Three days later.
August 29th.
Dressed in his Anbu uniform and wearing the red-and-white striped cat mask, Uzuki Shimizu received a new S-rank mission from Hiruzen Sarutobi. Without delay, he set off toward the port of the Land of Iron. His ultimate destination was the Land of Hot Water, and to reach it by sea, he first had to secure passage from Iron Country.
He crossed the Land of Fire at an unprecedented speed—faster than ever before.
This was travel without regard for chakra consumption or physical exhaustion.
Yet it still wasn't enough.
He increased his chakra output recklessly, accelerating further—faster and faster.
He overtook the deer racing through the forest.
He surpassed the swift leopards.
In the end… even the eagles in the sky lost sight of him.
At some point, summer's warmth had quietly given way to winter's chill. Before him stretched a world blanketed in snow.
In less than two days, he had crossed the entire northern expanse of the Land of Fire.
He had reached the border of the Land of Iron.
The Land of Iron—a permanently neutral nation ruled by the samurai class.
In a world dominated by ninja, it was an anomaly.
It possessed its own distinct culture, and its entire military force consisted of samurai. Their combat power was formidable—this was the foundation of their enduring neutrality.
According to the Anbu handbook:
Samurai of the Land of Iron do not use ninjutsu. Instead, they condense chakra into their blades. Combined with superb swordsmanship, this produces a unique and deadly sword aura.
This distinctive technique fascinated Shimizu.
For years, he had been saving money to commission a long sword capable of channeling his Lightning Release chakra freely—a weapon that would elevate his combat strength by an entire tier.
He had long suspected that the White Fang's strength might have been closely tied to the Land of Iron.
Sakumo Hatake had become famous largely because of his short blade—one that transmitted Lightning Release chakra flawlessly. It was sharp enough to cleave steel and jade, paired with incomparable speed.
It stood in stark contrast to those who rose to the pinnacle of the ninja world through ninjutsu alone.
What was even more remarkable about the Land of Iron was that both political and military authority were highly centralized under its national leader.
On one hand, there were no internal conflicts between a daimyo and a hidden village.
On the other, without a separate military power structure, national finances were comparatively straightforward.
This was completely different from the awkward division of authority in the great ninja nations, where military power rested with the hidden villages while political authority lay with the daimyo.
The fundamental reason Shimizu and his comrades had become sacrificial pawns was simple:
The Fire Daimyo had accepted a peace offer from the Wind Daimyo.
Ten tons of gold as reparations.
Konoha held only military power. Even the Hokage could not defy the daimyo's will.
One could say that Danzō's diplomatic delegation had executed its mission perfectly:
They first persuaded Hanzo, enabling the Hidden Rain and Konoha to jointly pressure Sunagakure.
To avoid full-scale war, Sunagakure had its daimyo step forward, offering a massive tribute of gold in compensation, hoping the matter would end there.
At the sight of gleaming gold, the Fire Daimyo was overjoyed—and readily accepted the Wind Daimyo's peace proposal.
As for the deaths of two Anbu ninja?
The daimyo did not care.
To him, they were merely numbers.
After all, only two ninja had died. Weren't there still tens of thousands left in the village?
Of course, the village compensated Masakazu and Shimizu with a substantial sum of money.
For Shimizu, it resolved the financial burden that had troubled him for years.
He had always wanted to commission a long sword capable of perfectly conducting Lightning Release chakra—an edge worthy of being called a divine weapon.
Yet despite the Third Hokage's apology and explanation, Shimizu could not truly accept it.
Nor could he reveal any abnormal mental state.
He accepted the money calmly.
He expressed that he had accepted the deaths of Hyuga Zeichi and Asakusa Natsue.
He was not Kakashi, who, after his father abandoned a mission and took his own life, turned cold toward those who valued comrades.
He was not Sasuke, who, upon learning his brother had slaughtered their clan, chose to live in hatred for the rest of his life.
A person cannot overturn their entire worldview because of one tragic incident.
He was someone with a complete and mature understanding of the world.
He had long since outgrown childish fantasies of apocalyptic revenge.
He could look at it rationally.
Politics was disgusting.
But it was inevitable.
They had been sacrificed as bargaining chips simply because they were not strong enough.
If he possessed the power and status of the Sannin—or greater—would Konoha have ignored his voice so easily?
Shimizu chose to bury everything deep within his heart.
This debt—
One day—
Would be repaid.
...
The northwestern border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron was divided by a massive rock fault—over a hundred meters in vertical drop and several hundred meters across horizontally.
The Land of Fire sat at higher elevation, while the Land of Iron lay across the northwestern plains below. Normally, passage between the two regions relied entirely on a few bridges.
For example, the great bridge in front of Shimizu.
By all rights, he should have crossed it like the merchant caravan currently making its way over the span. But Shimizu did not slow down in the slightest. In his field of vision, there was only the snow-covered plain in the distance.
And so—
From the edge of the mountain valley, he leapt.
His agile figure glided through the air, ice crystals swirling in his wake, snow dancing wildly around him like blooming frost flowers.
"My heavens?! That's a person?!" someone in the caravan shouted. They had noticed Shimizu rapidly approaching from behind—but by the time they reacted, he had already launched himself toward the Land of Iron.
The entire caravan turned to look.
"He's flying?!" a sword-bearing samurai exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's too far. He'll fall before reaching the other side," the caravan leader analyzed calmly.
Shimizu knew it as well.
Even with the momentum from his extreme-speed sprint, he would inevitably fall into the abyss below.
He formed hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
With a sudden burst of blinding blue-white lightning, the cry of a thousand birds shattered the silence of the white world!
The piercing thrust of Chidori increased his forward velocity—
In midair, as though gaining a second wind, he accelerated again.
"Ah!" The caravan erupted in shock.
"That's ninjutsu!" someone recognized the nature of the lightning.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Shimizu cleared the several-hundred-meter chasm perfectly, landing steadily on the plains across the valley. The immense destructive force of Chidori ravaged everything along his trajectory, leaving a path of ruin.
Without pausing for even a second, he dispelled the technique and accelerated once more, vanishing from the caravan's sight in an instant.
"Who was that?" someone asked.
"Judging by the attire… Anbu from Konoha," the middle-aged samurai leader said gravely. ""Keep moving. Destination: Iron Capital, Shinzuku."
"Yes!" the group responded in unison.
...
Night fell.
Shimizu chose to camp in the wilderness. Tomorrow, he planned to visit the Land of Iron's capital, Shinzuku City, to learn more about chakra-conducting weapons and samurai sword techniques.
After lighting a fire, he leaned against a tree.
He sensed the changes in his chakra reserves. Compared to when he had just recovered from his injuries, there was a slight increase. It wasn't much—but that steady, incremental progress made him feel grounded.
Shimizu opened the Second Hokage's ninjutsu scrolll.
By the firelight, he studied tirelessly.
He understood clearly that the true treasure of this scroll was not the techniques themselves, but the systematic framework behind developing ninjutsu—the complete philosophy and methodology.
So he resolved not to learn any new techniques until his understanding of Water Release had advanced to a higher level.
Mechanical imitation alone could never make someone truly strong.
The more he read, the more he grasped the true greatness of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
First and foremost, Tobirama had simplified the hand seals for nearly all Water Release techniques—striving to achieve maximum effect with the fewest seals, even no seals at all.
For example:
The B-rank defensive technique "Water Release: Water Formation Wall" required standard hand seals.
On that foundation, Tobirama developed the A-rank no-seal technique "Water Release: Water Wall." This technique allowed the user to gather Water Release chakra directly in their hand and project a vertical wall of water to protect themselves or others. It could form a straight barrier or a cylindrical enclosure—highly flexible and adaptable to various combat environments.
And because it required no seals, it could be cast instantly.
Another example:
Building upon the D-rank Body Flicker Technique, Tobirama developed the C-rank Water Release no-seal technique "Water Release: Instant Water." It was a movement technique used in aquatic environments, allowing the user to instantly appear at different points across a body of water and glide along its surface.
And then there was "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."
Originally a B-rank technique requiring forty-four hand seals, meaning even at top speed it still took several seconds to activate.
Tobirama simplified it to only nine seals—without reducing its power.
Which meant—
If Shimizu trained his hand-seal speed to its absolute limit,
He might be able to release this high-level B-rank Water Release technique in under two seconds.
Even more terrifying was that, on the foundation of the Water Dragon Bullet, an S-rank Water Release technique had been developed—
"Water Release: Water Dragon Biting Explosion."
It was even a combo technique.
The jutsu first created a mass of sharp, rock-like water currents beneath the enemy—essentially using a Water Dragon Bullet to launch them into the air. Then, with an enormous amount of chakra, the user generated a massive water vortex on the ground and spread it outward. As the vortex expanded, countless rising water streams shot upward from its center—innumerable Water Dragon Bullets bombarding the target in rapid succession.
It was a Water Release technique with extremely fast execution speed, long attack range, wide coverage, and overwhelming destructive power.
One of the signature killing techniques of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
It was genius-level creativity.
A terrifying talent for ninjutsu development.
There were also other A-rank Water Release techniques such as:
"Water Release: Rain Formation"
"Water Release: Heavenly Weeping"
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave"
Each one powerful and adaptable to various combat environments.
And finally—
Another S-rank Water Release technique:
"Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade"
Among all the techniques Shimizu had encountered so far, this one required the most horrifying amount of chakra.
Tobirama's own annotation for it consisted of just four words:
"Destroying heaven and earth."
Four simple words—
Yet Shimizu could feel their weight.
At present, the only S-rank technique Shimizu truly knew was "Water Release: Water Severing Wave."
On the surface, its chakra consumption barely met the minimum threshold for an S-rank technique.
But it was a sustained attack technique.
As long as chakra output continued, its cutting power could be maintained indefinitely.
By comparison, the A-rank Lightning Release technique "Chidori", despite having chakra consumption on par with S-rank techniques, was far more economical. However, it had too many prerequisites to activate and could only perform single-target attacks.
Its limitations were significant.
But "Hard Whirlpool Water Blade"?
According to Tobirama's notes, its chakra consumption was ten times that of "Severing Wave."
What did that even mean?
An ordinary jōnin wouldn't have enough chakra to activate it at all.
At minimum, it required elite jōnin-level reserves.
It was absurdly exaggerated.
This meant that even at Shimizu's peak condition, he didn't have enough chakra to use it once.
His actual chakra reserves were only about 1.5 times that of a standard jōnin. He had been mistaken by Sunagakure shinobi as an elite jōnin with triple reserves simply because his chakra recovery speed was extraordinarily fast.
So right now—
He simply could not learn this technique.
But he had to.
And not just learn it—completely master it.
A super technique that consumed ten times the chakra of a normal S-rank jutsu.
It was practically a forbidden technique.
Unfortunately, it required 102 hand seals—an outrageously long activation sequence.
Tobirama had died before completing its hand-seal simplification.
At the end of the scroll were additional notes:
Speculations and ideas for undeveloped Water Release techniques.
Thoughts on one-handed hand seals.
He had to master everything in this scroll as quickly as possible—completely internalize it and transform it into the foundation for climbing to even greater heights.
Still, one thing puzzled him. Why hadn't Orochimaru studied these incredibly powerful Water Release techniques?
In truth, these were the "scraps" Orochimaru had filtered out.
Orochimaru had once infiltrated Konoha's forbidden technique archive and discovered the entire library filled with various forbidden techniques invented by the Second Hokade, Tobirama Senju. These forbidden techniques had captivated him.
So, although these Water Release techniques were indeed formidable, they held no value for Orochimaru. He had no interest in them, nor would he bother to learn them.
To Orochimaru, forbidden techniques were the true ninjutsu of this world.
And besides, a person's energy was limited—it was impossible to master everything.
Thus, these Water Release techniques became disposable bargaining chips for him.
Shimizu did not understand Orochimaru's thinking.
Nor did he know what Orochimaru truly pursued.
From his perspective, since Orochimaru was willing to hand over such powerful Water Release techniques, it likely meant he considered them insignificant.
He did not believe that a syringe of blood and a few strands of hair were enough to exchange for such knowledge.
Moreover—
There wasn't a single space-time technique in the scroll.
And Tobirama's strength had not only been in Water Release, but also in the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Shimizu also didn't believe Orochimaru was trying to curry favor with or recruit him.
By now, he could more or less guess that what Orochimaru had said at the funeral was meant to sow doubt in him toward the Third Hokage.
Unfortunately—
Orochimaru's expectations would be disappointed.
Because Shimizu had never trusted Konoha's ruling powers to begin with.
There was no trust to undermine.
And as for Root, Danzō, and Orochimaru—
He had even less goodwill toward them.
The deeply ingrained impressions from his previous life ensured that Shimizu would never be deceived by Orochimaru.
And therefore—
He would never stand in the same camp.