Chapter 220: Battle on the High Seas 04


    The team of 3 Genin and one shadow clone were quickly making their way to the warship.


    "Wow. I can''t believe how big this ship is." Lee said as the team came close to the sea vessel.


    "Yeah. And that cannon in the front. A weapon like that could do some serious damage." Tenten looked at the giant cannon and spoke.


    "Concentrate you two. We''re here. And they have several people waiting for us on board." Neji used his Byakugan and saw that their approach had already been detected.


    Daichi''s shadow clone smirked as he heard that. "Well then let''s not disappoint them."


    The Genins quicklyunched themselves onto the side of the ship and made their way up. They saw over a dozen men with weapons and malicious grins waiting for them.


    But among them was one with a menacing aura. The middle aged man had long grey hair, striking blue eyes, a crow tattoo under the right eye, sharp jawline and light skin. He was wearing a dark blue jacket, ck pants and shoes and had a headband with the symbol of the Mist vige crossed off in the middle.


    Daichi upon seeing the man knew he was stronger than your average ninja. He immediately used ''observe'' skill.


    [LV.64] [Maki Reijiro]


    Age: 51


    HP: 7452 CP: 11644


    Affiliation: diator pirates.


    [Maki Reijiro was a former ninja from the Hidden Mist vige. He is a ninja with above average talents who became a Chunin during the 3rd world war. His unique features are his high affinity towards Water chakra nature and higher than average chakra reserves. He is also a talented shipwright due to his father. Almost a year ago he was forced to take the me for a crime he didn''tmit under the orders of his Kage and had to flee the vige. Before the Hunter ninjas of the vige could kill him he was saved by the Lightning Twins and he has been with them since. He no longer cares about anyone other than a few certain people in his crew. He has gotten old and his fighting skills have diminished. To make up for hiscking strength he uses special items. He is wearing a Rare Rank armor and wielding the Special rank item, the Frost Sword. Both, made by Katsura Sadoshi, another member of the crew.


    STR - 152


    AGI - 130


    INT - 55


    The physical stats maybe subjected to change if chakra or technique is applied. ]


    Daichi internally sighed as he saw the info disyed in the blue box. ''Another guy used and discarded by the vige. It''s no wonder Kisame left that vige and joined Obito. I kinda feel bad for the guy but I''ve already decided not to show mercy to my enemies.''


    Daichi paid close attention to the stat and level of his enemy. ''Even though this guy and Akamine were of the same shinobi rank their level and skills are vastly different. Even if he''s not in his prime he''s a lot stronger than that guy Akamine His chakra level and stats are far higher And what''s this? Frost Sword?... Is that what I think it is?''


    Daichi looked at the man and the most noticeable item in his possession was the sword he was holding in his right arm. The sword was more like a katana. The de was deep blue and shining in an almost ethereal manner. The hilt and guard were made of special darkened steel like material. The de of the weapon was emitting a light blue mist.


    ''Observe''


    [Frost Sword] [Special Item: Rank A]


    [The Frost Sword is a Special Ranked item created by Katsura Sadoshi. It is his greatest creation till date. This weapon is created by studying the Kekkei Genkai gics of a member of the Yuki n and the DNA is extracted and used in creating this sword. This sword can freeze water, create andunch massive waves of ice and more. Only someone with higher than average chakra reserves and one with high affinity to Water can use this sword. This is a melee weapon that can shoot ice projectiles and can be used both defensively and offensively.


    Note: This sword was created using the blood of a member of The Yuki n and thus it can create Ice and mimic the abilities of that n.


    Members not part of the Yuki n can use this sword but the chakra cost is high.


    Members of the Yuki n can use this sword with minimal chakra cost.]


    Daichi was shocked by what his system showed him. ''A sword that can mimic the abilities of the Yuki n? Unbelievable. To create something like that I must have it. I need to study it. That sword will definitely help me inpleting my water Nature training And the man who made that sword. Katsura Sadoshi. I want him working for me.''


    Several ns formed in Daichi''s mind in moments and after a few seconds he decided on a certain course of action. ''I can''t let the creator of a weapon like that get taken by Kakashi or any other vige. I want him on my side. But I''m pretty sure he won''t like the way I do it. If my ns work, then the gamble I take will pay off significantly.''


    Maki looked at the genins and made a decision. He motioned to his men to get back. ''They will only be fodder to these Genin. It''s best not to waste manpower.'' He then looked at the 4 Leaf Genin and spoke. "You kids are a long way from home. You should have left when you had the chance."


    "We have a mission toplete and we aren''t leaving here without doing so."


    "Yes. You kidnaped innocent people and held them hostage so their families would work in the mines. We wouldn''t turn our backs on them at such a time."


    Tenten and Lee said getting into a battle stance. Neji was silent but he also prepared himself for the fight.


    "Guys, be careful of that sword. It doesn''t look ordinary. I think it''s like that armor these guys have." Daichi didn''t want the other Genin''s to get blindsided but he didn''t give his teammates any more information.


    Maki heard Daichi and smirked. "You have a good eye on you kid. And you''re right. This sword is indeed special and you''ll see its abilities up close real soon."


    The former Mist ninja made a seal and thick fog suddenly formed around them.


    Daichi had his senses on high alert and was easily keeping track of the enemy. ''Hidden Mist Jutsu. But that won''t work. Especially with Neji and me here.''


    "He''sing! 2.4 meters north east of us." Neji quickly shouted to Lee and Tenten.


    Maki stopped his approach as soon as he heard that. ''So I was right. This kid is from the Hyuga n. That means he can see me with those eyes. Looks like I''ll have to use the ocean as my battleground. Can''t damage the ship.''


    He quickly formed seals and spit out sticky water aimed at the Genin''s feet.


    "Jump!" Neji saw the attacking and shouted.


    Maki smirked as his n worked. Channeling chakra to his sword he swung it in the Genin''s direction. A small blizzard was created and tossed the 4 Leaf ninjas on to the ocean a short distance away from the ship and it cleared the mist.


    All of themnded on the water without any problems and Daichi made sure to reinforce his shadow clone body with chakra to make sure he didn''t get dispelled.


    "What happened? Where did that blizzarde from?" Tenten looked towards the ship and was surprised.


    "It''s the sword. He channeled some of his chakra into it and the next second he was able to create that blizzard." Neji said to his teammates.


    "A sword that can create blizzards? I''ve neve heard of anything like that!" Tenten eximed in shock.


    "I have a feeling that sword can do a lot more than just create snow storms." Daichi spoke to make sure they remained on high alert.


    Maki jumped from the ship and made several seals as hended on the ocean. The second his feet touched the water several tendril of water shot out and attacked the 4 Genin.


    The Leaf ninjas quickly evaded the water style jutsu. Neji and Lee were rushing towards the Mist ninja to engage in closebat while Tenten and clone Daichi stood back to provide support.


    As the two Taijutsu specialists of Team Guy charged towards the enemy, Maki had a devious grin and channeled chakra to his sword. "Ice time."


    The next second the water in front of him started freezing and quickly the ice spread in the direction of Lee and Neji. The eyes of the three Genin widened as they saw the attacking.


    Neji and Lee jumped to the side to avoid the ice attack but Maki didn''t let up. He channeled more chakra to his Frost Sword and sharp ice crystals formed on the surface of the ice tform and it shot towards the two ninjas at high speed.


    A fireball from Daichi''s clone quickly intercepted the long dangerous looking ice shards and reduced them to vapor.


    At that time several shuriken, kunai and paper bombs wereing towards Maki and sessfully hit their target. The paper bombs exploded, consuming the enemy ninja.


    "Got him!" Tentennded a short ways away with a scroll wide opened in her hands. She smirked as she looked at the sess of her attack.


    But her victorious feeling was short-lived when several water bullets shot out of the ocean surface targeting her. Luckily Daichi used chakra strings to pull her out of the way just in time.


    "Don''t let your guard down." Daichi told them and the Genins regrouped. A few meters away the enemy shinobi appeared.


    Maki was impressed with Daichi''s reflexes. "You think you can save them? Think again!"


    He gripped his sword with both hands, focused his chakra into it and swung it as hand as he could. "Ice storm!"


    Daichi''s senses alerted him to the sudden drop in temperature. "Brace yourselves!" A sudden thick snowy storm sted their way and ice crystals slowly started to form on the 4 Genins bodies. The bodies of water around them became frozen solid in a few seconds.


    Neji, Lee and Tenten had a hard time moving their bodies as they tried to shield their faces. The Hyuga had an idea as to what their enemy was trying to aplish. ''He''s trying to reduce our movement so he can kill us with a more lethal attack.''


    Daichi, even though had a few ice crystals forming on him, looked rtively calm but he was cautious. ''I can''t let myself get dispelled. Time to really help these guys and stop holding back.''


    Daichi increased the chakra flow in his body and turned it into fire nature, increasing his body heat. He then created several elemental strings and attached them to his three teammates.


    Channeling Fire Chakra to the strings, Daichi regted their body temperature and their surroundings. Thus the ice crystals forming on their bodies melted and disappeared.


    "Wow, I only feel mildly cold. Daichi you''re awesome." Lee moved his hands and looked at his friend with a grin.


    "Your ninjutsu skills are really impressive. How did you do that? Wait. Did you just use chakra strings?" Tenten asked the boy. She and Lee couldn''t see the chakra strings but knew about them due to their previous mission. But there was one who could see it as clear as day.


    ''To change the properties to such a degree so quickly. His control has gotten better from thest time Hmm He did say ninjutsu was his specialty.'' Neji was reminded yet again why Daichi was the best in their generation.


    "Yes. He used chakra strings and attached them to our bodies. He changed their properties to Fire Nature to increase the temperature around us." Neji said but he didn''t borate anymore.


    "That''s incredible. Just like on thest mission. Except this time you''re protecting us instead of fishes." Tenten said. She knew using Nature chakra was advanced stuff.


    "Its no big deal. And besides, we should focus on that guy. He''s probably going to stop using his jutsu any second now that he can see the snow storm has no effect on us." Daichi remained in guard and looked at the enemy.


    The gamer ninja was right. Maki scowled seeing his jutsu fail. ''Damn it. I thought this would trap them but it looks like there''s one among them who''s a proficient fire user And I used quite a bit of my reserves for that. I need to be more careful.''


    At that moment he saw Daichi disappear and immediately got away using substitution jutsu.


    The next second Daichi appeared near the spot Maki previously stood and narrowed his eyes. The boy used ''Mana scout'' and immediately located the man under water a short distance away.


    Neji also tracked the enemy with his eyes. He and his team prepared to attack but stopped when they saw Daichi making several seals.


    ''Water Style - Tearing Ripples.''


    A powerful water current in the form of a veryrge ripple wave formed underwater and spread from Daichi''s feet. It wasrge and shot in all directions with extraordinary speed.


    Daichi smirked as he looked at the effects of the jutsu. ''A powerful B Rank underwater jutsu. Creates several ripples one after the other and ms into your opponent. I can even adjust the angle when a new ripple is formed and this will make my enemy keep dodging. This will force you to either go up and out of the water or go deeper into the ocean and if you do so then your body will start to feel the water pressure. Stay below too long and you''ll die''


    Maki saw therge powerful wavesing in his direction and knew that moving down would only bring about his end. He quickly used chakra to swim to the top as fast as he could and reached the surface.


    The next second Daichi and team Guy were on him but when their attacksnded, the man turned into a water clone.


    Maki resurfaced several meters away but this time he didn''t have the jovial attitude he had at the beginning.


    "He''s a slippery one. And with that sword it''ll be difficult to bring him down." Lee said, looking at the man.


    Neji was using the Byakugan the whole time and made a deduction. "It might not be as difficult as you think Lee. Whenever he uses that sword, his chakra is consumed at a higher than average rate. If we can force him to use up his chakra or destroy that sword then we can defeat him without much difficulty."


    "Destroying that sword is not an option." Daichi said to them.


    The three Genin of team Guy looked at Daichi and frowned. Seeing their questioning gazes the boy answered. "I want to study that sword. If possible, I want to take it from him and use it to improve my Nature training. So destroying the sword is out of the question."


    Tenten and Lee readily nodded since Lee is Daichi''s friend and Tenten was fascinated with the weapons as well. Neji just frowned but a few secondster he gave a short nod as well.


    "I''ll take that sword away from him and you guys engage in closebat. Tenten, you should take any openings Lee and Neji provide. Everyone ready?"


    The three Genin of Team Guy nodded to Daichi''s n.


    Maki saw the gamer ninja quickly forming seals and then sensed the water moving erratically under him. He dodged several water bullets and was about to counter attack when sharp pain from his wrist showed him the reality.


    His right wrist was broken and his Frost sword was in the hand of one of the Genin. He was furious as he realized that he fell for a Genjutsu attack. "You bastard! You''re going to pay for that."


    He wanted to rush forward towards Daichi but was intercepted by Neji and Lee. The three ninjas began their Taijutsu battle and with his broken wrist Maki couldn''t use his substitution and escape.


    Neji and Lee trained so much together that they attacked their opponent in perfect sync. Maki redirected a kick from Lee with his right forearm while sending a punch with his left fist. Lee jumped back and dodged while Neji rushed and took his ce. His attacks were negated due to the chakra absorbing properties of armor.


    "Your Gentle Fist Taijutsu won''t work on me. My armor absorbs chakra and your deadly techniques are nothing more than love taps to me." Maki said as he took a kunai and attacked the boy.


    Neji evaded nimbly and frowned at the situation. At that moment Lee joined him and sent a powerful punch that stopped Maki in his tracks. He took Lee much more seriously due to the strengthing from the boy.


    He quickly jumped to the side and evaded a shuriken wave from Tenten but was sted in Lee and Neji''s direction by a strong kick from Daichi''s clone.


    "You two can do it. Focus."


    The shout from Daichi drove away the apprehension from Neji and Lee and the two concentrated on the battle.


    Neji and Lee attacked together with Neji ying the supporting role and Lee taking the main frontal attack role. A rarity in their team. Daichi joined from a short distance away and used ''Bnce Disruption'' Genjutsu on the man.


    Maki was sweating as he was fighting the Leaf ninjas. ''Damn it. I have to watch out for the Genjutsu from that brat while these two keep me here. They''re wearing me down. Even with my armor they''re keeping up with me. The Hyuga brat is redirecting and deflecting my attacks against his teammate and giving him openings to take advantage of.''


    Lee was in the zone as he battled his enemy. ''I have to defeat him. I need to fight harder. I need to be stronger.''


    The bowl cut boy put more and more chakra into limbs and increased his speed and strength. Maki struggled with the increased battle powering from the Genin.


    ''Damn it. Where is he getting all this energy? My armor won''t be able to take much more of this.''


    Just as Maki thought this he saw Neji and Lee quickly back away from him. The next second several kunai struck his back and he was covered in explosions.


    During his battle with the two Genins, Maki failed to see Tenten subtly make her way towards his back andunch her weapons. The paper bombs hit their target and engulfed the man.


    All the Genin stood still to see the result and once the smoke cleared they saw the man on his knees bleeding and his Armor broken. He was barely conscious and struggled to stand. "I''m I''m gonna kill.. you... You fucking-"


    That was all he said before his entire body was engulfed in thick ice that erupted from below him. He was frozen solid inside arge chunk of ice.


    Daichi looked at his sword and nodded. "So that''s how it works. Nice."


    He looked at the three Genin and nodded. ''I could have helped Lee and Neji more by restraining him with my chakra strings but that would be like babying them. They won this battle on their own with minimal help from me. That''s a win in my book.''


    Meanwhile Neji looked with his Byakugan and saw that the man''s heart had stopped beating. "It''s over Let''s get to the ship."


    The other Genin looked at the warship and noted that it was getting much closer to the other ships.


    "While we were fighting, they kept moving forward. Come on. We should intercept it before anything happens." Daichi spoke and at that moment something did happen as if fate was listening and decided to intervene.


    "Something''s wrong." Neji used his Byakugan on the ship and quickly said.


    Daichi focused and saw that therge cannon of the ship was gathering energy. His eyes widened as he turned his head and saw the target. Ishido''s ship. The Genin''s were also rmed and quickly ran towards the ship to stop the weapon but it was toote.


    "Tenten!" With a yell, Daichi tossed the Frost sword to Tenten who easily caught it. The next moment he vanished in a puff of smoke to alert the real him.


    BOOM!


    The cannon activated andunched a massive fireball directly at Ishido''s ship. Neji, Lee and Tenten felt dread as they saw the attackunch and looked on helplessly.


    --------------------


    Author''s Note:


    another 3.5k word chap. Hope you enjoyed it.


    Several points to note:


    Daichi was a clone so he was holding back and ying it cautiously.


    He could have used his speed skills to attack and finish the chunin but it was more of a Team Guy battle and Daichi just yed the supporting role.


    Despite being a Chunin, Maki was weak due to old age and letting his skills rust. He wasn''t able to properly battle Neji and Lee due to Daichi''s interference and broken right wrist.


    So with these points in mind I hope you feel that the fight was bnced and fair


    On to other matters. By the time Ipleted the whole battle it was like near 11k words. So I decided to split it. Next chapter will be the conclusion of the battle. An 8k chap.


    If you like my story and want to read ahead, then check out my P.a.T.R.E.0.N page. I''ve uploaded up to 30 additional chapters there.


    Patre /MonkWithAPen (No space)