Though filled with unease, Jiraiya's shadow clone steeled himself and stepped into the uniquely shaped Mizukage Building.
With limited intel, he couldn't tell if this building matched earlier reports. One thing was certain—no Hidden Village HQ should look this creepy.
Flanked by two Mist Anbu in front and behind, Jiraiya saw no other presence within the entire structure.
While it made sense that an empty Hidden Mist Village Headquarters wouldn't have administrative ninjas, it was still strange that even a single attendant or Anbu couldn't be seen.
According to Jiraiya's clone's senses, aside from a thickening strange odor, the entire building exuded no signs of life whatsoever.
Most unsettling of all, the floor beneath his feet felt oddly fleshy, as if stepping on living tissue—like the organic architecture of Mount Myoboku's Great Toads.
Despite the disturbing sensations, pushed forward by the fearlessness typical of shadow clones, Jiraiya's clone reached an office door on the third floor.
The previously lax Mist Anbu immediately turned formal. After knocking three times, they slowly pushed open the door, inviting Jiraiya inside.
Stepping across the threshold, Jiraiya immediately spotted what appeared to be the Third Mizukage seated in the shadows beyond the light.
He figured it out just from the Kage cloak and broad-brimmed hat.
"Water Shadow, greetings," Jiraiya said with a respectful bow.
"Hn."
The Third Mizukage slowly raised his head, studying the unexpected presence of Jiraiya with an unreadable gaze.
"I've come unannounced because I propose an alliance between Hidden Mist and Hidden Leaf against the rebel forces threatening the stability of the entire Ninja World."
Jiraiya got straight to the point.
It wasn't out of unwillingness to exchange greetings; it was simply that the suffocating atmosphere unsettled even the fearless shadow clone. His biggest concern was that lingering too long here might cause the chakra sustaining his shadow clone form to gradually dissipate, ultimately causing him to fade away completely.
"Why should we?"
The Third Mizukage's voice was dry and brittle, like the creaking of aged wooden planks.
"What capability does a Konoha ninja possess that makes cooperation with Hidden Mist worthwhile?"
"Mount Myoboku!"
Jiraiya lifted his chin proudly.
"One of the Three Sacred Lands—Mount Myoboku will provide intelligence and even direct combat support!"
"Hmm."
The Third Mizukage sat up slightly and signaled for the impulsive ninja before him to continue.
"The emergence of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation has thrown the world into chaos—an unacceptable situation!"
Jiraiya declared with newfound seriousness.
"Therefore, the sacred land of Mount Myoboku has decided to intervene in worldly matters to restore justice and return the course of the Ninja World to its rightful path!"
"Hehehe…"
Although the identity of this Third Mizukage was already known, hearing such absurd claims still provoked genuine amusement, enough to make him chuckle aloud.
For ninjas, whether from the Age of Hidden Villages or the Warring States period, the so-called Holy Place is nothing more than a gathering place of relatively powerful summoned beasts. And the function of these summoned beasts is merely to assist ninja in battle. How dare they claim the courage to take responsibility for the future and the course of history of the Ninja World?
Yet out of sheer amusement without fearing troubles, Third Mizukage gestured once again, urging Jiraiya to continue speaking.
After all, for an old man like Madara Uchiha, there were far too few enjoyable things in this dull world. Amusing oneself occasionally was never a bad idea.
"Mount Myōboku will fully support Kirigakure's righteous actions."
Jiraiya's shadow clone paused briefly, organizing his thoughts before carefully adding, "Provided, of course, that it aligns with Mount Myōboku's values."
"Mount Myōboku's values?"
Third Mizukage repeated slowly, then asked, "Do you mean human behavior must conform to a group of frogs' standards? That's essentially what you're saying, right?"
"Not the values of the ninja frogs alone, but rather the shared interests of the entire Ninja World."
Jiraiya's shadow clone corrected him.
"So currently, Kirigakure is locked in fierce battle against the Coalition Force on the central islands; its ninja force advancing southward has already lost momentum due to the enemy assembling smaller forces; while the main body of the ninja army stationed far away in eastern and central southern islands is trapped within encirclements. Tell me then, what exactly can this so-called holy place achieve?"
Third Mizukage surprisingly exhibited rare patience, showing no dissatisfaction toward Jiraiya's audacious remarks.
"We can provide necessary intelligence assistance!"
Jiraiya's shadow clone declared confidently.
Based on knowledge from his original body, war among ninja ultimately boiled down to a war of information.
From small-unit probing skirmishes at the beginning, to medium-scale annihilation and containment operations, followed by cutting off logistical supplies and retreat routes—forcing the enemy into desperation with exhausted resources—only then would one deliver a decisive blow to finish everything swiftly.
Such were invaluable experiences Jiraiya gained during the Second Great Ninja War.
But from Madara Uchiha's perspective—who was currently controlling the Third Mizukage—this kind of simplistic assumption was utterly ridiculous.
Frankly, Madara doubted that any faction in the Ninja World could surpass the White Zetsu in intelligence-gathering capabilities!
Even though currently the Bloodline Faction's ninja force had been suppressed by the Coalition Forces due to disadvantages in reconnaissance and espionage, Madara believed this was only because White Zetsu couldn't easily reveal themselves. Moreover, since his plans had largely succeeded, the name Kirigakure itself had lost much value now.
Still, if he could use Mount Myōboku—a so-called "holy place"—as part of a deception scheme, Madara would gladly go along with it as a side favor.
"So what you're offering is mere empty talk about intelligence? Is that what you mean?"
Third Mizukage sneered coldly. "Does Kirigakure really need intelligence? And here I thought you were actually a ninja from Konoha!"
"What exactly do you mean,"
Jiraiya's shadow clone countered, "should Mount Myōboku directly fight side-by-side with Kiri's ninja forces?"
"If feasible, that would be even better!"
Of course, Third Mizukage wouldn't mind having extra cannon fodder.
After all, whether winning or losing, if he could at least seriously cripple those vaunted Ninja Clan Capital Corporations and the major Hidden Villages, thereby enabling Madara Uchiha to proceed with sealing the Tailed Beasts, he wouldn't mind doing a little legwork.
Indeed, for an aging Madara Uchiha, barely clinging to life through the power of the God Tree, personally engaging in battle was undeniably draining—an unchangeable fact. However, if he could use his cunning to manipulate strange forces like Mount Myoboku into helping him drain the strength of the shinobi world, why not go along with it?
Even in the aftermath, when it came time to gather the fallen, he would gain many corpses suitable for producing high-quality White Zetsu.
"This matter is extremely important. Allow me to return to Mount Myoboku first and consult my superiors."
Although Jiraiya's shadow clone was quite tempted, ultimately it was just a shadow clone—its depth and breadth of thought couldn't match that of the original. Naturally, it wasn't capable of making any decisive decisions.
"Then we'll leave it at that!"
The Third Mizukage waved his hand and continued, "In three days, I will personally head south to confront the Coalition Force head-on. If the Mount Myoboku faction truly wants to save the shinobi world, they had better hurry up!"
And the reason he still gave them three days was mostly because Madara Uchiha wanted to see whether the so-called Holy Place Mount Myoboku could show some sincerity. Besides, judging from the current situation, the surrounded Crimson Mist faction's army was still capable of holding out for some time longer, so there was no rush to head south just yet.
After all, the chakra of the two Tailed Beasts absorbed by Madara Uchiha through the Six Paths Demonic Statue still required another one or two days to be fully processed.
Although the power of the Outer Path's Demonic Statue wasn't enough to replenish the emptiness inside Madara Uchiha's nearly exhausted body, after absorbing the Tailed Beasts' chakra, it was still no problem for him to keep going for a while—and even fight.
"Then…"
Jiraiya's shadow clone started to bow out.
"Don't waste time!"
The Third Mizukage cut him off mid-greeting, bluntly saying, "Just dispel your Shadow Clone Jutsu already! After all, your real self is right outside the village, not far away at all—it'll instantly receive this clone's memories soon enough!"
"Eh?!"
Jiraiya's shadow clone was greatly startled.
If it were someone else, perhaps they might have been easily fooled by this deceptive Shadow Clone technique.
However, Madara Uchiha had fought half his life against Senju Hashirama and Tobirama—the very creators of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. No one understood Shadow Clones better than him. Therefore, in his eyes, Jiraiya's cleverness was nothing more than a childish little trick, hardly worth mentioning.
Hanzo Sanshouo's Intercept Unit, after repelling the Crimson Mist faction's reinforcement forces attempting to move southward, quickly established a stable defensive line, blocking off the southern sea route.
Moreover, after suffering defeat, the Crimson Mist faction's Ninja Force struggled to recover due to ongoing shortages of medical supplies and low morale. Compounding these issues was the fact that the commander appointed by the Third Mizukage did more harm than good. Ultimately, with no other options available, the senior Bloodline Upper-Jonin jointly submitted a formal request urging the Third Mizukage himself to lead his personal Anbu units southward to provide tactical guidance.
After all, if they waited much longer, they probably wouldn't even make it south in time to offer help anyway—the remaining forces of the Mist risked falling apart from internal problems.
Fortunately for them, the Coalition Forces, for various reasons, chose not to strike at them while they were down. As a result, the Crimson Mist faction managed to regroup some of their retreating troops and barely maintained the basic framework of their ninja forces.
However, without fresh reinforcements or the personal presence of an influential figure, the southern reinforcement force—which had already suffered more than 50% casualties—was certainly incapable of fighting again.
As for Sanshouo Hanzo's side, leveraging their naval advantage through ship transport capacity, they began replenishing supplies and personnel.
Especially after the battle report reached Hyuga Soushu's hands, he gave the go-ahead without hesitation, approving all of Sanshouo Hanzo's supply requests and additionally assigning three hundred New Mist clan ninjas to serve under the Intercept Unit.
After all, the upcoming battle would be a ruthless slaughter aimed squarely at the Mist Clan's branch families. It would be better to send away those New Mist clan ninjas who might still have lingering connections with the Crimson Mist faction as soon as possible.
When Tsuchikage Onoki and Third Raikage arrived at the southern islands, since preparations for the ninja forces were still underway, they got the chance to observe every step of the process—from organization, training, and logistics—within both the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and the Standing Ninja Army.
Yet despite this, they failed to see anything particularly special about this so-called Standing Ninja Army.
"It's just a fully professionalized force with stricter discipline, relatively better equipment, sufficient supplies, and a wider variety of secret jutsu. How come its combat effectiveness surpasses our own ninja forces by such a large margin?" Raikage muttered, clearly confused.
Tsuchikage Onoki remained especially perplexed. In his eyes, this Standing Ninja Army that the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation relied on was nothing special—just carefully selected elite ninja organized into a unit and provided with sufficient resources and training. There was simply no reason why such a force could crush Iwagakure's armies numbering twice as many.
Yet in previous battles, these Standing Ninja forces often triumphed despite being outnumbered, repeatedly defeating Iwa's disciplined and numerically superior ninja armies—an outcome that baffled him further.
Despite his confusion, Onoki secretly memorized everything about the Standing Ninja Army, planning to establish a similar full-time ninja unit within Iwagakure after the war, aside from the Explosion Corps.
After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
From Third Raikage's perspective, however, the Standing Ninja Army was probably just a compromise product of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation. What really drew his attention were two elite units directly under Hyuga Soushu—the Shinsengumi and the Instructor Corps.
Though these two units weren't large in numbers, their members were entirely composed of descendants from the Hyuga Clan and allied ninja clans, including offspring of fallen warriors, making their loyalty absolutely unwavering.
For Kumo, currently facing times of turmoil, forming such a powerful military unit would also prove extremely beneficial—not only in terms of combat capability but also in giving young ninja cadets a chance to earn honor and distinction.
After all, Kumo's unity had always relied on constant external expansion. With over half of the Land of Lightning now lost, funding for the Hidden Village has inevitably been affected to some extent, which naturally sparked discontent within the village.
Although open opposition against the Raikage has not yet formed, if the current situation remains unchanged for long, it's only a matter of time before opposition factions take shape and gain strength.
Therefore, the Third Raikage needed to plan ahead.
The reason he decided to send troops to the Land of Water and join the Coalition Force was twofold: first, to channel internal tensions through war; second, because the long-repressed Kumo ninja desperately needed an opportunity to invade somewhere, to release their pent-up desire for plunder and warfare.
Compared to that, picking a fight with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation would be tantamount to suicide. Naturally then, the Bloodline faction in Mist, seen by Kumo ninja as an easy target, became the ideal sacrificial victim.
However, both the Third Tsuchikage Onoki and the Third Raikage knew full well that cooperating with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation—especially Hyuga Soushu—was like making a deal with the devil just to get their share. Even if such alliances could temporarily ease internal conflicts by yielding short-term benefits, due to differences in distance and management styles, they could never profit as much from the Land of Water as the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation could.
But what real choice did they have?
Drinking poison to quench thirst was indeed a helpless act born out of desperation.
As for the future? Even the Sage of Six Paths might not see it coming.
Amid such complex emotions, once fully prepared, each division of the Coalition Force launched an even larger-scale offensive against the Bloodline faction's ninja army inside the Encirclement Zone upon receiving orders from Hyuga Soushu.
Meanwhile, the Bloodline faction released over a hundred Ninja hawks within a single day, each one urgently requesting the Third Mizukage to travel south and provide tactical guidance.
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