"Karatachi Yagura is, how should I put it? He has cunning, but not deep enough; he has ambition, but not dark enough; he has magnanimity, but not broad enough; he has schemes, but not meticulous enough. If he doesn't die in this battle and gets another ten years to mature, he would definitely become someone formidable."
Watching the earth-shattering explosions on the other side of the crystal wall, Kakuzu evaluated seriously. Those green-glowing eyes, full of experience, seemed to penetrate through the beach blooming like flowers and see everything clearly.
"Oh? How so?"
Eishō asked with interest.
"When I was young, I once went to Hidden Mist Village to make a living..."
Kakuzu's gaze became distant, as if recalling the days of bloodshed and violence in the underworld. Come to think of it, ever since Kakuzu defected from Hidden Waterfall Village, "making a living" naturally meant trading heads for bounties. Hidden Mist Village was in constant turmoil, so paying for assassinations wasn't particularly unusual.
"Back then, I had a feeling."
Kakuzu continued.
"What feeling?"
"The people of Hidden Mist Village, from top to bottom, particularly like to focus on immediate benefits while neglecting long-term planning. They can execute tactics to perfection but lack strategic vision for the long haul.
Take this campaign, for instance. When they discovered us, Karatachi Yagura's best choice should have been to turn around and retreat. Even if we pursued and attacked, they could have preserved their main force."
"Right, I was just wondering why Karatachi Yagura chose to continue attacking even though he knew they were exposed?"
"Because he couldn't bear to give up."
Kakuzu smiled slightly.
"Hidden Mist Village's dream for years has been to gain a foothold on the mainland. They've planned for so long, invested so much manpower and resources—how could they just abandon it? Moreover, Yuexi Peninsula only has 7,000 main forces at most. Even holding his nose and forcing himself, he had to swallow this half-cooked meal."
"Lord Kakuzu truly understands human nature. No matter how cunning Karatachi Yagura is, he can't escape your calculations."
Eishō's timely flattery pleased Kakuzu greatly.
"Not at all, not at all. It's all thanks to Lord Kazekage's strategic planning."
By now, the explosions on the beach were winding down. The explosive tags used this time were different from the previous two battles—they employed a "remote mine" style manual detonation method, ensuring that the Hidden Mist ninja could receive "equal treatment" without waste.
"Sir, it should be about done."
Eishō said.
"Mm, should be about right. Alright, they've had their fill. Notify the brothers—tear down the wall and go harvest the corn!"
The seemingly endless crystal wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, and the Hidden Sand ninja camp sounded the charge!
"One Hidden Mist ninja head—ten thousand reward! Karatachi Yagura's head—fifty million reward!"
Kakuzu roared excitedly and was about to remove his shirt to release Earth Grudge Fear, but Eishō beside him firmly held down his hand.
"Why are you stopping me!"
Kakuzu looked at Eishō in confusion.
"It's not me stopping you—Lord Kazekage gave orders."
"What orders?"
"You're not allowed to take off your shirt!"
...
The most terrifying aspect of cluster explosions wasn't the explosions themselves, but the shrapnel, blast waves, and shock waves they produced. The beach was littered with shells, which became the perfect shrapnel. Beautiful shells instantly transformed into sharp blades that pierced through the Hidden Mist ninja's bodies. The blast waves could send four or five people flying high in an instant, while the shock waves could directly assault hearts and stomachs, turning internal organs into mush. (In real battlefields, few soldiers are directly hit by heavy artillery—most are killed by the shock waves produced by shells. Their bodies appear intact, but their organs have been shattered.)
The solid crystal wall not only blocked the Hidden Mist ninja's attack route but also protected the Hidden Sand ninja. The explosion's power was considerable, but the shock frequency wasn't that high. Now that the explosions had ended and the wall had collapsed, countless Hidden Sand ninja charged forward with battle cries.
Momochi Zabuza was lucky. His initial charging position was forward, so he wasn't greatly affected by the explosions. However, the powerful shock wave immediately knocked him down. When he stood up again, he felt his internal organs had been rearranged, twisting in pain. Finally, he couldn't hold back—he opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blackened blood containing chunks.
Not good! This was serious internal injury! Some organs might already be damaged!
But before he could react, a fierce wind struck toward his neck. He reflexively raised his Executioner's Blade to block.
With a "clang," he parried a ninja blade.
"Oh ho, this one's still alive."
The ninja blade suddenly withdrew force, and the Executioner's Blade, losing its support, swung straight forward.
The ninja blade quickly slashed across Zabuza's throat.
Sanji excitedly severed Zabuza's head and picked up the Executioner's Blade.
"Hey, this sword's not bad—it even has a hole!"
...
Karatachi Yagura didn't die. At the first moment of explosion, he had wrapped his entire body in solid coral, avoiding the effects of shrapnel and blasts, but his internal organs were still ravaged by the shock waves.
Now he removed the coral protection, his small face deathly pale, blood at the corners of his mouth, looking numbly at the hellish scene of severed limbs before him, his mind completely blank.
Finished! All finished! What talk of occupying Yuexi Peninsula or grand continental ambitions—whether they could even return home was now questionable!
He looked back—fortunately, due to the long "forced march" at sea, the Hidden Mist ninja formation had been stretched very long, and a small portion of ninja hadn't reached the explosion's center.
He turned to look forward—not good. The Hidden Sand ninja were already charging like a tide.
They wanted to eliminate them completely!
Karatachi Yagura gritted his teeth and picked up his spiked iron club.
"Those still alive, hold the line! Brothers in the back, retreat quickly!"
With that, he stood up and charged toward the human tide, accompanied by several other figures...
In this battle, the Hidden Mist ninja suffered a crushing defeat. Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, after killing several enemies, nearly died in battle but was rescued by his men. Of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, only Suikazan Fuguki and Kurosuki Raiga survived. Konoha ninja Jiraiya's whereabouts were unknown. The Hidden Mist army lost over eight thousand troops—some ninja didn't die from explosions or subsequent pursuit, but drowned at sea when their chakra was exhausted while fleeing to the ships. In the end, fewer than a thousand made it aboard... (Note: Over a thousand sailors remained on the ships.)
"Alright, send a report to Lord Kazekage—great victory at Coin Harbor!"
Kakuzu waved his hand excitedly.
"Yes, I'll go immediately."
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Release this."
Kakuzu produced a birdcage from somewhere, containing a war hawk.
"This is..."
Eishō was somewhat puzzled.
"This is bait for Konoha."
Kakuzu smiled wickedly.
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