Promoting the Konoha threat theory, and talking about the Hidden Mist Belt!

At this time, after a long period of training, Hozuki Shingetsu could maintain his Water Release Chakra Mode for a week at low power, a significant improvement compared to his previous ability to only maintain it for tens of minutes.

Although he was still far from his ideal goal of turning the Water Release chakra mode into a passive ninjutsu, he still managed to find a solution to the side effects of the Steam Explosion based on it.

When releasing the explosive vapor, the caster often becomes extremely weak due to the loss of a large amount of water and oil from their body. Even if water and oil are replenished from the outside, the absorption rate will be too slow to fully recover.

However, under Water Release Chakra Mode, Hozuki Shingetsu's metabolic rate increases significantly. As long as he replenishes his water and oil in time, he can fully recover to his original state in a short period of time.

So at this moment, Hozuki Shingetsu had already recovered his state under the cover of the mirage and silently activated his Water Release Chakra Mode to set up a trap for someone to walk into!

With a light swing of his arms, Hozuki Shingetsu used Samehada as leverage to lift the two-meter-tall Suigetsu Hozuki, then slammed him heavily to the ground.

boom!

This land, constantly eroded by sea waves, was blasted into a hollow, and the seawater immediately poured in after a brief retreat.

Just as he had finished off one and was about to deal with the next Hozuki Shingetsu, he suddenly felt something stroking his hand. Looking down, he realized it was Samehada.

Since the last time he fought Ren and took it back from Ren, Hozuki Shingetsu returned it to Suigetsu Hozuki because he had no intention of studying swordsmanship. However, he did not expect that after a year apart, Samehada was still reluctant to part with him.

Tsk, once you've tasted and experienced the real way to use it, you can never go back?

"Stop fooling around, this is a fight!"

Hozuki Crescent gently patted Samehada and tossed it back into the burrow, so that it could stay with its master.

Then it transformed into a crimson flash and arrived in front of the Kusanagi-no-Yaru.

As the wielder of a blunt sword, the Kusa-no-Ya-jin's attacks are powerful and heavy, making him extremely adept at attacking fortified positions.

Conversely, his speed became his weakness, which was immediately apparent when facing Hozuki Shingetsu in his enhanced state.

A scarlet figure darted and weaved around Tongkusano Erito, and moments later, Tongkusano Erito followed in the footsteps of Suigetsu Hobutsuki, falling to his death on the spot.

Just then, Hozuki Shingetsu suddenly felt something strange behind him. The Executioner's Blade arrived behind him so lightly and silently that it slashed straight down on his back!

"Long Sword Ninjutsu: Earth Spider Seam!"

At the same time, Kushimaru Agarashi arrived, brandishing his long sword, Sewing Needle, and countless steel wires appeared around Hozuki Shingetsu, blocking all his movement routes.

Not only that, but Jinpachi also arrived here without anyone noticing. He brandished his Exploding Blade: Flying Drops, and splashed explosive tags on the steel wires extending from his Longsword: Sewing Needle as if they were free. It seemed that he wouldn't even spare Juzo Biwa, and was going to take care of him and Shingetsu Hozuki together!

Suppressing the urge to curse, Pipa Juzo quickly released his cleaver and retreated backward.

Surrounded by enemies, Hozuki Shingetsu had no time to escape. In this situation, it seemed that the only way to avoid injury was to transform into a tailed beast.

Despite facing this seemingly inescapable predicament, Hozuki Shingetsu remained unmoved, maintaining a calm and composed smile as he reminded the three opponents.

"If I were alone, it seems I really would need to transform into a tailed beast... But, haven't you forgotten something?"

Just as the three people present were smiling, a white figure appeared beside Hozuki Shingetsu like a ghost. With lightning speed, it lifted up the explosive tags around Hozuki Shingetsu one by one, and then brought the pile of burning explosive tags to the side of the three people.

boom!

boom!

With the two explosions, Kushimaru Agarashi, Jinpachi Murashi, and Juzo Biwa were eliminated.

"So, it's just the two of us left..."

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at Kurosuki Raiga in the distance with a malicious smile on his face.

At this moment, Raiga Kurosuki already knew his fate, but for the sake of dignity, he still made a final sprint towards Shingetsu Hozuki.

And the ending... is naturally predictable.

-

"It seems the best application of the Mirage + Steam Explosion ninjutsu combination is against a group of weaklings or a single powerful opponent... There's a risk of failure when dealing with multiple powerful opponents. However, this applies to ordinary users; for me, there aren't so many limitations..."

Based on this battle, Hozuki Shingetsu carefully summarized the techniques for using the combination of Mirage and Steam Explosion.

Dealing with a group of small fry is simple: just use a mirage to confuse their senses, then unleash a barrage of steam, explosives, and blasts.

When dealing with a single expert, even if the opponent has ninjutsu like Sensing Sand, he is not afraid—while he was racking his brains to find the Mirage's true form, the clone formed by Steam Explosion was already silently waiting beside him.

In this situation, even a single expert would be easily outmaneuvered and killed by him.

This combination of ninjutsu techniques is vulnerable to encountering multiple skilled opponents, especially when someone uses physical perception ninjutsu to sense the true location of the mirage, someone else defends against the harassment of the steam explosion, and yet another person specifically uses high-powered ninjutsu to attack the mirage's outer shell.

In such a situation, the caster risks having their mirage deciphered and their true form discovered.

He now strongly suspects that the Second Tsuchikage's clone technique was forced out by this move.

Of course, the "experts" here refer to ninjas who can contend with the Steam Explosion Clone.

If you're just a weakling, all the skills you have are useless.

However, this risk also disappears completely in Water Release Chakra Mode.

"So all that's left for this Steam Explosion Technique is to practice it a few more times to improve your proficiency, and there's not much room for further development... The key is still to train the Water Release Chakra Mode regularly."

Unlike ninjutsu like Steam Explosion, which can be mastered simply through experience and memory, the normalization of Water Release Chakra Mode requires maintaining Water Release Chakra Mode for as long as possible in daily life, and then allowing the body to continuously adapt to this state.

In this process, one gradually improves their endurance, enabling them to break through their limits in actual combat and achieve higher power output.

Therefore, the normalization of Water Release chakra mode training is destined to be a process of gradual accumulation.

Theoretically speaking, Hozuki Shingetsu, who has become a perfect Jinchūriki, has enough chakra to ensure the all-weather operation of the low-power Water Release chakra mode.

However, reality is not a game, and it doesn't have a one-click auto-play function for skills.

Maintaining this state is naturally possible when concentrating in a normal state, but to operate it unconsciously while eating, sleeping, or resting is undoubtedly much more difficult.

Therefore, the current limit of one week that Hozuki Shingetsu can achieve actually refers to the limit that can be reached when a portion of his attention is devoted to maintaining the ninjutsu.

"However, physical experiences like this can't be overpowered by using shadow clones... It seems I can only focus on sage techniques for now, hoping for some new changes after my mind interacts with nature..."

Faced with this situation, Hozuki Shingetsu had no solution for the time being and could only hope that time would provide one.

"Cough cough..."

Just then, Suigetsu Hozuki and his companions tidied themselves up and came to Hozuki Shingetsu's side.

In fact, Hozuki Shingetsu's attack was not enough to seriously injure them. However, they were all shrewd and knew that Hozuki Shingetsu had overcome the side effects of the Steam Explosion, especially after being knocked down for the first time. They knew that their defeat was inevitable.

So we just lay down and pretended to be dead, to save face for each other.

Especially Suigetsu Hozuki, who was lying down below when Samehada was flirting with Hozuki Shingetsu, and heard Samehada's fickle behavior with his own ears.

For a master swordsman, what is this any different from being NTR'd in person?

Even after suffering such humiliation, she remained lying there calmly, oblivious to the outside world, as indifferent as a passenger on a bus or a husband in the living room.

Only Raiga Kurosuki foolishly resisted Shingetsu Hozuki with all his might—and his fate was the most tragic; while the others pretended to be dead, he was the only one who was truly dead.

"Since you failed to force me to transform into a tailed beast, then I accept my defeat. As per our previous agreement, you must accept my punishment."

Hozuki Shingetsu waved his hand, dispersing the Steam-Exploding Clone, and continued:

"Yesterday, Kushina cried to me, saying that back in the Land of Whirlpools, one of her close sisters married into the Land of Rain. Now, hearing that the Land of Rain is embroiled in constant war, she's so worried about her sister's safety that she can't eat or sleep..."

Kushina Uzumaki, far away in Kirigakure, sneezed for no apparent reason, and then continued her attack on the food on the Hozuki family's table.

"There's nothing I can do; after all, she's my fiancée, so seeing this situation, I naturally wanted to do something. Unfortunately, I have other important matters to attend to and cannot go to the Land of Rain..."

Hozuki Shingetsu ignored the strange expressions on the faces of the people in front of him and succinctly stated his requirements:

"So your task is very simple: take this opportunity to find all the Uzumaki clan members in the Land of Rain, along with their families, and bring them safely back to Kirigakure!"

"Note that it is to bring 'all Uzumaki clan members and their families' 'safely' back to Kirigakure," Hozuki Shingetsu even emphasized the words "all" and "safely" in case they didn't understand.

It was as if they were being told by name that Nagato Uzumaki had been safely brought back to them.

Chapter 110 A Pair of Rinnegan, Half a Step into the History of the Ninja World

As the saying goes, a pair of Rinnegan is half the history of the ninja world.

As the greatest conspiracy in the ninja world for a thousand years, Black Zetsu has been hiding in the ninja world for a thousand years, deliberately provoking the conflict between the reincarnations of Ashura and Indra, in order to cultivate a Rinnegan in the ninja world, thereby manipulating it to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and release its mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki.

It can be said that the thousand-year history of the ninja world is nothing more than a cycle of a filial son cultivating the Rinnegan.

The word "reincarnation" in the Rinnegan carries an overwhelming sense of destiny at this moment.

This glimmer of hope finally appeared in recent years.

After successfully fusing with Hashirama Senju's cells, Madara Uchiha spent decades in seclusion underground in the Land of Grass, finally awakening the Rinnegan. He then transplanted it into a child in the Land of Rain who possessed the Uzumaki bloodline, using him as a vessel to nurture the Rinnegan.

And that child was Nagato Uzumaki.

Since they had already lured the entire Uzumaki clan back to Kirigakure, Hozuki Shingetsu had naturally been coveting Nagato Uzumaki, who possessed the Rinnegan.

To put it bluntly, if he were to put those Rinnegan eyes on him right now, and given three years, Hozuki Shingetsu would dare to truly emulate Daiei and directly usher in the colonial era.

There's no other reason than that the Rinnegan is simply invincible at this stage.

Unfortunately, after much inquiry and subtle questioning by Hozuki Shingetsu, he finally confirmed one thing.

That is, Nagato Uzumaki's mother did not move to the Land of Rain because of the war in the Land of Whirlpools, but had already married into the Land of Rain before the destruction of Whirlpool Village.

This made Hozuki Shingetsu extremely frustrated—although the various ninja villages had lowered their guard against Kirigakure because of the internal strife in Kirigakure, as the number one war criminal in the ninja world, Hozuki Shingetsu's every move would undoubtedly be scrutinized under the spotlight.

Therefore, under such circumstances, he really didn't dare to send anyone to the Land of Rain to find Nagato and his mother.

As the Land of Rain, nestled between four countries, that land is no less sensitive than Sarajevo before World War I. Hozuki Shingetsu dared not send people to that land rashly, for fear that the existence of the Rinnegan might be revealed to the world by accident.

Moreover, he didn't know exactly how old Nagato Uzumaki was when Madara Uchiha transplanted his Rinnegan. What if he had gone too early and it hadn't been implanted yet?