Chapter 269: Disaster—First Hokage Defected!
After enduring countless hardships, Kazuma finally returned to his loyal Konoha Village.
"Quick! Where are the medical ninja? Hurry over—Lord Kazuma is injured!"
Before the ninjutsu bird even landed, Mizuki shouted anxiously.
Alerted by his cries, a group of medical ninja rushed forward, carefully helping Kazuma down before beginning treatment.
On the return journey, though Mizuki had performed emergency treatment, Kazuma's injuries proved extremely severe. That single strike had pierced straight through his lung. Massive amounts of blood flooded inward, severely affecting his breathing.
Any normal person would have died from such injuries. Only through chakra's unreasonable properties could Kazuma persist long enough to return for treatment.
Now things improved. With professional medical ninja treatment, Kazuma would recover completely before long, bouncing back to full vitality.
Watching medical ninja carry Kazuma away on a stretcher, Mizuki finally exhaled heavily, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
'Thank goodness! Fortunately I made it in time. Any later and I'd have needed the backup plan.'
'Actually, the backup plan wasn't bad either. "Sixth Hokage Mizuki" has a nice ring to it.'
'Unfortunately, that position is currently scorching hot—uncomfortable for anyone sitting there.'
'Better to let Lord Kazuma continue governing Konoha Village. Being an empowered deputy suits me fine.'
This expedition to the Land of Rivers aimed at plunder, with Edo bodies as primary combat forces.
Everyone assumed those going faced no danger. Now clearly something unexpected occurred. Those remaining immediately grew anxious.
Lord Kazuma was injured and inconvenient to question. Others could only surround Mizuki, asking in chaotic chorus:
"What happened at Takumi Village? How did Lord Kazuma get injured?"
"Where are the others?"
"How are they doing?"
Mizuki sighed heavily:
"Lord Kazuma was injured. I specifically escorted him back. I don't know the main force's current situation."
"The specifics are complicated. In short, we suffered a devastating defeat at Takumi Village. I don't know how many can return alive."
"What? Impossible!" Everyone struggled accepting this reality. "We're Konoha Village!"
"Even with severely depleted strength, how could we possibly lose against Takumi Village?"
"Right! We had the Edo bodies—even the Hokage were summoned. How could we lose?"
Mizuki simply explained the situation he knew.
No embellishment needed—just honest explanation proved sufficiently frightening.
"You're joking!" Everyone expressed disbelief. "How could there be hundred-meter-tall giant Susanoo? You think we haven't seen Uchiha Yasushi fight?"
"Mizuki, you probably deserted the battlefield, deliberately spouting lies to clear your name."
"Right! That Yasushi guy couldn't even defeat Uchiha Madara. How could he beat Lord First? We couldn't possibly lose!"
Mizuki had no choice but to explain the "queue apology" matter in detail. This time everyone found it even more unacceptable.
"Bastard!"
"Your story gets more outrageous!"
"How could they possibly do such things?"
"Even if Lord First forced them, they couldn't do that!"
Seeing emotions rising—about to get beaten—Mizuki immediately smiled placatingly, waving his hands:
"Actually, once the main force returns, you'll naturally understand."
"Speaking of which, they're definitely being pursued by Uchiha Yasushi right now. Won't you send people to meet them?"
Though villagers still disbelieved Mizuki's words, for safety's sake they formed several squads, heading toward the Land of Rivers to meet Konoha's main force.
Mizuki seized this discussion opportunity to quickly flee.
Mizuki escaped fast, the ninjutsu bird flew fast. Plus his early preparations gave him a huge lead on others.
Over another day passed before people gradually escaped back from the Land of Rivers.
They'd departed with aggressive momentum, returning like homeless dogs. Everyone resembled startled birds—any disturbance made them fearful, wanting to flee.
From these people's mouths, villagers heard that absurd story again.
This time, they had to believe!
Those whose family members, relatives, and friends still hadn't returned also grew anxious, leaving the village in groups, heading toward the Land of Rivers attempting to find and meet their loved ones.
But the dead cannot return. After searching for days without finding missing family members, those people finally gave up hope.
They had to face reality—their relatives had unfortunately died during what should have been a simple mission plundering a minor nation.
That evening, every household wore mourning, every home wailed in grief.
The village that had finally shown slight improvement suffered another unbearable heavy blow from this disaster.
Worse still, due to this incident's negative impact, the village quickly descended into great panic.
The village's enmity with the Uchiha clan was now common knowledge.
Previously, though Uchiha Yasushi repeatedly caused trouble for the village, everyone remained confident he couldn't directly confront Konoha Village as a rogue ninja—he could only cause chaos by borrowing other villages' power.
Everyone believed once the Five Nations' conflicts ceased and the village concentrated its full strength, they'd definitely eliminate a mere rogue ninja.
But now they understood—Yasushi's previous failure to directly attack the village wasn't necessarily inability. More likely, he wanted murdered Uchiha to personally take revenge, wanted those wrongfully dead spirits to find peace.
Even worse—their reliance, First and Second Hokage summoned through Edo Tensei, had actually betrayed Konoha Village!
They'd dared act so boldly, even daring to kill Fifth Hokage Jiraiya, precisely because Lord Kazuma through Mizuki guaranteed them—as long as they held the "God of Shinobi's" Edo body, they'd definitely dominate the shinobi world like before, invincible, with no one able to harm them.
But now—First and Second Hokage defected! Third talked big but lacked reliable hard strength. Fourth couldn't be summoned through Edo Tensei. Fifth had been killed by them personally.
The massive village didn't have a single usable Hokage!
When Uchiha Yasushi eventually attacked the village—who would stop him?