Orochimaru's Plan

That very night, Kisame Hoshigaki headed to the capital of the Land of Water, pretending to investigate evidence of Zabuza Momochi's "collusion" with the Land of Water's daimyo.

But Kisame Hoshigaki had been monitoring Zabuza Momochi all along, so he naturally knew that Zabuza Momochi's assassination attempt had absolutely nothing to do with the Land of Water's daimyo.

Could the Fourth have sent me here for some other reason?

Kisame Hoshigaki wandered around near the Daimyo Mansion all night, utterly at a loss.

Then, the next day, chaos broke out at the Daimyo Mansion.

A sense of foreboding rose in Kisame Hoshigaki's heart.

Sure enough, news came from the Daimyo Mansion that a ninja had infiltrated it the previous night and assassinated the daimyo!

And Kisame Hoshigaki, who had wandered around the Daimyo Mansion all night, naturally became the "prime" suspect.

Before Kisame Hoshigaki even had time to explain himself, word spread from Kirigakure that he had become an S-rank Missing-nin!

At this point, how could he not realize that it had all been the Fourth Mizukage's scheme?

But why had the Fourth Mizukage done this?

Kisame Hoshigaki was furious, helpless, and utterly baffled.

Just as he was preparing to risk infiltrating Kirigakure to confront the Fourth Mizukage, Konan came looking for him.

Deep within an ancient mountain forest somewhere in the Land of Fire, Orochimaru slowly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot, making him look as though he had not slept for ten days and nights.

"Uchiha Shisui... damn it!"

He had intended to play the fisherman, only to nearly be killed by Uchiha Shisui's single move, Kotoamatsukami: Light!

This kind of powerful Genjutsu attack happened to be the one thing Orochimaru, who had already undergone the body transfer ritual, was least able to resist!

If Houka's Mangekyō