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…
He flickers towards the group.
-------------
In a small restaurant,
Ayaka and the girls are hiding under a table. They warily stare at the group of sky ninja flying through the skies.
"Why does it feel like a repeat of the previous incident?" Ayaka remarks.
"Because it is!" Yakumo nods.
"Ayaka-chan! Yakumo-chan! Do you know them?" Kanami asks them.
"They are the sky shinobis from the Land of Sky. A few days ago, they launched an attack on our village but were easily repelled by Konoha shinobis." Hanabi replies to her.
"So now they are targeting our nation." Kanami grips her saber.
"Your girls, stay here! I have to join the fight to protect my village."
Whoosh…
Kanami flickers out of the restaurant.
Mm…
"Ayaka! Do you think Sensei will be alright?" Hanabi inquires with worry.
"Of course! Sensei is strong! I heard he is even stronger than the Hokage." Yakumo nods her head.
Tap… tap…
A pair of hands poke their head.
Eek…
The girls freak out the sudden attack.
"What are you girls gossiping about?" Izuna appears in front of them.
Phew…
They heave a sigh of relief.
"It's you Sensei! I thought it was an enemy for a second!" Hanabi takes a deep breath to calm herself.
"Alright girls! It's time to depart for the Land of Sky."
Izuna walks out of the restaurant. The girls closely follow beside him.
They look around but fail to notice a boat or ship.
"Sensei! The Land of Sky is on another island. How will we reach there?"
"We already have a boat!"
Izuna points towards the sky.
The girls raise their heads and notice the flying ship of the Sky.
"But that's the enemy ship."
"It sure is!"
Whoosh…
Izuna jumps on top of a building and grabs a flying Sky ninja.
"Shinobi Battle Skill #4 Deception"
Swoosh… Bang…
Izuna pulls down the flying sky shinobi and knocks him out.
Poof…
He transforms into the sky shinobi and ties the winged flying mechanical device around his waist and takes flight.
"You three have five minutes to follow after me. This is a test of your infiltration skills. If you can infiltrate the sky ship without being discovered and successfully reach the Land of Sky, then you will pass my test."
Whoosh…
Izuna flies away in distance and disappears from their vision.
"Another test?"
Ayaka grit her teeth in anger.
"Let's go!"
Yakumo takes out a painting scroll from her storage and makes some brush strokes.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan"
Ayaka activates her Sharingan and traps an enemy in her genjutsu.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm"
Hanabi knocks out another sky shinobi from the sky.
Poof… poof… poof…
They transform into the sky shinobis and fly towards the sky ship with the help of the Mechanical winged devices.
----------------
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.