"We have a more immediate problem," Kisame interrupted, pointing where the clouds were slowly beginning to drift back. "That brief exchange of Tailed Beast Bombs blew away our mist cover for at least a two-kilometer radius."
Mangetsu wiped his brow, his mind racing through the tactical implications. "That kid I was fighting had Byakugan... do you think he managed to parse our actual force count?"
Utakata shook his head, rising to his feet and brushing off his robes. "It doesn't matter. We're at roughly ten kilometers from the coastline. The main bank of the mist spans twelve kilometers across the entire coast. Only about three or four kilometers of it evaporated from the heat or blown away. Unless that kid possesses the visual sight that exceeds twelve kilometers, he couldn't have seen our ranks."
"Besides," Zabuza added with a smirk, "it was a stroke of luck I found those mechanical mist-generators in that small border village. Being able to convert surrounding water sources into heavy mist without burning through our chakra reserves really does change everything. We can have this entire radius fully shrouded again in two days. Speaking of which... where are Ao's clones? They should have reported back by now."
Utakata released a series of small buoyant soap bubbles from his pipe, riding one up into the sky to scan for Ao clone's locations as he said. "They were likely intercepted and dispersed by the Byakugan user while we were trapped in the Genjutsu."
Dropping back down to the ground, Utakata listened as Kisame voiced his doubt he had been carrying. "Utakata..." Kisame began. "The Two-Tails Jinchuriki... her control over her beast's power was remarkably refined. Unlike your transformation, she maintained her senses without succumbing to the instincts of her Bijuu. If you could learn to master your form to that degree, your combat rating would easily jump to a four-star level."
Utakata looked down at his bubble pipe, quiet for a long moment as he pondered the gap in his control.
"It's easier said than done," Utakata admitted. "Her access to that level of harmony stems from Kumo's specialized training. But... they proved it's possible. If Kumo found a way to bridge that gap between the Jinchuriki and beast, there's no reason I can't do the same."
He had paused, with a resolved glint in his eyes. "The next time she steps back onto the battlefield, I'll capture her alive, I will talk to Mei-senpai. I will extract every secret to becoming a Perfect Jinchuuriki."
With that declaration, Utakata and his squad turned back toward their coast encampment. They had a report to deliver to Mei... not just about the missing Ao clones, but about the terrifying precedent set by Kumo's Jinchuuriki and the kid with Byakugan. In a war like this, information wasn't just useful; it was life and death.
~~
Miles away, within the dense gloom of the tree line, silence reigned. If anyone had been close to Pakura, it was Yugito. The two of them were almost always paired together... an odd partnership born when Master Bee forced the former spy, Pakura, to tag along on missions to monitor and attempting to make her Kumo shinobi.
"She always kept her past life close and never let out a word," Yugito spoke with her voice almost flat. "I spent three years by her side, and I still barely knew a thing about her."
The rest of the group... Itachi, Kaien, Jugo, Guren, and Ruri... remained silent, letting her speak.
"I wonder if she regretted how things went," Yugito muttered, staring blankly at the ground. "It's not like we were actually friends or anything."
She took a slow steadying breath, but the cracks in her composure were beginning to show.
"Two days ago, right before we set out, we were arguing over who'd stack up the highest kill count. I'll miss those competitions... but I won't miss her."
"We used to make a game out of who could sneak closest to Master Bee without him noticing. I'll miss those games... but I won't miss her."
Her shoulder shuddered, but she continued. "When she stopped being a spy and actually became a shinobi of the Hidden Cloud... I'll miss seeing her happy... but I won't miss her."
The denial finally fell apart as a tear broke out on Yugito's cheek, with changing any facial features... her voice dropped to barely a whisper.
"Utakata... I'll remember that name."
Kaien watched her closely. He recognized that hollow burning look... it was the same blind rage he'd felt when his emotions threatened to swallow his judgment, when Dodai-sensei bought him back. If Yugito snapped now, she'd make a fatal mistake.
"Yugito-san, stay calm," Kaien interrupted smoothly. "We'll make them pay. But right now, we need to focus on what we just learned. I have made one discovery."
That pulled them back matter at stake. Yugito wiped her face quickly, while Itachi, Jugo, Guren, and Ruri turned their full attention to him.
"First off, based on where the fight took place, we're roughly ten kilometers from the eastern coastline," Kaien explained. He knew the layout well because he'd traveled the route between Genbu Island before it was changed and Kumo dozens of times, skirting the very east coast Kirigakure had seized.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, as he made sure to capture every detail word for word. "Is that an estimate from your Byakugan? If so, do you have a read on their actual numbers?"
Kaien shook his head. "Even with the Byakugan, my visibility cuts off around four kilometers out. I couldn't get a read on their force size. But..." He leaned forward slightly, sighting the seriousness. "I did figure out about the mist."
The group were stuck thinking in skepticism. A fog bank this thick and vast usually got torn apart by offshore air currents.
"A mist domain this massive would require a Kage-level Water Style master... or a massive squad of shinobi working in unison continuously," Kaien continued, breaking down his logic. "But even then, maintaining it for six straight months is physically impossible."
Guren frowned and questioned. "If it's natural, the wind should have blown it out to sea months ago."
So did everyone, they narrowed their eyes supporting Guren's doubt as if questioning the air currents should have blew away the mist.
"Exactly, it should have blew away." Kaien agreed with a nod. "Which means someone is artificially manipulating the local air currents. They're driving the ground level airflow upward. There are multiple ways to do this, the easiest way to create a updraft like that? Heat the air from below which naturally rises up."
Itachi and Yugito couldn't help but marvel at Kaien's knowledge and intuition... It was a brilliant piece of deduction, of course whatever he said could be wrong but it provided sound logic for no refusal.
"Which brings me to my final point," Kaien said, with a confident smirk on his lips. "I know how we can clear it out completely."
Guren threw her hands up in frustration. "Oh, come on! Just spit it out already!"
Kaien's smirk widened. "Salt."
~~
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0