Chapter 476: Chaotic Retreat

Hurried footsteps, heavy breathing, a grim expression.

In a seaside port, a large crowd of Mist Ninja packed together shoulder to shoulder.

"Qing, have the personnel numbers been tallied?"

Zhao Mei Ming, her expression somewhat fatigued, looked at Qing, who seemed completely drained, and had no time to comfort her subordinate.

"The scene is too chaotic to count precisely, but there are roughly over three thousand!"

Looking at Zhao Mei Ming before him, Qing greatly admired her decisiveness, actually having the audacity to order the Mist Ninja to retreat while the Fourth Mizukage was still alive.

Although this was undoubtedly the most responsible course for the Mist Hidden Village, if the Fourth Mizukage's side pursued it later, it would not be so easy to escape.

"What about the Fourth Mizukage? Any news of him?"

Zhao Mei Ming was certainly not reckless; she had long known that these bloodline families planned to take advantage of the Fourth Mizukage's presence on the battlefield.

To have them sacrifice themselves for the village, this is also why she resolutely arranged the retreat in advance.

After learning of her allies' plans and seeing the supplies brought by the Fourth Mizukage, she had already formed her own plan.

To that end, she also communicated with Yuan Shi, who was far away in Mist Hidden Village, and received his support.

"The Fourth Mizukage didn't keep up with our unit; something must have happened…"

"……"

Under normal circumstances, if the Fourth Mizukage were still alive, he would surely come to join the main force of the Mist Ninja.

Since he didn't catch up, that certainly indicates something happened.

It's just unclear whether it was her allies who did it, or the Leaf Village folks.

"Any news about the Leaf Village's pursuers?"

After a moment of silence, Zhao Mei Ming did not pursue the topic of the Fourth Mizukage further, but instead asked about the situation on the Leaf Village's side.

"If I recall correctly, the rear scout is Yanshui Taizi; hasn't any word come from her?"

Although they had managed to escape, she faced a host of problems: logistics, wounded, insufficient transport, and who would stay behind to cover the rear.

All these urgent matters awaited her resolution.

And the most serious of these was the pursuers behind them.

"The situation is not good; the Leaf Village side also seems to be gathering nearby ships, and there are signs of them regrouping again!"

"Gathering ships… regrouping again!!"

Upon hearing Qing's report, Zhao Mei Ming's already fatigued face instantly turned a shade paler.

"Could it be… that the Leaf Village still intends to pursue them out to sea?"

In her lovely eyes, the luster lacked its usual brilliance, instead filled with bloodshot veins from excessive fatigue.

"Based on the available intelligence, that's definitely the case!"

Seeing Zhao Mei Ming's eyes wide open, somewhat disbelieving, Qing helplessly dispelled the last glimmer of hope in her gaze.

"Lady Zhao Mei Ming, things are bad～"

"Those people… those people have started fighting!"

Just as Zhao Mei Ming was lost in thought over Qing's report, a panicked Mist Ninja interrupted her train of thought.

"This really… will add to the chaos!"

She rubbed her slightly swollen forehead; at only twenty‑three or twenty‑four years old, Zhao Mei Ming felt for the first time the hardships of being a leader.

"…Where are they? Take me there!"

Her pretty face bore a murderous aura; Zhao Mei Ming's whole body exuded a low pressure, and as she looked at the flustered Mist Ninja, the cold glint in her green eyes pierced to the heart.

"…It's… right at the place where they're boarding!"

Under Zhao Mei Ming's stare, the Mist Ninja who came to report felt as if, wearing summer clothes, he had been thrust back into the coldest winter of the Land of Water.

Even his speech began to tremble, and he dared not lift his head to meet Zhao Mei Ming's gaze.

Swish!

By the time he heard the commotion and looked up again, her figure was gone.

When Zhao Mei Ming arrived, on the dock specially used for mooring large ships, two groups of Mist Ninja were tense­ly facing off.

In their midst, a group of about thirty Mist Ninja were fighting fiercely.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Seeing this, Zhao Mei Ming's whole face fell.

Without bothering to ask who was right or wrong, or the cause of the incident, upon arriving she directly unleashed a Great Waterfall Technique.

She sent the battling Mist Ninja flying in all directions.

"Everyone, stop! Anyone who dares to keep fighting, I'll kill them outright!"

Seeing that some of the Mist Ninja still intended to resist, Zhao Mei Ming showed no mercy, landing three punches and two kicks, leaving them only able to lie on the ground and groan.

"All those who took part in the fighting will join the rear guard to buy time for the main force's retreat!"

Having knocked them down, Zhao Mei Ming without hesitation immediately placed them on the rear guard personnel roster.

Seeing that some of the surrounding Mist Ninja still refused to disperse, Zhao Mei Ming didn't indulge them; after shouting at the crowd of onlookers, she turned to Qing, who had come over, and ordered:

"Take these people to the rear guard unit!"

A force of over three thousand Mist Ninja could not possibly be evacuated all at once, even counting the ships brought by Yagura would not be enough.

"The Leaf Village has already begun mustering its forces; does anyone among you wish to stay behind and serve as rear guard with me?"

Seeing these Mist Ninja still gathered here, Zhao Mei Ming glanced at them, then gave a cold smile and asked mockingly:

"Hmph～"

With a cold snort, Zhao Mei Ming continued her mocking:

"If so, why are you still gathered here, waiting for the Leaf Village ninja to come and send you back to the Land of Water?"

Now, everyone is boarding the ship in the previously arranged order, but anyone who has objections should stay behind and serve as rearguard with us!

After dealing with those Mist Ninja who were still gathered together, Zhao Mei Ming's expression did not improve.

"Qing, study the sea chart carefully, see if we can some one a transfer station."

Frowning in thought for a moment, Zhao Mei Ming turned to Qing beside her and asked.

Once this batch of ships is full of people, we will have no spare ships left; staying too long in the harbor waiting is too dangerous!

Time is pressing; Leaf Village cannot wait for these ships to return and then attack them, which is also why those Mist Ninja started fighting.

Everyone wants to board the ship first in order to leave this dangerous harbor.

"Not considering logistics and combat, this would work, but… it would easily be picked off one by one by Leaf Village, and later integration would be a hassle!"

"No other way; escaping with one is better than none!" Thinking of the news Qing just reported, Zhao Mei Ming continued:

Moreover, Leaf Village is very likely to pursue us out to sea, and by then we probably won't be able to spare more forces to chase these guys!

They just need to hold out until our post-battle search team arrives; if any of them are bold, they might even be able to find their own way back to Mist Hidden.

This is not impossible either; as long as these people have enough luck, avoiding storms and tsunamis, they could even paddle a wooden raft back to Mist Ninja and it wouldn't be impossible.

Of course, this requires an excellent navigator.