Chapter 68: Uncertainty, Departure and Shores

Chapter 68: Uncertainty, Departure and Shores

_________ POV Narration _________

The expedition continued.

What remained of the Shinobi Alliance was now restless and sceptical, all of them had experienced loss.

The headcount had led to them realising that they had lost around 2600 men and women. Their total numbers were currently at 4900 Shinobi. Still a sizable force, but not as overwhelming as when they had started...

The Kage were completely stumped. They had lost almost half of their troops in the span of one day. They had also lost 2 Kage, and A, a Kage-level figure, who was currently considered MIA(missing in action).

But despite their great losses, they could still have a chance to take on the Uzumaki.

Even by the most generous estimations, the Uzumaki Clan's Shinobi only numbered around 1800, if they counted Genin, which would normally not go to war.

The problem was that the Uzumaki genes led to those shinobi all being more powerful than normal. A Chunin Uzumaki was FAR stronger than any Chunin from all of the other nations.

Only Konoha had an advantage when it came to bloodlines, but they were allies.

Some Uzumaki Shinobi were weaker, such as those that had their bloodline a bit more watered down. But the Uzumaki were still a dangerous force.

The numerical advantage was a necessity when facing the Uzumaki, otherwise, it would be impossible to defeat them.

Now, their previously overwhelming number advantage was widdled down to a mere 1-4 advantage...

The Shinobi Alliance would lose if every Uzumaki Shinobi managed to take down at least 4 enemies... And they had a massive advantage, as the battle was inevitably going to happen in their own territory.

And that meant one thing...

'The extermination of the Uzumaki is no longer set in stone...' Yusuzo couldn't help but shake his head as he walked over to his own ship and walked into his quarters.

To add another layer atop that... Their Shinobi Alliance's morale was now dead in the waters.

In the short span of one day, the people that were steadfast and confident took a turn for the worst.

Jonin watched their students get swallowed up by the harsh and unforgiving whirlpools, comraderies and families were broken on the spot.

After watching their comrades die one by one their Confidence turned to paranoia, as the prospect of traitors being among them was still the subject of rumours among the remaining troops.

Yusuzo only speculated that there was one culprit, he didn't have any real evidence. They had no way of knowing even how many people were involved in the attacks.

The steadfast and loyal nature of the Shinobi in the alliance quickly turned to distrust... After all, how could they not be distrustful of the leaders that had placed them in such situations?

Alas, the Shinobi were still fiercely loyal to their respective villages, so there was little to no concern about them defecting.

Still, there was no joy to be found amongst their troops.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

The one silver lining, the ray of hope amidst the abyssal seas that surrounded them... Was the thought that they only had a few more hours of the journey left.

On land, they would no longer have to worry about the waters drowning them. There, they would be able to feel safer.

But no one was able to relax. Not yet.

The waters were strangely calm, but they had no way of knowing when they would be attacked next.

Underneath the waters, Ken still rested, swimming only to keep up with the small fleet of the Shinobi Alliance.

He knew that he had done a lot of damage, but at the same time, he realised that he couldn't do much more of it.

The Shinobi were all on high alert, and most of the cannon fodder had already been purged. Those that were left were either especially skilled Chunin, Special Jonin, or regular Jonin.

At that point, there was little that his whirlpools would be able to do. Besides slowing down the alliance, of course, but that much wasn't going to do anything.

_________ POV Ken _________

...

What should my next move here be?

On one hand, I could try to make a few more whirlpools, hoping to kill off a few more shinobi with them.

But at the same time, I think they're already used to this type of attack.

It's unlikely that I'll be able to kill more than 100, which doesn't really make much of a dent in the remaining numbers...

I could try planting a few more bombs, but I don't have any... I could also try destroying more ships with my claws, but at this point, doing too much might risk them realising who I am.

Getting too close to the ships in general is much harder now that everyone's got their eyes on the waters.

Thing is, the second they reach land, I won't be able to do much of anything to them without risking getting found out.

"A numerical advantage so insignificant that it will turn to nothing when we enter their territory...

They're Fuinjutsu Masters, Lord Raikage... We're jumping in their backyard, feel free to expect the absolute worst." Yadaya was unimpressed with his attempt.

"... Even if we're evenly matched, we still have more powerful figures on our side. We have Lord Tsuchikage, Lord Raikage, and even a Jinchuriki!" One of the other Kage also tried to persuade Yadaya, but that seemed to backfire on him...

"Oh yeah?! So glad that our alliance has such powerful figures! Tell me now, how exactly do you plan to gain anything from this, hmm?" Yadaya glared at the Kage in question, putting him on blast instantly.

The Kage stumbled a bit, as he seemed confused for a few seconds.

"Tsk, so much indignation in your voice, yet you're the one being a coward!" The Raikage didn't give him time to respond, unfortunately.

Yadaya didn't seem afraid to speak out either, he turned his gaze to the Raikage and scowled.

"Currently, the ones that have already taken the most casualties and losses are us, the Smaller Nations..."

Yadaya's voice echoed throughout the room, as the Kage of the smaller nations listened attentively.

"As things stand, even if we do win against the Uzumaki, we will incur heavy losses. At the same time, most of us smaller Kage haven't been left with too many forces to move..."

At that point, most of the faces in the room seemed to turn sour, as Yadaya pointed out a very possible reality to them.

"How exactly will we, smaller nations, benefit anything from this?!

Even if we band together, all of us, we still wouldn't be able to do anything against the Cloud and the Rock, put the Waterfall and their Jinchuriki in, and there will be nothing left for us..."

The smaller Kage in the room all seemed to be shocked by that statement, many of them taking in the information with scowls on their face.

'Shit! This is the worst outcome that could've come out of this whole meeting...' noki could feel some veins popping as he grits his teeth.

"We have already agreed to split up the rewards evenly between us! That was a premise of this entire Alliance!" noki quickly refuted, hoping to take everyone's thoughts away from the war that was bound to start after the Uzumaki supposedly fell.

"... I am sure we all know that wouldn't have been the case... All of our nations have been preparing for a 'Third Great Shinobi War' for a while now... We all know when it was going to start." Yadaya shook his head, further angering noki.

For a split second, noki even considered killing Yadaya on the spot. But he quickly shook that thought out of his head.

It was the worst possible solution, to the point where it didn't count as one. It would end up further raising tensions with the Smaller Nations and painting a huge target on his back.

Still, the fact that noki even considered it, meant that Yadaya was really getting to him... But how couldn't he?

With his departure, more were bound to leave as well. It was only a matter of when.

Unfortunately for them, the meeting didn't lead to much after that... Yadaya was hell-bent on leaving.

And with him went around 350 Able-bodied Shinobi that could've helped in the war...

And after he left, the worst possible outcome stared noki in the eye... Three more Kage left. The ones that had incurred the most losses due to Ken's attacks.

They simply didn't feel like they stood to gain anything more from continuing to fight alongside the Alliance. So, they decided to cut their losses...

Together, their forces were only compromised of around 600 Shinobi.

And with that, the overall force of the Shinobi Alliance was down to approximately 3950 Shinobi.

And when seeing their numerical advantage dwindle, two more of the Smaller Villages pulled out.

At that point, noki couldn't even do anything about it... The snowball was already rolling.

Yusuzo could also only curse their misfortune at that point... The Raikage was also ripping out his hair, his frustrations aided by the fact that his son A, was still missing.

Even worse, the ones responsible for all of their misfortune weren't even there.

'It's all because of that man... The Grey Fox...'

That was what the other Shinobi in the Alliance had started calling him, the only one that had been seen among their saboteurs.

The uncertainty such a figure provided made things a lot worse... And now, with the departure of those other two nations, there were only 5 Nations left in the Alliance...

And all of their numbers together only amounted to around 3100 Shinobi.

At that point, noki could only bury his face in his own hands...

'Just as I had feared... We lost before we even reached the shores...'

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Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry for the short break, wanted to relax a day before writing again.

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