Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 43 He actually set his sights on Zabuza, how pathetic!

A storm cloud appeared!

Uehara Naraku smiled slightly, and the chakra in his body quickly flowed into the thundercloud storm in his hand, causing the thundercloud storm to expand in size almost instantly.

Let me see where you are!

As soon as Uehara Naraku finished speaking, the area of ​​the thundercloud storm had already covered the huge water sphere, with streaks of lightning darting within it...

A bolt of lightning swiftly broke free from the clouds and struck a spot in the water, where Hozuki Mangetsu's face was faintly visible!

Hozuki Mangetsu could only awkwardly withstand the attack, his head slowly emerging, his face still showing disbelief: "I didn't see any hand seals..."

However, Hozuki Mangetsu could not afford to be distracted for long!

Beyond the thundercloud storm summoned by the Heavenly Prison of Ten Thousand Thunders, a layer of arc-shaped lightning moved around, converging to form an isolated cage. Within this cage, lightning struck continuously!

One bolt of lightning after another struck Hozuki Mangetsu!

"The power of ninjutsu is not very great."

Hozuki Mangetsu passively endured the lightning strikes, then lowered his head and continued analyzing, "But is this technique continuous? And the attack frequency is very high..."

In just a few seconds, Hozuki Mangetsu was forced to exit his water form.

This is the flaw in the Hozuki clan's water transformation technique: once struck by lightning, the body cannot fully hydrate and is forced to reveal itself.

The giant, round water sphere, having completely lost Hozuki Mangetsu's chakra, transformed into waves that flowed into the lake, revealing the figures of Uehara Naraku and Hozuki Mangetsu.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

As the giant water sphere was about to dissipate, Hozuki Mangetsu quickly began forming hand seals and releasing his defensive ninjutsu.

The water on the ground surged up rapidly, forming a hollow water prison that was just big enough to envelop Hozuki Mangetsu, protecting him from the lightning strikes falling from the thundercloud storm.

Bolts of lightning struck the water prison one after another!

Uehara Naraku walked step by step toward Hozuki Mangetsu, watching his expression through the water prison, and finally decided to tentatively try to persuade him to surrender: "Do you want to save your brother's life? If you surrender to me now and join our organization, I will spare your life and your brother's."

"..."

Hozuki Mangetsu raised his head and looked at the vast thundercloud storm in the sky. His mind gradually calmed down, and he fell into a long silence.

If he dies here, his younger brother, Hozuki Suigetsu, who is only eight years old, will definitely not be able to survive in this cannibalistic Kirigakure.

But he also carries the legacy of revitalizing his family!

After a while, Hozuki Mangetsu slowly raised his head and looked at Uehara Naraku: "The Hozuki clan is a ninja clan that participated in the founding of Kirigakure. Our ancestor, Hozuki Gengetsu, even became the Second Mizukage of Kirigakure..."

"Oh, I know him."

Uehara Naraku shrugged and said, "I heard that when the Second Mizukage led the Hidden Mist Army to attack the Land of Fire, he failed and then went to attack the Land of Earth, only to perish together with the Second Tsuchikage..."

Not only that, their bodies were buried together before they died.

Later, they were all dug up by a tomb raider named Yakushi Kabuto.

Uehara Naraku suddenly smiled and said softly, "What does your family background have to do with your surrender? We have Uchiha clan ninjas in our organization, and the Hozuki clan doesn't seem to be particularly noble, does it?"

"Not noble."

Hozuki Mangetsu frowned, a hint of hesitation in his eyes, and said, "Only Suigetsu and I remain in the Hozuki clan. I bear the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the clan. I cannot become a rogue ninja..."

Not only can't they, they dare not.

If his older brother becomes a rogue ninja, how will his younger brother, Hozuki Suigetsu, survive in Kirigakure?

They'll definitely be killed!

As Hozuki Mangetsu spoke, he offered another solution: "If possible, I am willing to establish a superior-subordinate cooperative relationship with you, and I can even provide you with some information about the village."

Hozuki Mangetsu was genuinely worried about his younger brother, and for this reason, he even went so far as to violate his own ninja rules and become Uehara Naraku's spy within Kirigakure.

If Hozuki Mangetsu becomes the Mizukage, Uehara could potentially replace Obito Uchiha as the new behind-the-scenes controller of Kirigakure. However, Hozuki Mangetsu is destined not to live past seventeen. Should he be left in Kirigakure to die?

Furthermore, Uehara Naraku himself doesn't know illusion magic, so how can he restrain Hozuki Mangetsu?

This guy only cares about his younger brother and the revival of the family; he definitely doesn't care about anything else!

Wait, little brother?

Uehara Naraku suddenly remembered another pair of brothers in the ninja world with a peculiar relationship, and looked at Hozuki Mangetsu with a light laugh, "Do you believe your younger brother can become stronger than you? I have a way, would you like to hear it?"

"What method?"

Hozuki Mangetsu subconsciously raised his head. As an older brother, he naturally believed that his younger brother would definitely surpass him!

"You think it's appropriate to let your younger brother become a ninja seeking revenge against you..."

A malicious smile crept across Uehara Naraku's face: "Could he grow stronger at an unimaginable speed and become someone who revives the Hozuki clan? Maybe he even has a chance to become the Fifth Mizukage in the future!"

"..."

After a moment of confusion, Hozuki Mangetsu shook his head and said, "Only Suigetsu is left living in the Blood Mist. It's impossible for him to survive... Many people in the village are hostile to the Hozuki clan."

"Then entrust him to someone trustworthy."

Uehara Naraku remembered the brown-haired female ninja who had given him the biscuits and softly suggested, "Now that I've killed Yagura, the Blood Mist Village will be over soon, right? Think of a way to entrust your younger brother to that ninja named Terumi Mei from Kirigakure. Do you think she'll take good care of him?"

Mei Terumi, that woman with poor eyesight, seems to really enjoy taking care of the younger generation in Kirigakure. Chojuro, the third successor of the Hiramekarei sword, is one of the people she takes good care of.

"Mei Terumi-senpai?"

Hozuki Mangetsu's eyes suddenly lit up, but he hesitated and said, "Mei Terumi-senpai is indeed very caring towards the villagers, but she's already twenty-three years old this year, and she'll probably be getting married soon..."

"Oh, only twenty-three years old?"

Uehara Naraku recalled the time when Terumi Mei gave him the cookies; she was quite youthful and beautiful. However, this didn't stop Uehara from saying, "Don't worry about her! Even if she were thirty-two, let alone twenty-three, she still wouldn't be able to get married!"

To bolster his argument, Uehara Naraku continued, "Mei Terumi's dual bloodline limits are extremely vicious; surely no one in Kirigakure would dare marry her?"

"...Your Excellency is right."

Hozuki Mangetsu nodded unconsciously. Many ninjas who admired Terumi Mei gave up their pursuit of her after seeing her fighting style.

Mei Terumi no longer has any suitors.

Some gossipy men in the village said that it would be better to hope that Mei Terumi becomes the Mizukage than to hope that she gets married!

Hozuki Mangetsu didn't think much about Terumi Mei; he was more focused on his younger brother.

Hozuki Mangetsu looked solemnly at Uehara and pleaded, "Now please tell me, how can Suigetsu become stronger? He's actually aiming for Zabuza-senpai's level; his vision is rather short-sighted..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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Speaking of which, I've seen many people discussing Hozuki Mangetsu's strength, and it seems that they all use Hozuki Suigetsu's strength as the standard. However, if you think about the pairs of brothers in the ninja world, it's usually the older brother who is stronger and able to protect the younger brother.

Hozuki Suigetsu corresponds to Uchiha Sasuke, Hozuki Mangetsu corresponds to Uchiha Itachi, and Kishimoto Masashi corresponds to Kishimoto Seishi (yes, he is his younger brother).

Masashi Kishimoto particularly enjoys depicting the seemingly hateful yet actually close relationship between brothers. Seishi Kishimoto also has a similar trait; it's said that in his manga, the younger brother is the stronger one…

Therefore, I set Hozuki Mangetsu's strength as actually quite strong, slightly weaker than Uchiha Itachi, and similar to Hoshigaki Kisame. After all, Hozuki Mangetsu died young, so we can only speculate about Kishimoto's brother complex and older brother arrogance...

(End of this chapter)