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

"The village was facing a life-or-death situation, and everything else had to take a backseat to the greater good. I knew what I should do."

Danzo Shimura, towering above, looked down at Homura Uchiha, who sat below the stage, and said in a cryptic tone, "After all, he is an outstanding talent who, like Kagami, has comprehended the Will of Fire. Rest assured, given the lessons learned from the past, I will definitely be able to protect him."

"I believe that under Lord Danzo's care, Fugaku will be very safe. He may still remember his experience under your command even after he becomes the Fourth Hokage."

Uchiha Homura smiled from her seat, her expression also carrying a hidden meaning.

In the quiet meeting room, the two men's sharp and confrontational words echoed continuously.

This scene was witnessed by everyone present, their thoughts unspoken to outsiders.

"Alright, since that's the case, then I'll entrust Fugaku to you, Danzo. If anything happens to Fugaku, I'll hold you responsible!"

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi pretended to be confused and quickly changed the subject, focusing on the overall objective of the war.

"Although the overall action plan is planned in this way and it seems quite likely on paper, the final result of the action cannot be achieved without everyone's efforts."

"I don't want to say anything more. We survived the critical moment of the First Shinobi World War, so there will definitely be no surprises this time."

Finally, I have only one sentence to say to everyone here.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, looked around the entire venue, and focused his attention on the heads of the various ninja clans.

"Konoha is not just my Konoha, but the Konoha of everyone here. Therefore, the outcome of this war will determine whether we can continue to sit here. I hope everyone will give their all and not be concerned with the gains or losses of their own clan, but prioritize the greater good."

"That's it, let's break up the meeting!"

Chapter 107 Steaming Danger and Explosion Danger: A Brand New Use for the Golden Finger!

With the dissemination of Hiruzen Sarutobi's overall war plan, Konoha's war machine was fully mobilized.

All ninjas stationed outside the area were recalled, and all registered ninjas had their autonomy revoked, with their actions and deployments now entirely under the unified arrangement of the Hokage's office.

All weapons, equipment, medicines, logistical resources, and other supplies were continuously gathered from all parts of the Land of Fire and transported to Konoha through various means, piling up in warehouses like small mountains—at this critical moment, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, as always, demonstrated his high level of trust in Konoha.

The Land of Fire's rich geographical resources and favorable political atmosphere of mutual trust between its ruler and his subjects were perfectly validated at this moment.

With the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Konoha ninjas marched into the Land of Rain in organized formations.

Meanwhile, with the tacit agreement to deal with Hanzo of the Salamander and suppress the Land of Rain, the main forces of each ninja village also arrived in the area of ​​the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Iron, preparing to take this opportunity to thoroughly plow through this region.

Therefore, for a time, in the northwest region of the ninja world, which was sandwiched between the four major countries, tens of thousands of ninjas fought fiercely on this land, and tactics such as sneak attacks, infiltration, and flanking maneuvers were performed one after another.

Due to Hanzo's exceptional martial prowess and the potent poison of the salamander, none of the ninja villages wanted to expend too much of their strength in dealing with him, thus giving others an opportunity to exploit the situation.

Even the three ninja villages that had already formed an alliance were no different, since everyone knew that this alliance was no different from a piece of waste paper.

If we lose too much of our strength, these allies will probably be the first to pounce and devour us.

Although Konoha is the primary threat, it doesn't stop it from devouring its own allies—after all, an ally that is swallowed up is a good ally.

Therefore, fierce battles raged between the Three Ninja Villages and Konoha on this land, leaving countless corpses behind. At the same time, both sides tacitly used a large number of ninjutsu and explosive tags to destroy the land's resources and deplete its war potential.

Fortunately, Hanzo the Salamander was able to survive the attacks from both sides—otherwise, even if he were a demigod, he would have perished under the combined assault of the four nations.

Meanwhile, far away in Kirigakure, Hozuki Shingetsu finally received the news he had been waiting for.

The ninja world is currently in complete chaos, with all forces focused on the narrow corridor in the northwest of the continent, while only maintaining basic vigilance towards the remote Kirigakure village.

As long as Kirigakure doesn't make a rash decision to join the war, they can take advantage of this rare opportunity to recuperate and observe the changes on the mainland from overseas.

Faced with this situation, Hozuki Shingetsu finally made the decision to go to the Tsuchigumo clan to begin his Sage Mode training.

-

boom!

boom!

Outside the Hidden Mist Village, in a grove of trees near the sea, a series of booming sounds were constantly echoing.

Along with this sound, there was also the rustling sound of leaves rubbing together violently as large trees fell and collapsed.

It was midday, but the entire forest was eerily shrouded in a thin mist. Through the midday sun, shadowy figures could be vaguely seen.

Immediately afterwards, six figures rushed out of the thin mist, stood on the seashore, and looked back at the mist with lingering fear in their eyes, as if some monster was lurking in the mist.

"How was it? Was my explosive power acceptable? It shouldn't have tarnished Lord Huan Yue's reputation, should it?"

A voice came from within the thin mist.

As the words fell, "Hozuki Shingetsu" slowly emerged from the thin mist and came to stand before the group.

The Hozuki Crescent Moon in front of us is about one meter tall, and it looks much smaller than its normal form.

His right hand transformed into a knife, standing upright in front of him, as he looked at the crowd with a comical expression.

"As expected of the man who saved Kirigakure, Lord New Moon is a genius who can be called the number one in Kirigakure. This technique, Steam Explosion, has already captured the essence of Lord Gengetsu. If he trains for another two or three years, he may even surpass Lord Gengetsu."

Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Demon flattered him politely.

"Haha... I know the difference between me and Lord Huanyue. I didn't bring you here to listen to your boasting."

As these words were spoken, the real Hozuki Shingetsu finally emerged from the mist and stood with his miniature self, looking at the Six Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

That's right. After becoming the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, he worked hard for a year and finally mastered the S-rank ninjutsu, Steam Explosion, and was able to successfully reproduce Hozuki Shingetsu's signature combination of Mirage and Steam Explosion.

To be honest, he was surprised that he was able to successfully learn the Steam Explosion Technique in such a short time.

After all, the Steam Explosion Technique hadn't been mastered for nearly twenty years since Hozuki Gengetsu. Even though Hozuki Shingetsu was full of confidence in himself, he didn't think he could learn it within a year.

His ability to learn this skill was entirely due to the surge in chakra he gained after becoming a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast, as well as the effects of his special abilities.

The surge in chakra allowed him to release more than ten times more shadow clones than before. The fact that the shadow clones could automatically transfer the memories of that time after they dissipated also provided him with the foundation to quickly learn new ninjutsu and knowledge in a short period of time.

However, using a large number of shadow clones for learning has a fatal problem—memories accumulate, and so does fatigue.

Therefore, apart from Naruto Uzumaki, the chosen one, very few people in the original work chose to learn ninjutsu by creating a large number of shadow clones.

Most people can only create two or three shadow clones, which is about two or three times faster than normal learning progress, and that's basically enough.

Hozuki Shingetsu was initially troubled by this, but he soon realized that since his cheat ability could use chakra as a medium to connect with other people's minds, could this connection also transmit emotions?

Based on his experience reading various online novels in his previous life, he believed that emotions in the extraordinary world could be quantified and interacted with.

Guided by this idea, he conducted experiments specifically on whether emotions could be transmitted.

He specifically selected two death row inmates, then used illusion magic to hypnotize one of them, making him recall the happiest thing in his life.

Seeing the happy smile on his face, he immediately used his chakra to link his mind with that of another person. Since becoming the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Hozuki Shingetsu had been able to apply his cheat abilities to other people, which is why he chose these two death row inmates for his experiment.

As expected, the experimental results clearly proved Hozuki Crescent's hypothesis.

And this also proves a truth—a smile doesn't disappear; it simply moves from one person's face to another.

Based on the experimental results, he knew that as long as he could transfer the fatigue before it exceeded his tolerance threshold, he could make full use of the combination of Shadow Clone Technique and his cheat ability to quickly learn any ninjutsu or acquire any knowledge.

And what better object could there be for this emotional transfer than the Six-Tails within him?

After all, Hozuki Shingetsu offered his body to it for free as a dormitory, and would chat with it from time to time to relieve its loneliness, showing concern for the mental well-being of elderly, ownerless pets.

In this situation, it would be reasonable for him to dump a little bit of his fatigue-related frustrations on it, wouldn't it?

The Six-Tails naturally disagreed with this. After all, it was the proud Six-Tails Lord. It was already rare enough that it could submit to Hozuki Shingetsu under the orders of the Six Paths. How could it be treated like a garbage can filled with its excrement?

However, Hozuki Shingetsu completely ignored its protests, repeatedly forcibly entering its body with chakra, injecting its own creations, and violating its mind.

Seeing the Six-Tails succumb to the overwhelming force of hundreds of people and fall into a deep sleep, Hozuki Shingetsu revealed a victorious smile.

Thus, with the active or passive cooperation of the Six-Tails, Hozuki Shingetsu successfully mastered the ninjutsu "Steam Explosion".

Now that he had mastered this ninjutsu, he naturally wanted to find someone to practice with and experience the true power of its explosive force.

After much deliberation, he set his sights on the six members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, excluding Tachibana Higashihiko.

As a unit directly under the Mizukage, Hozuki Shingetsu hasn't really had a proper conversation with them since quelling the internal strife.

As the designated fourth Mizukage, these people can be considered his future subordinates.

As a superior, it's natural to have a thorough and in-depth conversation with them.

First, establish their prestige in advance to prepare for assigning them tasks later.

Secondly, we need to give them a good talking-to, since they sided with Ren during the "Blood Mist Rebellion." It's time to make them realize who the real leaders of Kirigakure are, and to let them understand who Kirigakure belongs to from now on.

That's why this battle invitation came about.

“Every word I have said comes from the bottom of my heart and is truly sincere. In my opinion, and to be disrespectful to Lord Gengetsu, even at your age, you might not have been able to learn this ninjutsu. Lord Shingetsu’s talent and ability are truly unmatched in our Hidden Mist Village.”

The tall, imposing Watermelon Pufferfish Demon, holding Samehada, answered with unwavering resolve, maintaining a respectful demeanor.

His words, combined with his imposing physique, created a stark contrast, giving him a distinctly sycophantic air.

"Haha...you..."

As for Shingetsu Hozuki, who always seeks truth from facts and doesn't engage in false advertising, he could only smile shyly and humbly accept the heartfelt praise from others.

He finally understood why this guy, despite suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Might Guy in the Third Shinobi World War, was still able to rise to the position of head of the Kirigakure Anbu.

Simply put, with this level of art of speaking, which leader wouldn't want it?

Chapter 108 Steaming Danger and Explosion? It's just a limiter to my strength.

"That being said, I didn't come here today to listen to your nonsense. Let me make this clear: if the six of you working together still can't force me to transform into a tailed beast, then don't blame me for losing my temper!"