Naruto : Blazing Legend

Chapter 41: Mist Ninja

The Land of Whirlpools lay before them like a graveyard of ambitions. Once a thriving nation renowned for its sealing mastery, it now existed as little more than a collection of overgrown ruins and bitter memories.

Rei kicked at a piece of rubble as they made their way inland, noting the Kirigakure forehead protector embedded in the stone—a grim reminder of conquest. "They took what they could understand," he muttered, thinking of the stolen techniques that now circulated throughout the ninja world like diluted poison. "The real secrets died with their creators."

Minato adjusted the mission scroll in his pack, feeling the weight of Kushina's hastily taught lessons. The sealing techniques she'd shared with him were fragments—pieces of a greater whole that the Uzumaki had taken to their graves. "Diamond Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal, Five Elements Seal," he recited quietly. "The kind of power that could reshape the balance of nations."

"No wonder they wanted it destroyed," Senzo observed, his ANBU training making him appreciate the strategic implications. "Better to eliminate the threat entirely than risk it falling into enemy hands."

Gaku raised a hand as they approached the first marker on their map—a collection of weathered walls that had once sheltered families, children, dreams. "I'll scout ahead," he offered, his wind-enhanced senses already probing the ruins for signs of life or danger.

The technique was subtle, elegant—chakra riding the breeze like whispered secrets, gathering information from every shadow and crevice. When he lowered his hands two minutes later, his expression was grim. "Clean. But it's been picked over more times than I can count. Every treasure hunter and scavenger in the region has been through here."

Their search confirmed his assessment. Overturned stones, disturbed earth, the telltale signs of desperate excavation everywhere they looked. Whatever secrets this place had once held were long gone.

"Seven more locations," Minato announced, consulting their map again. "The smaller settlements first, then the capital where the Uzumaki clan made their final stand."

As they traveled deeper into the island's heart, Rei found himself disturbed by the sheer scale of the place. What had appeared as a modest island on maps revealed itself to be substantial territory—half a day's journey even at full speed. The kind of space that could have supported a thriving civilization, if it had been allowed to survive.

The forest they entered next told its own story of violence. Unexploded tags hung from branches like deadly fruit, their seals faded but still potent. Rusted weapons jutted from tree trunks at odd angles, some grown over by bark as nature slowly reclaimed the battlefield. A massive Fuma shuriken was embedded so deeply in an ancient oak that only its points were visible.

"Watch your step," Gaku warned, his enhanced senses picking up the chaotic chakra residue that lingered in places where too much blood had been spilled. "This whole area is unstable. Traps, unexploded tags, maybe worse."

They moved with the careful deliberation of professionals who understood that battlefields never truly died—they just waited for the next victims to stumble into their embrace.

"One kilometer to the next site," Minato reported, but his voice carried an edge of unease. Something felt wrong, though he couldn't place what.

Five meters to their right, perfectly concealed within a shallow puddle that seemed no different from dozens of others, a figure waited with inhuman patience. The camouflage was flawless—a product of years spent perfecting the art of the ambush.

When they emerged from the treeline, the next ruins spread before them like broken teeth. This settlement had fared better than the first, its buildings more intact, its walls still standing in defiance of time and weather. Weeds grew through cracked foundations, but the basic structure remained.

"Better preserved," Daki noted, his earth-sense reading the stability of the remaining structures. "Might actually find something worthwhile here."

The words had barely left his mouth when Hell erupted around them.

"Incoming!" Daki's shout accompanied the slam of his palms against the ground, chakra surging through stone and soil to raise a defensive wall. The sound of steel on stone rang out as kunai and shuriken struck the barrier, some punching through with enough force to send chips flying.

The explosion that followed shattered his hastily constructed defense, the detonation tags attached to the weapons doing exactly what they were designed to do. But this was merely the opening note of a much deadlier symphony.

Seven massive columns of water erupted from different directions, converging on their position with crushing force. The Mist ninja had positioned themselves expertly, turning the surrounding terrain into a killing field with nowhere to run.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Senzo's technique manifested around them, a swirling barrier that held for precious seconds before the overwhelming assault broke through.

Rei's own Water Formation Wall bought them another moment, but it was Daki who saved them all. "Earth Release: Rising Stone Pillars!" The ground beneath their feet shot upward like a launching platform, carrying them above the flood that would have swept them away.

"Twelve enemies total," Gaku reported, his chakra-enhanced senses finally able to properly assess their situation. "Four jonin-level, eight chunin or genin. My apologies—they were hiding underwater. My wind techniques couldn't detect them."

"No blame," Minato replied tersely, but his mind was already racing through tactical options. A coordinated ambush of this scale meant they were facing professionals, not the desperate scavengers they'd dealt with before.

Rei slowly drew his blade, the familiar weight of steel in his hand bringing a cold smile to his lips. "Then we kill them all," he said, his voice carrying across the battlefield with casual certainty.

A figure stepped forward from the encircling enemies—blue hair gleaming in the dim light, white clothing marking him as someone of importance. "Arrogant as expected from an Uchiha," he called out, hands already moving through seals. "But arrogance won't save you. Ice Release: Ice Dragon Bullet!"

The dragon that emerged was beautiful and terrible, its crystalline form catching the light as it surged toward their elevated position. Unlike the water techniques they'd faced moments before, this carried the killing cold of absolute zero.

"Yuki clan," Minato breathed, recognition dawning. "Ice Release bloodline. This just got much more complicated."

Daki's earthen dragon rose to meet the attack, stone and clay shaped by his will into a protective barrier. The collision was spectacular—earth meeting ice in a shower of frozen debris as the techniques cancelled each other out.

The platform beneath them began to descend as Daki's chakra reserves strained under the continuous demands. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool air, his breathing growing labored.

'The Yuki clan,' Rei thought, his mind cataloging what he knew of the bloodline. 'Much stronger than the stories suggested. This isn't some half-trained exile—this is a clan heir with decades of training behind him.'

The current era still held the great bloodline clans of Kirigakure at their peak power. Before the Blood Mist policies would turn them against each other, before paranoia would destroy them from within. These were warriors in their prime, backed by a village that valued strength above all else.

"Even your genin have that look," Minato observed, studying the encircling enemies. "The look of killers who've never known defeat. This won't be like the bounty hunters."

"I have complete faith in you, Minato," Rei replied, though his grip on his weapon tightened. "You've never let us down before."

Minato felt the weight of that trust like a physical burden. His Flying Thunder God technique was still imperfect, still unreliable when he needed it most. Against opponents of this caliber, every mistake could prove fatal.

"Konoha dogs," the Yuki ninja called out, his voice carrying the confidence of absolute superiority. "Surrender now, and I might allow you to live as prisoners. Continue this futile resistance, and you'll feed the earth of our former enemies."

Rei and Minato exchanged a meaningful glance, and something passed between them—the kind of wordless communication that came from shared battles and mutual trust.

"Surrender?" Rei asked, taking several steps forward to separate himself from his teammates. "That's... actually an interesting proposition."

"Rei, you bastard!" Minato's voice carried genuine anger, his performance flawless.

"Are you seriously considering—" Senzo's face darkened with what looked like real betrayal.

The Yuki ninja's eyes gleamed with interest. 'Could it really be this easy?' "We could help you develop your bloodline," he offered, his voice taking on a persuasive cadence. "Establish your own branch of the Uchiha clan, free from Konoha's restrictions."

"Tempting," Rei mused, now facing his teammates with his back to the enemy. "But the offer needs improvement."

"What would it take?" The enemy leader leaned forward, scenting victory.

"Simple," Rei said, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "I want to be the Mizukage."

The words came from directly beside the Yuki ninja's ear, Rei having closed the distance in the space between heartbeats. His blade swept down toward the exposed shoulder, seeking the vulnerable joint between neck and arm.

The ring of steel on ice filled the air as crystalline armor deflected the strike.

"Pathetic acting," Yuki Shira sneered, ice spreading across his form like living armor. "Did you really think such an obvious ploy would work?"