Chapter 364: The Hero of Kirigakure
The next day, Kirigakure, which had been deathly quiet for a long time, suddenly regained some of its vitality. This was because their village now had a hero. A young hero who, when surrounded by Konoha ninja, was able to calmly break out and, through his own wisdom and strength, counter-kill his enemies.
Ishiro had people exaggerate the detailed process of Kisame being hunted down and then had it spread throughout the entire village. A heroic image of a lone figure contending with the enemy quickly circulated through Kirigakure.
Many people began to place their hopes for the future of the village on Kisame. Especially at a time when the Fourth Mizukage was isolated by all, and several factions were at a deadlock, everyone desperately hoped that this hero could replace the Fourth Mizukage and become their new symbol of faith.
When everyone learned that Kisame had joined the faction of the one called "Sei," over a hundred civilian-born ninja gathered to join them within a single day. Most importantly, among them were quite a few actual jonin. This allowed Ishiro's side, which had originally been weak and isolated, to instantly grow into a true political faction.
Of course, Ishiro knew that there were certainly many ninja sent by other factions to gather intelligence among them. But it didn't matter; Ishiro would not tell these people any important information.
Kisame was a bit unaccustomed to the daily life of having so many people wanting to see him, the hero. But Ishiro's meaning was clear: if you want to become the Mizukage, this is a must. And becoming the Mizukage was a necessary path for him to increase his strength. Without the support of Kirigakure's various resources, his upper limit would be that of an ordinary Kage. To improve again, he would need to consume a massive amount of resources. At the very least, he needed the authority to view all of Kirigakure's ninjutsu and secret archives.
Of course, this was all on the premise that these ninjutsu collections had not been destroyed by Obito.
As Kisame's fame began to spread within Kirigakure, the smell of gunpowder between the various factions grew stronger. They all felt a sense of urgency.
On the side of the bloodline clans, Minazuki Gyō surveyed the crowd, his gaze finally landing firmly on Terumī Chiaki and Hōzuki Hotaru. "Let's make our move. We can't delay any longer. The longer we wait, the more variables will arise. Instead of waiting for that Hoshigaki Kisame to gather more civilian-born ninja to compete with us, it's better to take out the Mizukage in one fell swoop now and directly contend for the position of the Fifth."
After Minazuki Gyō finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the room became grave. Has it really come to the point where we must fight the Fourth Mizukage?
In fact, they all knew in their hearts that this was the best choice at the moment. Genshi's side was a given, and Ishiro and Kisame's side had also gained some traction. At this point, it was impossible to attack them without reason, especially since Kisame was now a hero in the eyes of the villagers.
Launching a full-scale attack on Ishiro's side would only increase their own casualties and lose them the support of the people, with no other benefits. Originally, time was on their side, and they could afford to wait. But now, with the sudden emergence of Kisame, they felt that the longer they waited, the more it would seem to benefit him.
Thus, the bloodline clan side really had no other better options.
Terumī Chiaki and Hōzuki Hotaru exchanged a glance, then reluctantly agreed with Minazuki Gyō's words.
Terumī Chiaki asked, "When do we act?"
Minazuki Gyō looked around the room. "Tomorrow morning."
Tomorrow morning? So urgent? Everyone was shocked.
Minazuki Gyō said, "Only through surprise can we catch Yagura Karatachi off guard again. Tonight, go back and secretly gather the elites of your respective clans. Tomorrow morning, we will launch a full-scale assault on the Mizukage's building."
"Yes," everyone replied in unison.
Then, Minazuki Gyō laid out a detailed tactical plan.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking and Ishiro was preparing to continue his public opinion campaign for Kisame, the battle abruptly erupted.
Boom~~
Hearing the violent explosion from the direction of the Mizukage's building, Ishiro quickly walked out of his room. Kisame emerged almost at the same time.
The two stood on the roof, watching the periodic explosions in the distance. Ishiro said, "Minazuki Gyō is very decisive. This is somewhat beyond my expectations."
Kisame said, "What do we do? Do we join in?"
Ishiro replied, "We have already lost the initiative, so we cannot join immediately. If we join in now, our role will never be as significant as that of Minazuki Gyō and his faction."
Kisame asked curiously, "Then what should we do?"
"Evacuate the civilians," Ishiro said very clearly. "What we need to do now is evacuate the civilians. The Fourth Mizukage is a Jinchuriki, and a battle in the village will certainly have a wide impact. If we can save many civilians during the battle between the two sides, it will also add many points for us when we contend for the position of Fifth Mizukage later."
"This is a task you must do. You will go and call on everyone to help rescue people and move them to the shelters. You will personally protect them."
"Remember, you must show your face in front of many people. Let everyone feel at ease under your protection."
Kisame slung Samehada over his shoulder, looked at the area not far from the Mizukage's building where some civilians were running around in panic, caught in the aftershocks of the battle, and grinned. "I understand."
After speaking, Kisame left Ishiro's side.
Then, a great roar echoed through the sky above Kirigakure: "I am Hoshigaki Kisame! All ninja, listen! Ignore the battle at the Mizukage's office! Follow me and rescue the people! Move them to the shelters!"
After speaking, Kisame leaped several times and rushed towards the direction of the Mizukage's building.
"Water Style: Water Wall!" With a great shout from Kisame, a giant, circular wall of water rapidly rose.
In the center of the water wall was the battlefield centered on the Mizukage's building. Outside the water wall was the rest of Kirigakure. With a C-rank water jutsu, into which he had poured an unknown multiple of chakra, Kisame had forcefully produced an effect close to S-rank. A water wall meant to defend a few people had managed to completely isolate the battlefield from the outside.
Thanks to the long standoff before, there were no ordinary residents around the Mizukage's building, so Kisame's single jutsu had directly saved all the villagers.
The villagers and the chunin and genin, who had been frightened by the huge explosions from the Mizukage's building, immediately broke into cheers upon seeing the giant water wall.
"Lord Kisame is mighty!" many villagers of Kirigakure cheered for Kisame in unison.
"Great, we're safe!" some civilians who were closer to the battlefield shouted as if they had just escaped death.
"Is that the C-rank jutsu Water Wall? This is too exaggerated, isn't it?" many ninja exclaimed in amazement.
"Yeah, it's even blocking out the sounds from inside," other ninja chimed in.
At this moment, Kisame's voice rang out again: "Everyone, don't just stand there! The sooner you leave and get to the shelters, the better! The battle at the Mizukage's building is too intense; it will break through my water wall's defense sooner or later!"
"All chunin and genin, organize the villagers for an orderly evacuation! Jonin, remain on alert! Be careful of attacks breaking through the water wall!"
Everyone came to their senses and started running towards the shelters again. But this time, everyone seemed much more at ease, and they no longer pushed and shoved each other.
Kisame's water wall was continuously supplied with his chakra, so it was maintained for a very long time. It wasn't until a giant, red, tentacle-like object from the battlefield smashed into the water wall, shattering it completely.
Boom! The water wall turned into rain and scattered in all directions.
After the water dispersed, the situation on the battlefield was revealed to all.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had already entered a partial Tailed Beast state. However, his blood-red body, wrapped in Tailed Beast chakra, was being bound by a large amount of chakra-infused water, rendering him immobile. Only one tail had managed to break through the blockade, shattering Kisame's enhanced water wall in one blow. But that was the only blow. Soon, Minazuki Gyō used a large-scale Ice Release jutsu, directly nailing this tail to the ground.
Ishiro didn't look too closely at Yagura. Instead, he carefully observed the ninja surrounding and attacking him. He found that among them were many who were quite strong but were clearly not bloodline ninja. He figured these were the ninja who had been coerced by Yagura before and had now turned against him as soon as the final battle broke out.
Ishiro saw all sorts of A-rank and B-rank offensive ninjutsu constantly smashing into Yagura, causing either him or the Three-Tails to roar repeatedly. But his resistance grew weaker and weaker.
Ishiro found it strange. Why hadn't Yagura gone into a full Tailed Beast transformation? Even if a full transformation put a great strain on his body, holding back in this situation was no different from suicide. But after a closer look, Ishiro understood. It was sealing jutsu. The streams of water binding Yagura contained sealing jutsu. Yagura had been trying his best to mobilize his chakra, but unfortunately, as time passed, the amount of Tailed Beast chakra he could mobilize was decreasing.
Seeing that the Mist ninja did have some tricks up their sleeves, Ishiro noted that while the sealing effect of each individual stream of water was very ordinary, when combined, the effect was surprisingly good. As the sealing effect continued, the Tailed Beast chakra Yagura could call upon was diminishing, and his semi-Tailed Beast state's blood-red chakra was also receding.
Suddenly, Ishiro's gaze sharpened, and he shouted at Kisame, "Kisame, use a large-scale defensive jutsu! Watch out for a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Kisame was taken aback. He found it strange. The Fourth Mizukage was on the verge of being sealed; how could he still use a Tailed Beast Bomb? But considering Ishiro's identity, he still responded immediately. After all, the knowledge of a full-fledged Tsuchikage was not something he could compare to.
"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Kisame unleashed a water jutsu that nearly covered the entire village of Kirigakure. But he skillfully controlled its range, leaving the center, the area around the Mizukage's building, empty.
If viewed from high above, this Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave looked like a giant donut, enclosing the Fourth Mizukage and the others.
Not long after Kisame finished casting the jutsu, a violent explosion erupted from the center of the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave. The massive wave had a tremendous ability to absorb impact. When the violent explosion hit it, it was blocked and weakened layer by layer. By the time the explosion broke through all the barriers of the wave, its power was no longer great, and most of its force dissipated directly into the air.
So, the ninja and the civilians who had not yet evacuated to the shelters only felt a hurricane-like gust of wind sweep over them. Many villagers were lifted off the ground and then slammed into walls, causing some casualties.
But no one cared about these casualties anymore. Everyone was staring blankly at the terrifying mushroom cloud that had bloomed and was now dissipating directly above their heads.
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We've hit 200 Power Stones goal As promised This week, here's the bonus chapter. Thank you for your support—please keep it coming!