Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Onoki was flying around in mid-air, his face devoid of any joy, muttering to himself, "That damned guy actually succeeded in mastering it. How embarrassing, so incredibly embarrassing..."

Onoki was naturally delighted to hear the news that Hattori Masashige had suffered heavy losses in an attack on Kumogakure. However, when he read on and learned that Hattori Masashige had escaped using their Iwagakure's unique flying ninjutsu, Earth Release: Super Light-Heavy Rock Technique, his joy vanished instantly, leaving only regret and bitterness.

Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique is an S-rank ninjutsu developed by the Second Tsuchikage. It is a true flying ninjutsu that can also carry others with it.

Logically speaking, it's highly possible that Iwagakure could create a flying unit with this ninjutsu.

In fact, during the reign of the Second Tsuchikage, a flying unit was secretly formed, but due to the heavy casualties, there was no hope for it, and the plan eventually failed. Then this S-rank ninjutsu was listed as a forbidden technique.

There's no way around it; the Super Light Heavy Rock Technique is too difficult to master, and it's also quite dangerous.

So far, only Onoki has learned this flying ninjutsu thanks to his outstanding comprehension and talent for Earth Release, after narrowly escaping death several times.

He made the deal with Hattori Masanari because he was attracted by the difficulty of mastering this ninjutsu and its terrifying lethality, and he traded it to Hattori Masanari with sinister intentions.

He never actually thought that anyone from Amegakure would successfully learn this ninjutsu. He just hoped that this ninjutsu could take away a few more of Amegakure's genius ninjas, preferably Hanzo of the Salamander and Hattori Masanari together.

Now Hattori Masanari has actually learned it, and he's even using it to give Kumogakure a good beating.

Upon seeing this, Onoki felt that seeing others make money was more painful than losing money himself.

"A miscalculation, a terrible miscalculation! I am a sinner, a sinner of Iwagakure! I have let my teacher down..."

The thought of his precious possession being taken away by the enemy filled Onoki with sorrow and regret.

"Bang bang~"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Upon hearing this, Onoki quickly composed himself, regaining his usual serious and rigid demeanor, and said, "Come in."

The next moment, a graceful female ninja walked in; it was none other than Onoki's daughter-in-law, Kurotsuchi.

"Lord Tsuchikage, this is a secret letter from Amegakure. Please take a look."

Red Earth strode quickly to Onoki and handed him a scroll that had already been deciphered.

Onoki immediately took the scroll and quickly opened it to read it.

Throughout the process, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

The scroll contained a plea for help from Hanzo of the Salamander. He wrote about the atrocities that Kumogakure was committing in the Land of Rain, hoping that Iwagakure would come to their aid, and offering to pay a substantial reward.

Upon seeing the offered reward amount, Onoki's breathing quickened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and considered the pros and cons.

"Take a look, and then tell me your opinion."

After a while, Onoki, who was still undecided, handed the scroll to Kurotsuchi and said in a heavy tone.

Hongtu took the scroll.

Soon, her brows furrowed, her breathing became heavier, and then she took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression, "Lord Tsuchikage, I personally think that we can help Amegakure, but not too much. What we need is an obedient Amegakure, not a powerful one."

"You're right, Amegakure is indeed too strong right now."

Onoki agreed, and then strengthened his resolve.

"However, Lord Tsuchikage, if we do this, Amegakure might turn to Konoha for help and seek refuge in Konoha. Hattori Masanari is a difficult person to deal with, and he certainly won't place all his hopes on Iwagakure."

Hongtu continued to share his views.

"Konoha? Hmph, Konoha is too busy taking care of itself right now. The Third Hokage would never agree to Amegakure's demands. What we need to worry about is a certain guy who's been peeking out from the outside all the time. He's Amegakure's best partner."

Upon hearing what Kurotsuchi said, Onoki shook his head with a profound look in his eyes.

Who is Tsuchikage-sama?

Hongtu didn't understand what Onoki was saying for a moment and asked in confusion.

Chapter 211: A War Request from Amegakure

The Land of Water, the Hidden Mist Village, the Mizukage Building, the Mizukage's Office.

The Third Mizukage was looking at the latest procurement list with a headache. As he looked at the final price, his head began to ache.

Because the Land of Water is far from the mainland, neither of the two Shinobi World Wars affected the Land of Water's mainland, and the strength of Kirigakure was thus well preserved.

However, precisely because the Land of Water is far from the mainland and fears being involved in numerous conflicts, the daimyo of the Land of Water implements a policy of isolation and rarely contacts the mainland. This results in Kirigakure receiving very few requests from the mainland.

Kirigakure was previously able to accept this, since they could obtain a lot of funding from the daimyo and their internal ninja population wasn't very large.

But everything changed after the Blood Mist Faction appeared in Kirigakure.

The Blood Mist Faction has the support of a daimyo, which means the daimyo wants to interfere in the Hidden Mist Village.

In order to expand his influence in Kirigakure, the Daimyo began to reduce military spending on Kirigakure. However, the funds cut were still given to Kirigakure, but they were sent to the Blood Mist faction ninjas.

The Third Mizukage certainly didn't want the Daimyo to interfere in Kirigakure's affairs; he himself was the most steadfast anti-Bloody Mist faction.

Unfortunately, by the time he discovered the Daimyo's true intentions, it was too late. The Blood Mist Faction had already taken root in Kirigakure and was growing stronger with the Daimyo's support.

Meanwhile, the anti-blood mist faction ninjas are becoming weaker day by day due to the lack of sufficient financial support from Kirigakure.

Now, the Third Mizukage is once again deeply concerned about Kirigakure's dire financial situation.

"Bang bang~"

There was a knock on the door.

Upon hearing the commotion, the Third Mizukage immediately put down the shopping list in his hand and said, "Come in."

The next moment, the door opened and a boy with purple eyes walked in. He was none other than Yagura Karatachi, one of the Third Mizukage's right and left hands.

"Yagura, is something the matter?"

The Third Mizukage looked at the newcomer and asked with some confusion.

Logically speaking, Yagura should be out handling some troublesome government affairs, so why is he back?

"Lord Mizukage, a special guest has asked me to invite you to meet him."

Yagura replied.

"A special guest? No way."

The Third Mizukage was preoccupied with resolving his current financial problems and had no interest in meeting any unfamiliar guests, so he decisively declined.

Yagura Karatachi wasn't surprised. He nodded and casually added, "That man looks very wealthy. Are you really not going to meet him?"

"rich!"

When the Third Mizukage heard what Yagura said, his narrowed eyes widened slightly, and he finally showed some interest.

A short while later, led by Yagura Karatachi, the Third Mizukage arrived at a wooden house in the forest outside Kirigakure.

"Yagura, where is he?"

The Third Mizukage looked at the wooden house in front of him, his face suddenly turning cold, and said in a cold voice.

With his remarkable perception, he discovered that there was no one inside the wooden house.

It wasn't that he was being paranoid; it was just that the Blood Mist Sect's infiltration was impossible to guard against. Yagura Karatachi had brought him here mysteriously, and after arriving, he hadn't seen anyone at all. It all seemed like they were plotting against him.

Yagura was also a little confused at this point, and in his heart he cursed that the man for being unreliable.

Just as he was about to say something, he immediately looked up, and the Third Mizukage looked up with him.

As soon as the two looked up, they saw a person slowly descending from the sky.

"Hattori Masanari, I didn't expect you to be rich. But then again, your head is indeed worth a lot of money."

Upon seeing the newcomer's appearance, the Third Mizukage instantly became alert, assuming a fighting stance, staring coldly at his opponent, and speaking with an unfriendly expression.

Kumogakure is right next to Kirigakure. Hattori Masanari's recent misdeeds in Kumogakure were something he, as the Third Mizukage, had naturally received. He was also aware that Hattori Masanari's bounty at the gold exchange had increased several times over, reaching a total of 15 billion, second only to the recently rising Konoha genius ninja, Tohsaka Kirito.

Of course, the bounty is high, but if you have bad teeth, you might break them and end up losing your life.

The intelligence he learned from his spies in Kumogakure was that Hattori Masanari single-handedly overwhelmed two Yukimaru, killed more than twenty Jonin, and finally destroyed nearly half of Kumogakure under the siege of more than two thousand Kumogakure ninja.

Just from the literal meaning, you can tell how terrifying this ninja from Amegakure is.

Now, the other party is even demonstrating the Iwagakure flying ninjutsu, Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique, in front of them, clearly trying to intimidate them and tell them that he has the ability to leave whenever he wants.

"Hattori Masanari, this is our Mizukage. You'd better show some respect and not try anything funny."

Without saying a word, Yagura grabbed the strange, hook-like weapon on his back and used the Water Mirror Technique to create a replica of Hattori Masanari, speaking in a cold voice.

Under Yagura's control, Hattori Masanari, created by the Water Mirror Technique, also took to the air and confronted the White Zetsu clone.

"Who exactly is this guy? My chakra was almost completely depleted."

At the same time, Yagura was secretly alarmed.

His Water Release: Water Mirror Technique is amazing, as it can temporarily create an enemy clone with similar abilities. However, the cost is that the stronger the enemy, the more chakra he consumes.

He possesses an exceptionally large amount of chakra, nearly reaching the level of a tailed beast.

Even so, the Water Mirror Technique he had just used almost drained his chakra.

This shows that the guy in front of us, Hattori Masanari, is really terrifyingly strong, and we must be on high alert.

"This must be Mr. Yagura's famous Water Mirror Technique. It is indeed amazing. I feel like I am facing my true self. I am very sorry that I invited you two here to meet out of caution. After all, this is your territory. I was also afraid that the gift I gave Mr. Yagura beforehand was not enough and made him angry. So I had no choice but to resort to this."

Kirito glanced at the 'himself' formed by the Water Mirror Technique, then said apologetically.

After saying that, he took out a scroll from his person and threw it to the Third Mizukage.

The Third Mizukage was highly skilled and daring. With Yagura watching over him, he wasn't afraid of Hattori Masanari playing any tricks. He simply caught the scroll with his hand, opened it, and widened his squinty eyes again.

This scroll is a sealing scroll, and the seal inside is a knife. The sealing method is a very common sealing technique.

He decisively injected chakra into the scroll, breaking the seal on it.

With a loud "bang".

A puff of white smoke appeared, and a weapon as long as a needle fell into the hands of the Third Mizukage. This was the long sword, Sewing Needle, one of the five ninja swords left behind by Kirigakure.

"I hope this gift will allow Lord Mizukage to forgive my rudeness just now."

Kirito smiled and said to the Third Mizukage.

The feeling of losing something and then getting it back is indeed incredibly joyful.

The Third Mizukage was very satisfied with the gift that Kirito, who was playing Hattori Masanari, presented to him. Five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had died at the hands of the White Fang team, and the five precious ninja swords had thus fallen into the hands of the people of Konoha.

He thought he had no chance to retrieve the five ninja swords, but unexpectedly he got one of the missing ones from Hattori Masanari.