Kirigakure: Kaguya Clan

"So this is Kirigakure."

After nearly two weeks of trekking, Shisui crossed the strait between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire, arriving at the gates of Kirigakure.

By now, Shisui had changed into a men's kimono purchased from a civilian household and, wearing a bamboo conical hat, walked toward the entrance of the village.

Kirigakure was true to its name, shrouded year-round in a thick layer of sea mist. Even during the day, visibility was less than ten meters, and sunlight was blocked out by the dense fog and cloud cover above.

"Halt, who goes there?" The four guards at the village gate stared nervously at Shisui's figure.

As a village that remained isolated from the world, Kirigakure rarely saw strangers.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan." Dealing with these four guards required no great effort from Shisui; a single glance pulled all four into an illusion.

Passing through the Kirigakure checkpoint smoothly and entering the village, the scene he witnessed was vastly different from the bustle of Konoha.

Although the shops on both sides of the street were open, one could only see faint lights flickering through the mist, and there were only a few scattered pedestrians on the street, all moving to and fro in a hurry as if they had a very specific purpose.

Shisui's previous impression of Kirigakure was limited to the story from the Third Shinobi World War, where Might Duy single-handedly took on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

At that time, to cover the young Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and Ebisu, Might Duy had acted with the resolve of death, opening the "Formation of the Eight Inner Gates"—the Gate of Death—to face the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, ultimately beating four of them to death, leaving only Biwa Juzo, Suikazan Fuguki, and Raiga Kurosuki alive, effectively reducing the Seven to three.

"Mizukage Building..." Looking at the note in his hand, Shisui's thoughts drifted back to a few days ago. During this information delivery, Uchiha Madara had clearly learned from his previous mistake; he had White Zetsu leave the note at Shisui's residence and then immediately departed the scene to avoid losing another White Zetsu.

He really is stingy. Shisui mocked Madara's miserliness in his heart.

According to the original plot, it was only after Uchiha Madara's death that Obito used his Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura.

It seemed that Shisui, having been reborn into this life, had not only disrupted the rhythm of the original plot but also triggered a significant butterfly effect.

[Target available for plunder detected: Takedake Oyama, Shikotsumyaku development: 20%]

Following the system's prompt, the person who appeared in Shisui's sight was an adult male with extremely heavy dark circles under his eyes. He had two iconic ovals painted above his eyebrows, and his long hair was fixed into two "braids" on either side of his face, giving him a very strange appearance.

The Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya clan. Although they were both clans with Kekkei Genkai, the Uchiha's path of strengthening lay in spiritual power, and physical constitution was not their specialty, so Shisui was very interested in the abilities of the Kaguya clan.

The man from the Kaguya clan clearly did not realize that a pair of eyes was staring fixedly at him. After all, the combat prowess of the Kaguya clan in Kirigakure was notorious; no one was willing to easily provoke these lunatics born only for battle.

"Kirigakure in this era hasn't started implementing the Bloody Mist policy yet, and the various bloodline clans in the village haven't been persecuted. What a treasure trove of a village." Shisui's sentiment was not without reason; although there were many bloodline clans in Konoha, for the sake of the bigger picture, Shisui obviously could not plunder others' Kekkei Genkai at will within Konoha.

"Let's start with you."

As Takedake Oyama's back slowly walked away, Shisui's figure vanished into the mist.

Just as Takedake Oyama turned a corner into a small alley, he suddenly spun around, his left hand opening first as his five fingers pointed simultaneously at the mist behind him.

"Secret Technique: Three-Finger Bullet."

As Takedake Oyama performed the technique, three finger bones shot out from his fingertips, tearing through the mist ahead like bullets.

"Thud, thud, thud." Following the muffled sounds from not far away, Takedake Oyama knew those were the sounds of finger bones striking a hard object.

"No one... was my intuition wrong?" Seeing that his surprise attack had hit nothing, Takedake Oyama began to doubt his instincts.

Suddenly, a voice came from right beside Takedake Oyama's ear.

"Your intuition was not wrong."

Shisui, appearing behind Takedake Oyama, was very curious about how this man, who clearly only had Chunin-level chakra, had detected his trail.

One had to know that with Shisui's current skills, even an average Jonin would find it difficult to discover his tracking.

"Damn it, who are you..." Hurriedly turning around again, preparing to attack the stalker, Takedake Oyama saw only a pair of scarlet eyes.

Accompanied by the rotation of the three tomoe on the scarlet background, Takedake Oyama lost consciousness, which sealed his fate.

"Dojutsu: Yamata." The pattern in his right eye constantly shifted into the shape of a Mangekyo, and Shisui, without hesitation, activated the Dojutsu within his right Mangekyo.

"Ahhhhh..." Takedake Oyama, having already lost consciousness, let out involuntary wails. His body began to undergo a miraculous change; the skin on his torso and limbs constantly contracted, and the flesh beneath the skin seemed to be drained, becoming withered and shriveled.

Then, his entire body began to shrink. His original 1.7-meter frame gradually withered and hunched into a distorted shape, finally curling into the shape of an infant, though this "infant" had clearly been drained of all its vitality.

However, Takedake Oyama's sacrifice was not in vain; a drop of bright red blood was hovering above his corpse.

Facing the drop of blood before him that constantly radiated vigorous life force, Shisui knew this was the essence of life condensed from Takedake Oyama's entire body.

At this moment, it was not just the "Yamata" in Shisui's right eye that was yearning for the blood before him; even Shisui's own body emitted waves of craving.

This sudden physical feedback left Shisui momentarily bewildered.

But now is not the time for research. After all, Shisui was currently still inside Kirigakure; who knew if Kirigakure had monitoring methods like the crystal ball in the hands of the Third Hokage.

To avoid any complications, Shisui began to proceed with the remaining steps.

The drop of blood hovering in mid-air suddenly decomposed into countless tiny particles; those were the essence of the Shikotsumyaku nurtured within Takedake Oyama's body.

Are these particles meant to enter my right eye?

Seeing all the particles flying toward his right eye, Shisui suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and did not stop them.