Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Upon hearing this, Kakuzu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, instantly drawing out all the cold air around him.

Other bloodline limit families are fine, the Kaguya clan were originally immigrants and their roots in Kirigakure are not deep. But the Hozuki and Minazuki clans are two ancient and powerful clans in the Land of Water. The Hozuki clan, in particular, was the number one clan in the Land of Water. When the First Mizukage, Suiren, founded Kirigakure, it was entirely supported by the Hozuki and Minazuki clans. Now, all the people in these two clans have disappeared.

That means they might have been wiped out.

Who the hell is so ruthless? I only came here to do a big business deal, but I never expected to discover something so incredible.

That's really impressive; they wiped out all three major clans of Kirigakure...

"A massive amount of chakra is in the Mizukage's residence, and an even larger one is in the outskirts. If I'm not mistaken, the chakra in the Mizukage's residence belongs to the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, who is also in the Mizukage's residence. The Fourth Mizukage should be the Three-Tails Jinchuriki. The even larger one belongs to the Six-Tails. The three major clans are gone, but the Fourth Mizukage is still alive. Needless to say, it was probably this Fourth Mizukage who did it. As for why, it's easy to guess. Throughout history, there have been countless massacres of entire clans during power struggles. It's probably either that these clans with bloodline limits rebelled and wanted to seize power, or that this Fourth Mizukage wanted to break free from the control of the major clans and rise up. After all, this Fourth Mizukage is clearly not a member of the major clans; he absolutely cannot rise to power without the support of the major clans..."

Masato stroked his chin and launched into a rambling analysis, which he himself found quite reasonable. In fact, he almost believed it because he knew the truth.

"...But this is a good opportunity. I'll go to the Water Shadow Pavilion and try to distract them. You go and capture the Six-Tails first..."

Kakuzu wasn't interested in power struggles, especially since he was born in a small, hidden village like Takigakure, where power struggles were mostly handled by large ninja villages. Small ninja villages struggled to survive, let alone fight for power. So he didn't take up the topic of real fighting. Instead, he thought about how much weaker Kirigakure was now, making their plan easier to implement. With just a Three-Tails Jinchuriki, he could do whatever he wanted even without his good brothers.

"I don't think we need to. If a group of Mist Ninja are indeed heading towards the Mizukage Tower with their weapons in high spirits, they're probably looking for revenge against the Fourth Mizukage. After they make their move, we'll go and take down the Six-Tails. When they're fighting fiercely, I'll reappear and kill the Three-Tails. You can stay hidden and not show up. With the Three-Tails dead, the Fourth Mizukage is doomed. After a while, you can go and negotiate with their leader. It'll be much easier then."

Masato stopped Kakuzu, who was about to leave, and after speaking with a surprised expression, decided to change his plans.

Because he sensed that the leader of this Mist Ninja in the center position was a girl, if he wasn't mistaken, she should be the future Mizukage with two bloodline limits. The fact that they were rushing towards the Mizukage building with the posture of going to kill people meant that they had already discovered that the Fourth Mizukage was being controlled. It was good that he didn't have to waste his brain cells thinking about how to make them discover it, and they could just go and take down the Six-Tails.

"no problem."

.....

While Shinto and Kakuzu were taking action, on the street directly opposite the Mizukage Tower in Kirigakure, a group of Kirigakure ninja, with a fierce and determined look in their eyes, strode forward with powerful and agile steps, carrying various weapons in their hands, step by step towards the Mizukage Tower not far away.

At the very front of the crowd, the eyes of several older Kirigakure ninja flanking the future Mizukage were filled with complex emotions of disappointment and sadness. As they looked at the dilapidated village along the way, tears welled up in their eyes again.

Once upon a time, their first lord died young, and under the leadership of the second lord, the village gradually prospered and became strong. At that time, the villagers and commoners trusted each other, and people greeted each other with smiles. At that time, the quality of geniuses might not have been as good as those in Konoha, but their numbers were definitely equal.

Even though the Second Hokage was clever but ultimately outsmarted and killed by that bastard Shiki in the Land of Earth, the benefits they gained from raiding the village in the Land of Earth could definitely lead their village to greater prosperity and strength if they had a qualified leader. They were saddened by the Second Hokage's death, but they were also full of confidence in the future of their village.

The chosen Third Hokage did not disappoint them either. With the foundation laid by the Second Hokage, the village grew stronger day by day under the leadership of the Third Hokage, who understood the essence of low-key development. Just as the Second Shinobi World War had begun, and it was precisely when they were about to show the entire ninja world the true strength of Kirigakure instead of just being able to steal and scheme, tragedy struck.

Their three generations of elders were so low-key that they practically disappeared, causing them to miss the opportunity to prove themselves in World War II.

After much reflection, they concluded that the Third Mizukage's disappearance was due to insufficient strength. Therefore, they unanimously decided that the Fourth Mizukage would be a Jinchuriki. This way, even if something unexpected happened, he would at least have the ability to fight back, and wouldn't disappear inexplicably like the Third Mizukage.

When the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure mysteriously disappeared, leading to the outbreak of war, they lamented that they were not alone, that someone was finally as stupid as them, and at the same time, they were glad that they had made such a wise and brilliant decision to choose a Jinchuriki as their leader.

Although they fought a fierce battle with Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War, they finally proved themselves and changed the ninja world's perception of Kirigakure. Kirigakure was not only capable of using cunning tactics, but also excellent at fighting tough battles.

But while they were still joking that Sunagakure was the unluckiest village of this year, they discovered that their Mizukage had actually been controlled by genjutsu.

Looking at the desolate village, the ninja were on the verge of tears. It turned out that in the end, they were the biggest idiots. The third generation had mysteriously disappeared, and the fourth generation had somehow been taken over, leaving the village in this mess...

820. Shorter than four or five tails.

But they were also a little confused, because this Mizukage was a Jinchūriki!

Chakra is limitless. Trying to trap a Jinchuriki in a genjutsu is like comparing hardness to Shiki the Golden Lion.

Is there anyone in the ninja world who can cast genjutsu on a Jinchuriki?

If the Byakugan user who saw the chaotic chakra within the Mizukage was truly one of their own, and considering how much the Mizukage had changed in recent years—rarely seen except by a few close friends—then their Byakugan user had only noticed the chaotic chakra within the Mizukage by chance in a crowd, realizing it was like being under a genjutsu. Otherwise, they would never have believed that anyone in the ninja world could put a Jinchuriki under a genjutsu!

But the facts were right in front of them, and they had no choice but to believe it. The village had been ruined by the Mizukage they had chosen back then, and the old guys were really heartbroken. However, they were also grateful that they were still alive, unlike Hozuki and Minazuki, who were unlucky enough to be killed by the Mizukage they had supported.

Since the era of the ninja villages, for many years, no matter how unlucky they were, they at least had a teammate. During the First Shinobi World War, the Second Tsuchikage was killed by Shiki at the same time as their Second Shinobi. Although the two villages had always been enemies, at least they could hug each other and cry that time.

Although the Third Hokage mysteriously disappeared, the Third Kazekage followed closely behind, which made them feel somewhat at peace. In fact, Sunagakure was in a worse situation than them. Although their Third Hokage had disappeared, it was kept secret, so not many people knew about it and they didn't have to be laughed at by the ninja world.

The disappearance of the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure was news that spread throughout the ninja world, and people were almost laughing at him. A great Kazekage, who was hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history, had nowhere to go.

But when it came to the fourth generation... other people's fourth Kazekage is still alive and well, but their fourth Mizukage has been controlled by someone!

This is even worse than Konoha. Although the Fourth Hokage of Konoha died, he didn't bring this upon himself. Look at what their Fourth Mizukage did. Think about his past glory and his current desolation. The old guys didn't even dare to go down to the Mizukage Tower before they even reached it. They were worried that they would burst their blood vessels and end up in the hospital before they could avenge the dead.

So, when the future Mizukage and a few old guys led a group of Mist Ninja to attack the Mizukage Tower, the scene inside the Mizukage Tower was completely different.

The fat man, Suigetsu Fuguki, one of the three surviving members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist who was crippled by a kick from Green Skin, was now lying dead in front of Obito, a knife stuck in his back. His Kisame had already thrown himself into the arms of his underling, Kisame, and died without ever understanding why the underling he had trained wanted to kill him. Just as Shark Face had killed his former boss and was about to gloat over Kisame, the future Mizukage's cleanup squad arrived. The future Mizukage, without hesitation, charged into the Mizukage's building and unleashed a Lava Release. The bloodline limit, capable of melting everything, was incredibly powerful. Although the future Mizukage couldn't yet reach the level of melting the Uchiha clan's ancestral giant, it was still more than Shark Face, who had just obtained Samehada, could withstand.

Although Obito, who has already turned to the dark side, is very cunning, he is incredibly kind to his underlings. When he saw the future Mizukage bringing so many people, he knew that his control over the Mizukage had been exposed. He stopped arguing and instead told his newly recruited underling, Shark Face, to go first, while he himself would cover the rear!

Even if he can't win, it'll be the Fourth Mizukage who dies, not him, so what's there to be afraid of...?

Under Obito's covert manipulation, the Fourth Mizukage fought fiercely against her own people without any emotion. The Three-Tails, a low-ranking tailed beast, was indeed no match for Shiki, but it had a clear advantage against a group of insignificant and mixed-race Kirigakure ninja. Although the Future Mizukage had awakened two bloodline limits, her own strength was not yet at its peak, and neither Lava Release nor Boil Release were overpowered bloodline limits. They were quite lethal to humans, but not so much to them. The Three-Tails had the advantage in both size and hard shell against the mixed-race Kirigakure ninja. The Future Mizukage's two bloodline limits couldn't even break through the Three-Tails' defense, while the Three-Tails was invincible among the Kirigakure ninja. The group of Kirigakure ninja simply couldn't withstand the Three-Tails' impact.

Meanwhile, Obito, who was controlling the Three-Tails in a secret space, saw that although the group was numerous, they couldn't even withstand one Three-Tails. His ugly face, now hidden behind his mask, was full of smugness. He had originally planned to cripple Kirigakure little by little to avenge his world, Rin, but now that they had already started fighting, he might as well wipe them out completely. At worst, he would make Kirigakure disappear from the ninja world forever. The four great ninja villages were enough!

Moreover, this wasn't his territory, so Obito controlled the three-tailed giant turtle without any restraint, rampaging like a super tank, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The commotion here was so great, especially the power unleashed by the Three-Tailed Turtle, which drew the attention of the entire Hidden Mist Village. However, no one knew that in the distant outskirts, another Jinchūriki of the Hidden Mist Village had already been carried unconscious on Kakuzu's shoulder at an unexpectedly fast pace.

"Tch, it has six tails, is that all? It's far inferior to your fourth and fifth brothers."

Shinto looked at the unconscious Jinchuriki on Kakuzu's shoulder, rubbing his dark, round fist and scoffing.

He hadn't had enough yet. Ever since he sent the Nine-Tails flying with his hammer, he'd had the feeling that the other tailed beasts were just worthless trinkets. When he first arrived and stunned the Jinchuriki kid, the Six-Tails made quite a scene when it came out. However, because the Three-Tails was fighting the Mist Ninja and making a lot of noise, no one noticed this side. He originally thought that with the tailed beasts' violent tempers, and unlike the Seven-Tails which bullies the weak and fears the strong, the Three-Tails, although it had one less tail than the Seven-Tails, should definitely be tougher than the Seven-Tails, and stronger than the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, so it should be quite resilient.

He realized he was wrong. While the Six-Tails was indeed more resilient than the Seven-Tails, it completely lacked the indomitable spirit of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails before the fight even began. It easily crumbled after a few simple blows to the head, whimpering and burrowing into the Jinchūriki's stomach, trembling. Its lifespan was far shorter than the Four-Tails and Five-Tails; it was practically a coward, a complete pushover.

821. Golden Retriever, can fly, he is a golden lion.

".....╥﹏╥"

The six-tailed fox, its head covered in welts, huddled inside the Jinchūriki's belly, its two tails plugging its ears. Tears streaming down its face, it kept trying to convince itself, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you..."

That blond devil's hammer blows hurt so damn much!

For hundreds or thousands of years since its birth, this was the first time it had ever felt pain, and it was pain that went deep into its soul. This was a feeling it had never experienced before. Even when it fought with Hashirama Senju, it had never had this experience. Hashirama Senju only drained its chakra and made its legs weak. But it was never afraid. If Hashirama Senju were in front of it, it would still curse and swear.

Anyway, it can revive. Even if Hashirama Senju drained it dry, he could make up for it in a few years. What's there to be afraid of?

But this yellow-haired demon made it feel pain and learn from it time and time again. What's most infuriating is that this yellow-haired demon not only beat it up, but also had to use Sun Wukong and King Mu, those two weaklings, to look down on it. But it couldn't beat them, which made it almost explode.

"...There's a lot of noise over there."

No matter how many times he saw it, Kakuzu was always shocked by the scene of his good brother fighting hand-to-hand with a tailed beast and knocking it away with a single punch and kick. It was just too damn violent. In all his years in the ninja world, he had never seen anyone with a body as fierce as his good brother's. Even Hashirama Senju, with his explosive vitality, probably wouldn't dare to fight a tailed beast in pure hand-to-hand combat.

The Third Raikage, a master of physical strength, relied on his ancestral Lightning Release chakra mode to fight the Tailed Beasts hand-to-hand. In essence, he was using external forces. While the Third Raikage's body was also very powerful, it wasn't as exaggeratedly superhuman as his good brother's.

"The Hidden Mist Village is completely ruined now. There isn't a single decent fighter left. It's already quite impressive that they've managed to fight the Three-Tails this far without falling. The Three-Tails doesn't hold back at all. You should go first and proceed according to plan. Contact the person in charge of the Hidden Mist Village in a couple of days. I'll go and cut down the Three-Tails first."

Shinto used his Observation Haki to observe the battle situation. A large number of the Mist Ninja had been wiped out by the Three-Tails, and many were seriously injured. Now, the future Mizukage was holding them off, but she was still a bit weak and was fighting and retreating. The battle would end when she ran out of chakra and her legs went weak.

The Lava Release and Boil Release have decent destructive power, but they become difficult to deal with when they encounter the shell of the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle. Among the Tailed Beasts, the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle has the highest defense, even surpassing the Nine-Tailed Fox. After all, that shell isn't something you can just grow for nothing.

Moreover, given the size of the three-tailed giant turtle, even without using any skills, a single basic attack would be too much for any human to withstand.

If it were Kirigakure, with its many elite forces, even if the two tailed beasts were to rampage, it wouldn't have caused this much trouble. Although Kirigakure didn't have many double-flowered red staffs, it had a lot of red staffs. Moreover, the Three-Tails and Six-Tails weren't as formidable as the Nine-Tails. It would have been virtually impossible for Kirigakure to be turned upside down like this.

However, the Three-Tails alone is not enough to deal with Kirigakure. If it weren't for the performance of this future Mizukage to save face for the village, the entire Kirigakure would have been wiped out by the Three-Tails alone!

......

"Roar!"

"Damn bastard! (▼へ▼メ)"

On the Three-Tails' side, listening to the giant turtle's roar, the future Mizukage, who was fighting and retreating, gritted her teeth and looked at the giant turtle, seemingly cursing someone.

She didn't even know who she was cursing, because she didn't know which bastard could control the Three-Tails. Anyone with eyes could see that the Three-Tails was being controlled; its bright red Sharingan was obvious to anyone who wasn't blind.

However, having been a top student since childhood and being well-versed in the history of various countries in the ninja world, she couldn't think of anyone else in the Uchiha clan whose Sharingan was so powerful that they could control the Three-Tails.

Madara Uchiha is already dead, isn't he?

Most importantly, she overestimated herself. She had heard for years that the Sand Village's Golden Lion, who had killed their Second Mizukage, had beaten up the Tailed Beasts and even knocked away Konoha's Nine-Tails recently. So she always thought that the Tailed Beasts weren't as terrifying as the legends made them out to be. Otherwise, why would she have heard so much about the Golden Lion beating up the Tailed Beasts instead of the Tailed Beasts showing off their power all these years?

Now, when she truly faced the Tailed Beast, she realized just how incredibly powerful it was. She herself had been exceptionally talented since childhood, awakening two bloodline limits. However, when facing the Three-Tails, she discovered that while her two bloodline limits complemented each other, creating explosive damage, they were completely ineffective against the Three-Tails. Whenever her two ninjutsu were about to strike the Three-Tails, it would immediately retract its head into its shell. Her complementary ninjutsu was utterly useless against that shell. Furthermore, the Three-Tails was still under her control, making it impossible to forcibly seal it.

That's not the key point. The key point is that the village was already badly damaged by the Fourth Hokage, and now, in order to deal with the Three-Tails, countless of their underlings have been killed or wounded. If they don't stop the Three-Tails, Kirigakure will be wiped out. But now the village's elite have all been wiped out by the Fourth Hokage, and she is the only one left who can fight. Four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were killed by Konoha's genin, and of the remaining three, two have gone insane. She saw the corpse of the most normal one when she rushed into the Mizukage's building.

She's the only high-level fighter in the village right now; this is utterly outrageous.

"Kakuzu! You, don't run away...! Huh? Isn't that the Three-Tails? How did it get out here...?"

Just as the girl from the future was fighting and retreating indignantly, a flamboyant voice, tinged with anger and doubt, echoed from above, resounding throughout the entire venue.

Shinto feigned surprise, astonishment, and bewilderment as he floated high in the sky, looking down with a puzzled expression, as if asking how the Three-Tails managed to escape.

"..."

"Golden... Golden Lion? (⊙_⊙)?"

"It can fly, has golden hair, looks sloppy, and even resembles the Fourth Hokage—it's definitely Shiki the Golden Lion...(⊙_⊙)"

"How did the Golden Lion end up in our Land of Water?"

"Didn't you hear that? They're probably here to hunt down the bounty hunter Kakuzu..."

The heavily injured Mist Ninja underling lying on the ground below, along with the future Mizukage who had been fighting and retreating, looked up and were momentarily stunned.

Although the Land of Water hadn't been active in the ninja world for many years, they still cared about important matters. Although they were young and had never seen Shiki in person, and Shiki himself hadn't set foot in Kirigakure for decades, they were still very clear about the characteristics of this man who had once caused the death of their Second Mizukage, leading to Kirigakure bearing the infamy of a villain for decades. In the ninja academy's textbooks, for fear that the next generation would forget who their former enemy was, five sections and thirty-two chapters were dedicated to describing Shiki's physical characteristics in detail.

822. Obito didn't get cocky; instead, he seemed a bit cautious.

A rare golden retriever who can fly, slovenly and unkempt, and bearing a striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, who was a sensation in the ninja world during the Third Shinobi World War, this highly distinctive character is instantly recognizable, even to young people who have never seen him in person before.

"Damn it, what is this guy doing here?"

In a certain space, Obito, who was controlling the three-tailed turtle, was also dumbfounded. This middle-aged man, who was suspected to be the father of his former teacher and had taught him how to flirt with girls, was someone he knew all too well. Especially during the Nine-Tails Night in Konoha, he had a deep understanding of how powerful the Nine-Tails was after he released it. In the end, the Nine-Tails was actually knocked away by this middle-aged man, which showed how explosive the middle-aged man's combat power was.

But why did this guy come to Kirigakure for no reason?

Are they here to chase after Kakuzu?

No way! Everyone in the ninja world knows that this guy and Kakuzu are practically inseparable.

When Nagato wanted to recruit Kakuzu into Akatsuki, he reminded Nagato of Kakuzu's relationship with Shiki. However, Nagato dared to recruit even a ruthless person like Sasori, who lacked common sense, let alone Kakuzu, who was the most successful money-maker in the ninja world, so he ignored him.

"Judging from his tone, it seems like Kakuzu offended him, and he must have chased Kakuzu all the way here... Obito, we've had enough fun. If this guy comes and tries to fight, the Three-Tails can't beat him. Let's go."

After a long silence, Black Zetsu, who was possessing Obito, guessed that he knew more about this Golden Lion than Obito did. After all, he had read through his own diary because of the Golden Lion. Don't be fooled by his honest and kind appearance. He was absolutely despicable and shameless inside. He could turn on you faster than flipping through a book. Although Kakuzu had been brothers with this guy for decades, if you really offended him, he would definitely draw his sword.

This guy once said that Madara was his idol, but when he beat up his idol, he didn't hold back at all. Madara was beaten so badly that he lost several years of his life. So it's not surprising at all that this guy suddenly started hunting down Kakuzu, who was his sworn brother.

Madara is right, that guy is a scoundrel. Scoundrels are capable of anything, chasing after his own brothers is nothing...