The Inner Circle

"Shingetsu, I bet there aren't any fish on your line!"

"Oh? You are not a fish, so how do you know whether a fish wishes to bite my line?"

"I'm not a fish, so of course I don't know whether they want to bite your line. But I believe in your skills."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Anglers never get skunked!"

On a rare sunny day, Hozuki Shingetsu set aside his personal training and the many affairs of the Foreign Affairs Department. He gathered with his companions outside Kirigakure to relax and have some fun.

Seizing the opportunity, Hozuki Shingetsu proudly showed off his fishing skills—only to be mocked by his friends, exactly as expected.

"Anglers never get skunked, sure. But you can catch anything except fish." Yukinagi of the Yuki Clan mercilessly exposed Hozuki Shingetsu's dirty little secret.

Yukinagi was the daughter of the current Yuki Clan head. Because of the relationship between their fathers, she had known Hozuki Shingetsu since childhood.

At that moment, the long-legged beauty with silver-white hair—a devastating weakness for Chinese men—ate grilled fish while stomping all over Hozuki Shingetsu's pitiful angler pride.

Hozuki Shingetsu flew into a rage, muttering incomprehensible things like, "Why can't something that swims in water be called a fish?" "The feng shui here must be bad," and "Trash fish can't appreciate fine bait." For a time, the air was filled with laughter.

He could only be said to possess the terrifying physique of someone born to get skunked.

After some banter and playful fooling around, everyone gradually turned the conversation toward Hozuki Shingetsu.

"By the way, Shingetsu, your reputation in the Shinobi World is truly thunderous now. The last time I went on a mission, I even heard rumors about you in a place as remote as the Land of Snow." Karatachi Yagura smiled as he opened the topic.

The future Fourth Mizukage, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki who would truly usher Kirigakure into its era as the Bloody Mist Village, was still only a boy. Born into the Karatachi Clan, which specialized in the Water Mirror Technique, he had remained close to the others ever since Hozuki Shingetsu sought him out six years ago and relentlessly pestered him.

Yukinagi, Karatachi Yagura, and Ao—these were the most gifted young ninjas Hozuki Shingetsu had managed to win over from Kirigakure's younger generation.

The other talented ninjas of Kirigakure were either too young, such as Kisame Hoshigaki and Terumi Mei, who would not even be born until next year, or unsuitable because of their identities, such as Kaguya Gai, the Kaguya Clan's prodigy.

Ever since he had first arrived in this world and set his ambition on unifying the Shinobi World, Hozuki Shingetsu had begun building his own inner circle. Aside from the three core members present, there were also civilian ninjas and ninjas from small clans supported by the Hozuki Clan.

Hozuki Shingetsu had personally assessed every one of them. They had been selected from among Genin who possessed, at minimum, the potential to become Special Jonin in at least one area.

Hozuki Shingetsu knew well that many people did not actually lack talent. What they lacked were suitable ninjutsu. In this era, when ninjutsu was monopolized by the various ninja clans, the techniques available for such ninjas to learn were pitifully few. Not only were these mass-market techniques weak, but they were also almost entirely lacking in versatility.

It was fine if a ninja happened to be compatible with those techniques. But if their Chakra nature did not match, or they chose the wrong talent tree, then that low-ranking ninja was generally destined to remain at the bottom for life. Gold would always shine eventually, but it still needed a ray of sunlight—and Hozuki Shingetsu was the sun above their heads.

For that reason, Hozuki Shingetsu had specifically established a Contribution Point System. As long as they passed the various tests he set, these ninjas could obtain ninja tools, money, and ninjutsu of every nature, including B-rank ninjutsu.

Through this method, Hozuki Shingetsu had raised a group of talented lower-class ninjas. He could even be called the Shinobi World Mengchang Jun.

Of course, to avoid provoking Ren and the Kaguya Clan's wariness, most of these people had been placed by Hozuki Shingetsu in major transportation hubs throughout the Shinobi World. Their efforts had much to do with why those rumors had spread so quickly.

What a joke. Whoever performed best in publicizing the rumors could earn enough contribution points to exchange for a C-rank ninjutsu. How could these lower-class ninjas possibly let such an opportunity pass? Don't think C-rank ninjutsu was weak. By ninja technique ranking standards, C-rank ninjutsu corresponded to the learning difficulty of a Chunin. Being able to exchange for one just by doing this was practically a steal!

"Shingetsu, you've been so high-profile lately. Are you about to put the plan into motion?" Yukinagi looked like a delicate, frail beauty, but the moment she opened her mouth, her carefree nature was exposed.

"The time isn't ripe yet." Hozuki Shingetsu shook his head, signaling for his companions not to rush.

Since he was grooming the three of them as his core inner circle, all three knew of his ambitions. Of course, to avoid accidents, Hozuki Shingetsu had only told them that he wanted to become Mizukage and lead Kirigakure to dominate the Shinobi World.

He had not told them about the even more fantastical goal, in their eyes, of merging Kirigakure with the Land of Water, placing military power above all else, and unifying the Shinobi World through force.

"Damn it! Watching the village decline day by day in the hands of an incompetent like Ren is truly heartbreaking." Karatachi Yagura looked toward the distant village and angrily punched the ground.

The others were already used to this. If anyone among them truly loved the village deeply, it was undoubtedly Karatachi Yagura. Ao and Yukinagi only wanted to deal with the Mizukage and develop the village because of Hozuki Shingetsu, but Karatachi Yagura was different. He genuinely loved Kirigakure.

The original story made that clear enough: he had voluntarily applied to become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, then successfully moved the Three-Tails and became a perfect Jinchuriki.

When they had first met, Hozuki Shingetsu's words—"Those who eat meat are shortsighted and incapable of planning far ahead"—had stirred his blood so much that he had nearly charged straight into the Mizukage Building to kill the Mizukage. After Hozuki Shingetsu stopped him, he turned around and confronted his father, the Karatachi Clan head, demanding that he step down. His reasoning was that his father, as one of those "meat-eaters," could not lead the clan forward and ought to yield his position to someone more capable.

Well, if Hozuki Shingetsu had not been there at the time, Karatachi Yagura would have become Karatachi Big Store.

"Nagi, Yagura, get yourselves ready. We'll probably be going on a mission soon."

Before Hozuki Shingetsu advanced to Jonin, he had always formed a three-man squad with Karatachi Yagura and Yukinagi. Karatachi Yagura was proficient in the Karatachi Clan's Water Mirror Technique, while Yukinagi had developed her clan's Ice Release bloodline limit to a considerable degree. The two, who were the same age as Hozuki Shingetsu, had now both barely reached the threshold of Jonin. If they truly had to travel to Uzushio Village after some time, it would be safer for him to be with companions who coordinated so well with him.

As for Ao, he came from a civilian background. Despite Hozuki Shingetsu's help, he had been limited by his family circumstances and age, and had not been able to form a team with the other three.