"Drop anchor and stop the ships!"
With Karatachi Yagura's command, the flagship "Tiger Shark" of the Hidden Mist fleet dropped its massive iron anchor with a thunderous splash into the sea, instantly creating waves several meters high that shattered the moon's reflection on the water into scattered silver fragments.
Following the light signals from the "Tiger Shark," countless iron anchors plunged into the water with successive splashes. The overwhelming fleet instantly hit the "brakes" and came to a steady stop.
Karatachi Yagura said nothing more. Gripping the ship's rail with one hand, he leaped into the sea, his feet landing steadily on the water's surface with only the faintest ripples. Jiraiya, watching from the deck, nodded repeatedly—such chakra control was truly masterful.
Karatachi Yagura crouched down to carefully observe the calm sea surface. About ten meters from the ship, he spotted a sharp protrusion about three inches long, appearing and disappearing with the ocean swells.
"This is the place."
A slight smile crossed Karatachi Yagura's lips. He removed the spiked iron club from his back, stepped forward, and tapped the "protrusion." It rang with the sound of metal striking metal.
"Hidden Sand Village is truly wealthy. This single sea-anchoring iron spike alone must have consumed over a thousand pounds of iron."
Karatachi Yagura didn't know that only the tip of the spike was iron—the rest was mostly concrete. Otherwise, even exhausting all of Hidden Sand's iron ore wouldn't be enough to cover the entire sea area.
"Disembark!"
Karatachi Yagura shouted.
They were still far from the coastline, too far for his voice to carry.
Following the Mizukage's command, successive shouts echoed throughout the fleet.
"The Mizukage orders: Disembark!"
"The Mizukage orders: Disembark!"
"The Mizukage orders: Disembark!"
...
Countless black figures dropped from the warships like dumplings into water. Soon, these figures swarmed toward Karatachi Yagura's position, forming a massive ten-thousand-man formation on the sea surface.
"I won't say much. Sons of Hidden Mist Village, your chance to achieve glory and dominate the ninja world begins tonight! Move out!"
With that, he led the charge toward the coastline, followed closely by the Hidden Mist ninja who refused to be outdone.
...
Thanks to Karatachi Yagura's week-long physical training regimen, the Hidden Mist ninja had built up some stamina reserves. The recent sea voyage had been endless torment for someone like Jiraiya, who had never dealt with the ocean, but for the Hidden Mist ninja, it was like a vacation—no running, no training, just resting in the ship's cabins to conserve energy. Now they could run swiftly across the rolling waves.
Karatachi Yagura set the overall pace at the front. He knew the first six nautical miles would be the most challenging—many chunin and genin would reach their limits here. Only after reaching this point could they take the first chakra enhancement pill. Taking it too early might cause many to run out of chakra halfway and fall into the sea. So he didn't push his speed to the maximum, instead maintaining a steady pace that everyone could follow.
Six nautical miles was roughly eleven kilometers—a test for lower-ranking ninja. But the results looked promising. Under Karatachi Yagura's deliberate control, after running about seven or eight kilometers, no one had fallen behind. However, the formation had broken down, and the sound of heavy breathing grew louder toward the rear.
Karatachi Yagura gradually slowed his pace. He knew it was time for the first pill supplement.
"Alright."
Karatachi Yagura slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
"Slow down!"
The formation gradually slowed and finally stopped on the sea surface.
Karatachi Yagura looked behind him. Apart from Jiraiya, Uchiha Fugaku, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who stayed close to him, most other ninja were bent over, gasping heavily.
"Rest for fifteen minutes and take your medicine!"
Karatachi Yagura commanded.
This timing had been determined through experiments by Momochi Zabuza and others—a chunin at this level of exhaustion could complete the full distance after taking the pill.
Fifteen minutes passed in a flash. Karatachi Yagura commanded again:
"Move out!"
This time they had to push through to the beach in one go before taking the second pill.
As they ran, the moonlit coastline finally came into view. Suddenly, Karatachi Yagura felt something was wrong—why were there so many colorful lights ahead?
What was this?
When he could see more clearly, Karatachi Yagura felt his blood run cold and immediately stopped.
"Halt the entire army!"
Sudden stops during long runs not only disrupted breathing rhythm but also caused significant damage to the heart and lungs.
The army was like a speeding truck that suddenly braked—the cargo's inertia carried the front several meters forward.
Many ninja in the rear, unable to see the situation clearly, crashed directly into those in front.
Jiraiya was about to step forward and question this when he remembered Zabuza's warning and immediately closed his mouth.
He looked ahead to see countless "little colored lights" had appeared in the sea ahead, shining in various colors—quite beautiful.
"What are those things?"
Jiraiya tapped Zabuza beside him.
"Portuguese man o' war."
"What's that? Can you eat them?"
Zabuza's face twitched slightly.
"If you're not afraid of death, you can put one in your mouth."
"Ah! They bite people?"
Jiraiya was somewhat shocked.
Zabuza shook his head slightly.
"They don't bite, but they sting. Their tentacles are highly venomous—one sting causes excruciating pain."
"What!? Then what do we do?"
Jiraiya looked at the dense clusters of glowing orbs, his scalp tingling. If they stepped on one...
Suddenly Jiraiya had a flash of inspiration:
"Can't we use Water Release techniques to push all these... Portuguese man o' war away?"
"Absolutely not!"
Karatachi Yagura said sternly.
"We can already see the coastline from here, which means there are definitely Hidden Sand scouts on the shore who can see us too. These jellyfish are glowing brightly and very conspicuous. If we make too much commotion here, we'll definitely be exposed, and our surprise attack will lose much of its effectiveness."
"Then... what do we do?"
Jiraiya asked.
Karatachi Yagura gritted his teeth:
"Pass the word—everyone hold a kunai in their mouth and don't let go. Pass through carefully. If anyone gets poisoned, treat them on the spot!"
With that, he pulled out a kunai, bit down on it, and carefully moved forward.
"There's an antidote? You should have said so earlier. Zabuza, did you bring any? Give me some."
Jiraiya said.
Zabuza looked at Jiraiya with a pained expression:
"The Portuguese man o' war poison is actually easy to treat—just urinate on the wound to relieve the pain."
With that, he bit down on his kunai and followed closely behind Karatachi Yagura.
Jellyfish in water don't stay motionless but drift with the currents, so some people inevitably got stung. Soon, a faint acrid smell floated over the sea surface. There was no choice—fresh water was precious on ships, so they drank little and naturally had concentrated urine.
By the time the Hidden Mist ninja reached the coastline, the sky was already showing hints of dawn.
"We can't delay any longer. It's almost daybreak! Take the second pill and rest for fifteen minutes, then prepare to attack!"
Karatachi Yagura commanded sternly.
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