Chapter 70: Departure of the Spectator

Arc: Kirigakure's Civil War

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.

"Sorry Yagura, but you'll have to fake your death for now," Naruto whispered as he unsealed his chokuto and lifted it high above Yagura's neck.

"What are—" Before Yagura could utter more confused words, Naruto kicked a scroll under Yagura's body and Yagura suddenly froze as Naruto swung his sword.

CHHKKK—

Yagura's widened eyes froze on his severed head as it arched away from his body. When his head landed, it rolled on the ground as his eyes were forced to close from the collision with the ground.

As Yagura's bloody head rolled, it stopped in front of someone's foot.

". . . You… killed the fourth Mizukage," Naruto looked up and saw the person speaking. It was a girl with auburn spiky hair that was long enough to reach her hips. She wore a blue dress, and her face was as solemn as the gods above.

"You shall pay! Lava Release: Hellfire Rain!" Mei yelled, her face as dark as the demons below the lava she can wield.

SHHHHH!

As Mei finished a sequence of hand-seals, she opened her mouth and spat out hundreds of tiny needle-sized lava bullets that rained upon Naruto and Hinata.

Seeing as the reddish-orange come closer and closer to their view, Naruto sighed and grabbed Hinata's hand. "Let's go," he said. Hinata seemed reluctant, but after Naruto gave her hand a slight tug, she shook off all of her worries.

SHHT.

When she saw Naruto taking out something from the insides of his clothes, her brows raised a little before she smiled. Now, she could truly let go of her hesitation as she channeled chakra into her legs. Naruto smiled and did the same.

Then, their figures flickered out of the battlefield, which was as desolate as the desert, only the sand was replaced with stone and dust. Blood and dust of flesh lingered in the air like a mist of red as Mei's brows furrowed further, nearly knitting each other like two swords clashing.

Her anger was as potent as her lava and boil release as she flexed her fingers and weaved a series of hand seals.

"Boil Release: Acid Mist Jutsu!"

HAAAA!

Mei exhaled a stream of white smoke like an exhausted dragon's breath.

"You are not getting away!" Mei yelled out and looked behind her as the acid mist chased after the duo. "Ao, Chojuro, chase after them! Lead the others and chase after them! THEY ARE THE ENEMIES OF KIRIGAKURE! I, the fifth Mizukage, declare—"

Mei's eyes turned dim as her emotions calmed down in an instant. She had no idea when she turned enraged, and she didn't know how she calmed down.

"Mei-sama… no, Mizukage-sama?" Seeing Mei halt her orders, Ao couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"Hold on," Mei raised her palm and lifted the scroll that suddenly appeared in her hand. "Mizukage-sama?" Ao asked, equally baffled about the scroll that had appeared.

SHHH….

Opening the scroll, which was slightly old as its pages had turned yellow, Mei narrowed her eyes to read the messy letters and words.

"What terrible handwriting," Mei muttered as she read the scroll.

THUD.

After she finished reading it, her hands turned numb.

Scratch finishing reading it. After reading the single name written on the scroll, her fingers froze and the scroll fell from her hands. Her stupor didn't last long. She was now the Mizukage, and she naturally had the qualifications to become one.

"Ao, Chojuro," Mei called out.

"Yes, m-ma'am?"

"Mizukage-sama," Ao said with a serious tone. He disagreed a bit with Chojuro's meek attitude and Mei's tolerance for it, but he was helpless.

Mei liked the young man and was likely grooming him to be her successor.

He didn't disagree with Mei's decision as Chojuro had the talent and potential. He just wished that Mei would be a little stricter.

"Stop chasing… never mind, keep chasing after Naru… the two invaders. But you two will go back to our camp with me," Mei said as she retreated. She didn't let Ao and Chojuro ask any more questions as she was already gone by the time questions appeared in their heads.

"Mei Terumi, the new fifth Mizukage. Congratulations—"

Mei skipped over the introductions.

TRRRR—!

She even tore it off. She was still pissed, but she had long calmed down. She knew when to pick her battles, and this was not the time to fight against her current enemy. She can do that later.

For now…

"—Yagura was under Madara Uchiha's genjutsu. I wish to talk to you."

"Madara Uchiha…" Mei chewed the words inside her mouth.

FLIP…

As she was lost in thought, both of her trusted aids entered the tent she was in.

"Sit down," Mei ordered before the two could even take a breather. They ran like wild dogs as they tried to catch up to Mei, but Mei was kage-level while they were only jonin-level. How can they catch up to her? They didn't even specialize in speed.

Seeing the two sit down, Mei didn't dally and began to explain. "The two invaders are two missing-nin from Konoha. They are Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga," Mei said and earned a nod from both Ao and Chojuro. Ao had long known this, only Chojuro was a bit in the dark. He recognized the nine-tails jinchuriki, but she didn't know who the Hyuga was.

"They will be our ally for now," Mei raised her hand when she saw Ao standing up in a startle. "Because as of right now… our enemy is far from what Kirigakure can handle."

"Mizukage-sama. With all due respect, I believe we can handle the nine-tails jinchuriki," Ao said, only to receive a stare from Mei.

"Yes. Kirigakure can handle the little man. But he's not our current enemy," Mei elaborated. "Our current enemy is Madara Uchiha," Mei said just in time for a swirl of wind to appear inside the tent. Both Ao and Chojuro rushed to Mei's side with protective stances when Mei told them to calm down.

"I'm glad that you've calmed down, lord Fifth Mizukage," Naruto smiled as he appeared inside the room. Hinata was with him, but she had her eyes calmly closed as she stood quietly behind Naruto. If Ao activated his byakugan, he'd see that Hinata actually has her byakugan active.

"Uzumaki, explain this," Mei said with a frown as she threw the scroll to Naruto. Naruto didn't catch the scroll and merely shrugged.

"Let's get things straight first. Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage, is still alive," Naruto said and watched in amusement as the faces of the three ninjas inside the tent wore their respective disbelieving expressions.

"What a shame."

Atop a rocky mountain overlooking the village hidden in the mist, a man wearing an orange man and a half-white half-black person stood as they watched kiri-nin scrambling about to find the once again missing Naruto Uzumaki.

'I was planning on snatching away the three-tails after it emerges…'

He didn't expect Naruto to seal away the three tails and before killing Yagura. Though, he figured he should've seen it coming.

'And even that Mei Terumi. How did she break free from the genjutsu so quickly?'

The genjutsu he placed on the newly elected Mizukage was simple. It enhances one's own anger and negative thoughts. The only way to overcome it is to simply resist the negative emotions or to get another person to take you out of your daze.

"Whatever. Now that the nine-tails is carrying both the one-tails and the three-tails with him, it'll be easy to find them in the future," the masked man said as he stood up.

"Let's go. There's nothing else for us to do here in Kirigakure."

If you'd like to support me, you can check out my Pátreón page. There are 15+ advanced chapters there. That's two weeks of advanced content!

link: pátreón.cóm/endbanner (replace the accent letters)