The mist grew thicker, hazy and indistinct, obscuring the little sunlight that remained.
Near a deserted island along the border of the Land of Water, a young man dressed as a Konoha Ninja led the way before finally stopping.
"Senior Hua Yue, I can only bring you this far. I'll have to leave what comes next to you. Please."
Bowing slightly, Uchiha Shisui studied the senior before him, who was also of the Uchiha Clan. They were both Uchiha, yet his senior wasn't known for his Sharingan. The more Shisui thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
"Shisui, you managed to escape the Fourth Mizukage. Did you use that, after all? The Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular technique?"
Shisui's pupils trembled. He stared at Hua Yue in disbelief, his heart heavy with worry.
How had he figured it out? How had he discovered that Shisui had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, that twisted power he'd gained through his friend's sacrifice? Could it be...
"So it's true. Your ability leans toward genjutsu. Aside from an ocular technique of the Mangekyō Sharingan, I can't think of anything else that could quietly change someone's thoughts. What's the technique called?"
Realizing he'd been tricked into revealing the truth, Shisui gave a helpless smile and decided to come clean.
"Kotoamatsukami. It's the ocular technique housed in my Mangekyō Sharingan. It can change someone's will, making them believe they're acting according to their own instincts."
"I'd planned to make the Fourth Mizukage release all of us, but Kirigakure would have immediately realized their leader was under a genjutsu. So I had to use a subject they cared about to influence him."
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades, and... Flash Phantom Moon."
Seeing the apology in Shisui's eyes, Hua Yue's mouth twitched. He laughed heartily.
"What a troublesome junior you are. Fine, then. When I need your help, don't you dare turn me down. See you."
He vanished in an instant. Shisui instinctively activated his Sharingan and searched the area. When he found no trace of chakra nearby, his astonishment only grew.
"He vanished in an instant? So that's the Flying Thunder God Technique. Flash Phantom Moon's Body Flicker Technique isn't like mine, a flickering afterimage created with the Sharingan. It's a real Space-Time Ninjutsu!"
Shisui turned his gaze toward the distance. Mist swirled as far as the eye could see, hiding an unknown number of Kirigakure Ninja in ambush.
"Is Flash Phantom Moon's Phantom Moon Technique an ocular technique of the Mangekyō, too? What kind of technique could it be?"
Though he was intensely curious, Shisui stayed where he was, waiting for Hua Yue to rescue all the hostages.
Meanwhile, in the thick fog where not even a hand could be seen, deep-purple Sage Markings appeared silently. Eerie white mist spread out, mingling with the water vapor.
At the center of the island, the unconscious Konoha Ninja were tied together in groups of two or three. Each of them had at least several Explosive Tags stuck to them, some in plain sight and some hidden.
The Kirigakure Ninja stood fully armed around the hostages, waiting for their enemy to arrive.
"Hey, do you really think that guy, Flash Phantom Moon, will come? He knows this is a trap. What kind of fool would walk right into it?"
"Who knows? He's the one who defeated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Maybe he's so confident in his ninjutsu that he'll come here and get himself killed."
"Hahaha! If he dares show up, we'll let him see Kirigakure's Mist Hidden Formation. Still, no idiot would come here looking to die... right?"
Before he could finish speaking, a figure emerged from the thick fog, dressed in black robes. A Three-Eyed Demon Fox mask covered his face, and the cloak on his back fluttered despite the still air.
"That mask, that symbol... It's him! Flash Phantom Moon! I never thought the rumors were true. Flash Phantom Moon, the guy who killed countless Kirigakure Ninja, is just a boy?"
"Idiot. No matter how talented a young ninja is, after today he'll be nothing but history. It's our duty to send him to sleep beneath the water and feed him to the sharks."
Pairs of hostile eyes swept over the approaching figure. Hua Yue strolled forward as if he were taking a leisurely walk, completely unfazed by the crowd.
"Where are the hostages? The Fourth Mizukage, and the two Seven Ninja Swordsmen who narrowly escaped me—where are they?"
He surveyed the area as though everything were perfectly ordinary. His tone was calm as he waited for their answer.
"Damn brat, getting cocky, are you? Who do you think you are, talking to us like—"
The ninjas surged forward and surrounded Hua Yue, their faces twisted with cruelty, as if they were ready to tear him limb from limb.
"Kill him!"
"No, that'd be too easy on him. We'll torture the Flying Thunder God Technique out of him. He's from the Uchiha Clan, so he must have awakened the Sharingan. We should dig out his eyes and optic nerves!"
They regarded him as their mortal enemy and were already plotting to take his spoils before he was even dead, all acting as if victory were certain.
But Hua Yue didn't even glance at them. He turned his gaze toward the camp where the hostages were gathered, his voice indifferent.
"Come out, Biwa Juzo, Suikazan Fuguki, and the Fourth Mizukage. So the two Seven Ninja Swordsmen who escaped me were you."
That day, Hua Yue had been in a hurry to treat Might Duy and hadn't had time to check whether the bodies were really dead. He'd simply snatched the seven Ninja Blades and left. He hadn't expected that some of them had actually slipped through the cracks.
"Uchiha brat, I owe you one for that day. My wounds are still aching, even now. I have you to thank for every bit of it!"
Suikazan Fuguki emerged from the thick fog. His sharklike teeth gleamed coldly as he stared intently at Hua Yue, not daring to let his guard down for a moment.
"Be careful. This guy's Body Flicker Technique is a real nuisance. I don't want to lose any more teeth."
Biwa Juzo followed close behind as he spoke, swinging the ordinary Ninja Blade in his hand again and again, as if dissatisfied with its weight.
"So the Flash Phantom Moon who's made a name for himself in the recent war is just a brat."
The Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, slowly appeared. Hua Yue was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and teased him.
"What? You've got a brat's face yourself, and you think you can call someone else one? Give me a break. You can decide for yourselves: should I wipe you all out along with the hostages, or will you agree to negotiate?"
Hua Yue's words seemed to touch on some forbidden subject. The Fourth Mizukage, who had seemed so calm moments before, instantly gritted his teeth.
"What are you babbling about? I have a wife and a son! I'm not some brat! You Uchiha brat, if you want us to release the hostages, then kill yourself in front of us—"
Hua Yue shook his head helplessly and muttered to himself.
"Negotiations have failed. Then you can join them and dance together on the Bridge of the Afterlife. Sage Art: Great Spiral Ring!"
"That technique—watch out! Water Style: Water Mirror Technique!"
White blazed against white, swallowing the fog and the island. In a daze, Karatachi Yagura felt himself surrounded by an inexplicable sense of wrongness, but then the towering figure before him left him stunned.
"What on earth is going on?"