When everyone had gathered, the Mizukage was the first to break the heavy silence.
He stepped forward slightly, his voice calm yet dripping with arrogance.
"I've been waiting for your arrival, Uzumaki Clan Head. I had no desire to fight your siblings—they are beneath me. Their status is not worthy of my attention. But you… you are someone I would enjoy facing. It has been a long time since I fought someone truly powerful."
Shanks looked at him with cold, steady eyes.
"Don't give me this bullshit."
His voice cut through the air like a blade.
"You attacked the Uzumaki when I wasn't present, when most of my siblings were away—hoping to catch us off guard and unprepared. You probably predicted that my brothers and sisters would arrive using our clan's summoning technique. With two Uzumaki already here, you must have known the rest would show up."
A humourless smirk crossed Shanks' face.
"But you also thought I wouldn't come, right? That I'd care more about face—about not abandoning my newlywed wife in the middle of a journey just to rush home."
His expression darkened.
"And if something happened to her—if Mikoto were killed—you'd consider that a bonus. That's why you set up ambushes along the route."
Shanks leaned forward slightly, Conqueror's Haki flickering faintly around him.
"Did you really think those ambushes were hidden from my Observation Haki? I killed every last assassin you placed to attack Uchiha Mikoto in case I appeared here."
"So yes, you came prepared with two plans.
Here on the battlefield, you intended to kill my siblings in one decisive blow. But then you realized the truth—my brothers and sisters are far too strong for you to finish off instantly. And if you can't kill them in your first strike, then you can't kill them at all. You'd only force them to summon me."
Shanks' voice grew colder.
"So you switched to your second plan—analyse their abilities, prepare counters, and try to kill even a few today."
He raised his chin slightly, gaze sharp as steel.
"So stop this hypocritical act."
A dangerous pressure rolled off him.
"I'm already furious that you dared attack my village—and on the day of my wedding, no less. I don't intend to waste my time talking to you."
As soon as Shanks finished speaking, he didn't waste even a heartbeat.
He unsheathed Gryphon, and in the same breath his figure vanished.
A shock of displaced air burst outward—
and Shanks appeared directly in front of the Mizukage, his blade already arcing toward the man's neck in a deadly swing.
The Mizukage reacted instantly. He drew a kunai and brought it up just in time.
Clang!
Steel struck steel. The force behind Shanks' slash was monstrous. The Mizukage, physically weaker in comparison, was sent skidding backward across the surface of the sea. Water exploded upward in sheets as his feet tore violent grooves across the ocean's surface.
Before the spray even settled, Shanks was already moving again.
He surged forward, chasing after the Mizukage to follow up his attack—
no hesitation, no pause, only lethal intent as he closed the distance once more.
…
As Shanks clashed with the Mizukage, the Uzumaki siblings beside him launched forward as well. Each of them charged straight toward the elite Kirigakure shinobi who had been their opponents the previous day. But this time, their intent was absolute—today, they were going to finish their battles and kill their opponents.
Thus began the second stage of the war—the second day of the fierce confrontation between the Uzumaki Clan and Kirigakure.
As Shanks closed in on the Mizukage, preparing to strike again, the Mizukage suddenly vanished. His body dissolved into the water spray, disappearing completely from sight. In the next instant, a dense wave of mist surged outward, swallowing Shanks entirely.
It wasn't ordinary mist.
It was thick—almost murky—like stepping into a mass of dirty white water. Shanks couldn't see more than an inch ahead of him. Even when he activated his Observation Haki, he sensed nothing—not a single heartbeat, not a flicker of intent.
Everything felt blurred and indistinct.
His Observation Haki was incredibly powerful, but this mist was woven with chakra, every droplet infused with it. If someone stood within this fog, their presence blended perfectly into the chakra-filled haze, like a chameleon melting into its surroundings.
No wonder even he couldn't pinpoint the Mizukage.
Shanks narrowed his eyes, silent.
This is a very clever way to mask presence, he thought.
But suddenly—Shanks' body tensed.
He leapt several steps backward just in time, as two sharp, spike-like jets of water erupted from both sides of where he had been standing. They speared through the space he had occupied a heartbeat earlier.
Even though his Observation Haki couldn't sense the Mizukage's presence, Shanks' future sight showed him what would happen seconds ahead. He had seen the attack coming—seen the watery fangs converging—and withdrew instantly, avoiding the strike.
Another water attack shot toward him.
Shanks dodged again, slipping through the thick mist with fluid movement. Each time the Mizukage launched a technique, Shanks evaded it perfectly—his future sight warning him of every danger before it arrived.
But the Mizukage himself never appeared.
Not even once.
This made it impossible for Shanks to retaliate. The Mizukage continuously unleashed different forms of Water Release from within the mist—
Water Shark Bombs…
Razor-thin water blades…
Whirlpools erupting from beneath the surface…
Each attack was avoided flawlessly by Shanks, but every dodge only further emphasized his frustration.
He wasn't taking damage—
but he wasn't dealing any either.
The Mizukage remained hidden, blended perfectly into the chakra-saturated mist, launching jutsu from every direction while denying Shanks even a glimpse of his true position.
Shanks narrowed his eyes, irritation simmering beneath his calm exterior.
This wasn't a battle—it was a hunt.
And at the moment, he was the one being hunted.
----
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