Naruto: From Scratch With a Template System Chapter 183 183

That was why, in the original course of events, the Third Hokage allowed Uchiha Itachi to bear the bla for the Uchiha clan's massacre.

And here in Kirigakure, they were preparing to do sothing similar—pushing the Kaguya Clan into making the first move so they could justify everything that ca after.

But now...

To bring an outsider into a secret eting place like this...

That alone was already outrageous.

"I know," i Terumī said after a brief silence. Her voice was calm, but there was a trace of fatigue in it. "You don't need to worry. If anything happens because of him, I'll take responsibility."

"Hmph." ro let out a cold snort. "Then I just hope, when the ti cos, that responsibility is actually sothing you can bear."

i Terumī fell silent, helplessness flickering across her face.

She really hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Originally, she had been the one prepared to make the first move, but... but...

"There's actually soone in this world who can withstand my Lava Release?"

The mont that thought crossed her mind again, i Terumī's eyes twitched.

"And not only that... the way he blocked it was..."

As soon as she rembered it, she couldn't stop herself from shooting Shiki a sharp glare.

anwhile, Shiki still wore that easy smile on his face.

To be honest, even he hadn't expected that a casual grab would lead him straight to i Terumī.

At first, he had only followed his observation haki, intending to find soone connected to the Kaguya Clan.

And in the end...

His luck really was incredible.

And that girl's kiss had been pretty incredible too.

As for why i Terumī had no choice but to bring him along now, the reason was simple enough.

After all, after catching her Lava Release with his mouth, Shiki had very politely said—

"If you don't take with you, then I'll stop pretending and just use the fact that you offended as my reason to slaughter every last one of you."

...

The Kaguya Clan was one of Kirigakure's great clans, a bloodline clan whose status and combat power were only slightly below Konoha's Uchiha Clan.

To deal with a clan like that, Kirigakure naturally had to send elite shinobi and genuine heavy hitters.

Besides i Terumī, the most outstanding talent of Kirigakure's younger generation, there were also three current wielders of the Seven Ninja Swords.

Blastsword: ro — the wielder of Shibuki, a broad blade wrapped in explosive tags from base to tip, turning every swing into a chain of violent detonations. His fighting style was ruthless and direct, overwhelming opponents through relentless explosive pressure.

Kubikiribōchō: Zabuza Momochi — carrying the enormous executioner's blade across his back, Zabuza stood there like a silent killing intent made flesh. The massive sword, infamous for regenerating itself by absorbing the iron in blood, suited him perfectly—brutal, cold, and soaked in battlefield terror.

Longsword: Hikari Nabari — the wielder of Nuibari, the long blade shaped like a giant sewing needle, with a steel wire threaded through its end. Unlike ro's savage force or Zabuza's overwhelming brutality, Hikari's style was precise and eerie, as if every movent had been asured in advance. Once caught by that blade and wire, even a skilled shinobi could be stitched through the battlefield like a puppet.

Every one of them was a well-known powerhouse within Kirigakure.

Of course, they were not the original Seven Ninja Swordsn of the Mist.

Those n had already been destroyed during the war by Shiki, while the remaining survivor who should have lasted longer was later fated to die at the hands of Might Duy.

Kirigakure, desperate for strength after suffering such losses, had no choice but to resort to extre asures and quickly select a new generation of sword wielders.

Although these replacents were still not equal to the original Seven Ninja Swordsn in fa or sheer strength, once they were granted the legendary blades, they still far surpassed the average shinobi.

And according to the original course of events, they wouldn't have escaped death either.

Aside from Biwa Jūzō, the other mbers of the Seven Ninja Swordsn should have already fallen in battle against Konoha by this point—cut down in a single disastrous clash by the explosive power of Might Duy.

As for Biwa Jūzō, he would later go on to join the Akatsuki.

But in this world, the course of history had already been thrown badly off track.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Shiki had moved too fast—and hit far too hard.

Kirigakure, along with the other three great nations, had essentially been beaten flat by him.

Once they realized there was no profit left to gain, Kirigakure chose to surrender after its battle with Shiki. After that, they limited themselves to harassing coastlines and raiding supplies from smaller hidden villages, never again daring to launch a full-scale invasion.

Then, as the Third Great Ninja War ca to a complete end and peace treaties were signed between the great nations, Kirigakure withdrew entirely back to the Land of Water.

And the result of that was simple—

while the wars beyond their borders ca to an end, the conflicts within Kirigakure only grew even worse.

The newly appointed Fourth Mizukage even seed to be deliberately fueling the chaos within the village, causing the conflicts between the various clans to grow more and more intense.

The plot against the Kaguya Clan had begun at least three years earlier than it should have in the original tiline.

Because of that, none of the people present had ever seen Shiki in person.

Even though everyone here had undoubtedly heard of Shiki's feats and knew his general appearance from Kirigakure's intelligence reports, they still failed to recognize him through his disguise.

Of course, that was not entirely certain.

Because there was one exception...

"There are very few people in the entire shinobi world who can withstand my Lava Release head-on," i Terumī thought, the corner of her mouth twitching. "And even fewer who could do it like that..."

Catching Lava Release with your mouth.

Even now, i Terumī still found it hard to believe, despite having seen it with her own eyes.

So...

It had to be him.

That was the real reason i Terumī had chosen to compromise so quickly after Shiki casually said, If you don't take with you, I'll slaughter every last one of you.

Because by then, she had already realized who he was.

He had forced his way into Sunagakure, fought the top forces of Kumogakure by himself and won, dragged Iwagakure into a brutal war of attrition right on their own ground... and even taken one of the Mizukage's arms.

Those achievents were so absurd that no one would have believed them if the facts had not already been laid bare.

And yet the evidence was too clear to deny.

That was why, when Shiki used that strange thod to manipulate the stone around her, and why even his presence felt oddly familiar despite his Transformation Jutsu, i had kept testing him from the mont they first t.

During that massive war, she had only managed to catch a glimpse of him from far away—

golden hair, twin swords, and a figure so overwhelming it seed to dominate the battlefield itself.

Only...

"Why would he want to take part in the attack on the Kaguya Clan?" i Terumī frowned to herself.

"Does he have so grudge against them?"

After all, it would not be difficult to investigate the fact that Shiki had gone to the Kaguya Clan and later returned dissatisfied.

If so conflict had happened there, and he intended to use Kirigakure's hand to wipe them out, then that possibility was entirely reasonable.

But even so, he was still a shinobi from another village.

He could not be trusted completely.

i Terumī shot Shiki a quiet, unreadable glance.

If he truly held hostile intentions toward Kirigakure, then she would use herself as bait and lure him into a trap.

If the whole of Kirigakure worked together, and she was willing to sacrifice even her own body as part of the plan...

Then maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to deal with him.

But the mont that thought crossed her mind, i Terumī fell silent.

If it had been any other hidden village—Konoha, Kumogakure, or even Iwagakure, which Shiki, supposedly had to challenge head-on by himself—she might have had so confidence.

But Kirigakure...

Thinking of the current Fourth Mizukage, a shadow crept into i Terumī's eyes.

Could the Fourth Mizukage—who had lost an arm to Shiki, who had deliberately stirred up conflict between the clans, who had even moved against the Kaguya Clan despite their great service to the village, and who had turned Kirigakure into this ss—

really unite the village well enough to stand against Shiki?

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

Why had she taken the risk of bringing Shiki here, even knowing he could expose Kirigakure's sche to the world at any mont?

Why had she compromised so easily and let him join the operation against the Kaguya Clan?

Wasn't it because, deep down, she already knew the answer?

"Why did it turn out like this...?" i Terumī murmured, bitterness in her smile and a trace of sorrow in her eyes. "Before Lord Yagura beca the Fourth Mizukage... he was clearly a good shinobi."

Shiki glanced at her, his eyes shifting slightly.

He, too, was sowhat surprised by the new faces in the room.

The wielders of the ninja swords were all unfamiliar.

It seed that even after he had wiped them out before, new replacents had still erged.

Three mbers of the Seven Ninja Swordsn, along with their subordinates and i Terumī's own forces—this was the full strike force the Fourth Mizukage had assembled to move against the Kaguya Clan.

It was not a weak force.

The Kaguya Clan was indeed a powerful shinobi clan, but whether their strongest mber had even reached quasi-Kage level was still uncertain.

Three Ninja Swordsn, together with the future Fifth Mizukage, were more than enough to exterminate the Kaguya Clan several tis over.

Only...

"Hmph." ro let out a cold snort. "I hate joining forces with others."

Hikari glanced at him from the side.

"That's understandable," he said lazily. "After all, standing beside the rest of us only makes it easier for everyone to see that you're nothing but an empty shell."

He rested a hand against the hilt of his sword and gave a mocking smile.

"Why don't you hand your blade over to instead? That way, at least you'd stop dragging down the reputation of the Seven Ninja Swordsn."

The mont those words fell, ro's expression darkened.

"Brat," he growled, killing intent rising in his voice. "You're asking to die."

"With just you?" Hikari replied, his eyes full of disdain.

Murderous intent exploded between them.

Their subordinates also glared at one another, hands already drifting toward their weapons.

The title of Seven Ninja Swordsn did not an they were united.

If anything, it ant the opposite.

In Kirigakure, where internal strife was everywhere, clashes like this were nothing unusual.

"Please, calm down. Both of you." i Terumī stood up with a helpless sigh and tried to defuse the situation. "We're here to deal with the danger posed by the Kaguya Clan. At a ti like this, I ask that you show so restraint, my lords."

Despite how it looked, with Hikari and ro seemingly on the verge of tearing each other apart, their current attitude was actually considered relatively mild.

In fact, from a certain point of view, they were among the more loyal shinobi in Kirigakure.

At the very least, they were still willing to follow the village's orders and obey the Fourth Mizukage's command to take part in the extermination of the Kaguya Clan.

Even if their obedience was only superficial, and each of them clearly had their own private calculations.

Compared to the others among the Seven Ninja Swordsn...

Just thinking about it was enough to give i Terumī a headache.

At that point, all she could do was continue trying to smooth things over.

"The Kaguya Clan's rebellion is just around the corner," she said. "If the two of you really have energy to spare, then why not settle it by seeing who kills more enemies once the battle begins?"

She paused for a mont, then added,

"On behalf of the Fourth Mizukage, I can also promise a monetary reward."

At this point in ti, i Terumī was only seventeen or eighteen.

Although she was talented and already possessed the strength of an elite jōnin, she was still a junior in front of the Seven Ninja Swordsn. The only real pressure she could apply ca from the authority of the Fourth Mizukage behind her.

Strictly speaking, among everyone present, i Terumī was the one most firmly aligned with the Fourth Mizukage.

She had supported Yagura long before he officially took office, hoping he would be the one to bring an end to Kirigakure's endless internal bloodshed.

For that goal, she had worked hard and earned many accomplishnts.

She had never imagined that once Yagura Karatachi truly beca the Fourth Mizukage, he would seem to turn into a completely different person—one who disappointed nearly every shinobi who had once followed him.

Even so, out of everyone here, i Terumī was still the person who could best represent the Fourth Mizukage's authority.

"Please, at least give that much respect," i Terumī said. "I would like to believe that two elite shinobi such as yourselves wouldn't make the foolish mistake of trying to kill each other before facing the real enemy."

Kirigakure was filled with internal conflict. The local factions were many, and so large clans would even bypass the village entirely to accept commissions directly, simply to cut out the middleman.

That environnt created extre competitive pressure among Kirigakure's shinobi, and also a fierce obsession with reputation.

Because of that, Kirigakure shinobi had incredibly strict standards when it ca to completing missions—so strict that many were willing to finish them at almost any cost.

That was why Kakashi would later describe the Demon Brothers, the chūnin who attacked Tazuna, as Kirigakure chūnin who would fight to the end no matter the cost.

That mindset was already deeply rooted in Kirigakure.

The mission always ca first.

Hearing i Terumī put it that way, Hikari and ro finally gave cold snorts and sat back down.

But at that mont, the young Zabuza sitting nearby suddenly spoke.

"In that case," he said flatly, "why did you bring along two outsiders?"

His gaze locked onto Shiki and Rin.

And at that very mont, the two in question were...

"Mm. This fruit's not bad." Shiki picked up a piece and casually fed it to Rin Nohara. "Try it."

Rin's face imdiately brightened. She opened her mouth and took a small bite.

"It really is good. Thank you, S— L-Luffy!"

Rin nearly blurted out his real na before hurriedly correcting herself to the fake one she had almost forgotten.

Seeing the two of them acting like that behind her, i Terumī's mouth twitched.

At this point, she could not even be bothered calling out their terrible act.

"They're rcenaries," she said flatly. "I was worried that the Kaguya Clan's strength might cause us unnecessary losses."

"So I hired them to reduce the damage on our side."

The mont those words left her mouth, all three Ninja Swordsn narrowed their eyes at the sa ti.

"I see," Hikari said, the corner of his mouth curling into a dangerous smile. "So you're saying the three of us together still aren't enough to handle one Kaguya Clan?"

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