Chapter 295: Terumi Mei is Captured
"However, leaving this fellow in the Kamui dimension, will there be any problems?" Although he agreed with Uchiha Douhuan's plan, Kakashi still had some doubts about leaving a dangerous person like Uchiha Madara together with a group of vegetative people.
"Don't worry. This group of White Zetsu, if nothing else, are definitely professional actors now," Uchiha Douhuan said with a laugh.
"Alright then," Kakashi nodded. "Fugaku's injuries should be mostly healed, right? It's about time for him to return to the Land of Water to take command of the overall situation. Although Shisui's strength can hold the line, commanding a large army in battle is too much for him."
"The situation on the main front with the Land of Lightning has stabilized. The common people over there have extended a sincere welcome to our occupation of the Land of Lightning's territory. In the short term, you should have nothing to do over there. Therefore, I plan to send you to take command of the crusade against the northern pseudo-Mist Village of the Land of Water," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"What about Fugaku?" Kakashi was somewhat puzzled.
"I have other arrangements for Fugaku. And he himself has also expressed to me that he wants to go to the Land of Lightning to get even with the Cloud who sneak-attacked him," Uchiha Douhuan nodded, then looked at Kakashi. "Besides, you now need to earn merits through this war."
"Me? Earn merits?" Kakashi was stunned upon hearing this.
"Yes. After me, the Sixth Hokage should be your turn," Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile. "Therefore, in this war, which may be the last in the entire ninja world for a hundred years, you need to earn enough merits to be recognized by the others in the village."
"Me as the Sixth? Are you kidding, Douhuan?" Kakashi looked at Uchiha Douhuan in disbelief. "You're several years younger than me."
"The new enemy that has appeared on the Land of Earth side is not one that can be dealt with easily. I must intensify my training afterwards and will not have the leisure to deal with the miscellaneous affairs of the village," Uchiha Douhuan said seriously.
"You say that as if you usually handle a lot of documents," at this time, Kakashi also showed his dead-fish eyes and said.
After a while, Kakashi finally said, "If you need me to, it's not impossible for me to be this Sixth. However, even if you step down from the position of the Fifth, you are still the Grand Minister of the Land of Fire. The court is not like the Hokage Tower. Without you to suppress them, those civil officials probably won't be too obedient."
"Before I leave, I will deal with Miura Kazuo's faction. These years, he and his partisans, relying on the dividends of the Land of Fire's development, have not been idle in their machinations. Now that the pig is fat, it's time to slaughter it," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"After that, I will let Neji manage the affairs on the court's side," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"It seems you have already made all the arrangements," Kakashi nodded and asked no more. "Then I'll go report to the Mist's side tomorrow? However, how do you plan to deal with Takagi Shōban?"
"Him? If he knows what's good for him, then let him be a rich man in the future. If he doesn't know what's good for him, then you can handle it as you see fit," Uchiha Douhuan said with a shrug. "He has no use value now."
...
After Kakashi arrived in the Land of Water, Takagi Shōban immediately came to welcome him eagerly. For him, whoever was the current commander of the Konoha garrison was his adoptive father. What's more, Kakashi's status in Konoha was even higher than the previous garrison commander, Uchiha Fugaku. Didn't this just mean that Konoha was finally planning to help them unify the Land of Water?
[As long as I can serve Mr. Kakashi well, after Konoha gets rid of that damned woman Terumi Mei, I, this Mizukage, will also be worthy of the name.]
Takagi Shōban was constantly calculating. And Kakashi had no good face for such a vermin. After arriving at the front line, he immediately completed the handover of work with Shisui. Then, Konoha's garrison began to take full control of the battlefield in the Land of Water.
In just one week, Konoha's army and the Southern Mist legion, who were responsible for waving flags and shouting and providing the Northern Mist with rare battle merits, had already pushed the front line to the last defensive line of the Northern Mist Village, before the Blood Reef Bulwark.
The mist, smelling of rust and dead fish, pressed heavily on the final defensive line of the Northern Mist Village. This mist was once the natural barrier of the Land of Water, but now it could not protect anyone. Outside the bulwark, the sound of Konoha ninjas' shouts and the roar of ninjutsu explosions came through the thick fog, as muffled as a death knell.
Inside the bulwark's command post, the air seemed to have stagnated. On the map, the striking red arrows representing the Southern Mist and Konoha's allied forces had already plunged deep into the small blue area representing their own positions like poisonous snakes.
At this time, a Jonin rushed in, his forehead protector askew, half of his face smeared with dried blood and mud.
"Lady Mizukage! The eastern reef area... has fallen! Uchiha Shisui's Susanoo..." his voice was hoarse, with a tremor on the verge of collapse. "We can't stop it at all!"
Terumi Mei stood in front of the giant map, her back to the broken window. Outside the window was a gray-white thick fog that swallowed everything.
She was still wearing that deep blue robe that symbolized the Mizukage, but the hem of the robe was stained with mud spots and dark brown bloodstains. The sharp arrogance that once looked down on all sides between her brows had been covered by a bone-deep fatigue, like an ancient stone sculpture that had been repeatedly washed and eroded by the sea.
"The Cloud's side..." Terumi Mei's voice was hoarse, but unusually calm. "Still no response?"
The sensory ninja responsible for communication, Ao, whose right eye had become an empty socket after being taken by Konoha in exchange for two prisoners, closed his normal eye in pain and shook his head. "The Raikage... has completely cut off contact. The last piece of intelligence... their corps had already withdrawn from the border three days ago."
Only heavy breathing and the faint, approaching roar from the distance were left in the command post.
The Cloud Village, which had promised a "firm alliance," had pulled away the last piece of driftwood from under them at their deepest moment of despair.
"They are also preoccupied," Terumi Mei shook her head, then took a deep breath. At the same time, she thought to herself, "What would Uchiha Douhuan do?"
Terumi Mei slowly turned around. Her gaze swept across the young and old faces, on which were written fear, unwillingness, and the numbness of impending death. The infamous name of the "Bloody Mist" had long since faded under years of hunger and blockade. All that was left was this group of exhausted, battle-scarred warriors, guarding this forgotten cold corner.
Terumi Mei walked to the center of the command table, her hands slamming down on the cold metal surface, making a dull sound.
She raised her head. Deep within her pair of emerald green eyes, the last bit of hesitation was replaced by a determination that was almost burning.
"The spine of the Land of Water has never been supported by the charity of others! The dignity of the Northern Mist must be washed with blood!" She fiercely pulled out the kunai at her waist and stabbed it hard into the map at the position of the Southern Mist's command post.
"Give the order! Gather all the ninjas who can still move! Abandon all peripheral strongholds! There is only one target—"
Her voice was like a sharp blade, decisive:
"The Southern pseudo-Mist's command post! The head of the traitor Takagi Shōban! Codename—'Blood Mist'!"
Terumi Mei's choice was very rational. Compared to Konoha, which was under the command of Kakashi, with strict military discipline and a gathering of strong individuals, the group of former colleagues in the south was undoubtedly a softer target. Breaking out from their side and then making other plans was much easier than fighting Konoha head-on.
And before breaking out, she had to get rid of Takagi Shōban, this vermin of the Land of Water. Otherwise, it was hard to guarantee that this fellow would not continue to sell out the interests of their country in the future.
At the gap in the Blood Reef Bulwark, the last batch of Northern Mist ninjas who could still stand gathered here. They were like a pack of wolves forced to the edge of a cliff, silently following the deep blue figure in front. Terumi Mei charged at the very front, her hands flying like butterflies, her speed so fast that it left afterimages.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!" She spewed out large patches of scalding, boiling, and strongly corrosive thick acidic steam from her mouth. Like a bursting torrent of lava, it roared and swept towards the Southern Mist ninjas who were trying to encircle them. Screams instantly rang out. Human bodies twisted and dissolved in the thick mist. A bloody gap emitting green smoke was forcefully torn open in the defensive formation.
"Charge through! The target is right ahead!" Terumi Mei's voice was hoarse but extremely penetrating, like the beating of a war drum.
The remnant soldiers of the Northern Mist let out a dying cry and, following their Mizukage, crashed their flesh-and-blood bodies into the second defensive line hastily constructed by the Southern Mist. Water Release and Water Release clashed fiercely in the narrow reef passage, exploding into cold fragments and scorching water vapor. With every step forward, they trod on the corpses of their comrades and enemies.
They were like a broken sword that had been heated red and then forcibly quenched, exchanging their own destruction for a moment of sharpness. They actually, with this crazy momentum of mutual destruction, broke through several defensive lines and charged straight for the command post built on a huge black reef, where the flag of the Southern Mist was flying!
The illusion of victory seemed to be within reach.
"Boom—!"
A huge earth wall, carved with neat dog heads, rose from the ground without any warning, lying across the path of the charging Northern Mist ninjas and the command post. The earth wall was as thick as a mountain. The charging momentum came to an abrupt halt. The few ninjas at the very front couldn't stop in time and crashed into the wall, letting out miserable screams.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A steady voice sounded from above the earth wall. Hatake Kakashi's figure appeared on top of the wall, the Sharingan under his forehead protector slowly rotating, coldly looking down. Behind him were more ninjas wearing Konoha forehead protectors, like solid rocks, firmly guarding the last passage to the command post.
Terumi Mei's heart instantly sank into an icy sea. She fiercely raised her head, her gaze passing over Kakashi, and was nailed to the figure of the person beside Kakashi.
Takagi Shōban.
He was wearing a well-tailored Mizukage robe, a stark contrast to Terumi Mei's battered appearance. He was calm and composed, even carrying a trace of a victor's ease.
Takagi Shōban smiled slightly and raised his hand. His voice, through the vibration of chakra, clearly spread throughout the bloody battlefield, carrying a hypocritical compassion:
"Terumi Mei! Look around you! Look at the death you have brought! Has not enough blood of our Land of Water's compatriots been shed? Lay down your weapons! I, Takagi Shōban, in the name of the orthodox Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, promise to give you and your subordinates humanitarian treatment! The war is over! Let us jointly rebuild a unified and prosperous Land of Water!"
His words were like carefully polished blades, accurately stabbing at the only remaining wavering in the hearts of the Northern Mist's remnant soldiers.
A trace of bewilderment and struggle flashed in the tired eyes of some ninjas.
"Unified? Prosperous?" Seeing this, Terumi Mei's voice suddenly rose, carrying a monstrous anger and a bone-deep sarcasm. In the next moment, she fiercely raised her hand and pointed at Takagi Shōban. "The Konoha ninjas cheering behind you, is that your so-called 'orthodoxy'? The blood of my Land of Water's compatriots flowing under your feet, is that the foundation of the 'prosperity' you promised?"
Her gaze, like a poison-laced ice pick, swept across Takagi Shōban's sanctimonious face, across the ready-to-fight Konoha ninjas behind him, and finally landed on her own remaining subordinates, who were covered in blood but still tightly gripping their weapons.
"The dignity of my Land of Water," she said, word by word, each syllable carrying a heavy finality, "would rather be shattered in the raging waves of the Icy Straits than live on its knees begging from you and Konoha! If you want to fight, then we will fight to the last man! You want me to surrender?"
"Takagi Shōban, you—are—not—worthy!"
"Stubbornly resisting!" The compassion on Takagi Shōban's face instantly faded, leaving only a cold killing intent and a trace of annoyance at having his disguise pierced. He then turned his head and said to Kakashi, "Lord Kakashi, I told you there was nothing to say to this group of traitors who assassinated the Fourth Mizukage and collectively defected. I ask Konoha's heavenly soldiers to help me take down these traitors. After the matter is settled, the Hidden Mist Village will surely present a heavy gift."
Kakashi waved his hand with a blank expression. The Konoha elites descended like fierce tigers, accurately and fatally cutting into the chaotic ranks of the Northern Mist. Subsequently, the few elites of the Southern Mist charged out from behind the reefs on both sides, cooperating with the Konoha ninjas to form a perfect killing net.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
The light of ninjutsu intertwined into a net of death. The remnant soldiers of the Northern Mist were like withered leaves caught in a storm vortex, torn and crushed by the violent force. One after another, familiar figures fell before Terumi Mei's eyes.
"Protect Lady Mizukage!" Chōjūrō roared, lunging towards the rain of kunai aimed at Terumi Mei. His twin swords, Hiramekarei, had been snatched away in a previous battle. At this moment, he could only barely defend with a standard-issue short sword. Before long, his body was instantly riddled with holes like a sieve.
Terumi Mei's eyes were about to split. She disregarded everything and pushed her last bit of chakra. "Lava Release: Lava Gloom Technique!"
Scalding, viscous, strong acidic lava gushed out from her mouth, trying to burn through the approaching Konoha ninjas.
However, in the next moment, a silver light flashed past. Terumi Mei's right shoulder was pierced by a steel ball...
When she woke up again, Terumi Mei found that she was already in a prison cart. The chill of the iron cage seeped into her bones through her thin prison uniform.
Every jolt brought a tearing pain from her right shoulder blade. A deeper chill came from the heavy shackles on her wrists and ankles. The special metal not only imprisoned her body, but also continuously absorbed and suppressed the little chakra remaining in her body.
(End of chapter)
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