Promoting the Konoha threat theory, and talking about the Hidden Mist Belt!

Therefore, taking advantage of the current chaotic situation in the ninja world, the most important thing is to send experts to cross the Konoha cordon, launch a surprise attack on Uzushio Village, and obtain the tailed beast sealing technology!

However, considering the "Corpse Demon Sealing" of Vortex Village, and fearing that the two villages would be forced to exchange one for one, resulting in the loss of their own experts, they unanimously thought of the other side and hoped to join forces with them. With the mentality of "better to die than lose myself", they took advantage of the other side being entangled with the Vortex experts to sneak up from the rear and steal some chickens.

As for Sunagakure... they all want to sell the Tailed Beasts in exchange for land, so there's no point in calling on that village. Besides, the high-end combat power of the two ninja villages is more than enough to launch a surprise attack on Uzumaki Village. Although the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques are quite formidable, they are a clan-based village with a small population. In addition, Sunagakure Village would have to share the spoils with another village, so neither of them would naturally notify Sunagakure Village.

Similarly, they would not notify Kirigakure, and because Uzushio Village is relatively close to Kirigakure, they would deliberately try to hide it from Kirigakure's vigilance.

When the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Stone Village first made contact, they were still pulling at each other and testing each other. However, after learning that the other had heard the same information and had the same thoughts, they became more convinced of the authenticity of the information and accelerated the negotiation process.

Soon after obtaining approval from the Third Raikage and Onoki, Kumogakure dispatched its elite force, led by Moody, the "B" of the current "AB combination" and partner of the Third Raikage. Iwagakure, on the other hand, sent its demolition squad led by Hunter, the leader of the demolition unit.

After the two forces successfully met up in the Land of Hot Water, they also headed south along the coastline, preparing to find an opportunity to annihilate Uzushio Village in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, just as Ren was growing impatient, Hozuki Shingetsu finally received news that the high-ranking ninjas from the two villages had not shown up for several days. After instructing his subordinates to send several secret letters and supplies towards the Land of Fire, he finally embarked on his journey to Uzushio Village under Ren's repeated urging.

Chapter 37 Only the ship of the nation leaks from the top.

The ninja world itself is not very large, and Uzushio Village is located in the eastern part of the ninja world continent, facing the Land of Water across the sea. Starting from Kirigakure, with the speed of a ninja, it would take about two days to reach Uzushio Village if they were quick, and only five days if they were slow.

With the chakra levels of Hozuki Shingetsu and the other two, they could cross the ocean directly, but they weren't in a hurry. Hozuki Shingetsu also knew that someone might come to ambush them, so the three of them slowly sailed to the land of the Land of Whirlpools.

"Although I have taken many boat trips, I have to say that taking a boat trip is really not a good thing."

Yukina jumped off the boat, complaining with a grim expression.

Although ninjas, with their exceptional control over their bodies, wouldn't experience seasickness, the ships of that era, while capable of ocean voyages, were far from comfortable to ride on.

"New Moon, what are you looking at?"

Yagura noticed that Hozuki Shingetsu had been gazing out to sea since disembarking, seemingly lost in thought, and approached him to ask.

"It's nothing, I was just wondering what's on the other side of the sea."

Hozuki Shingetsu withdrew his gaze and replied.

"The other side of the sea? We rarely hear news from there."

The ninja world continent, in its usual sense, refers to the continent where the five great nations are located. However, as can be seen from the ninja world map, there is actually another continent to the east of the Land of Water. However, due to the harsh ocean climate between the two continents, and the fact that there are no worthwhile interests to fight for on the other continent, there is very little communication between the two continents, and they only have a rough understanding of each other's existence.

In the original theatrical version, on their journey to find Grell ore, Naruto and his friends encountered a group of enemies from another continent, the Hyde Legion. They wore clothing similar to that of Western Europe, had no ninja profession, and seemed to not know how to utilize chakra.

Of course, these aren't the main points. The main point is that, seemingly because they didn't know how to utilize chakra, they developed a unique steam-powered mechanical civilization. The iron-framed warships, robots, and the mobile steel castles capable of smashing through small mountains in the original work all demonstrate the technological level of the opposing continent.

This mobile steel castle also reminded Hozuki Shingetsu of another thing: the aerial castle built by the Sky Ninja Village in the original work—Ankel Bandian.

As someone determined to dominate the ninja world, he naturally wouldn't forget these two powerful weapons.

Although the mobile castle built by the Hyde Legion wasn't very useful to ninjas, it was very effective as a deterrent to ordinary people.

So we should still try to take action against that continent when we have time in the future!

Moreover, those technologies are still very important for Hozuki Shingetsu, who aspires to become the Mizukage and vigorously develop Kirigakure's industry and improve its economy.

Gathering her thoughts, Hozuki Shingetsu turned and stared at a dockworker loading and unloading cargo for a few moments, then smiled without saying anything more.

After reporting to the ninjas of Uzushio Village at the port, the three of them left the port and prepared to cross the forest to reach Uzushio Village.

Midway through their journey, following a signal from Hozuki Shingetsu, Yukinagi and Yagura Ryoumi, who had been working in perfect harmony, immediately began their operation.

"Water Style: Water Mirror Technique!"

As Yagura swung his staff, a water mirror appeared, revealing clones identical to Hozuki Shingetsu and the other two. These clones continued charging forward, while the three originals quietly followed behind.

BOOM!

Shortly after, accompanied by a loud bang, the three clones stepped straight into the explosive talisman trap set in advance at the base, turning into water and dissipating amidst a sky full of sparks.

"Did they notice it beforehand..." Looking at the pools of liquid, Aburame Ryoma fell into deep thought. Although he knew it wouldn't be so easy to ambush them, he was still somewhat unwilling to be seen through so easily.

“However, according to intelligence, the other side only has three people, while I have three Root squads. Four against one, hmm, the advantage is on my side!” Just as Aburame Ryoma made up his mind, he heard a mocking voice behind him.

"Remember to take a shower next time you try these tricks. I can smell that bedbug odor on you from hundreds of meters away!" Hozuki Shingetsu's voice rang out from behind.

Aburame Ryoma's pupils shrank suddenly, and he instantly transformed into a swarm of insects, rushing towards Hozuki Shingetsu, while his true form used the Body Flicker Technique to escape the scene.

At the same time, three figures suddenly appeared beside him, unleashing various ninjutsu techniques at Hozuki Shingetsu.

"Let me see just how strong you lackeys of Danzo really are!"

Faced with a sudden attack of hordes of parasitic insects and various ninjutsu, Hozuki Shingetsu neither dodged nor evaded, bit his thumb, and slammed his hand on the ground.

"Psychic art!"

"A mirage!"

As a wisp of smoke rose, Hozuki Shingetsu became ethereal and dreamlike. A large number of parasitic insects seemed to pass through the phantom, their low intelligence failing to understand why they couldn't attack the target even though it was clearly there.

boom!

The ninjutsu bypassed Hozuki Shingetsu and slammed into the trees behind him, knocking down a cluster of trees.

Ah!

Ah!

At the same time, screams could be heard from the surrounding area. Aburame Ryoma knew that they were the voices of his Root ninjas.

When Ryoma Aburame realized that Hozuki Shingetsu had mastered "Mirage," a super-powerful ninjutsu that was beyond his expectations, he knew he was in danger.

As Hozuki Gengetsu's signature ninjutsu, Aburame Ryoma was naturally aware of its unsolvable nature.

He had originally hoped that the three Root squads would come to his aid after dealing with Hozuki Shingetsu's two henchmen, but judging from the current situation, it seemed that he and his men were going to be wiped out here!

The new moon of the Hozuki is right in front of him right now, which means that the other two people have taken on two Root squads by themselves.

He could understand if Hozuki Shingetsu had that kind of strength, but did the other two also have that kind of strength? When did Kirigakure become so full of geniuses?

“In that case…” Aburame Ryoma thought of the “Reverse Four Symbols Seal” engraved on his body, and he already had the will to die.

"Secret Technique·Insect Jade!"

After a large number of sensory insects were released, they quickly sensed the true form of the mirage through physical perception. Then, a cold glint flashed in Aburame Ryoma's sunglasses as he charged towards the mirage's true form.

-

"Hmm, these people's strength is just so-so." Yagura Karatachi dragged the corpses of several people to Hozuki Shingetsu's side.

"Indeed, I thought it would be a life-or-death battle, but it turned out to be such a disappointing affair." Yukinagi, who had also arrived, nodded in approval.

After a fierce battle, the two were basically unharmed, except for their clothes being somewhat disheveled.

It can only be said that these people were unlucky to encounter Hozuki Shingetsu, the future Fourth Mizukage, and the eldest daughter of the Yuki clan. If it had been a sudden sneak attack, they might have been engaged in a fierce battle, but once the Root ninjas lost the advantage of surprise attacks, the outcome of this battle was already decided.

This also proves a truth once again: ninjas cannot casually leak their battle information.

The biggest variable in this battle was that Konoha and Ren were unaware that Hozuki Shingetsu had mastered the ninjutsu "Mirage".

If they had known, they would either not have arranged this operation at all, or there would definitely have been more than just Aburame Ryoma; it should have been Hatake Sakumo at least.

In that case, Hozuki Shingetsu might actually be in danger.

"But speaking of which, how did the people of Konoha know we were here, and why did they specifically come here to ambush us?"

Yukinagi looked at the unconscious Ryoma Aburame in Hozuki Shingetsu's hands with some confusion.

“Hehe, Nagi, the only ship in this world that leaks from the top is the nation.” Hozuki Shingetsu didn’t answer directly, but instead said something that made Yukinagi think deeply.

They were completely oblivious to the fact that they were also one of the people who caused the country to leak from the roof.

Chapter 38 Whirlpool Village

"But Crescent Moon, why are you deliberately sparing this guy's life?"

Looking at the Aburame Ryoma that Hozuki Shingetsu was carrying, Yukinagi's face showed a puzzled expression.

"This guy can't die! He's our 'welcome gift' to Wochao Village!"

Hozuki Shingetsu smiled but did not give a direct answer.

After discovering the location of the Mirage, Aburame Ryoma realized that he might not be able to complete the mission. He decisively tried to detonate the "Reverse Four Symbols Seal" within his body, attempting to have an extreme one-for-one exchange with Hozuki Shingetsu.

This was indeed unexpected for Hozuki Shingetsu. Although this move couldn't take him away, the sealing technique was powerful enough to kill Shin. With Shin dead, he would no longer be able to use "Mirage," which was equivalent to crippling one of his arms.

So, instead of just playing around, he immediately ended the battle and took advantage of the fact that his figure was hidden in the mirage to defeat him.

"It can only be said that although Danzo is not a very good person, he is undeniably excellent at training his subordinates." If Konoha and even Kaguya hadn't been unaware that he had a contract with Mirage and could use the Mirage Technique, this battle would have been quite difficult.

After tidying up their clothes a bit, the three of them didn't do much cleaning up of the battlefield and headed towards Uzushio Village with Aburame Ryoma.

Shortly after the three left, two figures quietly appeared.

“These are people from Konoha!” A ninja wearing a headband from Kumogakure concluded after examining the corpse of a Root ninja.

Although Hozuki Shingetsu took all the items that could prove the identity of the Root ninjas, as ninjas from different villages practiced different ninjutsu, and these differences could still be discerned from their physical appearance.

"This is... a trace of Ice Release!"

A ninja wearing the Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) mark on his head also drew a conclusion from the wounds on the corpse of another Root ninja.

"The people of Konoha and Kirigakure are fighting in the Land of Whirlpools..." Realizing that this was unusual, the two exchanged a wary glance and immediately chose to return to report to their leader.

-

Uzushio Village is located in the very center of the Land of Whirlpools. It is both the location of the ninja village of the Land of Whirlpools and the capital of the Land of Whirlpools. The daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools is also the leader of Uzushio Village. It can be said that the Land of Whirlpools is the only country in the current ninja world where military and civilian power are combined.