Mid-air.
Seimei looked down at Dasawa Yuki, who stood on the water's surface below, along with the dozen or so Mist Ninjas behind him. He raised his hands slightly.
Although he didn't intend to fight to the death or go all out, it was still necessary to apply some pressure. Without it, the Mist Ninjas in front would never retreat.
With that thought, the Chakra wings on Seimei's back lightly flapped, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before the group of Mist Ninjas without making any visible movements.
The next moment, he formed hand seals, about to unleash a ninjutsu.
Seeing this, Dasawa Yuki immediately shouted a warning, "Watch out!"
As he spoke, he hurled the kunai in his hand, which flew straight at Seimei.
However, just as before, Seimei casually sidestepped, effortlessly dodging the attack.
Not only that, but while evading, he also took the opportunity to unleash the ninjutsu he had just prepared—**Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**!
In an instant, dozens, if not hundreds, of fireballs spewed from his mouth, scattering like heavenly maidens casting flowers, raining down upon the Mist Ninjas.
But thanks to Dasawa Yuki's warning, the Mist Ninjas reacted quickly. Despite Seimei's efforts to control the fireballs, he couldn't inflict any real damage.
Seizing this opportunity, Dasawa Yuki formed hand seals, pouring a large amount of Chakra through his feet into the seawater below.
The next second, a massive water dragon burst from the sea and charged directly at Seimei.
"**Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu**?"
At just a glance, Seimei recognized the technique.
Without hesitation, he flapped his Chakra wings, creating an afterimage in mid-air as he dodged the water dragon's attack by just a hair's breadth.
Seeing this, Dasawa Yuki wanted to continue forming seals to attack Seimei with more ninjutsu.
However, Seimei wasn't about to give him that chance. With a swift motion, he pulled out five or six kunai embedded with explosive tags from his ninja pouch.
His Sharingan's three tomoe spun rapidly, locking onto Dasawa Yuki and the dozen or so Mist Ninjas behind him. Then, he threw the kunai.
**Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh**—the sharp sound of the kunai cutting through the air echoed.
The Mist Ninjas scrambled to dodge.
Dasawa Yuki's attempt to complete his jutsu was interrupted as a result.
**Boom, boom, boom**—a series of loud explosions ensued.
Fireballs erupted, and powerful shockwaves lifted waves several meters high on the sea's surface.
Seizing the moment, Seimei rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed a ninjutsu—**Wind Release: Wind Blade**!
**Whoosh**—a transparent wind blade flew from his hand.
The next second, a pained scream echoed.
A Mist Ninja, who had just barely evaded the kunai and explosive tags, was cut in half by the wind blade before he could even steady himself.
Blood gushed out, instantly dyeing the sea red.
"Zimu!"
Not far away, another Mist Ninja let out a shocked cry at the sight.
As he rushed over, he threw his kunai at Seimei.
But once again, Seimei lightly flapped his wings and dodged the attack effortlessly.
Not stopping there, he swiftly formed hand seals and unleashed another **Wind Release: Wind Blade** in the middle of the Mist Ninja's charge.
Though this Mist Ninja dodged in time, he still couldn't escape entirely, losing half his shoulder in the process. His left arm remained connected to his body by only a thin strip of flesh.
"Ahhh!"
Another scream of agony filled the air.
Seimei, without hesitation, began to form seals again to deliver the final blow.
But just then, a sudden sense of danger washed over him.
He looked up, spotting a crossbow bolt as thick as an arm flying toward him, covered with several explosive tags.
"Huh?"
Seimei let out a small noise of surprise and quickly dodged, avoiding the crossbow bolt.
Ignoring the explosion behind him, Seimei's eyes locked onto the direction from which the bolt had been fired.
In the distance, he saw that the sea had somehow frozen into ice, and on that ice stood a ballista.
Seimei recognized it immediately. It was the same ballista he had seen two days earlier in Flying Fish Town.
At first, he thought the Mist Ninja hadn't brought them along this time, but it turned out they simply hadn't had a chance to use them.
"But why is there only one?"
Seimei distinctly remembered that there were originally twenty-one ballistae. He had destroyed six, so there should be fifteen remaining.
"Did they not bring them all?"
Just as he pondered this, several Mist Ninjas suddenly unfurled scrolls.
The next moment, over a dozen ballistae appeared on the field—it was the rest of the ballistae.
Seimei's expression tightened as he scanned the scene, spotting over twenty or thirty Mist Ninjas gathered around the ballistae.
Without hesitation, they moved to the ballistae, pairing up in teams of two to operate them, aiming at Seimei.
Their swift and fluid movements suggested they had been well-prepared for this.
Seimei immediately steeled his resolve, heightening his focus.
**Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh**—the sound of the crossbow bolts slicing through the air rang out again.
Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the incoming bolts. He flapped his wings and soared higher into the sky.
**Boom, boom, boom**—numerous explosive tags were detonated, creating fiery red explosions that blotted out the setting sun.
Amid the flames, Seimei shot forward like an arrow, flying straight toward the eastern side of the fleet.
There, aside from the leading Jonin, the rest of the Mist Ninjas had gathered around the ballistae, leaving their defenses at their weakest.
Seimei wasn't going to miss this chance.
In the blink of an eye, he reached his target, hovering over one of the ships.
However, before he could make a move, the Mist Jonin left behind on guard duty completed his hand seals and unleashed a Water Release technique.
In an instant, numerous water bullets, each the size of a baby's fist, rose from the sea and shot toward Seimei like cannonballs.
Sensing danger, Seimei activated his Sharingan to the fullest and dodged the incoming water bullets with swift wing movements.
A few breaths later, the water bullets dissipated.
Before the Jonin could launch another attack, Seimei had already finished his hand seals and unleashed **Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu**!
**Whoosh**—a streak of fire shot from his mouth, transforming into a fire dragon that flew straight at the Mist Jonin.
Sensing the danger, the Jonin quickly dodged.
But Seimei wasn't done. In rapid succession, he unleashed **Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu**, **Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu**, and **Wind Release: Wind Blade**, forcing the Jonin back even though none of the attacks landed.
Seizing this opportunity, Seimei formed more hand seals, unleashing **Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu** and **Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu**, once again, destroying another Mist Ninja warship.
As Seimei prepared to destroy a second warship, the ballistae had been reloaded, and the second wave of attacks was on its way.
Sensing danger, Seimei turned his attention back, noticing that the number of incoming bolts was about a third of the previous wave.
However, there was no trace of joy on Seimei's face.
It was clear why. Not far off, the remaining two-thirds of the ballistae were already prepared, ready to fire once Seimei dodged the current wave.
It was obvious that the enemy intended to stagger their attacks, reducing the time Seimei had to move freely and preventing him from continuing to destroy their warships.
Realizing this, Seimei immediately abandoned his assault, focusing instead on dodging the incoming crossbow bolts.
(End of Chapter)