Confidence Born of Absolute Strength

Hidden Mist Village, outside the Iron Cutting Merchant Association.

Under the Third Water Shadow's mediation, the tense atmosphere eased somewhat. The Hidden Mist ninjas sheathed their blades one after another, and Shin'yu slowly explained why he had come.

"Thirteen years ago, the Hundred Hands Style Oikawa Family was forcibly split from the legendary Forging Blades Workshop Merchant Association of the Land of Iron by Gengetsu Hozuki through illegal means. It is time for them to return."

Minazuki Sora hesitated. "If I am not mistaken, the Oikawa Family Lord Shin'yu mentioned is the people of the Iron Cutting Merchant Association, correct?"

"That's right. The association's president should be a man named Oikawa Genzo." Shin'yu nodded. Seeing how reasonable the Third Water Shadow was, he could not help feeling a little surprised. He had thought he would need to resort to more forceful measures.

"So even the renowned Forging Blades Workshop Merchant Association of the Land of Iron is one of Lord Shin'yu's assets. But..."

Minazuki Sora revealed a troubled expression. "As far as I know, the current president of the Iron Cutting Merchant Association is named Kaguya Qiong, not the Oikawa Genzo Lord Shin'yu spoke of. I have never even heard that name..."

"Heh heh heh. Now that things have come to this, you're trying to deny it? If you dare deceive us, this old man would not mind slaughtering everyone in your Hidden Mist Village!" Kakuzu let out a low laugh. His wrists opened, and dense Black Lines shot out. Every word carried an unmistakable threat.

"Wait, there must be some misunderstanding here!"

Minazuki Sora hurriedly stopped the restless Anbu and said urgently, "First, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with Hidden Mist's high-level officials. Back then, Lord Gengetsu handled everything himself. We had no right to question him. If Lord Shin'yu wishes to reclaim the merchant association, Hidden Mist will fully cooperate!"

Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead. There was no helping it. Though the current Hidden Mist Village appeared imposing, it was actually hollow beneath the surface, nothing more than a façade. As the Water Shadow, he understood that better than anyone.

Due to the Second Water Shadow's system, the village's strongest fighting force had been the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. But all seven had died on the battlefield, and the new seven blade wielders had yet to gather. The village was now severely lacking in top-tier combat power.

If a fight truly broke out, only he, the Water Shadow, could exchange a few moves with them. But... he could only barely last those few moves.

Which of the three people before him did not possess a profound aura? Whose Chakra was not above Kage-level? Especially that fiend—he had crippled even the Hidden Leaf Village at its peak!

Fortunately, Shin'yu's emotions remained stable, and he showed no killing intent.

"You said the Oikawa Family's merchant association is now controlled by Hidden Mist's Kaguya Clan?"

"That's right. Lord Gengetsu appointed them when Iron Cutting was first established."

A trace of bitterness flashed across Minazuki Sora's face. "The Kaguya Clan is the strongest clan in the village, but also the most arrogant. They are warlike, cold-blooded, ruthless, and difficult to tame. They do not even respect the Hidden Mist high-level officials. To be honest, even Lord White Lotus had a terrible headache dealing with them back then..."

He said helplessly, "Lord Shin'yu is a smart man. Surely I need not spell out Lord Gengetsu's true intention in choosing them to oversee the merchant association?"

Shin'yu stroked his chin, deep in thought. His expression could not be seen beneath the Black Satin.

Light said softly, "Was it to use the merchant association's resources to win the Kaguya Clan's support, consolidate the Water Shadow's position, and ensure that the other clans and powerful figures of the Land of Water would not exploit the newly established merchant association?"

"Mm, that's exactly right. You really are brilliant." Shin'yu generously gave her a thumbs-up.

Kakuzu gave a cold snort and muttered, "In this old man's view, there was another purpose: to turn the stolen resources into something permanent, making them his own in a perfectly legitimate manner."

"Oh?" Shin'yu was somewhat surprised and looked at Kakuzu in a new light. "You thought that far ahead too?"

Kakuzu smiled disdainfully. "They say most of the Kaguya Clan are simple-minded fools who know only slaughter. The core operations of the merchant association were probably still in Gengetsu Hozuki's own hands. He merely used the Kaguya Clan's name, offered them a few trifling benefits, and exploited their strength to balance the other Hidden Mist clans against one another, while he himself sat back and reaped the fisherman's profit. Nothing more than an exploiter."

"I've noticed you know quite a bit about this..." Shin'yu trailed off. In his fixed impression, Kakuzu had always been a stubborn executioner, like a tireless worker bee—diligent, yet foolish.

But now it seemed he had been narrow-minded. Kakuzu's business sense was no empty boast. No wonder he had always styled himself as a merchant.

Nearby, Minazuki Sora listened as they casually exposed the Hidden Mist high-level officials' shameful secrets in broad daylight. All he could do was force a bitter smile.

Once he saw that they had finally believed his information, Minazuki Sora promptly extended an invitation, asking them to proceed to the Water Shadow Building and discuss the Kaguya Clan together.

Naturally, Shin'yu did not refuse. He was not some bloodthirsty tyrant. Since the other side had laid their sincerity before him, there was no reason to be oblivious to the situation.

He did not fear whether they harbored ulterior motives at all, because his strength was enough to suppress everything.

On the day he opened his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he had already mastered the ultimate power of the Complete Body Susanoo.

Moreover, after nearly obsessive development, his Susanoo had long since become vastly different from before.

Shin'yu had realized long ago that his Physical Body was tougher than his Susanoo. Thus, during the period before the transplant surgery began, he had not simply wasted his Eye Power. Instead, he had used the opportunity to develop his Susanoo.

After adapting to Hashirama's Wooden Style Power, he had gained extreme control over Chakra's shape transformation. By altering Chakra density according to the arrangement of metal Atoms, he could increase its power and hardness. This was the so-called Gold Gathering.

Since Autumn Dew on Leaves could use this to become an incomparably sharp slash that even made Hashirama's scalp tingle, how terrifying would its power become if it were applied to Susanoo?

To begin with, the principle of Susanoo was to materialize energy through Eye Power, releasing Chakra in a high-output form to create an extremely dense Chakra body. In theory, this was the same principle as Gold Gathering.

The actual process was the same. Shin'yu first tried applying the arrangement and condensation method of metal Atoms to the skeletal frame. With his terrifyingly precise control, he spent ten days finally completing the technique, allowing Susanoo's external manifestation to perfectly integrate with Gold Gathering and stabilizing the flow of Chakra.

The result of further compressing and reinforcing an already high-density energy body was obvious.

His Susanoo skeleton abruptly shrank. The third-stage Crow Tengu Susanoo, originally as large as a small mountain, became a war god only as tall as an adult. Even its divine weapon shrank proportionally. Its entire body was deep black and gleamed with a heavy Metallic Sheen as it floated behind him.

He sacrificed size in exchange for strength and hardness.

This level of sturdiness had already surpassed his Sea God Body. Even under the extreme pressure of the deep sea, it could still move freely.

If he continued injecting Chakra on this foundation, the Susanoo would gradually grow larger. Though it would still retain the hardness of its armored form, the consumption would be terrifying.

Shin'yu could not even remember how many times he had rewound time before restoring the third-stage Susanoo to its original size.

He tried thrusting out a spear. That day, a massive black radiance descended like a crescent moon. The earth shattered and mountains collapsed, and from then on, a bottomless canyon appeared in the western Land of Fire.

If he unleashed the Complete Body Susanoo, applied the Gold Armament, restored it to its original size, and then delivered a strike, that mountain-and-sea-shattering force would be enough to destroy the world. It would not merely be a matter of splitting a few mountains apart.

Therefore, Shin'yu was now entirely fearless. Even if it were a dragon's pool or tiger's den, he could still venture inside.

At worst, he would take off his eyepatch. Guess how much damage that would do.