Dance of the Early Fern

The open ground in front of the Mizukage Building had become a slaughterhouse.

Kirigakure's sharpest blade against outsiders was now plunged deep into the hearts of its own people. Countless members of the Kaguya Clan fought tooth and nail, driven by the battle instinct in their blood.

Kaguya Naoto was drenched in blood. The fearsome bone armor that had covered his body was now broken and battered, revealing deep wounds that went down to the bone.

Like a lion driven mad with rage, he roared and swung his Bone Blades. Every slash carried the grim resolve to take his enemies down with him.

"Dance of the Larch!"

He roared, and dozens of sharp Bone Spikes burst from his body, forming a deadly thicket that barely held back the heavy strike of Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō.

Just as he was about to counterattack, Jinin Akebino brought down his Kabutowari with another vicious blow. As the Ninja Sword with the greatest armor-piercing power, it was not a strike Naoto dared to take head-on.

"Oleander Dance: Vine Style!"

As he swiftly retreated, the spine in his hand lashed at his opponent like a steel whip. Jinin Akebino reacted quickly and turned his Kabutowari around to block with its broad blade.

"Exploding Blade Ninjutsu: Heavy Death."

Another of the Ninja Swordsmen, Munashi Jinpachi, charged in from the flank, wielding Shibuki and carrying countless Explosive Tags. The violent blast sent Kaguya Naoto flying.

Watching from a distance, Namikaze Yoru couldn't help calling him a "spendthrift." Who had brought a money-printing machine onto the battlefield?

Under the coordinated assault of three Ninja Swordsmen, even Kaguya Naoto, powerful as he was, was kept scrambling just to survive.

The extraordinary vitality granted by the Kaguya Bloodline let him quickly recover from nonfatal injuries, but the chakra and stamina he expended were very real.

It couldn't last. Seeing the three men attack together again, Kaguya Naoto decided to go all out.

"Dance of the Early Fern!"

With a furious roar, Kaguya Naoto slammed both arms into the ground. Countless sharp bone spikes burst up like a forest, covering a vast area in an instant.

The three reacted quickly, either dodging or using their swords to withstand the spikes. None of them suffered any serious harm.

Only a few Mist Anbu who were too slow to escape were impaled on the spot, their screams ringing without end.

"Just a dying struggle!" Seeing the three men fail to take Naoto down, Suikazan Fuguki joined the fight.

With Samehada, the uncrowned king of Ninja Swords, in the fray, each heavy blow drained more of Kaguya Naoto's chakra. As the balance tipped further against him, Naoto soon began to stagger.

As for the other members of the Kaguya Clan, their front line was also on the verge of collapse.

The other Ninja Swordsmen were bad enough, slicing into the fray like whirlwinds. Each flash of a blade left another member of the Kaguya Clan cut apart, bones and all.

And the Water Release specialists of the Yuki Clan never even came close. They kept disrupting the Kaguya Clan with Ice Release.

Every so often, ice Senbon rained down on the surrounded Kaguya Clan members. The battlefield had become the Yuki Clan's domain, with great swaths of ice freezing the ground and making it impossible for the Kaguya fighters to keep their footing.

Then there was the Hozuki Clan, whose Hydrification Technique made the Kaguya Clan's physical attacks completely useless.

A furious elder thrust his Bone Blade into the chest of a Hozuki ninja, only for his opponent to turn into a puddle of water. The next second, he re-formed behind the elder and harassed him with Water Release: Water Gun, leaving him no chance to defend himself.

The battle had become a one-sided slaughter. The Kaguya Clan members were individually fierce, but against the prepared elite Mist Ninja working together—and with their abilities completely countered—their resistance seemed utterly futile.

Kaguya Naoto was driven into a corner with nowhere to run. His chakra was nearly depleted, and his body was covered in wounds. Even the rapid recovery of Shikotsumyaku could no longer keep up.

"It's time to end this farce, Kaguya Naoto." The Third Mizukage's cold voice rang out. Somehow, he had already finished forming Hand Seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bomb!"

A massive water dragon appeared from nowhere and surged toward Kaguya Naoto from several directions. It moved too fast for him to react.

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion echoed across the plaza. Water, blood, and splintered bone fragments sprayed everywhere.

When the jutsu dissipated, Kaguya Naoto was sprawled helplessly on the ground, blood pouring from countless wounds.

His eyes were wide open, fixed on the Mizukage. But the fury and resentment in them had been replaced by a lifeless emptiness. That one strike had ended Kaguya Naoto's life.

The clan leader's defeat completely broke the Kaguya Clan's morale. A few diehards fought until they fell, but most had given up and were taken prisoner.

The Kaguya elite who had taken part in the coup had lost half their number, and their corpses were piled high.

The open ground in front of the Mizukage Building had been stained dark red with blood.

All the captured Kaguya Ninja knelt on the ground, their eyes vacant and clouded with uncertainty about the future. Their usual arrogance had vanished without a trace.

Several days later, the Mizukage Building announced its final judgment.

The Kaguya Clan had been a distinguished bloodline clan with great merit in establishing Kirigakure. Since infighting only weakened the village and could spark fear among other clans, the Third Mizukage showed the "mercy befitting a Kage." Kaguya Naoto, the chief culprit, had already been brought to justice, so the remaining members of the Kaguya Clan were pardoned, and the bodies of their clansmen killed in the rebellion were returned.

However, the entire clan would be exiled to the village's outskirts, confined to a newly designated compound and kept under close watch. They could not leave without orders.

The Kaguya Clan was also stripped of all important positions in the village and its share of missions, and given only the bare minimum of resources.

With nearly all the former clan leadership wiped out in the rebellion, Kaguya Kengenin was appointed as the new clan leader.

Everything at the new Kaguya Clan Compound needed to be rebuilt. The clansmen who had moved there had only crude huts to live in; compared to their old home, it was little better than a refugee camp.

After the bodies returned by the Mizukage had been properly buried in a corner of the compound, sorrow, humiliation, and uncertainty about the future spread through the clan.

The new clan leader, Kaguya Kengenin, looked at the desolate compound before him, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails seemed to dig into his palms.

"Kengenin... Clan Leader, what should we do now...?" a one-armed clansman asked hoarsely. His hesitant voice was filled with confusion.

Kaguya Kengenin didn't answer, but the hatred gleaming in his eyes said everything.

Yet a pair of eyes still watched them from the shadows, unmoved by the Kaguya Clan's downfall.

Since there weren't many vacant houses at the new Kaguya Clan Compound, Namikaze Yoru could only move around and hide on its outskirts.

The Kaguya Clan still had value left to squeeze out of them. After this battle, Kirigakure's sharpest blade seemed to have become a broken one.

But who said a broken blade couldn't hurt anyone? Used properly, it could still carve a deep wound into Kirigakure.

Kaguya Kengenin's appointment was exactly what he wanted.

The man had ambition but lacked ability, and he was full of resentment over the current situation. All it would take was a little "help" to set him alight again.