Chapter 433: The Mysterious Powerful Man
After returning to camp, Juzō, whose injuries were more severe, went straight to the medical ninja for treatment. Kushimaru, who was in better condition, reported the mission situation to Yagura in person.
"We encountered a powerful Konoha squad during our operation," Kushimaru said solemnly. "They had one more person than us. We fought hard, but were ultimately defeated, and Fuguki was killed during the battle."
Hidden Mist was a village built on cruel rules. Kushimaru had no choice but to use careful phrasing to soften the impact of a failed mission.
In a sense, he was not lying. Kakashi's team really did have one more person than them, even if not everyone on that team had been particularly useful.
"Fuguki did not die for nothing," Kushimaru continued. "Several ninja in that Konoha squad were also seriously injured by us. But because our casualties were heavier, and to avoid affecting the overall battle, we chose to retreat."
His voice remained steady, even as he tightened the story into its most acceptable shape.
"However, at that moment, an Ice Release ninja appeared and blocked our path. Fortunately, Reiki arrived to support us. Since Juzō and I were more seriously injured, we retreated to camp early. The rest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are handling the Konoha ninja alongside Reiki."
Kushimaru believed the mission would not become a major problem. Yes, they had lost a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but Konoha's losses would be greater.
A squad of geniuses capable of defeating the Seven Ninja Swordsmen head on had a future that was painfully obvious. If they did not die here, their growth would become a nightmare later.
"A powerful Konoha squad…" Yagura narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking. "Which team was it? Ino Shika Cho?"
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, deployed together, were one of Hidden Mist's trump cards. On the Land of Fire eastern battlefield, there were very few Konoha squads that could defeat them.
In Yagura's judgment, only a team led by Ino Shika Cho, or Orochimaru himself, made sense.
But if Orochimaru had been present, the fight would not have ended as a mutual defeat.
So Yagura asked about Ino Shika Cho directly.
Under his mask, Kushimaru's expression turned awkward for a heartbeat. Still, he answered honestly, naming the members he had seen.
"Kakashi Hatake. Might Guy. Uchiha Obito. And other Konoha super geniuses."
Shisui's performance had also been shocking, but Kushimaru did not know his name.
A flicker of surprise passed through Yagura's face.
This was not slightly different from what he imagined. It was completely unrelated.
As a high ranking figure in Hidden Mist, Yagura recognized those names. He had read the report from Konoha's Chunin Exams where Genji led a team. He knew those three were the geniuses who had emerged from that exam, even defeating several young Hidden Mist prodigies that had been deliberately sent to test them.
"You're saying you lost to a few Konoha ninja who became chunin less than two years ago?" Yagura's gaze sharpened.
He knew Kakashi's group had talent, but that did not justify the Seven Ninja Swordsmen losing.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were already renowned. Being a genius was supposed to be something they had left behind years ago.
A crushing pressure filled the air. Cold sweat formed on Kushimaru's forehead without permission.
This was not the pressure of a squad. This was the pressure of a true powerhouse, someone already standing at the level of the ninja world.
And someone with an extremely high chance of becoming the Fourth Mizukage.
"Lord Yagura," Kushimaru forced himself to speak clearly, "our intelligence is outdated. Their current strength is far greater than it was during the Chunin Exams, especially Guy."
He clenched his teeth.
"Guy has mastered a terrifying taijutsu called Golden Skyline. He only used it twice. The first time, he severely wounded Fuguki, and Fuguki only recovered his combat strength with Samehada's help. The second time, he shattered the Kubikiribocho and nearly killed Juzō."
Kushimaru could have lied. He could have tried to bluff his way through.
But once the battlefield corpses were recovered, once Fuguki's memories were examined, the truth would crush him anyway.
So he used facts, and prayed facts would be enough.
"Not all of them are genius ninja," he added quickly. "There was also a middle aged taijutsu ninja. If he had not blocked Akebino and Raiga, we would have killed Guy and his team for sure."
Yagura fell silent, expression unreadable.
The defeat of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was infuriating, but it also revealed something even more dangerous.
A group of ten year old geniuses had already shown the ability to contend with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
If they were like this at ten, what would they become when they grew up?
But then another thought steadied Yagura's breathing.
"With Reiki there, they shouldn't escape," he said.
No matter how bright their future was, it was still the future.
As long as they were killed before reaching it, then they would never have one.
Reiki might not be good at handling affairs, but Yagura still acknowledged his strength.
If Reiki were truly brainless and also weak, he would not have survived long in Hidden Mist, much less become the head of a clan.
After questioning Kushimaru for more detail, Yagura dismissed him for treatment, then immediately dispatched Hidden Mist scouts to confirm what was happening at the battle site.
Not long after, the intelligence officer returned, bringing news Yagura had not anticipated at all.
"Lord Yagura," the officer reported in a low voice, head bowed, "Lord Reiki is missing. Lord Fuguki and five other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are missing as well. On the battlefield, there are only the corpses of our village ninja."
He did not dare look up.
He already knew what kind of anger that report would ignite.
"Reiki is missing?" Yagura repeated softly.
His face remained calm, but his fists were clenched so tightly that the tendons stood out.
The officer swallowed. "There are traces of Lord Reiki's Ice Release on the battlefield. There is also a large amount of shattered ice covering the ground."
Yagura dismissed him with a cold wave of his hand.
The moment the tent flap closed, Yagura's control finally cracked, if only inside his own skull.
"Reiki…. you useless fool," he cursed inwardly. "You can't accomplish anything, and you ruin everything."
"Missing" was just a polite word.
On the battlefield, missing only meant two things.
Defection.
Or death and capture.
Reiki would not defect. As a clan head, he was part of Hidden Mist's vested interests. He had no reason to abandon the village.
So that left only death or capture.
And given Reiki's strength, being captured alive was unlikely.
In Yagura's mind, Reiki was already dead.
What made it worse was that it was not only Reiki.
Five members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were also gone.
Seven had become two.
At that point, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were crippled in name and function, leaving the remaining two to serve as nothing more than slightly stronger jonin.
Reiki's death, combined with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen being reduced to a husk, meant Hidden Mist had lost two major trump cards in a single strike.
"This is disastrous," Yagura thought grimly. "Who killed Reiki? Is there an Ice Release user in Konoha?"
He wanted to resurrect Reiki just to beat him to death again.
He also wanted to send Juzō and Kushimaru to join the others, so the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could at least be together in the afterlife.
But rage did not change reality.
Even though it had been a skirmish, it had completely ruined Hidden Mist's advantage in the Land of Fire and shoved them toward a disadvantage.
And Reiki's death was not merely the loss of a strong fighter.
Reiki knew too much.
Camp locations. Supply routes. Operational plans. Reiki had knowledge of it all.
Because Reiki was gone, Yagura now had to adjust every major arrangement Hidden Mist had set on the eastern battlefield, and that was no small undertaking.
A terrifying killing intent seeped from the tent like cold mist. Even the guards outside broke into silent sweat, privately mourning for exactly 0.1 seconds for whoever had managed to anger Yagura this badly.
Yagura wanted to kill someone to vent, but he knew now was not the time to punish his subordinates.
He issued immediate orders to adjust strategy, then summoned Juzō and Kushimaru back to question them again.
First, he had to know who killed Reiki.
If it was Orochimaru or Ino Shika Cho, then so be it.
But if it was not them, that meant a new Konoha powerhouse had entered the battlefield.
"I didn't see his face," Juzō said, shaking his head. "Only the Ice Release ninjutsu he used."
Kushimaru nodded as well. They had withdrawn too early.
Yagura's expression darkened. He fought the urge to put his fist into both of their faces.
Elite assassination squad?
Useless squad.
Kushimaru stared at Yagura, confused. He did not understand who had enraged the commander so suddenly. Just a short while ago, Yagura had still been composed.
"Did something happen?" Juzō asked abruptly, remembering something. "Raiga and the others still haven't returned, have they?"
Battles rarely lasted a full day and night. A decent amount of time had already passed since they disengaged. Logically, the fight should have ended by now.
"They won't be coming back," Yagura said coldly. "If nothing unexpected happened, they were all killed by Konoha ninja."
His voice sharpened with clear sarcasm.
"You two were lucky. Your injuries saved your lives."
He was truly furious.
They had taken losses this severe, and they still did not even know who the enemy was.
How was he supposed to fight a war like that?
The single clue, Ice Release, was far from enough to identify the culprit, because among Konoha's known top powerhouses, none of them used Ice Release.
Biwa Juzō and Kushimaru exchanged glances, shock visible even through the fatigue.
They had never expected that Reiki and the others were actually dead.
What kind of strength was required to wipe them out?
Had Orochimaru entered the battle afterward?
"Were there any other notable geniuses in that genius squad?" Yagura asked.
Since Reiki was dead, those genius ninja likely survived.
He needed to update their files and raise their priority.
"There was also an Uchiha even younger than Obito," Kushimaru replied quickly. "Very talented."
He sketched Shisui from memory and handed the drawing over.
Yagura asked a few more questions. When it became clear that there was little more to extract, he dismissed the two to recover.
Then he moved.
Yagura adjusted Hidden Mist's entire layout, and at the same time, he reported the latest intelligence back to the village.
His forces here were no longer sufficient.
To keep succeeding on the eastern battlefield, he needed reinforcements.
Otherwise, Hidden Mist would be squeezed out little by little until they were forced out of the Land of Fire entirely.
Yagura believed Hidden Mist had to send support to continue fighting Konoha, because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Normally, a failure of this scale meant preparing to retreat.
But their opponent was Konoha, a village currently being ganged up on from multiple fronts.
Konoha was fighting a multi front war. Even if Hidden Mist withdrew, Konoha would not chase them, much less cross the sea to invade the Land of Water.
In other words, Hidden Mist could fight without restraint.
Even if they lost to Konoha, they did not have to fear being forced into compensation.
If Konoha dared to demand it, Hidden Mist could simply keep grinding them down.
Let's see if Konoha could outlast three great ninja villages.
…
Hokage Building, conference room.
At this moment, all four of Konoha's top officials were gathered in the room.
"Mugetsu actually killed four members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen while fighting Reiki," Homura said, unable to hide his admiration. "I'm afraid even Minato couldn't have done better."
They were discussing the newest battle report from the front.
Hiruzen stroked his goatee, letting out a quiet chuckle.
He already knew Mugetsu was strong, but even he had not expected such brilliant results in so short a time.
"Hiruzen," Danzo cut in, coldly satisfied, "if you had sent Mugetsu to the battlefield earlier like I said, the war situation would absolutely be better than it is now."
He had wanted Mugetsu to support Orochimaru and build merit for a long time. Hiruzen had always refused.
"Mugetsu is an outstanding Root member I trained," Danzo said, emphasizing every word. "I know exactly where he can be effective."
Homura and Koharu both looked at Danzo with surprise. They had not expected Mugetsu to be someone Danzo had trained.
Hiruzen's smile thinned.
"First, Mugetsu wasn't suited to the battlefield at that time," Hiruzen replied. "Second, Mugetsu's current strength comes mainly from his own effort, not your training."
He looked Danzo in the eye.
"Did you teach him combination ninjutsu? Did you teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Hiruzen had personally taught Mugetsu ninjutsu, and even he did not claim to have trained him into what he was now. Danzo claiming credit was nothing but shameless self praise.
In Hiruzen's view, Mugetsu's strength came from talent, hard work, and the resources Hiruzen provided.
As for Root, it only restrained Mugetsu's development.
Otherwise, why had Mugetsu's growth accelerated after leaving Root?
"Mugetsu built a solid foundation in Root," Danzo insisted stubbornly.
Of course, Danzo knew the truth.
He knew Mugetsu's soaring strength had nothing to do with Root, and that Hiruzen's training had been the turning point.
But Danzo still had to seize part of the credit.
Mugetsu was a Root ninja, even if that status itself had been cultivated in violation of rules.
Seeing Danzo double down, Hiruzen did not continue the argument.
After all, when Mugetsu first left Root, he had already been an elite among jonin.
After that brief exchange of barbs, the meeting continued.
They began discussing whether to spread Mugetsu's deeds to boost morale, or conceal them for now and keep Mugetsu as a hidden blade.
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