Chojuro stood aboard a ship patrolling one of the maritime borders, lost in thought as he cleaned Hiramekarei with a cloth.
Several subordinates handled the actual surveillance of the surrounding area. He was only there in case they needed combat power to delay any enemy while they sent information back to the village.
"Mizukage-sama has been working extremely hard ever since she returned from the meeting with Kumo's representatives," he sighed with sincere admiration.
It was as though she had found a clear goal she wished to pursue with all her strength!
"Things have been getting tense," he recalled the reports from recent missions involving squads sent near or inside the Land of Fire. "A lot of teams have died because of the Uchiha."
He found it difficult to believe there could be so many coincidences. Clearly, Konoha had hidden plans if they were targeting their ninja in such a systematic manner.
Genin running into groups of Leaf jonin?
That was practically sending them to their deaths.
The investigation personally led by the Mizukage had uncovered six spies among the higher-ups who had signed documents altering mission ranks for malicious purposes, and their bank account records revealed bribes from Konoha.
Of course, the officials claimed it was all an elaborate setup, that they would never betray Kirigakure, but the evidence had been so solid that the Mizukage had no choice but to execute them in order to provide an explanation to the families of those who had died on those tampered missions.
Everyone had seen the expression of pain and betrayal on their Kage's face, the disappointment reflected in her eyes.
Terumi was exhausting herself trying to protect the village, practically spending sleepless nights preparing supplies and reinforcing defenses, only for someone to stab her in the back.
How could people so ungrateful even exist?
"To make matters worse, those officials were vital to the village's administration. Finding capable replacements has been impossible, and the village's operations have been severely affected." He took a breath of salty air, clearing his lungs. "At least the new defenses and patrols have proven effective. Kumo has not been able to hide their probing from us!"
They had already captured several scouts, though they insisted they were not from Kumo and had been placed under a genjutsu.
Ha! As if anyone would believe them. The interrogation department would drag the truth out of them.
Chojuro had tried to help Terumi, but… administrative and tactical tasks were not his strong suit, so he followed the Mizukage's suggestion and helped with the patrols of greatest strategic importance instead.
"And yet… why do I feel like something is wrong?" he wondered aloud.
He had felt that uncomfortable sensation settling in his chest over the past few days, and after thinking it over extensively, he had concluded — much to his embarrassment — that perhaps he was jealous of whoever had managed to win over the Mizukage and place that ring on her finger.
Naturally, he never once considered that the man from Kumo might be responsible.
Chojuro knew the Mizukage would never harbor such feelings for someone outside the village, so he had secretly been making a list of possible candidates. But ever since he had been sent to assist at the border, he had been forced to put that personal project on hold.
"Could it be that Mizukage-sama discovered I was secretly investigating and sent me here so I would stop being so nosy?"
He had considered the possibility more than once, but quickly dismissed it.
Since Ao's death, he had become her right-hand man. She could not possibly be upset over a little curiosity… right?
"Chojuro-sama, ships are approaching from the northwest!" reported a Mist ninja with a large nose, pointing toward the indicated direction.
"Merchants? Pirates?"
"Sir, they are all carrying Kumo's insignia!"
"What?" Chojuro stopped cleaning his sword and stood up, trying to see the ships.
Wasn't the last sighting supposed to have been at—?
His thoughts were interrupted when the whistle of a cannonball tore through the air and struck near their ship.
"What the hell?!" The large-nosed ninja clung to the deck using chakra on the soles of his feet to avoid losing his balance. "Was that a shot?"
Chojuro was confused as well, because he had not heard the characteristic sound of a cannon firing before the cannonball reached them!
Fweeeee~
Another cannonball flew over a crew member's head by mere centimeters.
Fweeeee~
Another splashed down five meters from the ship's keel.
Fweeeee~
Driven by panic, several ninja raised water barriers to protect the vessel.
"Chojuro-sama, I can see the deck of the lead ship ahead!" shouted the lookout from atop the mast. "I know why we cannot hear cannons!"
"What's the reason?!" Chojuro shouted back.
Had they developed silent cannons?
Such a strategic weapon…
"Sir, they are not using cannons!" The lookout lowered his binoculars with an expression that suggested he could barely believe what he had just seen.
Chojuro wondered if the lookout had been trapped in an illusion.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" he yelled while deflecting several cannonballs with his sword. "Then what are they using, catapults?!"
"No, sir! They—"
"Genkotsu Ryuseigun! (Meteor Fist Barrage!)"
Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~Fweeeee~
The barrage of cannonballs multiplied like May rain, becoming a deadly dark hail of metal that tore holes through the ship like a shotgun blast.
As the crew rushed toward the lifeboats after realizing the ship was doomed, Kiri's ninja leaped onto the water and finally saw clearly how they were being attacked.
At the front of the flagship stood a muscular man with long blond hair, casually tossing a cannonball up and down in one hand, while carts filled with more cannonballs sat at his sides.
Chojuro recognized the man immediately, and his expression turned grim.
"Chad, Kumo's Dodomeki!"
"Oh?" Chad looked at Chojuro with surprise. "I didn't expect to see the Mizukage's little shadow on this border patrol."
"Drop the act. What are Kumo's intentions in acting like this?"
"Invasion, naturally." Chad grabbed another cannonball with his free hand. "No hard feelings, you know? We're just following the Lightning Daimyo's orders. The Water Daimyo refused to yield, and now you'll all have to die for his selfishness."
Chojuro could not believe what he was hearing.
Why does it sound like you're the victim here?
"I'm warning you, if—"
The heads of two Kiri ninja exploded into bloody mist, and their bodies, suddenly unable to remain afloat without the chakra film beneath their feet, sank into the sea.
"Genkotsu Meteor! (Meteor Fist!)" Chad declared with a grin while preparing to grab more cannonballs.
Chojuro immediately understood that negotiations had failed once again.
The Kumo ninja standing behind Chad were speechless.
Not because he was hurling cannonballs with his bare hands harder than an actual cannon. No, that was just an average Tuesday afternoon for someone like Chad.
What truly left them stunned was:
"Saying the technique's name after using it instead of before?" a jonin muttered to the kunoichi beside him. "That looked pretty cool…"
"Yeah…" the kunoichi replied slowly.
"Don't waste your time talking to her." Another jonin shook his head at the first man. "She isn't listening to you."
"What do you mean?"
But she had literally just answered him.
"Look." The jonin pointed. "Hey, Tanui, what do you think about all of us jumping into the sea and dancing naked?"
"Yeah…"
"See?" The jonin twirled a finger beside his temple. "She's completely gone."
Both jonin followed the gaze of the kunoichi they had teamed up with for six years.
"Why did Chad-sama decide to take off his flak jacket and leave his torso bare before firing?"
Because that was exactly what he had done. Chad stood there wearing only his pants and shoes, letting the sea breeze splash against him and salt crystals cling to his skin, making his muscles gleam beneath the sunlight.
"I don't know. Maybe he needs complete freedom of movement to attack like that?"
The seawater was evaporating off his muscles. Perhaps that was the price of such absurd physical power.
Earlier, several ninja had proposed an ambush, but Chad stopped them, arguing that he did not want casualties if he could avoid them. Then he requested that the cannonballs be brought up onto the deck…
"Yeah…"
The jonin glanced back at Tanui.
"I'm worried that if she keeps drooling like this, she'll end up dehydrated."
"Go get a bottle of water." He looked around. "Actually, make that a couple of crates. Tanui doesn't seem to be the only case. I'll go find a mop. Or ten."
In the background, explosions and splashes continued endlessly.
…
Half an hour later.
"Damn, that guy was slippery as hell," Chad muttered while flexing his wrists.
Kiri ninja had always excelled at aquatic combat, but what kind of arrogance had possessed Chojuro to make him believe he could defeat Chad before retreating?
"Uh, Chad-sama, should we… send someone to recover the sword?" a chunin asked while looking at the surrounding water, now stained reddish.
Chad glanced at the sea and snorted through his nose before nodding.
"Have the ship furthest behind us retrieve it and catch up later," he ordered. "If they cannot recover the sword, mark the coordinates for a future search," he added. "And someone clean the drool off the deck!"