Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

A howling storm surged from the bottom of the fan.

[Chapter 126: The Money-Burning Tactics]

He stared intently, holding his breath, as the storm approached.

My heart is filled with helplessness.

The counterattack came too fast!

The storm's range exceeded his maximum movement distance in that extremely short time, meaning he couldn't avoid the powerful storm. So, just before being hit by the storm, he bent over and crouched down, raising his arms to shield his chest and minimize the area of ​​impact.

The next moment—

The storm hit him.

"strangeness?"

Meguro was swept into the air by the storm like a kite and thrown into the distance. However, to Meguro's surprise, he found that he was not seriously injured. He had thought that he would be blown to pieces by the wind! As a master of lightning release techniques, he naturally had a deep understanding of the characteristics of wind release and knew how cruel the 'cutting power' of wind release was.

To be honest, he thought he was going to die in a storm of that magnitude.

Being torn into eight pieces would be considered good.

It might get mixed up by the wind blades and turn into mincemeat.

However, it wasn't until the storm hit him that he realized how incredibly powerful it was; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to blow him and his two subordinates away. The problem was that Uchiha Munen seemed to have completely failed to unleash the 'cutting power' of his Wind Release technique.

"Stop the water!!"

Zongxian, having failed to land a blow, did not rush to pursue.

Instead, they called out loudly for Uchiha Shisui.

Upon hearing the shouts on the battlefield, Shisui sheathed his sword and casually slit the throat of the attacker rushing towards him from the side. Blood gushed out of the attacker's neck like a broken water pipe, but the blood that splattered four or five meters away did not stain Shisui's sleeves.

Shisui had already used the Body Flicker Technique to move rapidly and arrived in front of Zongxian at top speed.

What do you need to do?

Zhi Shui asked aloud.

"Go and catch that guy named Meguro." Zongxian raised the flaming fan in his hand, pointing at the departing storm and Meguro. "Don't let him escape. If he dares to attack me, then he will be punished accordingly. Whether he is dead or alive, man or corpse, bring him to me."

As he spoke,

Zongxian gave Zhishui a meaningful look.

"Leave it to me!"

Realizing something, Shisui took a deep breath and chased after the storm. At the same time, Sogen observed the surrounding situation and found that there were shouts of killing everywhere. Mist ninjas were fighting each other, Mist ninjas were fighting Konoha ninjas, Mist ninjas were fighting each other... Yes, the figures of Mist ninjas fighting could be seen everywhere.

When even Meguro, the highest-ranking official in charge of welcoming the guests, became one of the attackers...

Anyone with a modicum of sense could realize that Meguro's Mist Ninja were probably in the same situation as their superior. In fact, that was exactly the case. With Meguro's ruthless attack on Uchiha Mugen as the dividing line, the intensity of the battle instantly increased several levels.

The Mist Ninja, who had been pretending to fight each other, joined forces to attack the Mist Ninja army that had returned with Yagura Karatachi. They were probably not so arrogant as to want to annihilate such a large Mist Ninja army. Their purpose seemed to be to buy time to kill the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, and the Konoha ninja.

Zongxian narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.

"Bastards! A bunch of bastards!"

Terumi Mei was furious.

The water whip in her hand moved as nimbly as a living snake, tightly coiling around her prey. Then she stepped forward and swiftly broke the bones of the Mist Ninja attacker. At that moment, she deeply understood why the Fourth Mizukage had used such force to injure his own people.

really,

Compared to death, breaking some bones and spending two or three months in a hospital bed is not a problem at all.

With her foot planted on the unconscious Mist Ninja, Mei Terumi quickly surveyed her surroundings. She discovered that the Mist Ninja who had launched the assassination were converging on the Fourth Hokage and the Konoha ninjas, throwing explosive tags like they were free. Even the battle-hardened Konoha ninjas had no choice but to retreat in the face of such expensive tactics.

This is really burning money.

Explosive tags are not cheap, especially in the Land of Water, where there are very few people skilled in Fire Release techniques. Among them, those who are proficient in making explosive tags and have the time to do so are even rarer. The explosive tags produced by Kirigakure cannot meet the demand at all, so they have no choice but to turn to the black market.

And the prices on the black market, wow, they're really ripping people off!

"That bastard Meguro."

Mei Terumi gritted her teeth.

It's impossible that Meguro bought so many explosive tags out of his own pocket. The most likely scenario is that Meguro took supplies stored in the port for the front-line troops without permission. That's right. As the largest port in the western part of the island, it is an important transit point for communication with the front line. A large amount of supplies are stored here. As military supplies, explosive tags are naturally always in excess.

then,

It all went to that bastard Meguro.

"Mangetsu, Kisame, Zabuza, come with me to support the Konoha ninjas. Don't let those idiots suffer too many casualties." The idiots Mei Terumi was referring to weren't the Konoha ninjas, but rather the Kirigakure ninjas who launched the attack. They had been adrift at sea for several days, so how could they not know just how formidable these seemingly few Konoha ninjas were? They were nothing short of a bunch of bloodthirsty killers.

The young Mist Ninja under Meguro's command are all quite skilled.

But even putting aside the fact that they are no match for Konoha, they could easily beat up Mei Terumi's defeated army. Not to mention, the village's most outstanding geniuses, such as Hozuki Mangetsu, Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza Momochi, and Ringo Ameyuri, are all here.

"This is so troublesome."

Hozuki Mangetsu shattered another water clone that was rushing towards him, and the Water Gun was also pierced by the explosive tag, which was immediately silenced and turned into a piece of waste paper that fell into the puddle. "Let those idiots die if they want to. Why bother to save them? Even if we save them, they will most likely not be grateful to us. Bringing them back to the village will only cause more trouble."

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's one thing for Meguro and the others, but the operatives below might not even know the real situation. Besides, we are all Kirigakure ninja, we are comrades."

As Mei Terumi was speaking,

They spontaneously rushed out.

Hozuki Mangetsu scratched his head vigorously and let out a weary sigh. He hated this troublesome job; capturing someone alive was too much trouble! Bringing them back to the village meant trial, imprisonment, and execution—he could foresee the tidal wave of trouble that would follow.

"This is such a hassle."

Hozuki Mangetsu complained softly.

Looking at the hundreds of Mist Ninja fighting together, he made his move with a gloomy face. This time, he did not use the devastating Water Gun Technique, but instead used a binding ninjutsu similar to Water Whip.

Kisame Hoshigaki followed suit. This shark-like man was an exemplary ninja who would not let personal likes or dislikes affect his missions. As the deputy commander of the army, Mei Terumi would carry out her orders one hundred percent.

Of course, there are not only diligent guys like Kisame Hoshigaki, but also people like Zabuza Momochi who stand idly by.

Regardless of what Yagura Karatachi had gone through, Zabuza Momochi was convinced that Yagura Karatachi was a derelict and unqualified Mizukage. During the few days he spent on the ship, he was thinking about how to recover from his injuries and return to the village to contact a group of like-minded people to overthrow Yagura Karatachi.

I never expected that someone else would beat me to it.

Zabuza Momochi didn't intend to rescue Yagura Karatachi, but he also didn't want to mingle with these attackers. If he was going to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, he would do it himself, not follow in someone else's footsteps. So he pretended not to hear Mei Terumi's orders and gathered with a group of Kirigakure Jonin who were also unwilling to join the chaotic battle, coldly watching his fellow villagers kill each other.

Even if Zabuza Momochi and the others chose to stand by and watch...

The attackers were no match for the regular army withdrawn from the front lines, not to mention the Konoha ninjas' assistance. This double blow left the attackers struggling to cope, and their commander, Meguro, was even knocked out of sight by Sogen's fan. As a result, they gradually began to show signs of exhaustion.

However, the more desperate the situation became, the more these young attackers were aroused to display a fierce and ruthless spirit.

Realizing the gap in combat power,

Instead of retreating and regrouping, they launched a new attack with a desperate attitude. This time, they completely abandoned spellcasting and just desperately used the Water Clone Technique. Then, the water clones, carrying explosive tags, launched a self-destructive charge.

"boom!!!"

"boom!!!"

Deafening explosions echoed one after another. The water clones were evaporated by the high temperatures of the explosions, turning into a white mist that spread outwards, further reducing the already low visibility. Without some decent sensory means, one would truly be blind at this moment.

"Damn it, so many explosive tags! Did these Kirigakure ninjas empty out the village's warehouse?"

Inuzuka Jacques and his ninja dogs dodged the successive shockwaves of the explosions with some difficulty and retreated back to their companions.

He cursed the wasteful spending of the Mist Ninja in great anger. Even the wealthy Konoha was not so extravagant as to waste explosive tags like this. Regardless of the village, Chunin and Genin usually bought two or three explosive tags privately as a last resort. Only when a large-scale war occurred would the village distribute kunai, explosive tags, and ration pills to the front-line troops according to the number of people.

"They charged toward the Mizukage and Lord Zongxian."

Yamanaka Kokuren used her mental magic to monitor the actions of the Mist Ninja and relayed the information to her comrades.

"They went to find Lord Zongxian?" Kurama Unkai's expression was strange. If they had only attacked the Mizukage, they were unsure of the outcome. But since they had approached Lord Zongxian, "it seems we don't need to lift a finger." He said subconsciously, which drew nods of agreement from the others.

[Chapter 127. The Fire Fan Family Crest is still covered in dust!]

From the very beginning, Sogen felt a subtle sense of incongruity about the assassination attempt against Yagura Karatachi. The assassination attempt, launched by the radical faction of Kirigakure who were dissatisfied with Yagura Karatachi's terrible rule, seemed to be justifiable in terms of its rationale.

just,

The timing is wrong.

Instead of waiting to find Yagura when he was outnumbered and outgunned, they launched the assassination attempt right after he returned with his army. Could the mastermind behind this be out of their mind? Or perhaps... the assassination of the Mizukage was just a smokescreen, and the attackers had other motives.

Zongxian's train of thought stalled at this point. He was convinced that his reasoning was correct, but the problem was that he had not yet figured out what the attackers were trying to do.

"What can these few small fry do?"

Zongxian stared at the mist ninja who burst out of the thick fog, covered in explosive tags that had already been detonated—most likely another water clone. He waved his flame fan like he was swatting a fly, infusing it with only a small amount of chakra. The resulting gale shattered the already fragile water clone, and the flames from the exploding tags were swept back along the same path by the gale.

however,

The annoying thing about flies is that they are impossible to get rid of or kill completely.

Using a large number of explosive tags to clear a path, the attackers forced back the Konoha ninja blocking their way, creating a 'path' that led directly to Sogen. They watched as waves of Mist Ninja charged forward, some in water clones and some in their true forms, splashing water and blood onto the cratered road.

Zongxian became increasingly confused as a result.

Why sacrifice so many lives?

Seeing another Mist Ninja rushing towards him, Zongxian almost instinctively swung his Flame Fan. The howling wind scattered the water clones, but it did not scatter the sword light as bright as moonlight. The blade wrapped with wind blades cut through the scattered water from the broken water clones and cut through the howling wind.

The assassin, who was less than 1.5 meters tall, took advantage of the moment when Zong Xian was wide open in front of his body as he waved his flaming fan and suddenly thrust his knife. This was a desperate attack that would kill him if it failed. However, Zong Xian was completely unconcerned about this sudden and unexpected attack. This was exactly how it should be!

A sense of relief washed over me, as if the other shoe had finally landed.

I'm not afraid of any tricks you have, but I'm afraid of those tricks being kept hidden, leaving me feeling uneasy and unable to find satisfaction.

"Your knife isn't sharp enough!"

His right hand, holding the Flame Fan, was indeed too slow to pull back and swat away the assassin. He still had his left hand, so he drew the long sword hanging on his left side. The moment the sword was drawn, it was bound by flowing fire. The blade wrapped in flames and the blade wrapped in wind blades clashed in mid-air.

【Uchiha Style: Great Fire Sword】

The elemental counters between ninjutsu are not absolute.

The advantage of nature is based on equal quantity. It is true that fire release counters wind release, but if the wind is strong enough, it can extinguish the small campfire. Unfortunately, the gusts of wind brought by the assassin who seemed to be from the dark side were not enough to blow out the raging flames that were burning in Zongxian.

"boom!!!"