The night was deep. To prevent anything from going wrong, a ghostly figure quietly appeared in a corner of the Kaguya Clan's territory.
This was the new cemetery the Kaguya Clan had built for its people. The smell of freshly turned earth mingled with a faint trace of blood in the air.
"The Mizukage's so-called 'forgiveness' has saved me quite a bit of trouble." Namikaze Yoru's lips curled into a cold smile.
Having already confirmed that no one was around, he summoned the system and said coldly:
"Pawn."
[Scan complete. The following items are available for pawning:]
[ Ding! Kaguya Bloodline Remains (intact) *33... Estimated value: 80 points each ]
[ Ding! Kaguya Clan Member Remains (damaged) *15... Estimated value: 50 points each ]
"Confirm."
Without a sound, it was as if a breeze swept through the entire cemetery. The remains vanished from the graves in an instant, leaving only empty coffins.
From the outside, it looked as if nothing had happened.
[Current Pawn Points: 6260]
Namikaze Yoru noticed that pawning a Kaguya Living Body earned 100 points, while remains earned only 80, the same as those of the Uzumaki Clan. The missing 20
points were probably for the soul. The battlefield had been beneath the Mizukage's building, so he hadn't been able to get close and claim them.
Having pawned so many Kaguya remains, the system shop naturally updated with an upgrade for the Kaguya Bloodline.
[Items Available for Exchange:]
[Kaguya Sage Bone — 2000 points]
Despite the surge in points, Namikaze Yoru wasn't satisfied.
A fanatical, obsessive clan like the Kaguya was destined to be swept into the dustbin of history. He had merely given them a push.
He silently infiltrated the Yuki Clan's territory. Ice Release was difficult to awaken among the Yuki, and most of the clan were civilians or ordinary ninja who merely bore the name. That gave Namikaze Yoru an opportunity.
He avoided the buildings with strong chakra signatures and chose an unused house on the clan grounds' outskirts, in a relatively secluded spot where no one was likely to go.
He opened the system list and found the four Kaguya Living Body ninja he had pawned earlier. He casually selected one and redeemed it.
A body appeared before him, like a person in a vegetative state, with only its bodily functions intact and no consciousness.
He casually placed it inside the house, then left a hidden Flying Thunder God Jutsu formula on its body. The next step was the most crucial.
He summoned the Shikotsumyaku power he had acquired through the system and carefully left signs of a fierce struggle on the floor and walls.
Perhaps the high concentration of bloodline power in Namikaze Yoru's body had stirred a resonance. The Bone Spikes inside the ninja, now reduced to a vegetative state, activated on their own.
The unexpected development made him pause. Then he decided it made even more sense. It had turned out better than planned.
Next, he summoned the Ice Release power within the ninja and left marks of frostbite on the body and internal organs.
Once he had done all this, he carefully checked for any other flaws, then disappeared from the house as if he had never been there.
At noon the following day, an anonymous letter written in hurried, sloppy handwriting appeared in Kaguya Kengenin's new home.
The letter contained few words. Most of it was a rough map.
Kaguya Kengenin recognized the Yuki Clan's territory at a glance. One building on the outskirts had been marked, with the words "the truth behind the clan members' disappearance" written beside it.
After reading it, Kaguya Kengenin was shaken. For a while, he couldn't make up his mind. He spent the afternoon too worried to attend to his duties.
Only after nightfall did he seem to finally make up his mind. Familiar with the village's layout, he quietly made his way to the Yuki Clan's territory.
There was another incident along the way. Kaguya Kengenin was so poor at stealth that a Chunin on patrol, assigned by the Mizukage, spotted him as soon as he left the clan grounds.
Just as the other man was about to report him, Namikaze Yoru, who had been watching from the shadows, dealt with him in time, easily dispatching him with overwhelming strength.
Fortunately, Namikaze Yoru had planned ahead and set the "scene" on the outskirts. Even with Kaguya Kengenin's limited abilities, he managed to sneak in and find the clan member covered in "battle wounds."
Though the man was already a living corpse, Kaguya Kengenin recognized him at once as one of the clan members who had disappeared during the explosion at the inn.
"Just as I thought... The Yuki Clan has gone too far!" People often believed only what they had already decided was true. Kaguya Kengenin's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
The signs of resistance left at the scene and the wounds on the clan member both pointed to the Yuki Clan.
They had not only spied on the Kaguya in secret, but had also captured and humiliated his people. He refused to believe the Mizukage had not protected them.
The resentment he had felt over the vast difference between their new territory and the old had already been simmering inside him. Now the flames of hatred consumed his reason.
He returned to the clan grounds in the dead of night, under a moonless sky.
Kaguya Kengenin gathered every clan member still capable of fighting, their hearts steeped in anger and hatred.
He gave no impassioned speech. He simply told them the cold truth he had witnessed with his own eyes.
"The Kaguya Clan will not tolerate this humiliation. The Mizukage is unjust, and the Yuki Clan has gone too far. Then we shall become vengeful ghosts and make them remember the Kaguya's fury for all eternity."
Kaguya Kengenin spoke thus, while leaving behind all the Genin-level clan members and the young people as seeds for the future.
The several dozen survivors who formed the clan's remaining backbone were like moths flying into a flame. With a determination to die, they silently rushed straight for the Yuki Clan's territory.
Though hatred filled Kaguya Kengenin, he had not lost his reason entirely.
He knew this was the Kaguya's final swan song. The goal wasn't victory, but to make the Yuki pay a terrible price and brand the Kaguya Clan's farewell into Kirigakure's history in the bloodiest way possible.
"Remember! Our first targets are the Mizunuki Bloodline Awakened Elites and their bloodlines. Anyone you see in the Core Area... leave none alive." Kaguya Kengenin issued this cruel final order.
The night provided the perfect cover. Perhaps because they were on their own clan grounds, most of the informed ninja weren't on their guard. Before they could raise the alarm, several Bone Spikes pinned them to the walls.
Only when a Yuki Clan Jonin was ambushed did he shout out under the cover of his Ice Release Bloodline:
"Enemy attack! It's those mad Kaguya!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, three fearless Kaguya ninja surrounded him. They abandoned all defense, using offense as defense and trading their lives for his.
Even with Ice Needles lodged all over them, they still drove the Bone Blades in their hands into their opponent's chest. This direct, all-out fighting style took down a great many of the Yuki Clan's elite.
Scenes like this unfolded across the Yuki Clan's territory. Closed doors and windows were smashed open, and cold Bone Spikes were stained with the blood of innocents.
The Yuki Clan was caught completely off guard. Accustomed to controlling the battlefield with Ice Release, they had never faced such a frenzied, reckless close-quarters fight.
The slaughter of their own blood relatives left them especially rattled.
This terrible upheaval shattered the night's peace throughout Kirigakure.
When the Third Mizukage arrived with a large force of elite Anbu, he found a scene straight out of hell.
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