"Whoa—so many people."
"I wonder what I brought with me to deserve such a warm welcome?"
Hatake Satoru leaned on the edge of the boat, waving at the boats coming closer with interest.
What a strange man.
Even though he was wearing an eye mask, it felt like he could still see them clearly.
The sudden lights made Shisui, standing in the middle of the boat, squint his eyes.
A flash of cold light glinted off a silver blade in the moonlight, and the boatman suddenly jumped up and swung his knife at Shisui.
*Bang!*
With a dull thud, the boatman was sent flying, bent over in midair, skimming across the water and kicking up a huge splash.
The impact from his body slamming into the water also knocked over one of the nearby boats.
In the next instant, a bunch of condensed water balls burst out from around Hatake Satoru!
*Splash!* One by one, loud crashes rang out as holes were blasted into the surrounding boats.
The wooden boats couldn't take that kind of hit. Seawater rushed in fast, and in no time, the boats started sinking.
No one in the enemy fleet saw it coming. Everyone was suddenly in chaos.
"What's going on?! Why is there a hole in the boat?!"
"We can't stop the water! It's flooding too fast!"
"He threw something just now—what was it?!"
The water was boiling with people thrashing around like dumplings being dropped into a pot, constantly clashing and switching places.
Hatake Satoru looked down with an amused smile.
"Hey hey—any of you good at rowing? We need someone to help with the boat."
Suddenly, a sharp blade shot up from the water, heading straight for Hatake Satoru's face.
"Whoa, dangerous, dangerous—no knives, please—"
With a light tone, Hatake Satoru tilted his head slightly and pressed his hand straight into the water.
Shisui looked at Hatake Satoru, who was having way too much fun, feeling a bit speechless.
He wasn't seriously looking for someone to help row.
He was clearly just having fun watching all these people flailing around!
Whether it was in the open or in the shadows, whether there were many or few enemies, this guy really didn't take them seriously at all.
Waves rolled wildly under Hatake Satoru's hand for a moment, then a row of air bubbles floated up, and everything went still.
The sea that had been boiling like a pot of dumplings suddenly went quiet.
Even though they were hired thugs, they still knew when to back off.
That boy with his eyes covered looked like an ordinary person, but his moves were fast and strange.
If they really pushed him too far, none of them stood a chance.
They were all men working under Gato, and they'd been doing shady stuff at sea for a long time.
Too many common people had died in these waters to count.
The rich would be robbed clean, and the poor or those who fought back were simply dumped into the ocean.
But sometimes they'd mistake a ninja for a civilian and end up paying the price. After a few incidents, they'd learned to be more careful.
Still, they had clearly underestimated Hatake Satoru this time.
"Hahaha, no need to get angry, little brother. See, we're putting our weapons down, see?"
One burly guy threw his knife aside and lay flat on a wooden plank, hands above his head.
"I surrender! I surrender! Let me on the boat!"
A skinny, shivering man next to him quickly followed and shouted the same.
It was already nighttime. Even for people used to living at sea, staying in such cold water for more than half an hour was almost impossible.
"Two people should be enough, right?"
Hatake Satoru turned to Shisui curiously.
Shisui nodded in agreement.
Then he kept a close watch on the boat. Most of these guys were ruthless, and if more than two got on, they'd definitely try something again.
The only question was whether these two getting on the boat were really being honest.
As soon as the two of them climbed aboard, they turned to call out to their friends.
But in that very moment, the words caught in their throats.
Hatake Satoru stood on the boat and lightly clenched his fist—suddenly, the entire sea stopped moving.
A burst of blood bloomed in the water.
Water slammed against water, people slammed against people, and it all splashed blood right into the two men's faces.
What the hell just happened!?
Of course, they hadn't really planned to surrender. They were just trying to get on board to help the others.
But this frozen sea and exploding blood? They never saw it coming.
"Let's hurry to the Land of Water. No need to hang around here too long. It's kind of chilly tonight~"
Hatake Satoru's voice came from behind them. It was his usual tone, but to the two men, it sounded like a demon whispering from the depths of hell.
"Y-yes, sir!"
Without even looking back, the two of them rushed to the other side of the boat and quickly rowed through the sea of blood toward the Land of Water.
Shisui looked at the waves rising again and felt a chill run through him.
This was the first time he had seen Hatake Satoru kill someone with his own eyes.
No matter how you put it, that moment when the sea suddenly froze—he was truly shocked.
It wasn't a Genjutsu, and he wasn't seeing things. For that one moment, the sea had been under Hatake Satoru's control!
And even after using such a powerful move, Hatake Satoru still looked completely relaxed.
Did this guy even have a limit?!
After witnessing the sea of blood created by Hatake Satoru, those two guys completely backed down.
They just wanted to send these two monsters off as quickly as possible.
They rushed the trip, and by early morning, they had reached the Land of Water.
"We… we can't go any further. Kirigakure is too dangerous right now. If we go deeper, we might not make it out alive."
The skinny man nervously stopped the boat at a quiet, hidden spot along the shore.
There was a mountain in front of them, and a large reef near the shore helped cover their boat from sight.
The long mountain range and the thick mist that never seemed to clear kept the Land of Water wrapped in mystery and shadows.
Even just standing at the edge, you could feel how unwelcoming this country was to outsiders.
After getting off the boat, Hatake Satoru pulled out a folded paper and opened it. Shisui leaned over, curious.
It was a job posting—Kirigakure was hiring teachers for their ninja academy.
"??... When did you get this?!"
Shisui had been with Hatake Satoru nearly every moment over the past few days, but he had never seen that piece of paper before. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Secret~ I have my own ways of getting intel too."
"Just not the same way you do."
Hatake Satoru gave Shisui a sly smile and flipped the paper over.
On the back was a simple map and directions—it showed the location of the ninja academy in Kirigakure.
The two of them soon disappeared into the thick mist.
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