Chapter 341: Secrets
"Water Style: Wind Blade Raging Stream!"
A thin silver line silently slashed across at waist height, tracing a narrow arc in the air.
Taking into account the neutral ninja nearby, Haruno Sakura did not swing this move across the entire training ground—if she had, given the density of ninja in the training ground, the Mist would have lost almost half of its combat power!
She only slashed with the water line in a small range, carefully restraining the range of the water blade; even so, it still caused terrible casualties!
Almost instantly, several ninja on the First Elder's side were cut in half on the spot, dying miserably!
A thick smell of blood instantly filled the air.
What terrifying Water Style!
The faces of the ninja of the First Elder's faction changed drastically. It was the first time they had seen such sharp Water Style!
Is this the strength of a Kage-level? The First Elder's face was livid. He had dodged for his life the moment the chakra fluctuated, and managed to survive. However, the few ninja beside him were not so lucky. They were instantly cut in half at the waist, and warm, crimson blood splattered all over the First Elder's face.
Haruno Sakura flickered onto the field from outside.
The moment she stepped onto the battlefield, the ninja of the First Elder's faction immediately opened up the distance between each other, looking at her vigilantly.
"Was that move just now... Water Severing Wave?" The First Elder stood at the very front and said coldly. His chakra for the Substitution Jutsu was ready. As soon as the opponent made a move, he could hide instantly.
"Close enough," Haruno Sakura said faintly, her gaze lightly sweeping over the battlefield.
The First Elder silently took off his white robe, revealing the combat uniform he had already put on underneath.
Both sides drew their weapons and stood facing each other in two groups, tacitly prepared for battle.
The neutral ninja watching from the side were at a loss. Everything had happened too fast. The Konoha envoy was not dead, and Lord Mizukage and the First Elder had already drawn their daggers!
Mei Terumī waved her hand to dismiss them, saying unceremoniously, "You guys step back first!"
Staying here will only get in the way. If they wanted to pick a side, they should have stood up just now...
The neutral ninja looked at each other, but in the end, they all retreated, giving up the space to them, waiting for the Mizukage and the First Elder to decide the winner in the traditional way of ninja—that is, a life-and-death struggle—and then offer their loyalty to the victor.
The First Elder's side did not make things difficult for them either, just watching indifferently as these people left; if they won, as the strong, they would naturally receive the loyalty of the remaining ninja. If they lost, then everything would be over.
Soon, these neutral ninja retreated far away, leaving only the two opposing groups on the field.
"It seems you expected this..." Mei Terumī glanced at the combat uniform the First Elder was wearing and said with cold sarcasm. "After smuggling for so many years, it's rare that you haven't forgotten that you are a ninja!"
Both sides had their own plans and had prepared a lot carefully. Ironically, in the end, it all came back to the starting point.
Back to the starting point where strength speaks.
In the end, both sides still had to fight openly, and the winner would take all; this was the tradition of ninja!
Of course, certain shameful ninja clans who rebelled beyond their capabilities and ended up having their entire clan slaughtered by two people were not within the scope of discussion.
"Smuggling is only for profit... Ninja are not merchants or politicians. As expected, they are not suitable for too many conspiracies," the First Elder wiped the blood from his face and said faintly. Everyone present knew the inside story, so he did not shy away from the smuggling matter. "You are also planning something, right? I can guess... but in the end, the deciding factor is the strength of the ninja. After this battle, the winner will get the entire Mist Village and the Land of Water!"
"I'm surprised you can think clearly about this. I thought your head was clouded by the profits of smuggling. I didn't expect you to have a shred of sobriety!" The Fifth Mizukage sneered.
"It's just that you're not sober enough... Counting the Konoha envoy, we have two Kage-level ninja on our side, possessing an overwhelming strength advantage!"
"One bite at a time. To deal with you, we also have to take it step by step," the First Elder said faintly.
As he spoke, the mist rose.
Taking advantage of the time he was speaking, the First Elder cast the Hidden Mist Jutsu.
In the thick mist where one couldn't see their own fingers, the figures of the people on the field gradually disappeared.
Within a few seconds, the entire venue was turned into an area where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face!
"Is that so? Then, if you think a mere Hidden Mist Jutsu can deal with me, you are very wrong," Haruno Sakura snorted coldly, looking at the First Elder who was vaguely visible in the mist.
She was no longer the little girl who trembled under Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu...
To want to use the thick fog to sneak attack her, even if Zabuza, who was proficient in the Silent Killing Technique, were alive, it would be a fool's dream!
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
As she spoke, Haruno Sakura clasped her hands in front of her chest and quickly formed hand seals to cast the ninjutsu!
The violent storm blew away the mist, and the hazy training ground returned to its original clarity; the verbal battle between the leaders was not over yet, and the ninja on both sides were still standing patiently behind the Mizukage and the Elder respectively, not rushing to start the fight.
"Look, your ninjutsu has been broken!" The corner of Haruno Sakura's mouth curled up slightly, and she smiled faintly.
The First Elder's ninjutsu was broken before the battle even started, which was equivalent to doing useless work.
Moreover, he had injected too much chakra into the mist, and now it was all wasted in vain. The First Elder was already old and weak, and his chakra simply couldn't withstand such waste!
Haruno Sakura clearly saw him panting heavily, large drops of sweat on his face.
But he still revealed a smug smile.
"I originally thought that the mist could more or less block your vision, so that you couldn't see the positions of others clearly, have some scruples, and dare not use that Water Severing Wave casually..." the First Elder said slowly. "But it doesn't matter anymore."
He stared intently at Haruno Sakura and her group and said, "You only broke my first ninjutsu..."
"It should be about time!"
"Playing tricks!" Mei Terumī said coldly, already impatient to talk to him any longer! She clasped her hands together, preparing to form seals, but suddenly her face changed!
"Chakra... I can't extract it?" The red-haired woman widened her eyes and said in disbelief.
Haruno Sakura was startled and also tried to mobilize her chakra to use ninjutsu, but found that her body felt lazy and she didn't know what was wrong. Her physical energy couldn't be mobilized no matter what, and she couldn't synthesize chakra!
It wasn't just the two of them who had this condition. The faces of the group of ninja beside Mei Terumī also changed drastically in an instant, and the chakra fluctuations produced were extremely weak.
Without chakra, ninja can hardly fight!
"Poison!" someone shouted in panic.
Mei Terumī's face was so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. "How can you have a poison with such powerful effects?"
"No, it's not poison, it's pollen. I used the Hidden Mist Jutsu as a cover, but actually I was spreading a special pollen in the air..."
The First Elder, confident of victory, was in a very good mood and explained with a smile.
They won: unable to extract chakra, even a "Kage"-level ninja couldn't display combat power!
"Aren't you curious?" A trace of smugness in his old voice, Elder Suikazan continued, "Why I underestimated the strength of you Kage-level ninja? Why our Suikazan clan doesn't have a ninja who can contend with you two, yet we still dared to do such a thing?"
"Why?" Haruno Sakura followed his words and asked in a deep voice.
"Very simple," the First Elder said. "Because we are the clan that controlled the Fourth Mizukage! When you control a Kage in your hands for ten years, you lose your fear of the so-called 'Kage'..."
"That's impossible!" Mei Terumī cried out. "The person who controlled Yagura Karatachi with genjutsu was clearly that Uchiha Madara!"
The First Elder sneered.
"My Lord Mizukage, use your brain a little," he said.
"No matter how powerful Uchiha Madara's genjutsu is, it's impossible to completely change a person with just one jutsu, especially when the other party is a 'Kage'-level ninja!" The First Elder paced back and forth as he spoke. "But Lord Madara couldn't stay in the Mist Village all year round, so he handed over the work of maintaining the Fourth Mizukage's genjutsu to us!"
"What?!" Mei Terumī was suddenly shocked. The Suikazan clan had actually become the biggest traitors of the Mist Village more than ten years ago?
She said fiercely, "Helping a tyrant to do evil! No wonder your strength expanded so quickly, turning from a small clan into the number one clan in the Mist with decisive influence so quickly!"
In this way, many problems were explained!
"Hehe," regarding becoming Uchiha Madara's lackey, the First Elder was not ashamed, but proud. He continued proudly, "Back then, my father was a ninja with great vision. He recognized Lord Madara's strength as soon as they met, so our clan also received special attention from Lord Madara!"
"Traitor!" Mei Terumī gritted her teeth and said word by word.
"Say whatever you want." The old man didn't care about her scolding and continued to recount the secret hidden in his heart for decades. "The thing that can paralyze your bodies is actually a tiny pollen. This is something Lord Madara created with the 'Deep Forest Emergence' jutsu back then! Even a Kage-level ninja cannot be immune to its power!"
"After Madara left, he left these powders for us, letting our clan use them to paralyze the Fourth Mizukage's body for a long time so that he couldn't resist the genjutsu; a 'Kage' without chakra is just fish on a chopping board!"
He glanced at Mei Terumī, who had fallen weakly to the ground, and revealed a strange smile.
"Now, it's the Fifth Mizukage's turn to taste this feeling of helplessness!"
The First Elder waved his hand, and Tomoaki Sōno, who was standing behind him, knowingly walked towards Mei Terumī.
"Lord Mei Terumī," Tomoaki Sōno walked up to the Fifth Mizukage carelessly and said with a sinister smile, "No, Mei Terumī..."
He squatted down and was about to hook Mei Terumī's chin, but the latter suddenly raised her head, her hands forming seals!
"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Technique!"
A liquid with extremely strong corrosive properties sprayed out of Mei Terumī's mouth, pouring onto Tomoaki's head!
Amidst the miserable screams, Mei Terumī slowly stood up.
"Don't underestimate the power of a Mizukage! Without Uchiha Madara's genjutsu, you petty people want to control a Mizukage?" Her voice was still a little labored, but still full of momentum!
At her feet, Tomoaki's body had disappeared, leaving only a puddle of turbid yellow slime!
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