They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 34 Team

"New Moon, I bet you don't have a fish on your rod!"

"Oh? You are not a fish, how do you know if a fish wants to be caught on my rod?"

"I am not a fish, so of course I don't know if the fish will take your bait, but I have faith in your skills."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! A fisherman will never go home empty-handed!"

On this rare sunny day, Hozuki Shingetsu put aside his personal training and the many affairs of the Foreign Affairs Department, and gathered with his friends outside Kirigakure to play and relax together.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hozuki Shingetsu finally got to show off his fishing skills, only to be ridiculed by his friends as expected.

"You'll never go home empty-handed, but you can catch anything except fish." Yukinagi from the Yuki clan mercilessly exposed Hozuki Shingetsu's secret.

Yukinagi is the daughter of the current head of the Yukino clan. Due to the relationship between her fathers, she has known Hozuki Shingetsu since childhood.

At this moment, this long-legged beauty with silver-white hair reminiscent of a Japanese attack character was eating grilled fish while trampling on the poor fisherman's dignity, Hozuki Shingetsu.

Hozuki Shingetsu flew into a rage, muttering incoherently, "Why can't something that swims in the water be called a fish?", "It must be bad feng shui here", and "a bad fish can't eat fine chaff", etc., filling the area with a joyful atmosphere.

All I can say is that his innate Air Force divine body is terrifyingly powerful.

After some playful banter and teasing, the conversation gradually turned to Hozuki Shingetsu.

"Speaking of Shingetsu, your reputation in the ninja world is truly legendary. Even in a small place like the Land of Snow, I heard rumors about you when I was on my last mission," Yagura Karatachi said with a smile, starting the conversation.

The future Fourth Mizukage, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki who truly brought the village to its former glory as the "Village of the Bloody Mist," is also a young boy. Born into the Karatachi clan, who are skilled in the Mizukage technique, he has maintained a close relationship with Hozuki Shingetsu and his companions ever since Hozuki Shingetsu came to his door six years ago, despite Shingetsu's relentless harassment.

Yukinagi, Yagura Karatachi, and Ao—these are the most talented ninjas Hozuki Shingetsu was able to recruit from the younger generation of Kirigakure.

The other genius ninjas of Kirigakure are either too young, such as Kisame Hoshigaki and Mei Terumi, who will be born next year; or their identities are unsuitable, such as Kaguya Guy, a genius from the Kaguya clan.

Having just transmigrated and determined his ambition to unify the ninja world, Hozuki Shingetsu began to build his own team. In addition to the three core members present, there were also some commoners or ninjas from smaller clans who had been sponsored by the Hozuki clan.

These ninjas were selected from among the genin who possessed at least some exceptional jonin talent, and were personally tested by Hozuki Shingetsu.

Hozuki Shingetsu knew that many people didn't lack talent, but rather the corresponding ninjutsu. In this era where ninjutsu was monopolized by various ninja clans, the number of ninjutsu available for these ninjas to learn was pitifully small. These common ninjutsu were not only ineffective, but also had almost zero versatility.

If a ninja is compatible with these ninjutsu, that's fine. But if the chakra nature doesn't match or the talent tree is misplaced, then this low-level ninja is generally destined to stay at the bottom for life. Gold will always shine, but it also needs a ray of sunshine, and Hozuki Shingetsu is the sun above them.

To this end, Hozuki Shingetsu also set up a contribution point system. As long as these ninjas pass the various tests he sets, they can obtain ninja tools, money, and all types of ninjutsu, including B-rank ninjutsu.

In this way, Hozuki Shingetsu cultivated a group of talented low-level ninjas, who could even be called "Lord Mengchang of the Ninja World".

Of course, to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Ren and Kaguya clans, most of these people have now been placed by Hozuki Shingetsu in major transportation cities throughout the ninja world. The reason why those rumors were able to spread so quickly was largely due to these people.

Just kidding! The person who gets the most publicity gets to exchange for a C-rank ninjutsu. How could these low-ranking ninjas miss that? Don't think C-rank ninjutsu is bad; according to the ninja rank system, C-rank ninjutsu corresponds to the learning difficulty of Chunin. Just by doing these things, you can exchange for it—it's a huge win!

"New Moon, you've been so high-profile lately, are you about to launch your plan?" Yukinagi looks like a delicate and beautiful girl, but her carefree nature is revealed as soon as she opens her mouth.

"The time is not yet ripe." Hozuki Shingetsu shook his head, signaling his friend not to rush.

Since he was grooming the three as his core members, they were all aware of his ambitions. Of course, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, Hozuki Shingetsu only told them that he wanted to become the Mizukage and lead Kirigakure to dominate the ninja world.

They were not informed of the further possibility of combining Kirigakure with the Land of Water, and that military power would be unified by a single force in the ninja world—a possibility that seemed like a pipe dream to them.

"Damn it! It's heartbreaking to see the village decline day by day under that incompetent Ren's leadership." Yagura Karatachi looked at the village in the distance and angrily slammed his fist on the ground.

The others were already used to this situation. If there was anyone among them who truly loved the village, it would be Yagura Karatachi. Ao and Yukinagi were only thinking about fighting the Mizukage and developing the village because of Hozuki Shingetsu, but Yagura Karatachi was different; he genuinely loved Kirigakure.

This can be seen from the fact that he was able to voluntarily apply to become the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki and successfully influence the Three-Tails to become a perfect Jinchūriki.

When they first met, Hozuki Shingetsu's words, "Those who eat meat are base and incapable of long-term planning," stirred his blood, and he almost rushed to the Mizukage Building to kill the Mizukage on the spot. After being dissuaded by Hozuki Shingetsu, he turned to his father, the head of the Karatachi clan, and asked him to step down, implying that he, as a "meat-eater," could not lead the clan to progress and should abdicate and give way to a more worthy person.

Well, it was only because Hozuki Shingetsu was around that time, otherwise Yagura would have become Okura.

"Nagi and Yagura, get ready, we expect to be going on a mission soon."

Before Hozuki Shingetsu was promoted to Jonin, he always formed a three-person team with Yagura Karatachi and Yukinagi. Yagura Karatachi was proficient in the various clans' Water Mirror techniques, while Yukinagi had developed her clan's Bloodline Ice Release to a certain level. Now, the two, who were the same age as Hozuki Shingetsu, had both just reached the threshold of Jonin. If he really had to go on a mission to Uzushio Village in a while, it would be better for him to stay with his well-coordinated partners just in case.

As for Ao, being of commoner origin, despite having Hozuki Shingetsu's help, he was limited by his family and age and was unable to form a team with the three.

(End of this chapter)