"What is that?"
Ao instinctively raised his hand to attack.
The next moment,
His spirit suddenly left his body, and he felt as if something was binding him.
He struggled hard but could not even move a finger.
"What is happening?"
Ao was confused.
Even more confusing was that he saw his own body moving closer to Terumi Mei and the others.
"This is bad. I've been hit by the Mind Transfer Technique of the Yamanaka Clan from Konoha!"
Ao suddenly realized. During the Third Great Ninja War, he fought against Yamanaka ninja and knew their technique well.
He never expected to be caught by it now.
Was the opponent using a doll to perform an advanced version of the Mind Transfer?
Ao panicked and shouted desperately to warn Terumi Mei and the others, but no sound came out.
He could only watch helplessly as "he" walked to Terumi Mei and then toward Uchiha Raizen lying on the ground.
The one controlling Ao was actually Inori using the Mind Transfer Puppet Curse Seal technique.
At this moment, Inori's true body was high in the sky, sitting cross-legged on the back of that strange bird.
"Raizen's plan succeeded. I have taken over the body of the Mist Hidden Jonin who has the Byakugan. Without his sensory abilities, my true body won't be discovered."
Inside Ao's body, Inori's consciousness was filled with joy.
Up to this point, Raizen's risky plan was basically working.
First, Hidan was sent to distract the Mist Hidden.
Then Inori used Mind Transfer to warn Hikari to avoid danger early.
Next, Raizen would suddenly use Heat Breath for a large-scale attack.
If the Heat Breath could seriously injure the Mist Hidden, that would be best.
If not, the Mist Hidden would definitely block it with Water Release.
This would create rising hot steam.
With the alternating hot and cold, thunderclouds containing lightning appeared in the sky.
This led to the second step.
Raizen would use his own Lightning Release to guide the thunderclouds, creating the natural, unavoidable ninjutsu: Lightning Release - Thunder Dragon!
Inori knew from Raizen's description that this technique would be terrifying.
That's why she was so worried at first.
Normally, by the second step of Thunder Dragon, even the elite of the Mist Hidden should be injured.
Raizen and Sister Hikari would then have a chance to escape.
But if escape was still impossible, the third and final step—the insurance plan—would rely on Inori.
Inori took advantage of the chaotic battle to quietly fly into the sky on the strange bird.
Using the dark clouds and mist to hide, she cast the Puppet Curse Mark technique on Ao, taking control of his body.
The elite ninja of Kirigakure had just gone through a big battle and were unlikely to notice that Ao's soul had been swapped.
This way, Inori could boldly rescue Uchiha Raizen and Uchiha Hikari.
It was a very daring plan.
Though everything was carefully linked, if even a small mistake happened, the plan would fail.
Watching "Ao" walk toward him, Uchiha Raizen knew his risky plan had succeeded.
He grabbed his sister's hand and wrote some words in her palm.
"Ao" walked up to Uchiha Raizen and Uchiha Hikari, looking down on them, and said, "You Leaf Village spy ninjas are under arrest. I will take you back to the village to be interrogated by the Mizukage."
He tied ropes on Raizen and Hikari and was about to take them away.
Zabuza, half-kneeling on the ground and coughing up blood, suddenly lifted his head with a fierce look and said, "Ao, those two are my prey. I haven't agreed to you taking them away!"
Inori's heart skipped a beat, not expecting Zabuza to cause trouble.
But as an elite of Konoha's intelligence division, staying calm and adapting to crisis was basic.
She calmly replied through Ao's body, "Zabuza, the Mizukage should be the first to know how many secrets the Konoha spies have stolen in Kirigakure. Don't you respect the Mizukage's authority?"
The Mizukage's authority?
Nonsense!
I never cared about that!
Zabuza would fill with killing intent and hatred whenever he thought of the current Fourth Mizukage.
He wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
Because under that bastard's leadership, Kirigakure had fallen to this terrible state.
So many Kekkei Genkai clans were persecuted, and many comrades and even family members were forced to fight each other.
Zabuza still clearly remembered that day, that bloody evening when he killed all his classmates in the ninja academy.
He sat alone among the dead bodies, surrounded by the corpses of people he knew.
At that moment, he felt such pain, despair, and loneliness!
Do you think he was born a killer? Do you think he was born a demon?
He only wanted to use this extreme way to tell the Kirigakure leaders to stop making students kill each other in the graduation exam!
But the sad and ridiculous thing was, the Kirigakure leaders were shocked by his killings but gave him no punishment.
They even let him join the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Since then, Zabuza had completely lost hope in the village leaders.
He knew that unless he killed the Mizukage and took control of Kirigakure himself, the cursed Blood Mist policy would never end!
Because of that, over the years, Zabuza searched for strong Kekkei Genkai ninjas to help him in his plan to assassinate the Mizukage.
In the town of the Yuki clan, he was looking for such a person.
Inori did not know that it was wrong to try to use the Mizukage's authority to pressure Zabuza, who had experienced all this.
Luckily, at this moment, Zabuza was seriously injured and could not even stand.
"Can you carry two people by yourself? Do you want me to help?" Ameyuri Ringo asked.
Inori calmly replied, "No need. This man has already left that tall half-beast form, so he's not heavy. Besides, your chakra hasn't recovered yet, right?"
Ameyuri Ringo pouted. Although she wasn't hurt, her chakra was indeed drained, and her strength was still recovering.
"Ao, then I'll have to trouble you to go back alone," said Hozuki Mangetsu, his whole body numb.
Inori nodded. "I will call the medical team to treat you all."
Whoosh—
He took Uchiha Raizen and Uchiha Hikari and swiftly left.
Terumi Mei frowned, hesitating to speak. She had a strange feeling about this "Ao," but couldn't put her finger on what was wrong.
Forget it. Ao's strength wasn't weak, so there probably wasn't much to worry about.
...
At the same time,
Kirigakure Village, Mizukage's office.
The Fourth Mizukage, Kurotsuchi Yagura, who looked like a child, stood by the window listening to the Anbu ninja behind him reporting,
"Report to Mizukage-sama, the mission to wipe out the Yuki clan is basically complete. Only a few escaped. The Anbu are still chasing them. But in that small town, two spies from Konoha were found."
"Konoha?"
"Yes, Mizukage-sama. One Konoha spy was killed by Zabuza, but the other escaped. However, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Terumi Mei, and Ao all went after her. She definitely won't get away."
"Do you know what her position is in Konoha?" Yagura asked calmly.
"It seems... she is a ninja from the Uchiha clan."
Hearing the name Uchiha, Yagura, who had been looking out the window, suddenly turned around. His tone changed as if to confirm, repeating, "Uchiha?"
"Is there a problem, Mizukage-sama?" the Anbu ninja asked in confusion.
"Nothing, I just heard that the Uchiha clan's Sharingan is a very powerful kekkei genkai." Yagura returned to his calm tone and ordered, "Go ask Terumi Mei and the others if they caught that person. If not, I will go myself."
"Yes!"
The Anbu ninja left.
As soon as he disappeared, the space in the Mizukage's office suddenly rippled, and a black figure wearing a mask appeared.
"Uchiha, such a nostalgic name."
A mysterious voice came from under the mask.
"As far as I know, the current Uchiha clan has a tense relationship with Konoha's leaders. Yet they were sent on a spy mission to the Land of Water. Maybe there are secrets I don't know."
"But it doesn't matter. Since I've met them, I can add another Sharingan to my collection."
"Isn't that right, Fourth Mizukage?"
Yagura's expression suddenly became very blank, his eyes vacant, like a puppet who lost self-awareness.
He replied mechanically, "Yes, Lord Madara."
**********
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