Naruto: Five Lives, Five Times the Excitement

Chapter 184 Hozuki Mangetsu's Target

In Kirigakure, the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, sat in his office, looking at the latest report before him, and painfully clutching his forehead.

"With so many resources invested, the Jinchuriki experiment is still not completely successful. Are we forced to compromise with Konoha?"

Since the Land of Waves was taken over by the Leaf Village ninja, the Hidden Mist ninja lost their bridgehead on the mainland and suffered a great loss. They were unable to launch large-scale attacks and could only send small-scale ninja forces to harass the Land of Fire to keep the war going.

The successive defeats in the wars against Kumogakure and Konoha put Yagura under great pressure, and the criticisms against him in Kirigakure increased.

Faced with this situation, Yagura made a note of the most rebellious ninja clans, intending to settle scores with them after the war ended. At the same time, he vigorously developed Jinchuriki technology, hoping to use the power of the Tailed Beasts to open up the war situation.

Unfortunately, the plan did not go smoothly. The recent experiment with human jinchūriki failed and caused considerable losses.

At that moment, Qing walked in and delivered a new intelligence report.

"Some time ago, the Fire Country Daimyo began recruiting his own ninja forces. After analysis, the intelligence team concluded that there was a conflict between the Fire Country Daimyo and Konoha. I think we can contact the Fire Country Daimyo; perhaps we can cooperate to some extent."

Yagura rested his chin on his right hand and nodded indifferently: "Although the Fire Country Daimyo's stance is naturally opposed to ours and he won't join us in fighting Konoha, it's not impossible for us to engage in some small-scale cooperation. I'll leave this task to you."

After saying that, Yagura sat up straight and said seriously, "Some information indicates that there are ninja clans in the ninja world that can control the power of the Three-Tails. This might help us research the perfect Jinchuriki. After you make contact with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, try to find them."

Ao frowned and said, "Lord Mizukage, the power of the tailed beasts is so great, do such families really exist?"

Yagura shrugged: "I don't know either. What if they exist? I'll send Hozuki Mangetsu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Mei Terumi to you. I hope it will turn out well."

At this time, the Mist Ninja, Konoha, and Kumogakure were all at war. Ordinary Mist Ninja who set foot on the continent generally did not survive for long, let alone complete their missions.

Ao has Byakugan and is responsible for intelligence and command; Kisame Hoshigaki has powerful Water Release techniques; Hozuki Mangetsu and Mei Terumi possess bloodline limits. Their combined strength makes them a formidable team capable of carrying out missions in the ninja world.

Upon hearing about the mission, Kisame Hoshigaki and Mei Terumi were obedient, while only Mangetsu Hozuki showed some excitement.

"Hehehe, going to the Land of Fire? Great, I can retrieve my lost ninja sword right away."

Of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, only Juzo Biwa and Suigetsu Hozuki remain. The other five are all dead, and their swords have been taken by Konoha and Kumogakure respectively. Hozuki Mangetsu considers this a great humiliation and has long wanted to bring the swords back.

Seeing Hozuki Mangetsu's somewhat arrogant expression, Ao scolded, "This mission is of utmost importance, don't do anything reckless!"

Hozuki Mangetsu nodded perfunctorily: "I know, I know. I've heard that the Uchiha clan in Konoha is very powerful. I'll find an opportunity to have a match with them this time, and while I'm at it, I'll try to steal a Sharingan to study. Ao, I'll give you a Sharingan then. You'll have a Sharingan in your left eye and a Byakugan in your right eye. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

Listening to Hozuki Mangetsu's ramblings, Ao's forehead veins throbbed: "If you don't obey orders, I'll suggest that the Mizukage replace you."

"Alright, alright, just pretend I was joking. Let's get going."

Hozuki Mangetsu didn't want to lose this opportunity, so he tempered his temper a bit. However, he was still thinking about investigating who the Uchiha genius was when he got to the Land of Fire, since a genius's Sharingan would always have something unique about it.

Hozuki Mangetsu was unaware that the Uchiha genius he so admired was facing a death threat.

As a staunch supporter of the Daimyo, Kazuma harbors deep animosity towards the Hokage and hopes to completely destroy the ninja village system so that the Daimyo can gain command of all ninjas.

Kyosuke, Asuma, and Shisui were sent by the Hokage to fight against the Daimyo, which means they are highly trusted by the Hokage and are enemies that Kazuma must eliminate when he achieves his ideals.

Therefore, when fighting Shisui, Kazuma really wanted to kill him.

As Shisui's performance in battle became increasingly outstanding, Kazuma's determination to kill him grew stronger.

With such strength at such a young age, he will surely become a formidable enemy of Ma when he grows up. How can we tolerate him growing up like this?

As for whether killing Shisui would provoke retaliation from Konoha and the Uchiha clan, Kazuma is not considering that for now; there will always be a solution.

How can someone who is indecisive achieve great things!

Therefore, Kazuma thrust his kunai directly into Shisui's throat, aiming for a fatal blow.

"Goodbye, Konoha's genius!"

Shisui's body was half-buried in the mud, and he was completely surrounded by boulders. The kunai was right in front of him, and Shisui seemed to be in a desperate situation.

At this moment, all the anxiety and fear on Shisui's face disappeared, replaced by an expression of relief.

"Finally, it's here."

quack quack!

As Shisui spoke, several crows flew directly in front of Kazuma, circling above his head and completely obscuring his view.

Kazuma only saw black feathers and eerie red pupils.

"Don't even think about stopping me!"

At the crucial moment, Kazuma ignored the crows and continued to thrust out his kunai.

If the kunai had been just a few centimeters closer, it could have killed Shisui!

Suddenly, Kazuma felt dizzy, and the crows, still water, and boulders in front of him disappeared.

Suddenly looking up, a gigantic crow, so large it blotted out the sky, flew down and swallowed Kazuma whole with its gaping maw.

"We've won."

Seeing Kazuma standing there with a blank stare and frozen in place, Shisui knew that the illusion had worked and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At this moment, the kunai was already pressed against Shisui's throat, piercing a small wound.

Just as Shisui was about to push the kunai off his throat, he suddenly heard a soft cracking sound, and then saw cracks appearing on Kazuma's body.

The horse's body also turned the color of rock.

not good!

Shisui was shocked, realizing that Kazuma hadn't fallen for his trap, but rather that he had been outmaneuvered by Kazuma. He immediately formed hand seals, preparing to use his last bit of chakra for a final desperate attempt.

"At such a young age, you dare to try to deceive me? How arrogant!"

Outside the giant rock, He Ma smiled slightly, raised a rock the size of a small mountain in his right hand, and threw it toward the still water.

As Shisui was forming hand seals, he suddenly felt the world go dark. Looking up, he saw an enormous, ridiculously large rock falling down.

There's no other way.

Shisui calmly watched the giant rock that was almost upon him, lost in thought, though his hand gestures continued uninterrupted.

Then he heard a familiar voice.

"Spiritual communication!"