Tokuhei chased rapidly after Juichi. After travelling a bit, he encountered Juichi's clone. He immediately recognized that it was a clone.
He wanted to ignore it and move around, but the clone attacked him. After a small clash, Tokuhei managed to injure the clone and dispel it.
After reaching the place where he fought with Juichi, he found another clone. Not seeing Juichi anywhere, Tokuhei decided to take his anger out on the clone.
The water clone saw Tokuhei and immediately attacked with Water bullets. Tokuhei made a few hand signs.
'Earth Release : Mud Wall jutsu'
He spat out a mud wall in front of him to block the attack.
The Mud wall blocked all the water bullets. Tokuhei made a few more hand signs and slammed his right palm on the mud wall. The mud wall immediately began shooting out mud shurikens at the water clone.
However, the clone managed to dodge everything. The speed of the mud shurikens was slower due to the drag inside the water.
The two exchanged more attacks. As they kept fighting, Tokuhei's mood kept getting worse. Though the clone didn't manage to land any hits on him, the fact that he couldn't defeat the clone of a not-so-famous Jounin for so long hurt his pride!
After a couple of minutes, the clone's chakra was almost exhausted.
It stopped attacking and said, "There is no need to fight anymore."
Tokuhei stopped, but his face was ugly!
The clone smirked on seeing his expression. He said, "My main body has already escaped far away. You will never be able to catch him. I can tell you that my main body has no intention of returning to the Land of Hot Water. However, if you keep hunting me persistently, I will give up on a peaceful life and go back to the Land of Hot Water occasionally to kill your civilians. Convey this message to your Daimyo."
Tokuhei's face was ugly. However, he didn't reply. There was no point in talking with a Water clone. After all, the message wouldn't travel to the main body. Seeing his ugly face, the water clone laughed.
His body began dispersing. Hearing his laughter finally pushed Tokuhei off the edge. He moved forward. A Mud spear formed in his right hand. It solidified instantly and he threw it at the clone. He thought, 'At the very least, I will dispel this clone!'
Juichi's clone smiled and made a hand sign. His water body's shape began deforming. The mud spear passed through its body without harming it. The clone's body transformed into a water blade that slashed at Tokuhei's face.
At such a close distance, Tokuhei had no time to harden his skin. He immediately tried moving out of the way. The Water blade hit his right cheek and left a cut on it.
The cut wasn't serious. However, it was a big slap to his face. It was a big blow to his pride. After such a pitiful performance, with what face could he ask the Daimyo for more funds?
Not wanting to give up like that, he tried searching for Juichi fruitlessly!
After killing Mitsuzuka, Renjiro stored his body and left for where Fumimaro and his clone had clashed to check if any trails were available.
Meanwhile, Fujin, Mieko and Hoka tried to search for others. Renjiro's clone followed them silently. After searching for some time, Hoka finally saw Shusaku fighting against an enemy.
Not having any way to sneak attack in the middle of the sea, they decided to attack from the front. They immediately flickered towards them.
Shusaku and Saga Shoraku were equally matched against each other. Both had water affinity. They had just clashed with each other and were separated by a few meters when the trio flickered in and attacked without warning.
Fujin was the first one to attack. He attacked from a distance with the Air Bullet jutsu. Hoka followed up with a Vacuum palm.
Shoraku had just noticed the trio when the attack arrived. He hurriedly made hand signs for Water Wall jutsu and tried getting out of the way.
Fujin's air bullets pierced through the water wall with ease. Many of them hit Shoraku. But none hit him in a critical area. However, he was hurt and bleeding.
The pain diverted his attention and he couldn't avoid Hoka's attack. Hoka's attack hit his heart and made him cough blood.
Mieko didn't do a ranged attack and instead sped up towards him. She flickered in front of Shoraku right after Hoka's attack hit him and slit his throat.
Shusaku was dumbfounded. The opponent that he was struggling with was killed so easily by the three kids he doubted!
Fujin looked at the stunned Shusaku and asked, "Are you aware of where your fellow ninjas are?"
Shusaku shook his head, "No. But what happened to your opponents?"
Mieko replied haughtily, "They are dead obviously."
Unlike Fujin, Mieko took pleasure from Shusaku's stunned face. She was aware that the Yugakure ninjas underestimated them. Replying in this way felt satisfying.
Fujin sighed and said, "We will have to search for them in the open seas. It's so tedious!"
Mieko and Hoka nodded. While the open seas didn't have any obstacles, it was way too big. Even with the huge range of Hoka's sight and Fujin's chakra field, it was difficult to find them.
Mieko said, "Let's go look for someone else too."
Fujin nodded, "Yeah, let's move."
The trio were about to move, when Shusaku asked with an embarrassed expression, "Can I come with you as well?"
Fujin looked at Hoka and Mieko. Both their faces showed that they didn't want him. He chuckled internally.
Fujin answered, "No. We have never worked with you before. So our teamwork will be affected. It'll be better if we search in opposite directions. That would double our chances of finding someone and helping them."
Fujin, Mieko and Hoka flickered without waiting for Shusaku's reply. Renjiro's clone, who was keeping a watch from afar, chuckled and followed them. Shusaku never sensed Renjiro's clone.
Shusaku watched the trio with a dumbfounded expression. He thought, 'This is the first time I have felt 3 kids looking at me as if I was useless. The kids in my village look up to me! Besides, how can my scouting skills compare to that of a Hyuga?'
He shook his head and stored the body of the dead rogue ninja and went in the opposite direction.
The trio continued searching for around 10 minutes but didn't find anyone.
Mieko complained, "What the hell? How long are we going to search in these open seas? There is no one here!"
Hoka nodded.
Fujin thought for a bit. He made a hand sign.
'Shadow Clone jutsu'
He used Shadow clone jutsu multiple times until he made 6 clones. The clones immediately dispersed in different directions with their chakra field activated. Mieko and Hoka noticed that.
Hoka said, "That's smart Fujin!"
Mieko asked in an annoying tone, "Why didn't you use this tactic earlier?"
Fujin shrugged his hands and answered, "Experienced ninjas are able to know when they are being sensed. Especially if they are sensors. If they notice my clones, they will just run away. And with us being far away from our clones, the enemy will run away by the time we reach there."
Mieko understood Fujin's reasoning. She said, "That makes sense."
The trio waited at their spot. After a few minutes, one clone dispelled itself. Fujin received his memories. He said, "One of my clones found two Yugakure ninjas. They are carrying the dead body of the enemy they chased."
Hoka sighed, "Well, that's useless for us."
Fujin nodded. He created another Shadow clone which replaced the one who dispelled.
Fujin's clones searched for half an hour without any success. With their chakra dropping low, all dispelled themselves.
Fujin received their memories and said, "It's hopeless. They didn't find anyone!"
He looked back and said, "Not even your main body Sensei."
Renjiro's clone appeared behind them and said, "It means that they are fighting too far into the sea. Leave it, there is no point in trying to find others anymore. Let's return to the beach and meet up with my other clone."
The trio sighed and followed him. After a few minutes, they returned to the beach and met up with the clone of Renjiro who was looking after the two captured enemies. The other clone had dispelled himself to send memories to Renjiro.
After meeting up, Renjiro's clone that was following his students also dispelled himself. Renjiro, who was a long way into the sea, received the memories of his clone. He thought, 'Of the 9 we chased, 5 chunins and their leader are confirmed dead. Fumimaro escaped. And we don't know the status of the other two.'
He sighed, 'I guess this will be the extent of completing this mission. It's difficult to kill every one of them. Especially the Jounins.'
Knowing that the search for Fumimaro was pointless, Renjiro decided to return to the beach.
