Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"Never look directly into Uchiha Shisui's eyes. His genjutsu... is beyond our ability to resist."

His expression was so solemn and serious when he said this.

That was a look that neither Kisame Hoshigaki nor Zabuza Momochi had ever seen. In their minds, Hozuki Mangetsu always seemed to have a contemptuous, bloodthirsty smile on his lips, and his inherent arrogance made him impossible to like. But that didn't stop them from acknowledging Hozuki Mangetsu's strength.

This was the first time they had ever seen Hozuki Mangetsu show such an expression after losing just one round.

"That incredibly fast Body Flicker Technique alone is troublesome enough, not to mention illusion techniques..."

Kisame Hoshigaki shook his head.

This is too difficult!

Zabuza Momochi, hidden in the thick fog, remained silent.

"This time is really different from before. We might become someone else's prey if we're not careful. If you don't want to die, you'd better watch out." As Hozuki Mangetsu spoke, he had already created more than ten water clones to harass Uchiha Shisui in conjunction with Kisame Hoshigaki's water clones.

then,

He took out a large scroll and summoned the Twin Blades Hiramekarei, which was placed in the camp tent.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the center of the forest on the nameless island,

The Mist Ninja's main camp was located here. White Zetsu, who was disguised as Yagura Karatachi using the [Disguise Technique], was restless. The explosions and billowing smoke from the west of the island constantly reminded him that it might be time to end the mission.

Uchiha Munen is attacking! Those three weaklings from the Mist Ninja combined aren't even enough to stop Susanoo from cutting them down!

However, just as he made up his mind to make a quick getaway...

A commotion arose outside the tent.

"Water Release·Big Explosion Water Wave."

Outside, Yagura Karatachi unleashed a powerful Water Release technique, spewing out a torrent of water as fierce as ocean waves. The surging waves instantly swept away all the debris and trees nearby, including the Mizukage's tent, which was also torn apart and swept away by the water. Even a layer of the ground was scraped away, causing the White Zetsu disguised as Yagura Karatachi to fail in his escape attempt and be swept into the air by the water waves.

"How magnificent."

Zongxian stood atop a pile of corpses of Mist Ninja, looking up at the enormous ellipsoidal water prison before him. He visually measured it and determined that its diameter was definitely over ten kilometers. The Mist Ninja camp had been almost completely wiped out. Fortunately, most of the Mist Ninja were currently drawn to the attacking Konoha ninja and went to the west side of the island to defend against them. The number of Mist Ninja remaining in the camp was estimated to be only about a hundred.

Furthermore, Yagura Karatachi was highly skilled in Water Release techniques. His Great Explosion Water Wave was a defensive ninjutsu that could also trap people. The Mist Ninja caught in it did not die immediately; they were quickly thrown away by Yagura Karatachi, who only trapped the White Zetsu disguised as him.

[Chapter 115. The Aura of Two Mizukage]

The enormous ellipsoidal water prison formed by the Great Explosion Water Wave Technique is visible from any position on this flat, nameless island, provided you don't get obscured by the thick fog. Because the Mist Ninja use the Mist Concealment Technique, the western side of the island is indeed shrouded in thick fog, resembling a sea of ​​clouds!

To be honest, even the Kirigakure ninjas themselves are getting so confused they can't tell which way is which.

The sheer number of people using Hidden Mist Techniques mixed together weakened the chakra perception layer by layer, causing the Mist Ninja's movements to become significantly slower. Conversely, the Mist Ninja discovered that the Konoha ninja they were facing this time seemed to all possess some form of sensory ninjutsu: Sharingan, Byakugan, the Aburame clan's insects, the Yamanaka clan's mental techniques, the Inuzuka clan's noses... The Konoha ninja, moving in groups, forced the Mist Ninja, who had no time to form a battle formation, to retreat step by step.

Even though the Mist Ninja do indeed have an absolute advantage in numbers,

There are nearly a thousand Kirigakure on the island.

Even including Zongxian, the number of Konoha ninjas dispatched this time was less than seventy.

Despite the seemingly disparate numbers, the actual gap is not as large as imagined. Among the nearly one thousand Mist Ninja, nearly one hundred were wounded in battle a few days ago and could not be sent back to the village in time. If you exclude the Chunin and Genin who served as cannon fodder, there are only a little over one hundred Jonin-level experts.

Furthermore,

Don't forget that well-known ironclad rule in the ninja world.

To deal with an Uchiha, you need at least two ninjas of the same level. For example, Uchiha Shisui single-handedly overwhelmed the three geniuses of Kirigakure. Moreover, it wasn't just the Uchiha; the Konoha ninjas participating in this operation were all highly skilled individuals carefully selected by Sogen from different clans.

Characters like Shiro Aburame, Gaku Inuzuka, and Koren Yamanaka were all elite warriors skilled in battle, representing the best of the thousands of soldiers under Sogen's command.

After careful consideration, Konoha was undoubtedly confident of victory.

And that is indeed the case.

The limited space on the island greatly restricted the application of the Hidden Mist Technique. The Hidden Mist Techniques of the many Hidden Mist Ninjas interfered with each other. Of course, the Hidden Mist Village had ways to make the Hidden Mist Ninjas join forces to release a large-scale Hidden Mist Technique, but that required preparation time and certain conditions.

In this rush, without the command of the Mizukage, the Mist Ninja had no time to prepare.

Just before Sogen and Yagura broke into the location of the Kirigakure's 'brain',

"No! We can't stop them at this rate."

The dust-covered and disheveled Mist Ninja struggled to escape from the range of the Uchiha clan's Fire Release technique. His hair was charred yellow. Having barely escaped death, the Mist Ninja shouted loudly in a hoarse voice.

"Damn it! Can't you stop it?"

Mei Terumi gritted her teeth.

Filled with resentment, he wished his companions from the other two bases were here as well. To facilitate the attack and keep the Konoha ninja running back and forth along the long border, the Fourth Mizukage divided the massive force into three and stationed them in different locations.

"careful!"

The exclamation from behind snapped Mei Terumi back to her senses. She had no time to regret her momentary lapse in concentration on the battlefield. Looking at the shuriken flying towards her like a giant windmill, wrapped in wind-style chakra, she had no doubt that this shuriken, powerful enough to shred rocks, could cut her into a pile of pieces.

[Lava Release: Melting Monster Technique]

Counterattack with offense.

This is Mei Terumi's choice.

She spat out a sticky and highly corrosive acid. Much of the thick, heavy acid was flung away by the rapidly spinning wind blades, but enough still landed on the shuriken at its core. The shuriken, forged from fine iron, was completely corroded by the acid in the time it takes to breathe.

Without its support, the wind-style chakra attached to the shuriken also dissipated.

The sharp wind blades dissipated half a meter in front of Mei Terumi, leaving only gusts of wind to greet her, her long reddish-brown hair swaying gently in the wind.

Having dealt with the hidden arrow from the forest to her right, Mei Terumi focused her gaze, trying to see if she could catch the Konoha ninja using Wind Release. Then she saw the young girls, locked in a fierce battle, break through the trees and appear on this relatively open grassland.

The collision of wind and thunder.

Two incredibly fast sword lights clashed in the void.

The two fighting were Uchiha Chihaya and Ringo Ameyuri, like old enemies meeting again. This was their third duel in recent days. The previous two encounters ended in defeat for Ringo Ameyuri. The nature of Wind Release being effective against Lightning Release gave Uchiha Chihaya a great advantage.

However, the two failures did not discourage Ringo Ameryori.

It's funny,

These two women are actually quite similar in personality. They focus on their favorite areas and devote themselves wholeheartedly to their hobbies. They are not good at social skills and communication, so despite their outstanding appearance, they have little luck with men.

Fortunately, these unique girls don't care about these things; thrilling and exciting battles like this are what they crave.

Two defeats only emboldened Ringo Amori.

With their prey escaping, Chihaya Uchiha set her sights on Ameyuri Ringo.

then,

When they met for the third time, without exchanging a single word, they brandished their sharp blades and began their third battle.

Mei Terumi observed for a few seconds, during which she dodged another wave of splash damage from the aftershocks of the battle. That's right, those shuriken wrapped in wind-style chakra were just the aftershocks of the battle between Chihaya Uchiha and Ameyuri Ringo. When Ameyuri Ringo swung her lightning blade, Kiba, it also brought forth violent lightning, wantonly destroying the surrounding vegetation and land.

She realized that she could not intervene in the fight between the two.

I decided to just ignore it.

Ringo Ameyuri, who is skilled in Lightning Release, seemed to be at a disadvantage because she was countered by Uchiha Chihaya's Wind Release. However, relying on her exquisite dual-sword technique and the enhancement of her physical abilities by Lightning Release chakra, she did not show signs of defeat in this battle so quickly.

Since Ringo Ameyuri is still holding on, she doesn't plan to waste time helping her for the time being. To be honest, if she were to help, she might not get Ringo Ameyuri's gratitude, and might even be disliked by this genius girl.

Mei Terumi refocused her attention on the bigger picture, pressing her followers for answers.

"What are our casualties?"

Have any traces of Konoha ninja been found in other areas of the island?

"Have you still not been able to contact the Mizukage?"

The pale-faced subordinates answered Mei Terumi's questions.

"Pass down the order to have the surviving Chunin and Genin retreat and take refuge on the south side of the island."

One pessimistic answer after another made Mei Terumi realize that there was no turning back now. She decisively issued an order. Mei Terumi, who was about to turn twenty-one, was the vice commander of the Kirigakure army. She had command authority second only to the Fourth Mizukage. When the Fourth Mizukage did not show up, her orders were undoubtedly the highest directives.

"Send orders to all Jonin who are still fighting, telling them that the priority in this battle is not to kill the enemy, but to preserve themselves."

“…Give me three squads to escort the wounded to safety.”

One order after another was relayed down.

The previously chaotic and disorganized Mist Ninja have finally started to look somewhat organized.

This made Mei Terumi's followers admire this beautiful woman even more. Many of them secretly made up their minds to support Mei Terumi as the new Mizukage. Compared to the Third Mizukage, who has not yet shown his face, Mei Terumi is indeed more deserving of the title of Mizukage.

Mei Terumi, who inherited the dual bloodline limits of [Lava Release] and [Boiling Release], not only had the support of the two remaining bloodline limit families in Kirigakure, but she also studied under Genji for a period of time. It can be said that anyone with eyes could see that Genji was grooming her to be the future Mizukage.

at this point,

Even Mei Terumi herself knew it.

Therefore, she has been working hard to become the Mizukage. Compared to Hozuki Mangetsu and Momochi Zabuza, who are fighting with Uchiha Shisui and are both idiots who also covet the position of Mizukage but only know how to fight, Terumi Mei, who has already learned to take control of the overall situation, is clearly a level above them.

In fact,

Master Yuan was already considering abolishing the old practice in Kirigakure where only the strongest were qualified to serve as Mizukage. Apart from the First Mizukage who founded Kirigakure, the Second, Third, and Fourth Mizukage were all the strongest in Kirigakure at the time.

The problem is that these 'strongest' Mizukage did not make Kirigakure stronger. Instead, they caused Kirigakure to bleed continuously in wars, both internal and external, making Kirigakure increasingly weak.

Kirigakure, which once boasted the most clans with bloodline limits, now only retains the legacy of [Lava Release] and [Boiling Release].

The Yuki clan, renowned during the Warring States period for their mastery of the Ice Release bloodline limit, was expelled from Kirigakure more than a decade ago.

The Kaguya clan, known for its belligerence and bloodlust, was recently wiped out by Kirigakure, and the Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit became its last.

In addition,

Many clans that practiced secret techniques were also destroyed in repeated internal conflicts. Now, even the first Mizukage has lost two of the ninja swords that he managed to bring back with great difficulty. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist have a short history, but these ninja swords were basically collected by the first Mizukage and brought back to Kirigakure very early on.

Having witnessed the rise and fall of Kirigakure, Genji, a close friend of the First Mizukage, was unwilling to let Kirigakure sink into oblivion and let his friend's hard work and his own years of dedication go to waste. Over the years, he has been trying to change Kirigakure.

Mei Terumi was one of the most steadfast supporters of the Master, and also one of the few successors on whom the Master placed high hopes. If she were a man, she might have already shed this title of "one of".

Just as Mei Terumi was directing the Kirigakure ninja to retreat in an orderly manner,

The massive upheaval from behind once again disrupted the war. The enormous ellipsoidal water prison formed by the Great Explosion Water Wave Technique attracted the attention of many fighters. Even Uchiha Chihaya and Ringo Ameyuri, who were locked in fierce combat, temporarily separated due to the huge commotion.

Uchiha Shisui, who was relentlessly beating the geniuses of the Mist Ninja, also stopped his pursuit, leaped to the top of the tallest tree nearby, and looked up at the enormous water prison.

"Lord Mizukage?"