For one man? What about our other fronts?" someone dared to ask.
Byakuya slammed his fist on the table. "We cannot win this war while that boy lives. It's that simple."
---
In a small port on the coastline of the Land of Fire, dawn broke over the fishing village. The morning mist provided perfect cover for the unmarked boat that silently approached the weathered dock. No lights. No chakra signatures detectable beyond civilian levels. The vessel looked like any other fishing boat returning from a night at sea, except for its passengers.
Seven ninjas with various weapons on their backs and Kiri forehead protectors stepped ashore in foreign land. Within moments, they had vanished into the surrounding forest, leaving no trace of their arrival.
In a small clearing two kilometers inland, they gathered to confirm their plan. Each carried a distinctive weapon that marked them as members of Kiri's most feared unit, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Jūzō glanced around expressionlessly and said, "Our mission target this time is a brat called Ryouma."
Raiga snorted coldly, "Hmph, he's no ordinary brat. If you underestimate him, you'll die a miserable death."
Carrying Shibuki, Jinpachi clicked his tongue and sneered, "Enough talk. Let's get going, kill him, and report back."
Kushimaru, wielder of Nuibari, had long worked as Jinpachi's partner and knew his temper well. Though he didn't particularly like his partner, he still offered a word of caution. "Don't be careless. There's no unearned reputation in our line of work. That Leaf's Gale reportedly developed his own bloodline limit."
If Jinpachi could barely take Kushimaru's advice, what the next swordsman said poured oil on the fire.
"Heh~ Even the Mizukage doesn't dare underestimate him. He issued a literal retreat-on-sight order. Can you do that, Jinpachi? Can you make the Third Hokage issue that kind of command? Huh?"
It was Jinin, wielder of Kabutowari.
"What did you say?! You bastard!!" Jinpachi roared in fury. Chakra began to swirl around the sword.
Jinin didn't flinch, his hand casually resting on his own weapon. "Truth hurts, doesn't it?"
If not for Jūzō stepping in to calm him down, positioning himself between the two, he would've pulled out his sword and blown Jinin to pieces on the spot.
"Enough!!"
Fuguki let out a thunderous shout. His massive body, weighing over 150 kilograms, seemed to expand with his anger.
"If you lot don't shut up, we'll end up killing each other before we even get to the Leaf's Gale!"
"He always operates alone, according to intel. As long as we find his location, the seven of us working together can take him down. This mission is of great importance to the Mizukage. If it fails because of someone's impulsive actions and the Mizukage is disappointed, you all know what the consequences will be."
With that, Fuguki, towering over two meters tall, swept his sharp gaze over the rest of the group. His presence was overpowering, suffocating even.
Though his words were directed at everyone, Jinpachi couldn't shake the feeling that they were meant specifically for him. But this time, he didn't dare say another word.
Among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, there was no official leader. Still, as social creatures, humans naturally sort themselves into hierarchies, and this group was no different.
Fuguki was the most experienced among them. Not only that, but he was also the head of the Cypher Division. In that sense, he was the de facto captain of the Seven Swordsmen.
Jūzō had comparable seniority and a clever mind. His suggestions were usually taken seriously by the others.
The rest, inpachi, Kushimaru, Jinin, and Raiga, had all been discovered by the Third Mizukage around the same time and inducted into the Seven Swordsmen.
Because of that, tensions often flared between Jinpachi and Jinin, both vying to assert dominance over the other.
Lastly, there was Satoru, the wielder of Hiramekarei. He was the most recent addition to the group, but his power placed him solidly among the upper half of the seven.
His strength wasn't just due to compatibility with Hiramekarei, but rather his own formidable abilities. He had mastered several advanced secret techniques passed down within the Hōzuki clan.
Throughout the exchange, he had remained silent, but if anyone among them bore the strongest bloodlust toward Ryouma, it was him.
Because not long ago, his younger brother was killed, by the squad led by Ryouma.
Yes, his brother was the Kiri ninja with the shark-toothed grin, who had served as Aoi's personal guard.
In the shinobi world, the bond between brothers often ran deeper than that between parent and child. This was especially true in Kiri, where harsh training methods and deadly graduation rituals meant that siblings who survived together formed bonds forged in shared trauma and survival.
To avenge a brother was a sacred duty. There could be no coexistence with his killer.
Especially in Kiri, where his brother's failure to protect the Byakugan had led to him being publicly disgraced, his name mocked and spat upon.
Satoru, who deeply cherished his little brother, had even brought back a sword as a gift for him from a recent mission, only to be greeted with the news of his death, and the villagers' contempt.
Now that sword hung on his wall, a monument to vengeance unfulfilled.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had recently been dispatched to the Land of Rivers by the Third Mizukage to scout Iwa's movements.
He wanted to assess the cost Iwa had paid after losing to Kumo, to determine if Kiri could launch a surprise attack.
That was the reason Ryouma had been unable to locate the Swordsmen for so long.
The Third Mizukage had briefly considered attacking the already-crippled Suna, but after thinking it over, he dropped the idea. That barren wasteland simply didn't interest him enough to act.
Right now, Suna was in an awkward yet oddly safe situation.
So weak that the other major villages saw no profit in bothering with it, yet not weak enough for the smaller ones to overpower. The Land of Wind's harsh desert served as a natural deterrent, requiring specialized forces and supply lines that smaller forces couldn't justify.
And the only minor village with a realistic shot, Ame, had gone completely silent.
Intelligence from all major villages reported the same puzzling phenomenon: No signs of movement, no strategic aggression. Nothing.
A far cry from the era of the Second Great Ninja War, when Hanzō once boldly declared that he would make Ame the sixth great village.
But perhaps that wasn't bad news… At least not for Suna.
