Chapter 358: The Six-Tails Jinchuriki
After deactivating his water clone, Ishiro said to Noboru, "Take care of the spoils of war, then hang the bodies at the street intersection."
Without waiting for Noboru's reply, Ishiro returned to the room.
At that moment, the others had still not recovered from their shock. The battle between Ishiro and Ezaki Shinichi's trio had been incredibly brief. Throughout the entire process, Ishiro's main body had not moved from its spot. Not counting the water clone, Ishiro had only used a clone jutsu, one A-rank Water Release, one A-rank Lightning Release, and one B-rank Lightning Release to finish off an elite jonin and two jonin.
This was simply incredible. It meant that Ishiro's strength had definitely reached the peak of the elite jonin level. A dozen or so ninja like this, when gathered together, could hold off a Kage for a short time.
After coming back to their senses, the way Noboru and the others looked towards the room had changed. Although they had pledged allegiance to Ishiro before, their thinking had mostly been about huddling together for warmth. They certainly needed a leader, and Ishiro was the strongest, so they chose to follow him.
But now it was different. The strength Ishiro had displayed was worthy of their allegiance even in times of peace. In a village like Kirigakure, which was full of competing factions, Ishiro's strength was enough to establish a new power base. Moreover, the Hōzuki clan had, after all, produced a Second Mizukage. In Kirigakure, they were a legitimate lineage. Following a major figure from the Hōzuki clan would by no means be considered a betrayal of the village.
And this was precisely the message Ishiro wanted to convey to these ninja: do not doubt me because of my unknown origins.
Shaking his head, Noboru commanded his three subordinates, "Hurry up and clean the battlefield. While you're at it, deal with the damaged houses nearby."
Because Elder Genshi had reacted too quickly—the person Ishiro had sent back had just reported the situation when Genshi made the decision to send Ezaki Shinichi to recruit Ishiro—the other factions had not yet made their own decisions. So, even after the battle on Ishiro's side was over, no one came to disturb them.
While most were still considering what attitude to adopt in the face of Ishiro's previous strong stance, Ishiro had already finished making an example of his victims.
Although they hadn't seen the battle, the news that Ishiro had easily killed an elite jonin and two jonin still sent a wave of fear through the ninja of the Minazuki and other bloodline clans. They were fortunate that they had been divided in their opinions earlier and hadn't acted as quickly as Genshi. Otherwise, it would have been their side suffering losses.
The few who had previously been clamoring to go and test Ishiro themselves were now swallowing hard. Good, good, someone was arguing with me just now, otherwise the one who died might have been me. Thank you, Ezaki Shinichi.
Through this event, Ishiro had established a preliminary foothold in Kirigakure.
Although his faction was not yet taken seriously by the other major powers, and his strength had not yet reached a level that they feared, at least no one would come to offend him without reason anymore. Even if they did come, it would be with a large army, or by dispatching multiple elite jonin for a siege. But either way, the faction that did so would only be letting others take advantage. What's more, they still hadn't figured out where Ishiro's upper limit was. What if the ninja they sent suffered heavy losses again?
Thus, in the days that followed, a small area in the western part of Kirigakure was tacitly designated as a forbidden zone by all factions.
Because of Ishiro's interference, the large-scale conflict that was about to erupt between Yagura's faction and the bloodline clan faction unexpectedly calmed down.
A few days later, two more Anbu squads and some regular mission squads composed of civilian-born ninja came to seek refuge. By this time, Ishiro had also gained a complete understanding of the true balance of power between the various factions in Kirigakure.
"So Yagura has already completely lost control of Kirigakure? He doesn't even have many loyal subordinates left?" Ishiro thought with some surprise. "In other words, Yagura's current situation is no better than in the original story when Ao exposed that he was under genjutsu."
"In the original story, Yagura's faction was always the largest in Kirigakure, and he had the title of Mizukage. All opposition could only exist in the shadows."
"It wasn't until Ao exposed him that even Yagura's loyal subordinates stood against him, which led to him being isolated by the entire village. Only then could the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumī, restore order."
"But because of my butterfly effect, the 'Bloody Mist' era, which was supposed to last for many years, is about to end right after it began. Yagura has, in fact, been abandoned by everyone. His title of Mizukage has long been in name only."
"I almost misjudged the situation," Ishiro thought, feeling it was a close call. He had originally thought that Yagura held the advantage in the Mist and that he should secretly help the bloodline clans to maintain a balance of power. But now, the situation was the complete opposite. Ishiro estimated that if Elder Genshi and the bloodline clans hadn't yet reached an agreement, Yagura would have already been overthrown.
It seems I need to find a way to weaken the strength of Genshi and the bloodline clans.
Just as Ishiro was racking his brains on how to maintain the balance in Kirigakure and buy time to expand his own faction, Karasu arrived near the base.
"Who goes there?" The Anbu responsible for patrolling the nearby area stopped Karasu from a dozen meters away.
Karasu, also dressed as an Anbu, said, "I'm here to deliver some intelligence to Lord Sei." As he spoke, he flashed a set of hand signs. The patrolling Anbu squad had been told by Ishiro what this set of signs meant: he was one of their own. So, the patrol squad led Karasu directly to the door of the house where Ishiro was staying.
When Ishiro heard that Karasu had arrived, he brought him directly into his room.
"Lord Sei, this is the intelligence you requested," Karasu handed over the information he had filtered from the storage scroll, along with the original scroll, to Ishiro. Worried about eavesdroppers, Karasu said nothing more.
Ishiro took the intelligence record from Karasu and looked it over carefully. There wasn't much recorded inside; apart from one item, there was almost nothing Ishiro needed. This was normal; most of the data from the Anbu headquarters consisted of mission reports from past members. Today, these things could only be read as stories.
Therefore, the focus of the useful intelligence Ishiro had asked Karasu to look for was very clear: Tailed Beasts, ancient legends, and information about the Third Mizukage.
And Karasu had actually found a piece of potentially useful information.
The subject of the intelligence was the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata. Originally, Karasu didn't know the identity of the Mist's current Six-Tails Jinchuriki; this was something Ishiro had told him. The current Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, was still just a young boy who had been made a Jinchuriki during the late reign of the Third Mizukage. After the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, came to power, Utakata's master, fearing that the young Utakata would become a tool in the village's internal strife, took him into hiding.
The intelligence recorded some fragmented words from Utakata's master.
Utakata's master was a research-type ninja. His strength was not very high, but his intellect was. In the original story, he later even found a way to extract a Tailed Beast from a Jinchuriki's body without killing the Jinchuriki. Ishiro still clearly remembered the appearance of Utakata's master from the original story, with his round glasses and researcher-like demeanor. So, Ishiro had previously given a detailed description of this appearance to Karasu. It was based on this that Karasu had found some information.
After reading the intelligence, Ishiro smiled and said to Karasu, "Karasu, this intelligence of yours has come at a very timely moment. It's exactly what I need."
"You've handled the intelligence very well this time. I'll give you another storage scroll. The requirements are the same as before; help me filter out the useful information. Mm, you don't need to pay too much attention to intelligence related to Tailed Beasts this time."
"Yes," Karasu's reply was crisp.
Ishiro glanced at the door, sensed the area again with his Mind's Eye, and then set up a barrier to block any probes before asking, "When will the Anbu squads arrive? Is there a definite time?"
Karasu shook his head and said in a low voice, "I can only send intelligence out. Receiving it is difficult. But if they arrive, they will come find me, and I will bring them over immediately."
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Have them stay at your place for now. I need to go out for a couple of days. I'll come find you at your place when I get back."
Karasu took a new storage scroll and left. He didn't stay long at Ishiro's place; it wasn't convenient for him to process so much intelligence there.
A while later, Ishiro also left the base and went to the vicinity of Karasu's residence. After carefully sensing the area and confirming that no one was following or monitoring Karasu, he left with peace of mind.
However, Ishiro did not immediately return to the base. Instead, he first made a trip to the vicinity of the Minazuki clan's territory. Ishiro had no time to play psychological games with people or arrange a drama where a Minazuki clan member "accidentally" discovered the intelligence.
Ishiro directly placed an intelligence scroll in the middle of a street near the Minazuki clan's compound. It was very conspicuous, impossible to ignore, but it also clearly let people know that he had ill intentions.
Not long after Ishiro left, the intelligence scroll, which contained the location of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, was found by a ninja of the Minazuki clan and handed over to their clan head, Minazuki Gyō.
Seeing this intelligence, Gyō was both excited and suspicious.
Having been in a standoff with Yagura for so long, he had long known the truth that the Mizukage's side was strong on the outside but weak on the inside. However, considering Yagura's combat power, he couldn't guarantee how great a sacrifice would be needed to take him down if they went to war. Yagura was a genuine Kage-level shinobi, and after becoming a Kage, he had also become the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails. With a Tailed Beast backing his chakra reserves, it was impossible to defeat him through attrition. If they paid too great a price to kill Yagura, the result would only benefit that old fox, Genshi.
But if they had a top-tier combatant who could hold off Yagura for a short time, or rather, who could withstand Yagura's first few full-power outbursts, then with the strength of the bloodline clan side, there was a great hope of keeping the casualties within a very small range.
Originally, Minazuki Gyō had no solution to this problem. His only hope was for the talented members of the younger generation to grow up quickly. But unfortunately, his Minazuki clan had no such geniuses. On the contrary, the Hōzuki clan had Mangetsu Hōzuki, and the Terumī clan had Mei Terumī. Although they were all in an alliance, the leadership of the alliance was currently in his hands, giving him a relatively transcendent status. Once they seized power in the village, he would be at least the acting Mizukage.
But if he waited until those two juniors grew strong enough to resist Yagura, would his own status still be so transcendent?
The answer was obvious.
Before, Minazuki Gyō had no choice. The position of Mizukage falling into the hands of the Terumī or Hōzuki clans was still better than it being in Yagura's hands, or in Genshi's. But now, an opportunity was laid before him. If he could obtain the Six-Tails, whether it was to have the Six-Tails fight directly or to become a Jinchuriki himself, it was a way to counter Yagura that could be realized in a short amount of time.
The only concern was that the origin of this intelligence was too suspicious. The ninja who delivered it didn't even dare to show his face. Unsurprisingly, he probably didn't have good intentions.
Minazuki Gyō was conflicted, but his hesitation was quickly eliminated by one thing.
"Clan Head, someone saw a person from Elder Genshi's side pick up a scroll identical to ours," a jonin from the Minazuki clan in charge of intelligence reported this terrible news to Minazuki Gyō.
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