Gusion listened without moving. Only after Yagura finished did he step forward. "Mizukage, I'll see you off."
He had changed his mind. He would not capture Yagura alive to provoke a tailed beast rampage and hurl him onto the Konoha battlefield as a weapon.
That would insult a resolute warrior. He would not do it.
Without a tailed beast, he could always put more pressure on Konoha by himself.
In Gusion's eyes, the Yagura before him should die as a Mizukage defending his village.
"Calamity, we haven't settled this yet. Let me show you a Kage's resolve!"
Yagura's gaze was firm as he launched himself forward.
As he charged, the shinobi who had been watching from the sidelines surged in as well, kunai and mist-nin blades in hand, rushing Gusion.
This was no longer about whether they wished to follow Yagura. Gusion had declared he would destroy Kirigakure. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. They had to follow the Mizukage and fight.
Boom—
Yagura's black rod met Mazuko, the blast of force sinking the ground and scattering rubble.
At the same time, Gusion canceled the summoning to send Garaga back—he could see that the snake, eager to prove itself, was about to start a mass slaughter among the Mist ninja.
Before Garaga could protest, it burst into a massive puff of smoke and vanished.
Then, as Gusion's dark red Conqueror's Haki rippled outward, the charging shinobi stiffened for a beat.
The genin on the field fared worse, toppling like wheat before a scythe.
"Everyone except the elite jonin, fall back with Terumi Mei!"
Yagura shouted. He had no desire for the village's youth to die needlessly.
He could fight freely now because he knew Terumi Mei had already led a group of promising youngsters to safety. Even if the worst happened and he fell here today, Kirigakure would have seeds left to sprout.
Gusion, as a missing-nin, could not remain in the Land of Water for long. At most he was a destroyer. Once he left, they could rebuild.
As long as the daimyo of the Land of Water wasn't a fool, he would fund Kirigakure's resurgence—otherwise the country would be left without basic national defense.
Buoyed by the people's support, Yagura's heart unknotted. He no longer thought of revenge, and fought with growing momentum.
But Gusion had no intention of dragging this out. Since he'd said he would see Yagura off, he would not dawdle.
In Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Gusion pushed his speed to the limit. High-voltage arcs coursed through the water pooled across the field into Yagura, making the exhausted Mizukage twitch and lock up.
Even a jinchuriki with a powerful physique, once his chakra ran low, could no longer withstand Gusion's lightning.
At top speed, Gusion's cuts slipped cleanly through Yagura's slowed, stiff defense. The first stroke knocked the black rod from his hands.
The rod spun upward through the air. Gusion's second strike followed. With his state maxed out, the blade came down. Disarmed and only in partial transformation, Yagura had no chance.
Before the shocked, furious eyes and shouts of the Mist shinobi, Mazuko traced Yagura's throat, leaving only a strip of skin clinging at the back.
In that last instant, Yagura's face showed no fear—only a touch of regret. Regret that he had failed to protect Kirigakure; that he had been a failed Kage.
The black rod spun down from the sky and stabbed into the earth. The withered flower at its tip… finally fell apart.
A breeze stirred. The fallen blossom twirled and drifted down onto Yagura's body.
Gusion flicked the blood from his blade, bent to pick up an epic-grade loot chest, and tucked the withered flower into Yagura's collar. "Whatever came before, in the end, you were a proper Kage."
As he straightened, he staggered, looking for all the world like he was spent.
Even so, none of the enraged Mist shinobi dared rush him.
"He even canceled his summoning. His chakra's nearly gone. Move! Avenge the Mizukage-sama!"
A jonin shouted through tears and charged Gusion.
Gusion had already dropped Sage Mode. He turned without drawing his blade and simply kicked the jonin, booting him into the village wall and leaving a crater.
A wave of brave jonin rushed him in the chaos. Gusion didn't use lightning, acting as if he were low on chakra; he fought with pure taijutsu.
Even so, it was like a tiger among sheep—the Mist shinobi went flying.
In that respect, the shinobi world wasn't quite like the world of pirates. In the pirate world, if Gusion killed a boss in such dominant fashion, the small fry often wouldn't dare swing at him.
But shinobi were different. Many truly weren't afraid of death and clung to certain virtues. On the battlefield, they did not retreat.
Especially now, with their village at stake—even genin dared to rush him.
"Chunin, fall back—don't give him a chance to absorb your chakra!"
An elite jonin shouted, knowing how deadly Gusion's blade was.
As if to match the warning, Gusion acted like his state had recovered a bit and released Lightning Release, frying a swath of shinobi.
"So much for water's resilience. The Mizukage is dead. Who's left to stop me?"
Gusion wore what, to the crowd, looked like a vicious grin. Inwardly, he thought: Zabuza, if you don't get your ass out here, I won't be able to keep up this act much longer.
Thankfully, Zabuza wasn't that unreliable. A roar of air being torn by a massive blade rang out as the Executioner's Blade spun toward Gusion.
Gusion hopped back. The man-tall blade whirled and buried itself in the ground not far ahead. Gusion couldn't help grumbling internally: Zabuza, you really know how to make an entrance. In a real fight, throwing away your weapon would get you killed, you know?
Oh right—he actually did that in the original…
That said, the man nailed the vibe. His entrance was maximum cool.
Because the jonin and elite jonin had just led the charge at Gusion, most had been battered senseless or knocked out. That left only chunin and newly arrived genin on the field.
In their despair, they saw the legendary Executioner's Blade of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen carve into the battlefield—and force the rampaging Calamity to dodge!
"Yare yare, I just get home and it's this kind of mess."
At some point, mist had crept back into the air. It wasn't thick across most of the field yet, but it veiled the speaker's form.
As the words faded, a figure dropped onto the Executioner's Blade's handle, crouching with his back to the people of the Mist.
Right then, the mist thinned enough for the shinobi to see Zabuza clearly.
"Zabuza-san!"
"It's Zabuza of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!"
"He's back!"
"He's here to defend the village!"
"I knew Zabuza-san would never abandon us—he'd stand up!"
…
The crowd's sagging morale ignited at Zabuza's dazzling entrance.
This was thanks to Zabuza's past reputation—and the flyers he'd spread after returning today.
The people of Kirigakure already knew he was back, and they knew the truth about the Mizukage. Though the Fourth Mizukage's last stand to defend the village had softened much of their hatred, compared to Zabuza, Yagura still bore more stains. After all, during Yagura's dark reign, only Zabuza had dared to stand up for the people.
To them, Zabuza had always held Kirigakure in his heart—a revolutionary hero.
In this desperate hour, Terumi Mei—the one they'd expected—had evacuate with the village's precious seedlings, while the man branded a missing-nin by the Fourth Mizukage had stepped up to face the invader. The stark contrast left many newly disappointed in Terumi Mei.
Terumi Mei, leading the village's youth to safety, would never have imagined that by faithfully carrying out the Mizukage's orders, she would miss her chance to become the Fifth Mizukage.
In such a tense moment, with emotions running hot, no one was in the mood to parse nuance. All they knew was that in their darkest hour, the one standing between them and the enemy was none other than their former revolutionary hero—Momochi Zabuza.
Watching the stirred-up crowd, Gusion subtly curled his lip. Not bad, Zabuza. When you said you had clout, you weren't bluffing.
Still, that worked just fine. His stiff acting would pass now.
"Momochi Zabuza? I heard you were the Mist's prodigy of silent killing. But you're just one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. The Mizukage himself died by my hand. You think you can stop me?"
Gusion sneered, convinced he'd nailed the villain act.
"That only means you've never seen my Silent Killing."
Zabuza spoke, forming a one-handed seal. "Hidden Mist Technique."
At once, the mist—already seeded by his earlier jutsu—grew even thicker.
The chakra-laden fog was hard to pierce even for dōjutsu. The Mist shinobi tensed, forced to rely on sound to place Gusion.
None of them questioned Zabuza's tactics. He was famed for silent killing. They felt that even a hundred of them couldn't beat Gusion head-on; better to place their hopes on Zabuza and see if the prodigy could strike true.
Squelch—
From within the dense fog came the sound of a blade slicing flesh, sending the Mist shinobi's nerves taut.
"Not bad. There aren't many in the current shinobi world who can wound me."
Gusion's voice drifted out of the fog, and spirits soared.
What? Zabuza-san cut him!?
"Calamity, you're strong. But you fought Kisame and the Mizukage-sama back to back. You're a spent arrow too, aren't you?"
Zabuza's cold voice came from every direction, making the Mist's chunin and genin click their tongues in awe. As expected—impressive. Even though they could also use the Hidden Mist Technique, they couldn't tell where Zabuza was speaking from.
The clang of blades rang out again and again in the fog. The Mist shinobi could practically picture the duel—Calamity and Zabuza crossing steel in a flurry.
"Ungh—"
Gusion grunted as if struck. "Silent Killing… never thought I'd be nicked by such a parlor trick."
His words infuriated the Mist. Their village was famous for killing under cover of mist—and he called it a parlor trick? Their fury spiked.
Then they thought again: he was just lashing out after being wounded by Zabuza-san—impotent rage. That made them feel better.
"To insult the Mist like that—even if you're strong, you're not leaving today."
Zabuza's voice floated in the fog, followed by another burst of furious clashing—music to the Mist shinobi's ears.
In reality, inside the fog, Gusion and Zabuza were standing face to face, staring at each other.
Zabuza had planted the Executioner's Blade in the ground.
Gusion was going clang clang clang, chopping Mazuko against the Executioner's Blade to make noise.
PS: LOL