A few moments later.
After narrowly dodging four rounds of crossbow bolts, Seimei finally escaped the attack range of the ballistae.
At this point, looking down, he saw that the Mist Ninja's warships had moved even closer.
Some Mist Ninja had left their squads and gathered under the command of a Jonin on the east side of the fleet, making the defenses there no longer vulnerable.
With this, combined with the several ballistae on the southern side, their defense felt even stronger to Seimei.
He glanced at the battlefield ahead; the Mist Ninja showed no signs of retreating.
'No, the pressure is still not enough.'
With this thought, Seimei didn't hesitate. He immediately launched an attack from the northern side, farthest from the ballistae, heading straight for the fleet below.
Seeing this, Yukiyama, responsible for defending the southern side, immediately ordered the Mist Ninja operating the ballistae: "Fire!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Five crossbow bolts were shot toward him.
Seimei's chakra wings flapped, swiftly dodging the bolts. He skillfully used the shockwave from the exploding bolts behind him to accelerate, closing in on the Mist Ninja's fleet.
The second wave of bolts came!
Without hesitation, Seimei raised his hand and made a hand sign, unleashing his jutsu—Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Whoosh~
A wind blade, more than ten meters long, appeared and sliced through the incoming crossbow bolts at high speed.
As the two forces closed in, the wind blade cut through the bolts like a hot knife through butter.
In an instant, three of the five bolts were severed.
With their rear halves missing, these bolts veered off course, flying in different directions and completely missing Seimei.
As for the remaining two, Seimei dodged them with just a slight shift of his body.
At this point, he was already close to the Mist Ninja fleet.
"Attack!"
Following the Jonin's order, the Mist Ninja immediately threw kunai and shuriken that had been prepared in advance.
In a flash, a dense barrage of kunai and shuriken shot toward Seimei.
But such attacks were clearly no threat to him.
He activated his Sharingan to its fullest, easily evading the attacks with its powerful insight.
Then, without hesitation, he cast his Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique, aiming at a warship behind them.
However, the expected fiery explosion did not happen.
Just as his fire dragon was about to reach the ship, the Mist Jonin cast Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
A water wall suddenly rose up, blocking the fire dragon.
The enormous fire dragon crashed into it, almost piercing through—on the other side, the water wall bulged out—but ultimately, it didn't break through.
Sizzling~
A large amount of white steam rose.
Seeing this, Seimei felt slightly disappointed.
If they had been on land, this attack would have easily broken through the defense.
Unfortunately, this was the sea, where Water Release techniques were greatly enhanced.
Conversely, his Fire Release was only at 60% of its normal power here.
Even after using more chakra, he still couldn't break through the defense.
It had to be said, the Mist Jonin's decision to defend rather than attack was indeed a smart one.
At this moment, Seimei no longer had a chance for a second strike.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
The familiar sound of bolts slicing through the air came again.
The third wave of bolts shot toward him.
This time, the distance was closer, leaving Seimei with even less time to dodge.
Not only that, but it would also take him longer to escape the attack range.
Fortunately, Seimei was prepared.
His wings flapped, and he turned 180 degrees, flying straight up and away from the battlefield.
That's right—when one attack failed, he simply chose to retreat far away.
Seimei didn't believe the Mist Ninja had an unlimited supply of bolts.
As long as he managed the timing well and repeated this process a few more times, even if he couldn't destroy the Mist Ninja's fleet, he could deplete their stock of bolts.
When the time came, launching attacks on the warships would be much easier.
Seimei was confident that as long as he kept up the pressure, the Mist Ninja on the front lines would eventually have to retreat to assist.
When that happened, he could signal Sano Nobuhisa to cooperate, forcing the enemy to withdraw.
Thinking of this, Seimei, after barely escaping the ballistae's attack range, immediately picked another direction and dived toward the Mist fleet below.
The process was the same as before—first, he dodged two waves of crossbow bolts, and then, amid the Mist Ninja's attacks, he struck the fleet.
Afterward, regardless of whether the enemy managed to block the attack, Seimei would quickly retreat.
Typically, the Mist Ninja on the southernmost side would fire their third wave of bolts at just the right time.
Of course, if they chose not to fire, Seimei would adapt and continue attacking the fleet.
In short, he aimed to deplete the Mist Ninja's stock of crossbow bolts as much as possible.
At first, Oozawa Yuki didn't notice anything unusual, but after Seimei repeated this twice, he figured out Seimei's strategy.
However, after some thought, he realized there wasn't much they could do to counter it.
After all, the ninja world is ultimately about strength. If you lack strength, no matter how many tricks you have, you'll still be led by the nose and end up taking hits.
At this point, the Mist Ninja below were in exactly this position.
Oozawa Yuki's face changed several times. After assessing the situation at the front line and confirming they couldn't capture Blackstone Outpost, he reluctantly gave the order to retreat.
Although it wasn't yet a desperate situation, this was the best time to withdraw. If they pushed themselves to the limit, retreating would become much more difficult.
Besides, Blackstone Outpost wasn't the main focus of the village's current offensive; his side could be considered a feint.
Thus, a temporary retreat was acceptable.
And with his order given, the Mist Ninja fighting the Leaf Shinobi at the front began to retreat in an orderly manner under the Jonin's command.
Sano Nobuhisa, seeing this, considered giving chase, but after assessing the condition of the surviving Leaf Shinobi, he quickly abandoned the idea.
Just as Blackstone Outpost wasn't the Mist's primary target, his mission wasn't to immediately reclaim the base at Fish Town.
Konoha was fighting on multiple fronts and had to prioritize. Fish Town would certainly be reclaimed, but not just yet.
For now, his job was to hold Blackstone Outpost and ensure the Mist Ninja in Fish Town didn't run rampant.
After careful consideration, he decided not to pursue them.
However, to prevent the Mist Ninja from launching a surprise attack, he ordered Seimei to follow the Mist fleet and make sure they truly left.
Seimei gladly accepted this task.
He didn't even use his real body; instead, he sent a shadow clone to carry it out.
After all, for a simple tracking mission, he could just fly a little higher, and even a shadow clone would suffice.
As for himself...
Naturally, he would use the time to complete his daily training.
(End of chapter)