Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

Black Zetsu sighed silently to himself, without saying anything to discourage the mysterious masked man.

To be honest, if he hadn't awakened that ridiculously powerful eye technique, he felt the masked man wouldn't even be worthy of carrying Shimura Gengetsu's shoes.

"Don't worry about trivial matters." The masked man said in a deep voice, "The Rinnegan is the most important thing. Get Hanzo to take action against the Akatsuki as soon as possible. You go and disguise yourself as an Akatsuki member and kill a few of Hanzo's subordinates. I don't believe Hanzo will still believe in any peace nonsense."

"I see."

Black and White Jue slowly sank into the ground to carry out the masked man's mission.

Konoha.

Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been staring blankly at the battle report for half an hour, not even noticing that the tobacco in his pipe had burned out.

He should be pleased that such a great victory was achieved with only a few dozen casualties, as the Hokage.

but...

Gengetsu Shimura's performance was too dazzling.

He was so dazzling that no one could compare to him, not even Jiraiya.

This is a very dangerous signal.

If Gengetsu Shimura becomes the only one to succeed him in the future, then he will have a hard time choosing a successor.

From beginning to end, Hiruzen Sarutobi never had the idea of ​​making Gengetsu Shimura the Hokage.

He trusts Danzo and Gengetsu Shimura, but that doesn't mean he thinks they are suitable to be Hokage. Given their radical personalities, they would lead Konoha down a dangerous path.

His efforts to influence Shimura Gengetsu were merely to ensure that the next Root leader would be more lenient in his methods.

But now... the situation is out of his control.

After reviewing Nara Shikamaru's report again, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze lingered on one line.

"The Dark Side... perhaps that's one way out."

Joining the Dark Side means living in anonymity and carrying out clandestine missions.

That would curb the growth of Shimura Gengetsu's reputation. He could persist for a few years, gradually reduce the hype, and then cultivate a suitable successor...

Danzo Shimura would surely see through his thoughts, so it was necessary to find Danzo something to do so that he wouldn't have the energy to bother him.

"Uchiha..."

Thinking about the Uchiha's passive attitude in this war, Hiruzen Sarutobi was extremely unhappy, but he didn't show it.

"Fine, let Danzo suppress the Uchiha. It'll be good for the village too."

In the blink of an eye, Hiruzen Sarutobi had made up his mind...

In the Land of Lightning, Shimura Gengetsu crossed the Cloud Lightning Gorge, proceeding along the route set for him by Nara Shikaku, and controlling his own speed.

Finally, on the third day, they arrived at Kumogakure.

By simply knocking out a patrolling Cloud Ninja, Shimura Gengetsu quickly obtained the information he wanted using genjutsu.

Nara Shikaku's guess was correct. At this moment, the Hidden Cloud Village was shrouded in a tense atmosphere, and there were very few ninjas left in the village.

Just yesterday, led by the elite Jonin Yurui, another thousand Cloud Village elites went to the battlefield.

The highest-ranking person in the village at present is Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Killer Bee?

A perfect Jinchūriki is quite troublesome.

But that's it.

As everyone knows, the total chakra of all the tailed beasts in the world is one stone, and the Nine-Tails alone possesses eight-tenths of it.

The Sage of Six Paths originally allocated chakra in a way that gave one portion to the Nine-Tails, one portion to the One-Tails, one portion to the Nine-Tails, one portion to the Two-Tails, and the rest to the Nine-Tails.

This also means that the Nine-Tails and other tailed beasts are not even in the same league.

The Eight-Tails is indeed the strongest among the other tailed beasts, but it is only slightly stronger than the One-Tails and Five-Tails, which are tailed beasts that are good at fighting. There is no significant qualitative change.

Its upper limit is only the peak of the Kage level, it's just that it's a bit more resilient.

For Shimura Gengetsu, he was not an opponent he could not defeat.

It would be dangerous if another perfect Two-Tails Jinchuriki appeared.

Fortunately, Yugito is still a child and cannot unleash his full power.

After snapping the neck of a patrolling ninja, Shimura Gengetsu swaggered into Kumogakure.

The entire Hidden Cloud Village is built on a towering mountain range, from which the village derives its name.

There are also many strange and tall boulders on the mountain, which further increases the altitude. The higher the status of a building, the higher the location it is built.

The most conspicuous building in the village is the spherical Ray Shadow Building, which can be seen no matter where you are.

It's just that those living at the bottom suffer, shrouded in the shadow of the giant rock, and rarely see the sun.

"Hey kid, where did you steal that ninja headband?"

A black ninja saw the ninja headband on Shimura Gengetsu's waist and frowned, but when Shimura Gengetsu turned around, the headband swayed, and he saw the pattern on it and his expression changed drastically!

"Wait...you're a Konoha ninja! Someone come quick! There's a Konoha spy here!"

Upon hearing his shout, several figures quickly rushed over.

"However, since you were able to see through my elaborate disguise, I, Shimura Gengetsu, acknowledge you."

Cloud Ninja: "..."

Were you... pretending?

While he was still in a daze, Shimura Gengetsu pushed off with his feet and leaped high into the air, his hands flying.

巳—戌—寅—申.

"Well... let's say hello first."

"Fire Release...Extinguishing Flames!"

Chapter 80 I am Shimura Gengetsu, are you ready to explode?

Those who frequently use ninjutsu know that the power of ninjutsu is determined by the amount of chakra provided and the intensity of the nature transformation.

The same ninjutsu can be used by some as a small fireball technique, and by others as a great fireball technique.

The same applies to the extinguishing of the great fire.

It wasn't this ninjutsu that was powerful, but rather Madara Uchiha's.

Although Shimura Gengetsu was still somewhat inferior to Madara at that time, his momentum was even more overwhelming due to his unlimited supply of chakra.

boom!

A sea of ​​fire descended, turning the clouds on the horizon a fiery red.

"Ahhhh!"

Soon screams came from below, along with shouts from some ninjas.

"Water escape! Water formation wall!"

"Earth escape! Earth flow wall!"

"Wind Release: Sky-Piercing Palm!"

A group of Cloud Hidden Ones used all their skills to stop the spread of the flames, while several signal flares were launched into the sky.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

This is no longer espionage; this is an attack!

Even if the enemy only has one person!

Actually, they don't even need their signal flares; anyone who isn't blind can see what's happening here.

Standing on a high rooftop, Shimura Gengetsu saw no fewer than several hundred people rushing towards him, including many masked elite members of the Kumogakure Anbu.

This response speed is much faster than Konoha's response during the future Konoha Crush plan.

Seeing that the fire had been suppressed by the combined efforts of the Cloud Village ninjas, Shimura Gengetsu delivered another blow.

"Scorching Escape: Double Steam Kill!"

Two crimson fireballs, as bright as the sun, descended from the sky. Although their range was not as wide as that of the Great Fire Extinguisher, their destructive power was far greater. Several ninjas were caught off guard and grazed by the fireballs, causing the moisture in their bodies to evaporate.

Not only are bloodline limits difficult to counter with ordinary ninjutsu, but the scorching ninjutsu also contains wind-attribute chakra, greatly weakening the effectiveness of the Cloud Village's most proficient lightning ninjutsu.

However, through this ninjutsu, the Cloud Village ninjas were able to completely recognize the intruders' identities.

"It's the Speedster, Gengetsu Shimura!"

"Watch out! Call for backup! We're no match for him!"

"Reinforcements have arrived! Avoid battle for now!"

After glancing at it, Shimura Gengetsu pressed his hands to the ground.