Chapter 318: 309. Infiltrating Land of Sky Part-1
Boom... boom...
The sailor shinobis and the sky shinobis engage in fierce combat.
Izuna calmly stares at the battle without making any move.
'My shadow clones will ensure the safety of the civilians, but I won't interfere with the battle.
This attack from Sky will serve two purposes. Lately, the ego of the merchants of the Benisu island has inflated a lot. They are manipulating the market of the world of the shinobi by creating artificial demand and supply leading to inflation.
This will serve as a lesson for them and will tone down their ambitions.
Secondly, well... it is an opportunity for me to earn some big cash to fund my organization.'
Izuna takes another sip of the tea and slowly places it on the table.
"Ezume-san! I am sorry but I have to evacuate from this place and I hope you do the same."
Izuna grabs his supplies and prepares to jump through the window.
"Wait!"
Ezume has a flustered expression.
"Izuna-san! You are a powerful shinobi, right?! Please lend the merchant association a hand." He pleads to Izuna.
Hmm...
Izuna stops in his tracks. He has a smile on his face as Ezume takes the bait.
"Well..."
Izuna turns around with a serious expression.
"Ezume-san! I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am currently in the middle of another important S-Rank mission issued by the village. Also, looking at the scale of this attack; it can easily be an above S-Rank mission. Such missions are quite risky and one can lose their life if they aren't prepared."
Izuna helplessly shakes his head.
"I... I..."
Ezume stutters as he is unable to refute Izuna's words.
"I may not be able to lend a hand, but I know a few powerful Konoha shinobis who are present on this island that might help you in your current situation."
"Really?!" Izuna's words spark some hope in Ezume's eyes.
"Yes! But they don't have any incentive to lend help. So, I am afraid it's not easy to convince them. You get what I mean... Ezume-san?!"
Izuna drops some hints at Ezume.
"Please summon them. I will convince them with handsome rewards." Ezume drops on his knees and pleads to Izuna.
"Please stand up, Ezume-san! Don't embarrass me like that!"
Izuna hurriedly stops Ezume.
"I will immediately summon them, but bear in mind all of them are S-Rank shinobis and their price might be a bit too high."
"It's alright! Merchant association lacks anything but funds!" Ezume nods his head.
"Alright!"
Izuna jumps out of the window and flickers away.
"I hope the personals of the association won't suffer any harm!" Ezume stares at Izuna's back with worry.
Whoosh...
Izuna flickers in a nearby alley.
Swish...
He makes a hand seal.
Poof... Poof...
Seven shadow clones appear in front of him.
"You know what to do!" Izuna signals to them.
"Just leave it to us!"
Swish... swish...
The clones transform into masked shinobis and flicker towards the merchant association.
"I will be making some quick buck if these clones follow the script."
Izuna has a sly smile on his face.
"My acting and scriptwriting skills have improved a lot. Now, I have to polish my directing skills. But for now, let me search for Ayaka and the rest."
Izuna closes his eyes and senses their chakra.
"Found them! They are on another island!"
Whoosh...
Poof... poof... poof...
They transform into the sky shinobis and fly towards the sky ship with the help of the Mechanical winged devices.
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On top of the sky ship,
"Damn it! Where did these shinobis come from?"
The captain of the fleet grinds his teeth in anger as he stares at multiple masked shinobis wreaking havoc on his sky fleet.
"Retreat!"
He signals his subordinates to retreat.
"If I suffer a loss here, then I won't be able to face commander's wrath. Besides, we have already fulfilled our purpose."
He pulls out a crystal orb. The orb is glowing with dark purple chakra.
"This is enough dark chakra to power the flying fortress for another month."
He stows away the crystal orb and signals to his second-in-command.
"Order your men to do a thorough inspection of every shinobi. I don't want another case of the second shinobi war incident."
"Yes, Captain!"
The subordinate nods his head and leads his men to inspect every sky shinobi.
On a corner of the ship,
Gulp...
Three sky shinobis gulp their saliva.
"Do you think they will catch us?"
One of them asks the other.
"I hope not!"
The sky shinobis inspect every shinobi one by one. The guard arrives in front of them.
"You three! Present your chakra tag."
"Chakra tag?!"
The trio cluelessly stares at the guard.
"Umm... we are new recruits! So, we don't know what chakra tags are?"
"What?!"
The guard's expression turns ugly.
"You THREE!"
Before he could any more words.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan"
Ayaka quickly activates her Sharingan and places him under a genjutsu.
Hmm...
"What's the matter?!"
The rest of the guards turn towards the first guard.
"You three are fine. Next!"
The first guard returns to his senses and continues the inspection.
Phew...
"That was a close call!"
The trio heaves a sigh of relief.
At the other corner of the ship,
Another shinobi stares at the trio and smiles slightly.
"Looks like they have successfully completed the first step!"
He nods his head in satisfaction.
'Naruto world is all about a shinobi, a ninja who is a master of deceit and covert operations. Although in the latter half of the series, the skills of a ninja became irrelevant but these skills are still an integral part of a shinobi's growth. Who knows, they might come in handy in sticky situations?'
Izuna nods his head and stares at the captain, who is gazing at his subordinates.
Hmm...
"From his expression, it looks like he is surely up to something! Well, that's none of my concern, at least for now!"
Fwoosh...
Izuna hides his presence and fades into shadows.