The smoke dissipated, revealing a single crow.
"Take this message to Itachi," Kawasaki commanded.
"Caw... caw...!"
The ninja crow, unable to speak, vanished in an instant.
The Uchiha clan had always maintained close ties with ninja cats and crows, and Kawasaki had chosen the latter. He had no particular preference for summoning animals, believing the greatest value of the Summoning Jutsu lay in communication and the Reverse Summoning Technique. After all, in the later stages of a conflict, most summoning animals became little more than showpieces.
While the clan typically used ninja cats for communication, Kawasaki, being away on a mission, opted to use a ninja crow to correspond with Itachi.
Land of Water.
"Why?!" The kunoichi's body trembled as she painfully questioned the blurred figure before her. Beside her lay the silent bodies of her two comrades.
Kisame Hoshigaki's eyes, veined and bloodshot, resembled those of a bloodthirsty shark. "To eliminate my comrades. That is my special mission."
The kunoichi collapsed to the ground. Not with blame, but with a faint voice, she asked, "Your life... it must have been very hard, hasn't it?"
Kisame Hoshigaki's pupils contracted sharply. Yet, his face remained a mask of indifference as he stepped forward and thrust his sword down.
Vwoom...!
A pixelated cube suddenly appeared in the sky, and a figure plummeted from it.
"What the hell is this?"
Kawasaki had used Sasuke's space-time ninjutsu, teleporting from the Land of Wind to the Land of Water in an instant. He hadn't expected the arrival point to be in mid-air. Fortunately, Kawasaki was agile enough to flip and land steadily on his feet.
Several bodies lay on the ground, and a blue-skinned, shark-faced man stood at the edge of a cliff.
"Konoha pursuit troops? So soon," Kisame Hoshigaki remarked, casting a cold glance at Kawasaki before leaping off the cliff.
A commotion stirred from the nearby forest as a large squad of shinobi approached. Kawasaki looked around and went to check on the kunoichi, but she was already gone. No breath remained.
"Tsk, tsk. Kisame really is ruthless. I remember this girl; she seemed to have a bit of a crush on him. Her final words dealt a critical blow to Kisame's spirit. He'll probably never forget it. Damn you, Obito," Kawasaki muttered to himself.
*Oh well, since I'm here...*
Kawasaki brought his hands together. Poof!
Transformation Jutsu!
Kawasaki first altered his appearance. A faint green light glowed in the palm of his hand—the Mystical Palm Technique he had learned from Kabuto Yakushi.
*Tsk, tsk. Kisame is vicious. A direct stab to the heart.* The Mist kunoichi must have died without much pain.
Swish, swish, swish.
The sound of movement rustled through the trees as a large group of Konoha shinobi emerged. Leading them was Konoha's interrogation specialist, Ibiki Morino, accompanied by six other elite jonin.
"Who are you!"
Although Kawasaki had transformed into an ordinary-looking person, he was wearing a Konoha uniform. He pressed one hand, glowing with the Mystical Palm Technique, against the Mist kunoichi's chest while flashing a Konoha forehead protector from his pouch with the other.
"I'm one of you."
Ibiki Morino could tell at a glance that the man was using a Transformation Jutsu and that the forehead protector had just been taken out. However, the fact that he was proficient in Konoha's medical ninjutsu, specifically the Mystical Palm Technique, left Ibiki slightly perplexed.
"What are you doing?" one of the Konoha elites couldn't help but ask. Their trained eyes could clearly see that the Mist kunoichi had just been killed.
Kawasaki ignored them, focusing solely on channeling his chakra for the Mystical Palm Technique. The jutsu lived up to its name; in moments, the wound over the kunoichi's heart had completely healed.
"Hey! That Mist ninja is already dead! Why are you wasting your chakra!"
Kawasaki shot them a look. *Country bumpkins.*
With a flick of his wrist, he struck the kunoichi's chest. Her body jolted upwards. In a flash, Kawasaki landed two more strikes.
Thump-thump...
A heartbeat.
"Cough, cough! Hah..." The kunoichi sat up abruptly, coughing and gasping for air. She was still disoriented. Hadn't Kisame-senpai finished her off?
Ibiki Morino and the other six Konoha shinobi were stunned. Resurrection?
"Stop staring. You're my prisoner now. Come with me quietly."
The kunoichi looked around. Kisame was gone, and she was surrounded by Konoha shinobi. She glanced at the man beside her—a stranger—and the Konoha forehead protector on the ground. *So, I've been captured?* She lowered her head in despair.
Ibiki, however, frowned. "She is our mission objective."
Kawasaki scratched his head, annoyed. These were all Konoha elites, and he had no intention of revealing his identity yet. "Looks like I have no choice."
Kawasaki's tone shifted. Before the wary Konoha shinobi could even assume combat stances, the space behind them suddenly filled with a torrent of yellow sand. The sand blotted out the sun, casting the area into darkness. It descended like a heavy blanket, rapidly covering everything.
Sand Layered Grand Burial Seal!
Rumble! The sand solidified, tightly binding the seven Konoha elites. The sandstorm raged, blurring their vision.
Ibiki was horrified. *Isn't this a Sand Village jutsu? How is this possible?! Such a high-level jutsu, and without any hand seals! Are we going to die here today?*
Fear gripped Ibiki and his men as they endured the crushing force of the sand, completely immobilized. The grains quickly enveloped them, sealing their mouths and noses and preventing even a finger from moving.
Kawasaki looked at the figures, now encased like statues. *So these are... sand sculptures?*
The System's products really are top-notch. It completely ignores the environment and requires no hand seals or preparation to activate.
*Is just leaving like this too obvious?* Kawasaki manipulated the jutsu, allowing small gaps to form in the sand.
He walked up to the immobilized shinobi and began searching their pockets one by one. From Ibiki, he took several scrolls, stuffing them into his own robes without having time to inspect their contents. The Konoha shinobi despaired. Their captor was already looting them. What would come next? They mentally prepared their last words.
After a long while, the sand around them loosened and fell away. The man who had used the Mystical Palm Technique and the Mist kunoichi were gone. Only the two other Mist ninja corpses remained.
A quick check revealed that they had been stripped of everything. Their weapons were gone, and their pockets were cleaner than their faces. Not even a single kunai was left behind.
Ibiki's brow furrowed. The intelligence scroll he carried was missing. That intel was highly classified, detailing the mission of a Kirigakure ANBU Cipher Division unit that had left the village. That's why Konoha had specifically dispatched its top interrogator, Ibiki, for this task. But the mission had been full of twists. The intel was correct, and they had caught up to the Cipher Division unit on this route, but someone from Kirigakure was always one step ahead, cleaning up the trail. Just as they had them cornered, this mysterious person appeared and subdued Ibiki's entire squad with a single jutsu. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have any killing intent and had only taken their belongings.
Ibiki picked up a pinch of the sand. It was real. *Was such a massive amount of sand manifested purely through ninjutsu? What an immense amount of chakra that would require!*
Watching the sand slowly dissipate, Ibiki was lost in thought. The Land of Water had a humid climate with dense, firm soil. This kind of yellow sand was unheard of here. It must have been brought from elsewhere or created by converting the local earth. But the jutsu had been cast too quickly; the sand had to have been manifested entirely from chakra.
*Who could it be? Someone who knows the Mystical Palm Technique and is a master of a Sand Village jutsu of this caliber... It's truly bizarre.*
Ibiki racked his brain but couldn't come up with an answer. He had no way of knowing it was just a one-time-use jutsu Kawasaki had employed to hide his identity. Indeed, the Mystical Palm Technique was from Konoha, but Kawasaki didn't actually know it—he'd copied it from Kabuto Yakushi. As for the sealing jutsu, it was Gaara's signature technique, so of course it was from the Sand Village.
"Captain, we couldn't find any survivors," a subordinate reported after scouting the area.
With no supplies or weapons, they could only look to Ibiki for orders. Unable to make sense of the situation, Ibiki decided they would first return to camp to resupply. This mission was becoming more and more mysterious.
.....
At the bottom of the cliff.
Splash! Kawasaki dragged the kunoichi out of the water. So there was a pool at the bottom. No wonder Kisame survived the fall. He noticed wet footprints on the bank. Clearly, Kisame had already left.
Kawasaki took out some fuel and spat a small fireball to light a campfire. He went through the items he'd looted. He'd already tossed the weapons into the water, and there was nothing of value in the ninja tool pouches. But when Kawasaki unrolled Ibiki's scroll, his brow furrowed.
*A Konoha sealing jutsu...?* Kawasaki touched it with his fingertip, and the seal broke. After reading its contents, he thoughtfully rolled the scroll back up.
A long while passed. *Did I forget something?*
He turned his head and saw the kunoichi staring at him with wide eyes. "Ah, my bad. I forgot to undo your seal." Before jumping off the cliff, Kawasaki had conveniently used a Four Symbols Seal to restrain her. He'd completely forgotten to release it.
Kawasaki placed a palm on her, and the inky black Four Symbols Seal receded back into his hand. The kunoichi instantly regained her mobility.
"Where are you taking me?" The kunoichi could tell that this man wasn't with those Konoha ninja.
Kawasaki had already dispelled his transformation and was back in his Land of Wind attire, complete with a wide, gray cloak and a conical hat. He took off the hat and tossed it aside, revealing his face. Though Kawasaki was somewhat famous, his likeness wasn't widely circulated, so the kunoichi didn't recognize him.
"Where am I taking you? That depends on you," Kawasaki said, tipping his chin up.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you hate Kisame Hoshigaki for killing you?"
The kunoichi's expression shifted subtly. As if remembering something, she hugged her knees and sat by the fire, her gaze distant. "For shinobi like us, following orders is everything. If you hadn't saved me, I would have died one way or another. What is there to resent?"
"Tsk, tsk..." Kawasaki clicked his tongue with interest. Sometimes, fate was a strange thing. For Kisame Hoshigaki to meet a woman like this...
"I'm very interested in Kisame Hoshigaki. I think he's a man of great talent and I'd like to recruit him. Can you help me persuade him?" Kawasaki held Kisame in high regard. Kisame had spent his life searching for truth and peace, ultimately sacrificing himself by letting his own sharks devour him to protect intelligence. If possible, Kawasaki wanted to change all of that.
The kunoichi was taken aback. Pointing to herself in disbelief, she asked, "Me?"
Kawasaki understood her surprise. He explained, "Believe it or not, if I hadn't saved you, Kisame Hoshigaki would have carried the memory of your death for the rest of his life."
The kunoichi's eyes widened in shock, and a blush crept up her cheeks. She quickly covered her face. "No way." She added, "Besides, Kisame-senpai would never betray the Mist Village."
*Hey, girl, are you okay? Didn't he just stab you? And you're still so devoted to him? From "Kisame-senpai" to "Kisame"... what's next?* In Kawasaki's eyes, this kind of connection was like the god of marriage had welded them together with steel bars.
Kawasaki sighed. "You don't have to worry about that. Your Fourth Mizukage has been controlled by an enemy's genjutsu. The Hidden Mist Village is finished."
"What...?" A moment ago she was blushing, but at this news, the kunoichi shot to her feet.
Kawasaki casually tossed her the scroll he had read.
She took one look at it. "This is our Cipher Division's travel route!" She was aghast. They were on a top-secret mission, and their intelligence had been leaked before they even left the Land of Water.
Kawasaki shrugged. "The one who sold you out was none other than your controlled Mizukage."
The kunoichi was staggered by the revelation. "The Mizukage's tyranny all these years!"
Kawasaki nodded in confirmation. "That's right. It was all the doing of the one controlling him."
"Is... is that true?" her voice trembled.
Kawasaki chuckled. "What would I gain from lying to you?"
As an elite of the Cipher Division, the kunoichi, though distressed, began to think. She recalled how the Fourth Mizukage seemed to have changed overnight. He began a brutal crackdown on clans with kekkei genkai, and the village's administration became incredibly harsh. Many of the Mist's finest shinobi were either killed or forced to flee. Even the renowned "Demon of the Hidden Mist," Zabuza Momochi, had defected not long ago.
It seemed this was very likely true. A wave of sorrow washed over her. Over the past two years, her friends and family had died tragically in the bloody purges of the Mist. To think it was all just a sham.
"What's your name?"
She looked up at Kawasaki, her expression bleak. "My name is Kyoko. Kyoko Kurita."
"Do you have any family left?" Kawasaki asked casually.
Kyoko shook her head gently.
The Hidden Mist had once been a village that produced countless talented shinobi. Who knew how many elites it had lost because of Obito's meddling.
"Perfect. You can help me persuade Kisame, and then you can both work for me. You'll even have someone from your own village to look out for you." Kawasaki felt like a shady boss tricking people into forced labor. He'd originally planned to test out his sand cushion technique, but now he was saddled with a "burden." He'd have to find another opportunity later.
.....
Kisame Hoshigaki walked toward the village in a daze. He had to protect his comrades while on missions, yet he also had to kill them with his own hands to prevent capture. His life was a cruel paradox. One moment a guardian, the next an executioner. His worldview had become completely twisted.
And Kyoko Kurita, the woman he had only known briefly... Her dying words—"Your life... it must have been very hard, hasn't it?"—had shattered his resolve.
In this hypocritical shinobi world, so-called "elite ninja" were nothing more than murderers who betrayed their comrades. They would give their lives for the village, yet they could never find their own place within it.
Kisame wandered alone. Before he could even return to report, he was intercepted.
"You are one of Fuguki Suikazan's subordinates."
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had appeared on the path Kisame was taking.
"Lord Mizukage. I am Kisame Hoshigaki." Kisame bowed respectfully. Since an assassination attempt several years ago, Yagura had rarely appeared in public and had become exceptionally strict with his subordinates. Kisame never expected to encounter him here.
"Your superior, Fuguki Suikazan, has been colluding with foreign nations and leaking intelligence."
"What...?!" Kisame was utterly shocked. *The man who ordered me to kill my comrades to prevent intelligence leaks was selling that same intelligence to the enemy?*
"Fuguki Suikazan is a deeply cunning man," Yagura said, his face cold. "Only you have the opportunity to get close to him. At the first chance you get, kill him!"
Kisame numbly agreed. "As you command, Lord Mizukage."
After giving his order, Yagura departed without another word. Kisame stood frozen for a long time before raising his head and continuing toward the village.
.....
Inside the Hidden Mist Village.
Kyoko Kurita finished her report to Mei Terumi, handing over the document scroll. Mei's face turned ashen as she read it. After all, no one could calmly accept the fact that their village leader was being controlled by genjutsu.
"Please show Mr. Kawasaki in." Mei rubbed her temples. No wonder the Mizukage hadn't appeared in public for years, especially anywhere Ao was present.
The door slid open, and Kawasaki entered the room with a faint, knowing smile on his face...