'Hado #1: Sho!'
High-concentration chakra gathered at his fingertip. With a flash of white light, a powerful shockwave struck the Mist ninja in the abdomen.
"Nani?!"
The Mist ninja's eyes bulged, and his whole body arched like a shrimp as he was sent flying backward, slamming into a large tree. A crisp crack sounded from his spine, and his eyes rolled back as he fainted.
"Oh, there's another one that slipped through the cracks?"
Shisui walked over carrying two Mist ninjas. Both were tied up tightly with mysterious pieces of cloth stuffed in their mouths, their eyes wide with shock.
"Is the jutsu you just used the one you've been practicing lately?" Shisui's voice was filled with curiosity.
"You could say that." Makiya smiled. Low-sequence Kido wasn't difficult to master; his main goal was mastering high-sequence Kido, but there was no need to explain. One should always keep an ace up their sleeve.
"Such a convenient jutsu. It seems to require extremely high chakra control skills." Shisui remarked with genuine admiration. Since awakening his eyes, Makiya's strength seemed to change every day. Now he was even creating seal-less ninjutsu; any genius would feel ashamed in his presence.
"I am a medical ninja, after all. Chakra control is a mandatory subject." Makiya proactively changed the topic. "This guy was probably out hunting. Let's interrogate them and see if the whole group is accounted for."
"Alright."
Three-tomoe appeared in Shisui's eyes as he cast a genjutsu on one of the Mist ninjas. The man's body tensed for a moment before he quickly succumbed to the illusion.
After the cloth was removed, the Mist ninja spilled all the intelligence like beans from a jar, even mentioning his hobby of cross-dressing. The Mist ninja next to him widened his eyes and twisted his buttocks in a desperate attempt to move away.
Makiya finished recording the details on a scroll and nodded to Shisui. Shisui released the genjutsu. A moment later, the Mist ninja woke up. Seeing his comrade's terrified gaze, he immediately remembered what had happened. His expression shifted several times before finally returning to a dull calm.
Before his life had even ended, he had already died once socially.
The other Mist ninja was scared out of his wits, making Shisui's genjutsu easy to apply, though he didn't reveal any useful information. Once Makiya finished recording, Shisui directly slit both of their throats.
At that moment, the Mist ninja with the broken spine was jolted awake by the pain. He lay on the ground with a distorted face. "Shisui of the Body Flicker, and you, The Fiery Hell Arsonist, you'll both die horrible deaths, you #$%! (Mist Village profanity)..."
Shisui swung his short blade, intending to finish off the foul-mouthed Mist ninja, but Makiya caught the blade with his hand. "Wait a second."
He walked up to the Mist ninja and looked down at him, pointing to his own face. "Hold on, buddy. What did you just call me?"
The Mist ninja spat at him, but Makiya nimbly dodged it.
"The Fiery Hell Arsonist! What about it?"
Makiya pointed at Shisui. "And him?"
"Shisui of the Body Flicker, you idiot! Are you forgetful? Hahaha!"
"No, seriously, buddy." Makiya stepped on the Mist ninja's face. "Are these two names even in the same style? Tell me! Who came up with that name?"
"The Mizukage himself, of course!" Although his face was pressed into the mud, the Mist ninja remained arrogant. "Be grateful! Because of the Mizukage, you've become shinobi with actual titles."
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll thank him in person." Makiya applied pressure with his foot. The Mist ninja's neck snapped, and his life faded away.
If he remembered correctly, the current Mizukage should be the Third Mizukage. Makiya had no impression of him at all; he was rarely mentioned in the original story. Whether he was male or female or which clan he came from was unknown, but he certainly wasn't anyone truly formidable.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have relied on the Bloody Mist policy to consolidate his position.
The business with the titles was just an interlude. Makiya and Shisui had other tasks. They moved along the ridge, surveying the terrain while scouting for any Mist ninja outposts.
As the moon rose above the trees, the two found a cave and started a fire to cook.
The cave's original resident had no objections. After Makiya gave it a single glare, it enthusiastically and voluntarily climbed onto the grill.
To be honest, it tasted mediocre.
After eating and drinking their fill, the two took turns resting. While Makiya was reviewing the intelligence, Shisui suddenly said with a worried expression, "Makiya, my right eyelid has been twitching since a while ago. I remember you saying that a twitching right eye means disaster. Are we in trouble?"
Makiya waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing. The idea that a twitching right eye means disaster is just feudal superstition! You can't believe it! Besides, my left eyelid is twitching, which means we're going to get rich. Maybe tomorrow we'll accidentally find the legendary secret treasure left by the Sage of the Six Paths, start the Great Mountain Bandit Era, and become Mountain Bandit King Makiya and Mountain Bandit King Shisui."
Shisui thought about it and said seriously, "I won't become a mountain bandit. Besides, mountain bandits cause too much harm to civilians. It's better to just kill them all."
"Hey, I was just joking." Makiya took a sip of hot tea, but his expression suddenly changed. He discreetly signaled Shisui.
Shisui understood immediately. He continued chatting with Makiya while his hands moved rapidly in sign language:
[What did you find?]
[Enemies. Ten o'clock direction, about three hundred meters away.]
[Should we set an ambush?]
[No, I prefer taking the initiative!]
In the bushes three hundred meters away, two sneaky figures were whispering.
"Did you record it?"
"I did. But it was too far during the day, so I couldn't see clearly. I only know it's a type of seal-less ninjutsu. It shouldn't have any nature transformation."
A breeze rustled the bushes, revealing two ninjas wearing grayish-white tactical armor and animal masks.
"The target is becoming increasingly difficult to handle. Can we still complete the mission given by the Lord?"
"Don't worry. If necessary, I will sacrifice myself to hold him back."
"Everything for Konoha!"
"Everything for Lord Danzo... Oh no! The target is coming straight for us! We've been spotted!"
"Run!"
Just as the two started to move, they saw Makiya instantly appear on the tree in front of them. The moon hung high behind the youth, and as the moonlight spilled down, Makiya's shadow loomed over them.
Gulp...
The two swallowed hard. Unlike the village higher-ups, they had read the full report on Makiya. They knew the person in front of them would turn someone into charcoal without a second thought. He was the man the Mizukage called The Fiery Hell Arsonist, and he was terrifying.
Despite saying they were ready to sacrifice themselves for Konoha at any time, no one actually wanted to die. Survival is a biological instinct.
Shisui landed gently on a branch opposite Makiya, surrounding the mysterious ninjas from both sides. The air gradually grew heavy.
"So you're Konoha shinobi. What do you want? Step aside immediately. We are Konoha Anbu on a special mission." One of them spoke in a stern tone, as if ready to fight at any moment.
"Anbu, huh?" Shisui looked at their attire. It was indeed the style of the Konoha Anbu, and his tensed body relaxed slightly.
"Anbu masks don't look like that. You wouldn't happen to be imposters, would you?" Makiya asked suddenly.
"We are from the Anbu Training Department. Our masks are specialized. Here is our identification." The other person tossed a certificate to Shisui.
Shisui caught it and inspected it carefully under the moonlight. After confirming its authenticity, he nodded to Makiya and returned the certificate.
The two 'Anbu' said nothing more, brushed past Shisui, and vanished into the dense forest.
"Why would the Anbu be out here, so close to our camp? A coincidence?" After they left, Shisui jumped over to Makiya's side, his voice filled with doubt.
At this stage, Shisui was still a bit naive; he only felt instinctively that something was wrong.
He only knew that the relationship between the village and the Uchiha clan was worsening, but he couldn't find the specific reason. Having never seen the darkness of the human heart, he held a natural goodwill toward his village comrades.
Desiring to change the status quo but unable to untangle the mess—that was Shisui's current state.
Makiya felt he needed to instill some of the village's darker aspects into Shisui. Otherwise, this kid would definitely do something ridiculous in the future, like reporting his own Mangekyo ability to the higher-ups.
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