Chapter 053: Mist Ninja Raid

"Did you notice? It's getting foggy," Naruto said to Sakura Haruno.

"Where's the fog? Isn't this just steam from the hot spring?" Sakura looked confused. Suddenly, she caught a strange scent in the air.

"Huh? Where's that fruity aroma coming from?" Sakura murmured to herself.

Naruto replied, "Hold your breath. Don't inhale that scent—if you breathe too much of it, you won't grow taller."

"What nonsense... Ugh..." Suddenly, a wave of dizziness swept over Sakura; she gagged, ready to vomit.

At that moment, Naruto wrapped some Yang Release chakra around his palm and gently patted Sakura's back.

With his touch, Sakura couldn't hold back and vomited loudly.

A pool of foul-smelling, crimson liquid appeared on the ground.

"That scent is a smoke bomb—there's chakra mixed in," Naruto explained. "The enemy must have used the local environment to cast a ninjutsu and stir up this thick fog. That smoke bomb is likely one of their tools; it can make victims dizzy."

"Steam, dense fog, smoke bombs, and a simple genjutsu—it's enough to incapacitate a large number of people in a wide area. Whoever developed this technique is a real genius," Naruto continued.

The fragrance in the air grew stronger.

To those unaware, it was like a gentle breeze brushing their noses, bringing a fresh, faintly sweet citrus aroma.

The scent was pleasant and relaxing, lowering everyone’s guard.

But after Naruto's explanation, Sakura recognized the danger lurking behind this fragrance.

"Naruto! Have you seen Sakura?" Kakashi called from below. "She said she wanted to switch shifts with you, so she should be heading your way."

"Sakura's right here with me," Naruto replied. "She's fine now."

"Good! Get ready for battle!" Kakashi ordered. "Stay up there—provide wide-area recon and fire support! Sasuke and I will take care of them!"

"Understood!"

Naruto took a scroll from his waist and formed hand seals to release its seal.

A small platform and a compact artillery unit appeared on the rooftop.

This weapon was called the Spirit Machinery Mortar Team.

It was a standard two-person weapon: one to fire, the other to observe.

Originally installed on steam-powered trains or quadruped steam robots, it relied on the vehicle’s energy source.

Naruto had modified it to use chakra crystals for fuel, and instead of standard mortar shells, it fired ones packed with chakra crystals of various elements—each made by Naruto.

"What about me?" Sakura asked anxiously, seeing Kakashi assign everyone their tasks.

Kakashi hesitated; in his eyes, Sakura was a pure novice, somewhat useless in this situation.

Naruto tossed her a peculiar device: "Find the enemy for me, then report the firing coordinates. I'll bombard according to the data you give me."

Sakura looked down—Naruto had handed her something like goggles, along with a panel for handwriting.

A cable connected the panel to the mortar.

When she put on the goggles, her vision transformed.

Nothing seemed to obstruct her view anymore; she could see numerous figures moving around the inn, each marked with columns of numbers.

This device was the basic set for an artillery scout—a tool used in that world to locate enemies and calculate firing coordinates.

Scouts would report enemy movements and positions; artillery scouts, guided by their information, would pinpoint enemy locations amid the chaos of battle, then provide the parameters for artillery commanders to launch attacks.

Sakura had never seen such equipment before, but she was sharp and quick-witted.

It wasn’t long before she mastered its use.

Kakashi, hearing Naruto’s words, realized the awkward moment had been resolved and said, "Sakura, Sasuke's and my safety are in your hands. If you miscalculate, we'll be in trouble."

"If you get it right, you'll ensure Kakashi and Sasuke's safety," Naruto added. "If your aim is precise enough, you can defeat the enemy before they hurt them."

Sakura had been nervous, but Naruto’s encouragement stirred her fierce second persona—she swore to herself that the enemy would not lay a finger on Sasuke.

Sasuke, hiding behind the door, felt a chill run over him.

By now, the enemy's ninjutsu had incapacitated most people in the inn.

As the fragrance thickened, it gradually morphed into a complex scent, blending herbs and spices.

It spread through the air, becoming hard to identify.

Many people became dizzy, their vision swimming with gold stars, before they even realized what they were smelling.

At last, the mist settled over the battlefield like a sheer veil. The pungent odor of poisonous plants made people nauseous, and combined with genjutsu, it plunged the enemy into complete illusion.

Meanwhile, outside the inn, in a small grove among the shrubs—

"Lady Mei Terumi, the enemy’s combat ability has been neutralized. We can begin," said a masked Mist ninja to a slender, beautiful kunoichi.

She was Mei Terumi, a jonin of the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water.

A few days earlier, Mei Terumi had been sitting in her office, reviewing an urgent report from the Land of Hot Water.

The intelligence noted that Shikajiro Shinju, a renowned scholar from the Land of Fire, had been invited to attend an academic exchange in a small city in the southeast of the Land of Hot Water.

It seemed a routine academic event, but Mei Terumi was filled with suspicion.

"It's just a normal academic exchange—why does it require ninja escort?" Mei mused aloud. She summoned her team to discuss the matter.

"The exchange is in Kairen Town, just another resort town in the Land of Hot Water," said a ninja skilled in intelligence gathering, revealing a detail not previously mentioned.

"And, according to reports from the daimyo’s castle in the Land of Fire, the event was initiated by the country’s diplomatic office."

"Before this, several weapon manufacturers in the Land of Fire received orders to deliver goods to the same location."

"Those orders didn’t seem special at first, but our intelligence department, after analyzing multiple sources, flagged them as suspicious and advised we pay close attention."

"We traced the supplies from those orders—their final destination was also Kairen Town."

"And... we discovered a secret cargo fleet departing from a remote harbor in the Land of Waves. The predicted route suggests their destination is Kairen Town."