Chapter 61: The Mizukage
Arc: Kirigakure's Civil War
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.
"There are enemy ninjas in the village?"
The Mizukage asked, his eyebrow raised as a frown formed on his face.
"Yes, lord Mizukage. They say that the jinchuriki of the nine tails is here."
The ninja kneeling in front of the Mizukage said. As to how they knew it was the nine tails? The mist ninja didn't know either. However, the Mizukage seemed to not care and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"Find them and kill them. By tomorrow, I want no foreign people in my village."
The ninja's eyes twitched. If the report was true, they were tasked to kill the nine tails' jinchuriki. The nine tails' jinchuriki. Of course, he didn't show his irritation and merely bowed.
"Understood, sir."
After making sure that he was free to go, the ninja turned around and opened the door.
"Wait."
But when he heard the Mizukage's voice behind him, he nearly cursed. Ever since the blood mist policy was enacted, the Mizukage's temper was getting worse and worse. It was to the point that he would kill anyone just because they looked wrong in his eyes.
Heart apprehensive, the ninja turned around to face his Mizukage. He was loyal, but if he was going to die for nothing, then his loyalty would shatter like glass.
"Forget the order. I'll go there myself and kill him."
"Y-yes sir!"
The ninja heaved a sigh of relief after hearing his leader. Thankfully, the Mizukage wasn't yet out of his mind. The ninja waited until the Mizukage got into his battle armor and followed behind the Mizukage as he headed to the battlefield.
"I sense Zabuza. Your report was incomplete."
"Sir."
The Mizukage's voice was so calm and serene, that the ninja nodded in acknowledgment, not realizing what the Mizukage was implying. When the Mizukage stopped to look at him, he also stopped. Only then did he realize what was happening.
"Sir, I—"
BANG! SPLATTER…
"Hmph. Incompetent."
The Mizukage's eyes were dull and cold as he watched the guts of the ninja spill to the floor. The ninja now had a hole in his stomach. The addition was made possible thanks to his staff. A few seconds later, the Mizukage lost interest and kept walking, leaving behind the corpse.
'I'm nearly out.'
After leaving behind the clone to distract whoever was inside that forest, Naruto ran as fast as he could to leave the forest. He wasn't going in a straight line, but rather on a complicated left and right that even he couldn't make head and tails out of.
'It's foolish to lead your enemy straight to your house.'
Having that thought, Naruto turned sharply to the left. By doing so, he would leave the forest a few seconds later, but he didn't mind.
He could hear several footsteps everywhere around him, and he was sure that if he had continued going forward, he would've run straight to a ninja wall.
A literal ninja wall.
SWOOSH!
Suddenly, a mist ninja appeared in front of him and took out a short straight sword.
"Stop right there—"
Before he could even finish, his throat was already slit open.
'He flickered in front of me when I was going at full throttle. It's not my fault he died too fast.'
Naruto smirked. What the ninja did was akin to running in front of a speeding car. But his smirk didn't last long as more ninjas flickered around him.
"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"
When the ninjas ahead formed a thick water wall, Naruto was forced to stop.
BANG!
Due to his speed, the tree branch under him nearly snapped in half, making Naruto backflip to another tree branch.
"Nine tails. We came here to harvest you."
The mist ninjas said, but Naruto ignored all of them. He was already holding a chakra-infused scroll. His chakra had already covered the scroll, and a sealing formula could be written on the scroll in an instant.
'The fire dragon guardian seal is useless. Damn, I don't have any other long-range attacks aside from genjutsu.'
Naruto sighed helplessly. He was busy. Too busy. He couldn't study or create new seals, even in his free time. Furthermore, he only recently learned the shadow clone jutsu.
'This is tricky…'
Using genjutsu had its perks and disadvantages. The obvious perk is that the enemy is defeated instantly. The downside is that the enemy can resist genjutsu.
'My genjutsu is a bit outdated. Even the seal formation, demonic judgment is single target…'
Right now, he was surrounded by eight different ninjas. He couldn't sense their chakra level, which actually shocked him.
'That means they are elites. Well, they are ANBU.'
"Why don't we act as if we never saw each other?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
The mist ninjas said nearly at once. They didn't like oppressing their own countryman, but toward foreign forces like Naruto, they would band together instantly like water.
"I guess it's useless…"
POOF!
Unsealing his beloved chokuto, Naruto charged at the mist ninjas who were expecting it.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Six mist ninjas said simultaneously, creating the largest water dragon Naruto had ever seen.
'It's as big as the golden fire dragon with half of my chakra!'
Naruto was impressed, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he readied his sword as chains suddenly erupted from his back.
CLANG! CLANG! SPLASH—ROAAARR!
When the chains wrapped around the water dragon, it roared in defiance before melting into a puddle.
"HOW?!"
The ninjas were shocked, but not enough for Naruto to kill any of them. Just before Naruto could slit their throats, they'd already jumped away.
'It won't be easy, huh?'
Naruto was dismayed and wrapped his sword in wind chakra. Now, his reach had been increased.
"Water Style: Waterfall Jutsu!"
This time, all eight mist ninjas gathered together to launch the jutsu. With the water dragon, two ninjas stayed back to stop Naruto from running away. Now that the other two were facing him, Naruto was certain that there were more ninjas.
'Don't think. Just kill these eight first.'
Naruto's eyes darkened as he flickered out of the way. He was good at the body flicker, but not great. When he reached the mist ninjas again, they'd already jumped away.
"Tsk, annoying!"
Naruto yelled, taking out a scroll in frustration. Then, he threw the scroll toward the ninjas.
BOOOOM!
The ninjas jumped away again, avoiding the explosion. But this time, Naruto had calculated their retreat and before they could land, Naruto appeared behind all eight of them.
"You shouldn't have gathered together in one place," Naruto advised before swinging his sword.
SPISHHH—SPLATTER—!
Eight bodies dropped as one and eight heads flew into the air. When they landed, Naruto had already gotten away.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
Naruto was anxious. His clone had suddenly dispelled to let him know that dozens of ninjas were all heading to one place.
'That place could only be my location.'
That's why, he rushed out of the forest as soon as he could. That way, he'd at least gain more open ground to work with.
Squinting his eyes as the sudden rays of the sun invaded his vision, Naruto paused. He watched as dozens of ninjas jumped about, all surrounding him in a big circle.
'This many had gathered just for me? How did they even know that I was the nine tails jinchuriki?'
Naruto had been suspicious for a while, but he set it aside for the time being. Now that he was surrounded, he couldn't help but complain a little.
'I hope I can escape…'
There were too many ninjas, and he was disadvantaged against them. His strongest seal at the moment, the golden fire dragon was made out of fire. The land of water naturally has ninjas good at water jutsu.
'I have to either create a new jutsu on the spot or enhance the fire dragon guardian seal.'
He could also use the Earth Golem Guardian seal, but it was too slow for his needs. The Earth Golem Guardian was a defensive seal, not an offensive one.
'Should I combine earth and fire?'
Naruto pondered when Kurama yelled inside his mind.
'NARUTO! Be careful, one of my siblings is here.'
"The… mizukage is here?"
Naruto's face turned dark.
"It seems that you've sensed my presence, nine tails."
Suddenly, the Mizukage appeared in front of the army of mist ninjas.
"The three tails' jinchuriki," Naruto muttered.
"You're well informed."
"It's no secret."
"I guess so," the Mizukage shrugged. "But it doesn't mean you'll leave this place alive. Oh, and your companions will be killed too as punishment."
Naruto gritted his teeth at the Mizukage's nonchalant attitude. He had the chakra chains, sure, but the question was if he could hold off the rest of the mist ninjas while he was stuck restraining the Mizukage.
'It's useless to think hard about it now… If push comes to shove, I can only use that as my last ditch effort.'
Of course, he would stall for as much time as he could.
"Mizukage Yagura. How did you know that I am the nine tails' jinchuriki? What if I'm not—"
"Don't utter bullshit. I have the three tails inside of me."
'Don't utter bullshit, he says,' Naruto's brows furrowed. 'He's the one uttering bullshit!'
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