Land of Water · Kirigakure.
This secluded shinobi village, nestled deep in the mountains, was shrouded in dense fog all year round.
At that moment, inside the Mizukage Building.
The Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, sat behind his desk in a leather chair, his gaze vacant as he listened to two Anbu Ninjas' report.
"Reporting to you, Lord Fourth. Anbu Seventh Squad, Tenth Squad, and Twelfth and Thirteenth Squads are lying in wait at the port, ready to ambush the missing-nin Zabuza!"
"This time, we'll definitely kill the rogue ninja!"
"Understood. You've done well."
Yagura gave a slight nod and replied expressionlessly.
He didn't seem particularly concerned about Zabuza...
"You may leave."
"Understood. This subordinate takes his leave!" The Anbu Captain hurried out, not wanting to stay a moment longer.
After the Anbu Captain had left.
Only then did Yagura turn his hollow gaze toward the other Anbu Ninja kneeling before him.
"Kisame Hoshigaki."
"I'm here, Lord Fourth Mizukage!"
Kisame lowered his head and answered respectfully.
It was impossible to tell what expression he wore.
"I have an important mission for you."
"Please give your orders."
"Find an opportunity to kill your superior!"
"My superior? Lord Suikazan? May I ask why?"
"That man has colluded with the enemy, leaking important information about the village to a foreign country! For the village's sake, I need you to eliminate him!"
Kisame's heart jolted, but he calmly asked, "Why me?"
"Suikazan Fuguki is extremely wary and quite powerful. Trying to capture him by force would only cause needless casualties."
"But he trusts you, his subordinate, completely."
"If you set a trap and restrict his chakra, you should be able to take him out easily."
"After you complete this mission, you'll take his place as my direct subordinate and continue serving the village."
Yagura recited coldly.
As if he'd memorized the lines long ago.
Kisame fell silent for a moment, then replied quietly:
"Looks like I don't have any reason to refuse!"
Though he knew there were a few questionable aspects to this mission.
Since Lord Fourth Mizukage had personally given him the order, Kisame had no choice but to accept.
After all, no one knew his superior, Suikazan Fuguki's, strength better than he did.
The Mizukage had decided to kill him. If Kisame didn't do it,
the Mizukage would send more people to do the job.
And with Suikazan's strength, that would lead to even greater casualties—and more Kirigakure Ninjas dying horribly!
So, aside from himself,
no one could end this farce at such a low cost.
Besides, he was already a man stained with the blood of his comrades.
He didn't mind bearing one more sin...
"Tch. What a hypocritical world!"
Kisame sighed inwardly.
Then, after taking his leave,
he prepared to depart and start planning how to carry out the mission.
But just as Kisame had stepped halfway out of the room,
outside the window, in the distance,
from the direction of [Kirigakure]'s main gate,
a loud taunt, infused with powerful chakra, suddenly rang out.
It jolted the entire village awake.
"Hello? Moshi moshi?"
"Anyone there? I'm here to kick your village's butt!"
"That Fourth Mizukage guy named Yagura—come out and meet your death!"
The brazen provocation made Kisame jolt.
He immediately offered, "Did someone make it all the way to the village gates?"
"Lord Mizukage, I'll go take a look!"
With that, Kisame leaped out the window and sped toward the village entrance.
Not long after Kisame had leaped away,
inside the room, the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, remained seated in his chair, his expression vacant.
But in the shadows behind the chair,
a figure wearing a spiral-patterned mask gradually emerged.
He muttered to himself,
"That voice?"
"It's Uchiha Natsume!"
"How did that brat end up here?"
"Damn it! He even dares to challenge all of [Kirigakure]!"
"But this works out. I can use this opportunity to see if I can eliminate this huge variable with Kirigakure's help."
With a sinister grin, Obito-bro vanished into the darkness once more.
Under his control, the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, rose abruptly from his chair.
He began heading toward the village entrance.
At that moment, at the entrance to [Kirigakure],
Natsume and his five companions were quickly surrounded by the many Kirigakure Ninjas who had rushed over.
It was easy to see that there were fewer male ninjas among them.
At a glance, dozens of pairs of fair-skinned female ninja legs filled the scene, enough to make anyone's heart flutter.
Clearly, [Kirigakure] had a serious shortage of men!
It was time they replenished their yang energy...
Still, these ninjas weren't very strong.
And with the famous Kirigakure Ninja Zabuza standing in front of them,
the Kirigakure Ninjas didn't dare attack recklessly.
"Young Clan Head, aren't we being a little too high-profile?"
Gin wiped the sweat from his palms and asked nervously.
He'd never before stood at the gates of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages and provoked it so brazenly.
Anyone would be nervous.
He could only hope that the Young Clan Head really would unleash his full power and cut through all of [Kirigakure]!
Before long, an Anbu Captain arrived.
Suikazan Fuguki:
He was a portly man with orange-red curls, three pairs of green stripes tattooed on his face, and the greatsword Samehada strapped to his back. He looked a little dim-witted.
Yet this man had been one of the first Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure, and the first wielder of the greatsword Samehada.
He was also currently one of [Kirigakure]'s powerful, high-ranking officials.
He'd spent years carrying out covert missions and was shrewd and extremely wary. Even a certain Obito-bro regarded him with respect.
After all, this man had once narrowly survived Might Duy, who had opened the Eight Inner Gates.
His strength had firmly reached the threshold of Kage Level!
As soon as he arrived,
he recognized Zabuza at a glance.
He immediately roared, "Zabuza! You missing-nin! You dare come back?"
"What happened to the Anbu Ninjas sent to kill you?"
Zabuza answered calmly, "They're all dead!"
"Whoa—"
The surrounding ninjas burst into an uproar.
After all, quite a few Anbu Ninjas had been sent to hunt Zabuza—almost a fifth of the village's entire Anbu force.
And Zabuza had killed them all?
Where had he gotten such strength?
If he was standing at the village gates now, then didn't that mean...?
"You bastard! You're asking for it!"
Suikazan Fuguki roared furiously, gritting his teeth as if he wanted to tear Zabuza apart.
However, he didn't draw the greatsword Samehada.
Instead, he secretly gave Zabuza a look only he could understand.
Zabuza quickly returned another look, just as meaningful.
They traded glances back and forth. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought the two of them were flirting!
Just as the atmosphere grew more and more tense, as if a battle were about to erupt,
several more high-ranking figures from [Kirigakure] arrived one after another.
"Is that Elder Genji?!"
"Elder Genji's here too?!"
A commotion broke out in the crowd.
At the same time, in the distance, an elderly figure leaning on a snake-headed wooden cane was slowly approaching, supported by two people.
He was Elder Genji of [Kirigakure].
He wielded power and status equal to the Mizukage's, managed much of the village's civil affairs, and was consulted on most important village matters.
The two people supporting Elder Genji were:
One was his trusted aide, Gonbei.
The other, a striking young woman, was the village's rising shinobi star: Terumi Mei.
Watching the future Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, approach with an elegant gait—her long auburn curls crossed over one another, her eyes like emeralds, and her figure mature and graceful—Natsume's eyes lit up.
Who didn't like pretty kunoichi?
After all, appreciating beauty was an art in itself!
Of course, Natsume knew full well that he was here to take care of serious business.
How could mere beauty distract him?
Absolutely not!
Before you continue