Nagi Island, once a symbol of the Hidden Mist's naval dominance and a thriving center for the Land of Water's southern economy, had been reduced to a smoldering, silent graveyard. Thick, oily smoke billowed from the ruins of the port, rising like a funeral shroud into the gray morning sky. The unquenched flames from the fuel depots continued to hiss against the encroaching sea, and the blackened, vitrified earth told a story of a heat so intense it had rewritten the island's geography.
The surviving Hidden Mist ninjas moved like ghosts through the rubble. Their movements were numb and mechanical, some searching for comrades who might still be trapped beneath the slag of the barracks, others staring blankly at the harbor where their fleet had once been moored. The air was a heavy, sickening cocktail of ozone, charred timber, and the copper tang of blood.
The Patriarch of the Kaguya Clan leaned heavily against a jagged stone pillar, his body wrapped in thick, blood-stained bandages. He was a man built for war, a master of the Shikotsumyaku who viewed his own skeleton as the ultimate weapon. Yet, as he watched his clansmen drag the charred remains of their elite warriors from the ruins, his pale face was etched with a horror that had nothing to do with his physical wounds.
The humiliation was a poison in his veins. The Kaguya Clan, the most ferocious and warmongering lineage in the Mist, had been treated like a minor obstacle. They had been invaded in the dead of night, their descendants slaughtered, and their defenses dismantled by a "God of Metal" that they couldn't even scratch.
"Sunagakure... Pakura... and that damned Iron Giant..." He spat the words through gritted teeth, his knuckles cracking as his fists clenched. He remembered the feeling of the giant's blade, a force that ignored his strongest bone density as if it were dry wood.
"Patriarch... the Communications Squad... they've managed to initialize the long-range relay," a Kaguya Jonin stumbled toward him, his voice a hoarse, desperate rasp. "We must send the report back to the Village immediately. The Mizukage needs to know the nature of this... this catastrophe."
The Patriarch snapped his focus back to the immediate crisis. The Mist needed to understand that the "Suna Problem" was no longer a matter of border friction. It was a systemic threat.
"Immediately! Use the highest-level messenger hawk," the Patriarch roared, his voice breaking with a cough. "Send the situation back, word for word! Nagi Island has been erased. The port is gone. The fleet is scrap. And tell them... tell them the Kaguya Clan has been broken. The attackers are the Scorch Release User and an unprecedented titan of steel. Go!"
The Jonin scrambled away toward the communications nest. Within minutes, an urgent battle report, stained with soot and blood was racing across the vast ocean, a death knell flying toward the Hidden Mist Village.
Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage's Office
The atmosphere inside the Mist's central command was already stagnant, a byproduct of the month-long negotiation deadlock with Sunagakure. The Third Mizukage sat behind his desk, a man whose very presence felt like a cold, oppressive mist. He was listening to a report on the failed "Pakura Trap," his expression growing darker as he realized the Sand was refusing to comply with his demands.
Suddenly, the heavy office doors were thrown open with a violence that startled the guards. A communications ninja, his face a mask of pure panic, held a scroll aloft.
"Mizukage-sama! Emergency intelligence! Highest priority from Nagi Island!"
The Third Mizukage's brow furrowed. Nagi Island? The southern supply node? He snatched the scroll, his eyes scanning the text with the speed of a predator. In seconds, the temperature in the room plummeted. The cold aura around him turned violent, sparking with a raw, murderous chakra.
"Wh- What?!" The Mizukage's voice was distorted by a shock that bordered on insanity. "Nagi Island attacked?! Port facilities destroyed?! The southern fleet... annihilated?!"
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "The Kaguya Garrison has suffered a 70% loss of life... the Clan Head is wounded and retreating?"
The words hit the other high-ranking officials like a physical shockwave. Elder Genshi, who had been resting his eyes, snapped them open, his face pale with disbelief. The room erupted into a chaotic noises.
"Impossible! Suna was crippled at Kikyō Mountain! They don't have the naval capacity for a cross-sea strike!" "A giant puppet? Is this some joke from the Kaguya? To cover their own incompetence?" "The Scorch Release User... she was seen at the East Sea Bay. How could she reach Nagi so fast?"
"SILENCE!" The Third Mizukage roared.
The floor beneath his desk cracked as his chakra pressure filled the room like a crushing tide. He slammed the scroll onto the table, his chest heaving. The humiliation was absolute. He had demanded a hero's head, and in response, the Sand had reached across the ocean and gutted his southern economy. This was no longer a war of resources; it was a total challenge to his authority.
"Sunagakure... Rasa... and that metal monstrosity," the Mizukage whispered, his voice like grinding ice shards. "They dare to touch my territory? They dare to treat the Hidden Mist as a scavenging ground?!"
He turned his gaze toward Elder Genshi. "Elder, what is your assessment of this 'Iron Giant'?"
Genshi leaned on his cane, his aged face solemn. Unlike the Mizukage, he was already running the strategic calculations. "The Kaguya are arrogant, but they would never fabricate a defeat of this magnitude. Sunagakure has clearly performed a 'Hardware Upgrade' that we failed to detect. That giant puppet... it is the key. It is a strategic-class weapon that bypasses our naval sensors."
"I don't care what it is!" The Mizukage waved his hand, his rage finally overriding his logic. "If we do not respond with absolute force, the Hidden Mist will be seen as a failed state! The balance of the five nations will be rewritten at our expense! Immediately mobilize the remaining Seven Ninja Swordsmen! I will personally lead a fleet to the Land of Wind! I want Rasa's head, Pakura's soul, and I want that iron puppet melted into scrap metal!"
His killing intent was so thick it felt like an ice cave. He was ready to commit every resource to a total "System Deletion" of the Hidden Sand.
However, the moment the command left his lips, Elder Genshi stepped forward.
"Mizukage-sama! You must calm your mind! This is exactly what a trap looks like!" Genshi's voice was urgent, cutting through the Mizukage's bloodlust. "If we mobilize our entire fleet for a distant campaign, our home defense will be offline. What of the Hidden Leaf? What of the Stone? If they see our 'Root Directory' unprotected, they will format us before we even reach the Suna coastline!"
"He's right, Mizukage-sama!" another official chimed in, sweating. "The village is already unstable from the previous losses at East Sea Bay. We cannot afford an all-out war with a mysterious new weapon!"
The office descended into a fierce debate, the classic struggle between a leader whose pride had been wounded and advisors who were terrified of a total system crash.
Far across the sea, Sayo sat in his workshop, his mind already anticipating this "Tremor." To him, the Mist's rage was a predictable response to a successful surgical strike. He had successfully injected "Fear" into their command code, and now, he was simply waiting for the Mist to realize that their only "Optimal Solution" was peace.
The Hidden Mist was no longer a predator; it was a cornered beast, confused by a technology it couldn't understand. And Sayo, the Architect, was already preparing the "Second Phase" of his plan to ensure they stayed that way.
Plz Drop Some Power Stones.
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