Inside the Mist Village camp, in the meeting room.
A group of Jonin sat stiff and upright, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Since that incident a few days ago, the Mizukage's mood had been terrible.
The loss of an entire elite squad plus the Three-Tails had only worsened Mist's already dire situation.
What frustrated them most was that it wasn't due to a flawed decision, but rather a slip-up somewhere during the mission.
If everyone who went out hadn't been killed, they'd have suspected spies had infiltrated their ranks.
Naturally, everyone was furious!
The Mizukage asked coldly, "Has the conflict at Cloud's border been clarified?"
One Jonin quickly answered, "It's been confirmed as Cloud intentionally provoking us, though they're accusing us of starting it!"
"That crazy bunch never stops!" The Mizukage's face turned ugly. He had already backed off, yet Cloud still dared to stir up trouble. Did they really think "nice guys" wouldn't get angry?
The rest of the Mist Jonin were equally furious. Although they had suffered heavy losses recently, Cloud wasn't doing that well themselves either.
With the Third Raikage dead and locked in bitter combat with Iwagakure, why would they still provoke enemies deliberately?
As for the credibility of this intelligence, they didn't doubt it much—Cloud always did have a reputation for being headstrong.
"Mizukage-sama, let's teach those arrogant Cloud ninja a lesson!"
"If we keep yielding, our enemies will only grow bolder!"
"It's definitely time to teach them a lesson!" The Mizukage's expression darkened—he already had a belly full of rage. "Nagare, are you ready for battle?"
Nagare licked his lips. "No problem."
"Then take four thousand ninja and head to the battlefield right away!"
"Understood!"
Less than half an hour after making this decision, just as the Mizukage intended to end the meeting, another Chunin rushed in looking anxious. "Mizukage-sama, bad news! Konoha's large forces have appeared at the border!"
The Mizukage's expression changed immediately, asking urgently, "Have they attacked already?"
The Chunin hesitated slightly, shaking his head. "Not yet, but you never know what might happen next!"
"A warning?" The Mizukage frowned. "Logically speaking, giving us response time suggests they don't intend to wage war—but then again, you can never be too careful."
After brief consideration, he glanced toward a ninja standing beside him with a baby-faced appearance. "Yagura, you take another four thousand ninja to defend at Konoha's border. Remember, avoid conflict unless absolutely necessary!"
Yagura nodded seriously. "Yes, understood!"
Very quickly, the Mist camp erupted into activity once again as ninjas gathered together.
All of which wasn't missed by someone secretly watching from the shadows.
"Seiki, those bastards from Mist have indeed fallen for it!" Sen Hyuga asked excitedly. "When do we strike?"
"Just a little longer!" Shuseki whispered. "Wait until nightfall, then we send the Mizukage straight to hell!"
...
Night fell upon the Mizukage's tent.
"Why not take a page from Kumogakure and pin this on Konoha instead? We could claim we were simply returning them unharmed..." As the Mizukage was secretly pondering, suddenly his heart quivered. "What is this? Chakra fluctuations?"
He didn't have time to think further before instinctively jumping outside the tent.
The next moment, an ultra-spinning chakra shuriken flew through the air, striking the tent before rapidly expanding. It transformed into countless needle-like wind blades radiating outward in all directions.
The tent was instantly torn to shreds beyond even molecular recognition, while a large patch of ground appeared to be devoured by a void creature, completely disappearing.
Although the Mizukage reacted incredibly fast, his left arm still grazed the edge of one wind blade, immediately spilling blood.
However, for him, such superficial wounds were insignificant. What truly troubled him was that many meridians inside his left arm had been severed.
It was as if poison had been infused directly into the jutsu itself!
"Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this? I could understand its massive power on a macro level, but how could its microscopic damage also be so shocking?" While the Mizukage was inwardly alarmed, another figure surged from the shockwave, attacking him.
"Don't underestimate the Mizukage!" Having risen through the Warring States era, once served as the First Mizukage's personal bodyguard, and even attended the first Kage Summit, his combat experience naturally surpassed ordinary ninja by far.
Even in such unfavorable circumstances, the Mizukage reacted swiftly.
[Ice Release Armor]!
Seiki's attack failed to penetrate the armor, instead providing the Mizukage leverage to push himself away from his opponent.
Only now did the Mizukage finally get time to identify his attacker.
"It's you! Seiki Shimaseki!"
"Impressive, Mizukage! Your hand seals are almost instant!"
The Mizukage himself wasn't particularly impressed; after all, he had reached the ceiling of ordinary ninja. To progress further, he had only considered either developing Kinjutsu or reducing required hand seals.
Without possessing the talent of the Second Hokage, he naturally had to settle for repetitive practice—the hardest approach available.
"You bastard! Are you trying to start a war between Konoha and the Mist?" the Mizukage asked sharply.
"That line belongs to me!" Seiki's voice remained cold. "Using Rin as a Bijū weapon has already crossed the boundaries of war!"
"Just because of this reason?" The Mizukage couldn't quite believe it. Was Konoha actually crazy enough to assassinate him, their Mizukage, over just one low-ranking Chunin?
After shock came immense fury.
"We've lost fifty Chunin and Jonin—lost the Three-Tails too. Yet you're upset over just one pathetic Chunin..."
"Damn you! What do you think Rin is?" Before Seiki could speak, Kakashi roared out furiously.
The Mizukage turned his head, eyes contracting sharply before solemnly staring back at Seiki. "A Chakra Barrier? So you're determined to fight me to the death?"
Seeing how little regard the Mizukage had for him, Kakashi felt secretly enraged while craving stronger abilities more than ever.
"I owe it to those who died!"
"Seiki's voice remained calm, as if the person he was about to kill wasn't a village's Kage, but just an obscure nobody.
"Brave words!" The Mizukage's gaze swept across the crowd. "But arrogance has its limits—how dare these brats think they're worthy of facing me?!"
He had initially feared the Hokage himself might have come, or at the very least, someone on the level of a Sannin or Minato Namikaze. But no—just a bunch of immature brats dared to corner and kill him, right here at Mist's own base!
If he lost this fight, even in death he'd be nailed to the Kage's shame pillar forever!
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