Infiltrating Aokujima Island was more than doable for me, primarily due to the Dustless Bewildering Cover that concealed my presence from patrols, while Observation Haki alerted me to any enemies before they even appeared on the horizon.
The island itself was relatively close to Kirigakure, taking about an hour's travel for an average ninja. Such a journey would likely leave an average chunin either winded or even exhausted, though, making reinforcements unlikely.
It could, however, serve as a good opportunity to lure Yagura out of the village. I was eager for a rematch and felt confident about my chances.
Aokujima Island seemed to have once been a resort, especially the towns that were only a few kilometers away from the naval base. It reminded me a bit of the rocky beaches of Croatia, with whitish rock formations near the water.
Some memories of my past life were stubbornly vivid, yet they lacked a coherent theme.
I quickly refocused my attention on the port city turned military base, which appeared almost normal, as if the military vessels were a natural part of its life now. The port itself seemed hastily constructed but was adequate for repairs and general maintenance. While it couldn't build new ships, it could likely repair damaged ones and keep the fleet operational.
I used a quick Henge to alter my appearance; this jutsu was effective for minor changes, such as hair and eye color. To anyone who wasn't a sensory ninja, I resembled a regular local teenager with dark brown hair and blue eyes htat were quite common in the Land of Water.
With my ninja gear sealed away, I blended in seamlessly with the crowd.
Surprisingly, the city was mostly devoid of ninjas; I only spotted a few patrols, far too few for a city of this size. They clearly didn't expect any trouble so deep within their own territory.
To help me scout the city, especially the harbor area, I summoned Yoru. She could go unnoticed, as nobody suspected a random cat could be a little spy.
While she was busy conducting the reconnaissance, I decided to maintain my distance until I confirmed there were no sensory ninjas nearby.
Our overall plan required some level of coordination with the Rebels, so I once again utilized a Shadow Clone. The clone would dispel as a signal to me when the rebel fleet was in position, indicating that I should freeze the docked ships and regroup with them.
I wasn't particularly looking forward to running several hundred kilometers over water, but I preferred participating in the battle to remaining idle, leaving me little choice. Reverse summoning wouldn't be helpful either, as I had no idea how long it would take to trap or destroy the docked ships.
The primary challenge was the mix of civilian and military vessels in the port. Even if the civilian section was somewhat isolated, using a large jutsu could still severely damage their fishing boats. Conversely, not disabling those boats might allow enemy ninjas to commandeer them for their operations.
It was a lose-lose situation: either piss off the locals by destroying their ships or let the enemy ninjas utilize them to reinforce their fleet.
The best strategy seemed to be destroying the military vessels while leaving the fishing boats trapped until the enemy ninjas departed on foot. I could leave a Shadow Clone behind to clean up the mess afterward, but that would leave me cutting it close if I wanted to run across an ocean towards my allies and still be in relatively decent shape. Given that it would have been a second clone created quite recently, I would only have slightly over twenty-five percent of my chakra available for the trip.
Still, it felt worth the risk; I should be able to regain that chakra while battling. The only significant risk was the potential presence of someone strong. While I didn't sense anyone posing a threat to me, I preferred to approach cautiously.
I understood I had a limited timeframe, so I aimed to be as disruptive as possible without causing major destruction. Knowing Yoru would find me no matter where I hid myself, I left the city and set up my tent in a small forest only a few kilometers from the harbor.
I decided to work on enhancing regular explosive tags with a generous amount of lightning chakra to sink the military vessels—or, at the very least, blow apart their keels. Without their keels, they wouldn't be sailing anywhere.
It would take me a few hours to create those seals, ensuring a targeted demolition rather than firing jutsu around indiscriminately. I hoped to produce enough explosive tags for all the ships, and while I expected around ten, I planned to make more than necessary, just in case they were more durable than anticipated.
Yoru returned in the early afternoon, looking quite pleased with herself. The little gremlin had clearly found something important—or perhaps she had managed to steal a fish from someone; I couldn't be sure.
"So? What's got you so smug this time?" I asked the cat. She jumped into my lap to receive her dose of ear scratches before speaking.
"I found their main office thingie. The ships should be no problem for you since I can easily scratch into the wood," she said, enjoying the attention a little too much.
"I have a feeling that Hinata is spoiling you too much... or did you finally convince Sakura to like you?" I asked the little troublemaker with a small laugh.
"Big bro's little sister is fine. She needs to work on her belly rubs, though," the cat complained with a teasing edge in her voice. "And Hinata is the best," she added, basically answering my question. Hinata's love of all things cute and fluffy was clearly at fault here.
"If the ships should be no problem, then I will leave them to you. Are you up for some seal placement?" I asked Yoru. "Meanwhile, I will take care of their communications, and hopefully, I'll catch someone important while I'm at it," I laid out the plan, much to Yoru's glee. Apparently, she was quite bored in Konoha.
While looking after Sakura was not all bad, she would be stuck with D-Rank missions for some time, which offered no action at all.
"So, where is that main office you found?" I prompted the kitty.
"The lighthouse. There are a ton of radio towers, screens, and even a trained ninja hawk," she reported, giving me an idea.
If they never receive a distress call and are busy trying to repair their ships, they won't participate in any battles. And if I create some confusion in their command structure, I should be able to cripple this harbor without causing too many casualties.
"Big bro... you're making that face again," Yoru whined, turning in my lap to stare directly into my eyes.
I tilted my head in confusion. What face was she talking about?
"That face when you think too much," she clarified.
"Ah, that face... I just want to get through today without kiling too many people," I explained and transferred the modified exploding tags to the cat, the ink of the sealing formula blending perfectly into her pitch-black fur.
"Find me after you're done with the placement," I instructed her before she ran off, likely looking forward to some spectacular explosions. It was a good thing that I was the only one who could remotely activate those seals; she might have tried to do it herself in her excitement.
—
As evening approached, I packed up my tent and returned to the city. I used Henge once more to fit in better and made my way toward the lighthouse. Getting into the harbor area was easy enough, but the lighthouse was guarded, obviously.
It wasn't a heavy guard, but the mere presence of enemy ninjas made the approach more difficult since I wished to remain undetected. Thankfully, I did not need a door to enter.
I circled back and stepped onto the sea from a distance away from the harbor, quickly using Dustless Bewildering Cover to make myself borderline undetectable. The trip to the lighthouse from the water was smooth; no one was expecting an invisible infiltrator, so nobody was looking for one.
The climb up the outer wall of the lighthouse was quick, and I did not encounter any resistance until I flipped up onto the outer catwalk overlooking the large radio room. The lighthouse mechanism was just a single floor above me, but my target was the communication equipment, and hopefully, a communications officer or, even better, a commander of this base.
For now, the entire radio room was occupied by a single ninja, but I still waited for a signal. Creating chaos earlier than needed could allow the enemies to send out some kind of SOS message. While I was confident that Yoru could catch and kill a ninja hawk or a runner with relative ease, I still preferred that the enemies had as little time as possible to figure out what was happening.
I decided to jump up to the roof of the lighthouse and dropped my jutsu, preserving as much chakra as possible. As long as I sat or lie there without moving too much, I would remain hidden, and I seized that opportunity.
I sprawled out on the roof and watched the sun set over the ocean before closing my eyes. I focused on sensing as far and wide as I could, quickly catching familiar chakra signatures. Mei's chakra, easily recognizable amidst the sea of others, seemed to boil, indicating her Lava Release ability, while Ao, cold and monotone as always, stood out as the second most powerful among the Rebel Fleet.
Although they were far away, I sensed the enemy patrol fleet nearby, only about fifty kilometers separating the two fleets. They would engage soon.
My analysis proved correct a few minutes later when my clone popped, signaling me to take action.
I quickly reapplied Dustless Bewildering Cover and descended carefully back onto the catwalk. The lone ninja inside the radio room was still by himself, much to my relief. This would be easy.
I snuck up on him and crystallized his body in an instant; he didn't even have time to yelp in surprise before he was dead, his chakra replenishing my reserves.
I dropped Dustless Bewildering Cover and quickly shot a small crystal bullet at the only ninja hawk present, rendering the base incapable of sending a message via air. I shattered the crystal statue of the ninja to erase evidence and did the same with the hawk.
Short-circuiting the radio was easy and silent enough to avoid detection. I planned to detonate it more just to be safe, but first, I wanted to wait for Yoru; I would hate to fry her along with the ships. I sensed that she was already away from the ships and heading toward me, so I could spare a minute for us to enjoy the chaos together.
Yoru arrived in under two minutes, following the same route I did, a wide, almost human-like grin on her face. She looked like she was enjoying herself before coming here, most likely pranking some poor fishermen.
"Explode it. Now, now! I wanna see!" she almost whined, making puppy-dog eyes at me—or were they kitty eyes in this case?
I couldn't deny that I was eager to see how my enhanced explosive seals worked, so I created a simple earth clone with the sole task of destroying the entire radio room once the explosions occurred.
Meanwhile, I took Yoru up to the lighthouse roof and settled there leisurely, just outside of view. Yoru climbed into my lap, peering over the edge with wide eyes.
"Y'know, I know a ninja who would consider an explosion like this the highest form of art." I chuckled playfully at the grinning cat, hoping she never met Deidara; she would want to adopt that guy into the cat family in a heartbeat.
"He sounds cool," Yoru nodded, as if the description alone had earned him some kind of royal approval.
"Well, let's see then." I raised one of my hands and formed a half-tiger seal.
"Boom."
Contrary to what my declaration suggested, the explosion was not loud, but the effect was just as destructive as I had hoped. Lightning shot through the ships from within, breaking the keels apart and creating multiple large holes in the wooden construction.
The sinking was slow, but these ships weren't going anywhere anytime soon.
"Aaaaw! No big fireball..." Yoru whined from my lap, though her eyes still sparkled with excitement.
"Maybe next time. Now, try to find the commander of this place; getting rid of him would be nice, too," I said, giving her a final headpat.
We got up just as the lighthouse shook from the eruption of several large stone spikes from the radio room. It was safe to say the radio would be unusable for quite some time, certainly not soon enough to save their patrol fleet.
I quickly used Hirenkyaku to vanish back into the city and created a Shadow Clone to monitor this base. If they somehow managed to send a distress call, my clone would ensure that civilian vessels couldn't leave the harbor.
I planned to head to assist our fleet, especially in case Yagura showed up. Fortunately, I ran across a hastily assembled patrol and decided to recharge my chakra. In their panicked state, they did not expect the seemingly ordinary kid to be the infiltrator they were looking for.
With a single touch to their arms as they ran past me, they were crystallized on the spot. My reserves were not yet full, but I was at about seventy percent. The run to my allies should cost no more than twenty percent of my chakra, leaving me with about half power, more than enough to fight and recharge myself on the spot.
After completely draining the crystallized ninjas of chakra, I ensured they were shattered into microscopic specks, hoping to create even more chaos after the enemies realized that one of the patrols had not returned.
Yoru could stay here and play for as long as she liked, as long as she wasn't seen doing something too wild. Despite her strength, she wasn't really a frontline fighter; that role belonged to Zangetsu.
And if Yagura decided to fight again, I would be summoning him for help once more, even he wanted that rematch.
I sped away from the harbor, using Hirenkyaku repeatedly to escape, hopefully without being detected. Short bursts of speed like this consumed less chakra than sprinting on water. However, I would still prefer a ride.
I extended my senses again, tuning in to the battle about to commence between my allies and Yagura's men. The numbers were in our favor so far, but I expected Kirigakure to send reinforcements as soon as they received a distress call. Those would be left to my allies to handle; my eyes were set on a rematch with Yagura.
If the report of Mei being this close to Kirigakure reached him, there was no way he would remain passive. Like us, he would want to end this war, and what better way to do so than to kill the leader?
As long as I was there, though, I liked our chances, especially with Mei there to back me up. I had already tested my Bankai on the unfortunate samurai the Water Daimyo sent my way, and now it was time to explore some of its advanced abilities. The only thing I needed was a particularly durable target.