Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 145 The Death of the Water Shadow

Hidden Mist Village, the Mizukage's office.

The Third Mizukage was a rather young-looking ninja with long black hair adorned with a few tiny ice crystals. His facial features were soft, making it hard to believe that this ninja was the villain who proposed the Blood Mist Policy.

Even if the Blood Mist policy was influenced by Madara Uchiha's mental suggestion, Madara's mental suggestion was very subtle. Its essence was to amplify the thoughts in people's hearts. In other words, this Mizukage himself had such cruel thoughts, but was just used by Madara Uchiha.

"Lord Mizukage, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist have all returned and have just entered the ninja village!"

The suddenly appearing Anbu knelt before the Third Mizukage and reported the situation, causing the Third Mizukage to frown:

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist have all returned? That's quite unexpected... I thought only half of them would come back!"

The undisguised disdain in his tone made the ANBU member kneeling before the Third Mizukage lower his head even further, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

"Alright, call those problem ninjas in! I wonder how their mission went..."

"Yes, I understand!"

The ANBU ninja responded and disappeared from the Mizukage's office.

The mission to assassinate the Hokage was personally assigned by the Third Mizukage, but it was clear that the Third Mizukage had little confidence in the mission. Like the Hidden Stone Village, this mission was merely to test the strength of the current Fifth Hokage.

Of course, eliminating a few disobedient members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist would perhaps be a more desirable outcome for the Third Mizukage.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are elite Jonin, but they are different from ordinary elite Jonin. They can only be called elite Jonin when they are one with their swords. Without their swords, many members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen can only be called ordinary Jonin.

Therefore, the Third Mizukage didn't care about the loss. As long as the ninja sword was still there, it was much easier to train these pseudo-elite jonin than to train real elite jonin!

Only Suigetsu Hozuki and Juzo Biwa, even without their ninja swords, could still be considered elite Jonin. However, these two were always very perceptive, and the Third Mizukage didn't think they would sacrifice themselves.

Among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist throughout history, the strongest are generally the great sword Samehada and the broken sword Kubikiribōchō. These two are the strongest and weakest of the seven swords, respectively, but their wielders have always been extremely powerful.

The reason for this is that the Samehada sword has amazing effects, but it is extremely picky about chakra. Ninjas with slightly weaker chakra levels simply cannot gain the sword's approval.

As for the Broken Blade—the Executioner's Blade—to put it bluntly, the blood-absorbing and resurrection effect of this blade has absolutely no practical combat significance. Each generation of its wielders has relied on their own strength to stand among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and are naturally stronger than those ninjas who rely on the blade.

The door to the Mizukage's office opened, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist walked in one by one. The Third Mizukage glanced at the seven of them casually, then his expression suddenly turned serious:

"Who are you? Such skillful genjutsu! Could you be the Uchiha who controlled me back then?"

"Tsk, is it really necessary to be so careful? You've set up so many sensory barriers throughout the entire Mizukage's office, and even the chair under your butt has a sealing jutsu set up to constantly disrupt the chakra within you—aren't you afraid that the chaotic chakra will go berserk and kill you!"

The one who spoke was naturally Uchiha Touyu. To be honest, he had already guessed that the Third Mizukage was traumatized by genjutsu and would definitely make some arrangements, but the extent of his caution was still an eye-opener for him.

Setting up sealing techniques on his own chair, constantly disrupting the chakra within his body—this practice is comparable to the ancient scholar's self-immolation ritual, which is extremely painful, but the results are also astonishing.

Even though Uchiha Hiyu's manipulation of the five senses is ultimately based on manipulating the five senses to prevent people from actually sensing the chakra within their bodies, it is impossible to break through it. However, the Third Mizukage's chakra is already in a state of chaos, so even Uchiha Hiyu cannot pull him into the illusion.

Moreover, this Third Mizukage even condensed a layer of water in his eyes to specifically reflect the Sharingan's ocular power—this was definitely a ninjutsu developed specifically to target the Uchiha clan.

Seeing the Third Mizukage so cautious, Uchiha Touya finally felt that his caution had not been in vain. He casually snapped his fingers and pointed at the Third Mizukage:

"Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, your target is him! Attack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the seven men, each wielding a ninja sword, charged forward.

The Third Mizukage's gaze flickered, but he didn't make a move. Instead, an ice crystal mirror appeared behind him, and he stepped back, entering the ice crystal mirror.

"Ice Release Kekkei Genkai? This guy's a ninja from the Yuki clan?"

Uchiha Touyu was slightly surprised, and at that moment, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's attack struck the ice crystal, shattering the mirror.

The mirror shattered into a pile of ice crystals, but the Third Mizukage had vanished without a trace. Uchiha Touya sneered:

"Trying to escape... but can you even escape?"

The Snow Clan's Magic Mirror Ice Crystal looks very similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique, but it is far inferior to the Flying Thunder God Technique in terms of both the distance it can travel and the preparations it requires.

The Third Mizukage escaped from the Mizukage's office, but only appeared at the outside door, unable to escape Uchiha Hiu's senses.

Before the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could react, Uchiha Touya had already swung his hand back, and several kunai flashing with cold light pierced directly out of the door.

With a series of clanging sounds, the Third Mizukage casually conjured an ice blade to block the kunai that was thrust at him. At the same time, he opened his mouth to shout, but at that moment, Uchiha Touya's figure flashed and appeared in front of him.

"Space-time ninjutsu?! Oh no!"

The Third Mizukage showed a hint of surprise, but before he could react further, he saw the three tomoe in Uchiha Tou's eyes:

"Think you can defend against a real Mangekyou Sharingan technique with just a few tricks? How naive! Tsukuyomi!!"

Compared to the subtle and pervasive illusions that control the five senses, Tsukuyomi, this kaleidoscope illusion, is not only simple and brutal, but most importantly, it is completely unstoppable by ordinary methods of dealing with illusions!

The water membrane in the Third Mizukage's eyes might be able to block ordinary genjutsu cast by the Mangekyou Sharingan, but it would definitely not be able to stop a unique genjutsu like Tsukuyomi!

"Well……"

The Third Mizukage groaned, his eyes rolled back, and he immediately lost consciousness.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had already rushed over, and Uchiha Touya waved his hand:

"There are a few more shady characters here; you're in charge of dealing with them!"

After saying that, Uchiha Hiyu reached out and a strange suction force enveloped the Third Mizukage, instantly draining the Mizukage's life force and spirit.

The Third Mizukage, who was originally tall and slender, gradually shrank under the powerful attraction, his limbs folded, and he turned into a shape like a dried-up infant corpse.

After sensing the slight increase in his own source power, Uchiha Touyu nodded. At his current level of strength, he could only feel an increase in his source power when absorbing the source power of a Kage-level expert.

At that moment, several screams came from around the Mizukage's office. A moment later, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist returned, carrying four severed heads.

These were the ANBU who were on duty around the Mizukage's office, but now they have all been wiped out. It can be said that there are no ninjas in the entire Kirigakure who know of Uchiha Tou's existence.

"Next... we should go find Mei Terumi. As for you guys, let's see if you can take control of the entire Kirigakure!"

With the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's strength, they certainly have little hope of taking control of Kirigakure, since there are seven of them, not one, and their individual strength is still insufficient.

Even the strongest, Suigetsu Hozuki, wielding the greatsword Samehada, was only at the quasi-Kage level. Not all the strongmen of Kirigakure were dead, so it was not his place to give orders.

However, the seven of them were more than enough to cause chaos and riots throughout the entire Hidden Mist Village.

Only when Kirigakure is in a state of chaos can Uchiha Touyu ensure that his people can rise to power, so these seven people are just cannon fodder for Uchiha Touyu.

……

The Third Mizukage died quickly, and didn't cause much of a commotion until his death. However, as the leader of Kirigakure, his death was undoubtedly a major event!

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist made no attempt to conceal their actions. Although the Third Mizukage's body had become a shrunken, dried corpse, it didn't stop them from showing it off as a trophy.

In an instant, with the tragic death of the Third Mizukage and the news of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's overthrow of their superiors, the entire Hidden Mist Village was in an uproar.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are renowned figures throughout Kirigakure, possessing unparalleled power to intimidate ordinary Kirigakure ninja. However, to true masters, these seven are nothing special.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are said to be able to conquer a small country when they work together. However, Sasori of the Red Sand actually conquered a small country single-handedly. Moreover, half of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's strength comes from the power of their swords, and most of them are only among the stronger Jonin. How could they possibly suppress the strongmen of Kirigakure?

Almost as soon as news of this group's insubordination spread, someone came knocking on their door, led by the Yuki clan of Kirigakure!

The Third Mizukage was a member of the Snow Clan. To become the Mizukage, one must be the head of the Snow Clan. Since the head of the clan was killed under mysterious circumstances, these people naturally wanted to seek revenge.

Similarly, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist also had a group of ninjas they had recruited themselves, whose combined strength was not much weaker than that of the Yuki clan, and they had long been gathered by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Right in front of the Mizukage's building, the two groups of ninjas stared at each other with grim expressions, practically ready to start a fight.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist! You were clearly direct subordinates of the Mizukage, yet you dared to commit such treason and assassinate him!"

"Hmph... What Mizukage? A Kage who's been manipulated by genjutsu for so many years is a disgrace to our Kirigakure! By killing him, we're washing away the stain on the entire village!"

"Nonsense!! I think you just want to reinstate the cruel system from the Blood Mist, which is why you assassinated Lord Mizukage!"

"Heh... What's wrong with the village's Blood Mist system? It's precisely because of this system that Kirigakure has been able to cultivate so many elites!"

Just as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were exchanging words with the Yuki clan, Uchiha Touya flashed into a corner of Kirigakure.

"The Terumi clan... So there really is such a clan in Kirigakure! But this small ninja clan is famous for its fire-style techniques, and I've never heard of any bloodline limit."

"No wonder the Terumi clan isn't very famous and doesn't have many members, since they practice Fire Release in the Land of Water... Given the environment of the Land of Water, the power of Fire Release would naturally be weakened by two or three levels."

The ninjutsu of the five great ninja villages is closely related to their national environment. For example, training fire ninjutsu in the Land of Water will not only weaken its power, but also make training more difficult.

Of course, if one can hone their Fire Release ninjutsu in such a harsh environment, their control over chakra will be unparalleled. Perhaps this is why Mei Terumi became a genius with two different bloodline limits.

In the original work, the Kage of the five great ninja villages basically rely on the inheritance of their predecessors. Even Tsunade's medical ninjutsu benefited greatly from her two grandfathers, and she also has the special physique of the Senju clan.

Only Mei Terumi truly developed two different bloodline limits entirely on her own. If we disregard bloodlines and only consider talent, perhaps this Mizukage, whose strength is at the bottom, is the number one genius among the Five Kage.

As a small ninja clan with a low profile in Kirigakure, the Terumi clan clearly had no intention of getting involved in the current chaotic situation in the village.

In the original work, the biggest reason why Mei Terumi was able to become the Mizukage of Kirigakure, besides her own talent, was that the bloodline ninja clans had already been wiped out by the Fourth Mizukage. The Terumi clan stood out from the crowd, and as an ordinary ninjutsu-inheriting family, their strength was highlighted.

However, the Yuki clan, Hozuki clan, and Kaguya clan are all doing well now, and the Terumi clan's strength is truly insufficient in front of these three bloodline ninja clans, so naturally they have no intention of getting involved in the Mizukage succession.

"I'm afraid it's because Mei Terumi's own strength isn't enough! She's only sixteen or seventeen years old now, and she should only have the strength of an elite Jonin."

"Furthermore, I've never heard of a ninja in Kirigakure with two bloodline limits. Either her bloodline limit hasn't been developed yet, or she's been hiding her true strength. Whatever the reason, Mei Terumi definitely can't participate in this high-level change now."

While pondering this, Uchiha Touyu entered the Terumi clan's territory, his senses sweeping across the area, heading towards a very young and powerful aura that he sensed.

(End of this chapter)