The world I hear is completely different from yours.

The leader of the Kirigakure ninjas grew increasingly impatient, but perhaps due to orders from the Kirigakure village, he still coldly explained, "The past is the past. The rules have changed. Everyone, assemble here immediately!"

Unable to fight city hall, the caravan leader could only force a smile and order everyone on board to come to the deck for inspection. Just as people were heading to the deck and the scene became somewhat chaotic, the young man from earlier, taking advantage of the distraction, leaped off the ship and ran towards the Hidden Mist Village.

"An enemy! Seize him!" A dozen or so Mist Ninjas immediately noticed the anomaly and shouted, but none of them gave chase. Instead, they spread out and surrounded the people on the cargo ship to prevent others from escaping in the chaos.

"Something's not right! There must be an ambush in the village!" Tian Qing immediately realized. It seemed that Kirigakure must have made very strict arrangements to prevent spies from various major countries from infiltrating the village. They were even willing to risk offending many trading caravans. It seemed that something shady had indeed happened in Kirigakure, which was why they were so vigilant.

Sure enough, a moment later, a tall Jonin walked from the direction of Kirigakure, dragging the corpse of the spy in his hand, and walked arrogantly toward the dock, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.

P.S. Bonus chapter for monthly pass subscribers. Just got home, sorry.

Chapter Two: Offering people delicious food is a basic skill of spies.

The ninja dressed as a Jonin walked past the crowd as if no one else was there, and threw the corpse he was dragging into the sea in front of the dock. The body floated on the surface for a while before being torn to shreds by a group of sharks attracted by the smell of blood, leaving only a large patch of blood on the sea surface.

"Doing such a bloody thing in front of the caravan, is this a warning to other caravans not to carry spies from other countries in the future?" Tian Qing knew very well that all the major powers knew that there were spies in the caravans that came to do business, but most of them turned a blind eye. As long as the spies did not go too far, they could basically leave safely. After all, every country stuffed spies into the caravans in this way. It's better to leave a way out for others in the future.

However, the Hidden Mist Village has completely broken this tacit understanding. It seems that the caravan spies sent by the Hidden Mist Village itself will not have a good ending in the future.

Unless Kirigakure decides to stop sending spies to other countries in the future? Ame suddenly realized something. According to Konoha's intelligence, Kirigakure's intelligence personnel in other regions have recently begun to withdraw, as if they are going to completely abandon intelligence work with the outside world.

In the original work, Kishimoto only mentioned that Kirigakure had stopped diplomatic relations with other countries. Unexpectedly, Kirigakure even stopped collecting intelligence from the outside world. It should be noted that intelligence is the second lifeline of ninjas. The Third Mizukage's move was really ruthless. Was he trying to create an otherworldly version of isolationism?

While Tianqing was secretly speculating, the Mist Ninja finished inspecting the caravan. Tianqing's identity was found to be without issue, and she passed through safely.

Konoha's intelligence department is indeed capable. Tensei's current identity is not fictitious. To maintain this identity, Konoha has assigned at least three genin to impersonate him and carry out various daily activities. Therefore, everything looks flawless. Most importantly, this caravan was secretly funded by Konoha. Although the ordinary people in the caravan are completely unaware, everything in the caravan is under Konoha's control. There is even another chunin from Konoha mixed in with the caravan at this moment.

Therefore, Tian Qing had just mentally given the middle finger to the murdered spy with great contempt. You young people are still too young and unprofessional!

After unloading the goods, the caravan's cargo ship left the dock and returned to the opposite shore under the watchful eyes of a large number of Mist Ninja.

Meanwhile, Tenqing had already infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village and was watching the cargo ship sail away. Her companions in the caravan would cover for her afterward, but now Tenqing was all alone.

The Kirigakure defenses set up behind the thick fog were nothing to Tenqing, a near-Kage level ninja. Tenqing easily found a villager's house where a single person lived. After performing a minor genjutsu, Tenqing officially became a villager of Kirigakure.

Wearing the clothes of a Kirigakure villager and sporting the face of one, Ame walked out of her house and headed towards the center of the village, where the villager ran an ordinary noodle shop.

This villager didn't know much, only that after the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage died together, the village ninjas seemed to have a dispute over the selection of the Third Mizukage, which eventually led to a fight. As a result, the village was placed under martial law, prohibiting villagers from going out, until the Third Mizukage took office and things returned to normal.

It seems we still need to find some higher-level intelligence sources, Tian Qing secretly decided. However, the most important thing right now is to play our role well.

Then Tianqing opened the shop door, and the noodle shop officially opened for business. Come on, let me show you my instant noodle skills honed over ten years. Back in my previous life, Tianqing ate instant noodles for almost ten years in the orphanage, and developed a set of amazing skills. Steamed instant noodles, boiled instant noodles, fried instant noodles, pickled instant noodles—there's nothing I can't do!

There weren't many customers in the shop. In the memory of this villager from the Mist Village, his noodle shop usually only had a handful of regular customers who would patronize it. Among them was a male genin from the Mist Village who liked to eat boiled noodles.

However, Tianqing waited for a long time but did not see the regular genin. Perhaps he had a mission today? Just as Tianqing was lamenting that her luck was not good today, a female genin walked into the shop and ordered a bowl of noodles.

The young female ninja sat alone in the corner, eating her boiled noodles with a forlorn expression. As she ate, large tears streamed down her face and dripped into her bowl: "Is this the noodles he likes? It's quite delicious, a little salty."

Tianqing looked at the crying female ninja and silently activated his listening ability, listening to the female ninja's headband recount the mission her master had recently received.

Just recently, the Third Mizukage issued an order requiring all the genin of Kirigakure to fight each other, with only the survivors eligible to become ninjas. This order immediately sparked discontent among many genin, but the village's stance was unusually firm, even deploying Kirigakure's ANBU to execute many ninjas who refused to fight.

The opponent assigned to the female ninja was a male genin who loved boiled noodles and was also her lover. While the female ninja hesitated, the male genin ended his life with a bitter smile.

The Hidden Mist Village has a formal name for this policy of requiring its ninjas to fight each other: the Blood Mist Policy.

P.S. We've now entered a new chapter. Updates are back to normal, one update per day, with extra updates depending on recommendations and collections.

I've been reading about ancient Egypt lately. I suddenly discovered something quite odd: ancient Egyptian nobles, both men and women, were required to shave their hair, both on their upper and lower body.

The key point is that ancient Egypt only had bronze tools at that time. Imagine the terrifying scene of a barber using a dull bronze knife to saw back and forth under you, and when he couldn't saw it, he used tweezers to pull it out.

So I strongly advise all my female compatriots not to travel back in time to ancient Egypt, or you'll regret it. (laughs)

Chapter Three: The Deposed Crown Prince's Return to Power

Tian Qing scoffed at this so-called Blood Mist policy, thinking it was nothing more than raising Gu worms. By killing each other, the strong would emerge, thus reducing the number of their own ninjas and improving their quality.

The problem is that ninjas are human beings, people with feelings, not just venomous insects that act on instinct.

How much sense of belonging can a strong person cultivated in this way have to the village? Moreover, this extreme method is even more cruel to those ninjas who achieve great things later in life. These people don't even have the opportunity to grow before they become fertilizer in the ground. Those who survive are only concerned with survival and use all kinds of methods to squeeze out their potential to increase their strength without any regard for the side effects. How can such ninjas have any future growth?

Tianqing felt that the Third Mizukage, who proposed this policy, was the biggest traitor in Kirigakure.

However, that's a matter concerning the Hidden Mist Village. Right now, Ame is just a noodle shop owner.

Tianqing's instant noodle-making skills were indeed impressive; everyone who came to eat there felt that the proprietress's cooking had improved. As the noodle shop's business gradually improved, within half a month, some ninjas began to come and try it out, providing Tianqing with more information.

As a listener, Tianqing didn't need to painstakingly search for intelligence like other spies. All she needed to do was have someone with information come to her side. These informants' personal belongings would naturally reveal everything about their owners. Tianqing only needed to sift through the information and memorize the useful details. Only ninjas with high sensory perception could subtly detect anything amiss.

From the few words and clues found on the items on these ninjas, Tensei became increasingly curious about the Third Mizukage.

It is said that this Third Mizukage once accompanied the First Mizukage to the Five Kage Summit convened by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

At that time, the five First Kage sat in a circle around a table for a meeting, and behind each of them stood a young man. These young men were the successors that the First Kage had chosen for the future. Behind the First Hokage stood Tobirama Senju, and behind the First Mizukage stood a man named Sano.

As time passed, all the young people who stood behind the first Kage took over the position after the first Kage passed away, except for Sano.

For some reason, after the First Mizukage passed away, Sano did not become the Second Mizukage; someone else became the Second Mizukage.

However, Sano clearly did not give up, and finally, many years later, he appeared before everyone as the Third Mizukage.

After gathering the information, Amemori looked puzzled. The experiences of this Third Mizukage named Sano were indeed quite tortuous. However, Amemori also had some questions. Generally speaking, if a candidate for the Second Mizukage who had been dismissed was able to become the Third Mizukage, it meant that this person should have extremely strong strength and a high reputation. However, Sano's situation was not like that.

In the competition for the third Mizukage with several other seeded players, Sano's strength and reputation were only slightly ahead, without an overwhelming advantage. It was only because the other seeded players made various unexpected mistakes and errors during the election process that Sano was finally able to ascend to the throne of Mizukage.

Moreover, in the early stages of the election, there were even rumors in the village that Sano colluded with people from other villages and used their power to suppress other promising players. Although the village leaders at the time eventually dismissed this rumor as false, now that I hear it, I feel that the rumor is not so simple.

A few days later, one night, Tian Qing closed the shop, changed into the uniform of the Konoha Anbu, and prepared to head towards the central area of ​​Kirigakure.

Over the past few days, Tian Qing has basically ascertained the situation in Kirigakure. Combining the intelligence she has gathered with the subtle descriptions in the original work, she has formed a basic hypothesis. Next, she plans to further verify this idea and obtain some evidence.

P.S. Bonus chapter for today's monthly pass... I'll make up for the missed chapters later...

Furthermore, the description of this Third Mizukage is not something I made up; the original work provides several rather subtle panels about him.

I started watching Kemono Friends today, and after watching a few episodes and getting used to the art style, I'm completely hooked.

Chapter Four: Experience the magical girls' way of making friends—the power of connecting hearts through cannon fire.

Late at night, Tian Qing, wearing the Hollow Mask, crouched in a dark corner outside the Mizukage's office building, waiting for the opportunity for the guard ninjas stationed nearby to change shifts.

According to information gathered in recent days, the Third Mizukage, Sano, has not returned home since taking office, but has been living in the Mizukage office building. Therefore, he is regarded by the villagers as a hardworking leader.

"Actually, they're probably afraid of being assassinated. After all, the security in the office building is much tighter," Tianqing thought maliciously. In the past few days, Tianqing had seen far too many ninjas who were dissatisfied with the Blood Mist policy proposed by the Third Mizukage.

Taking advantage of the poor visibility when the guard ninja was going through the handover procedures with another ninja who came to relieve him, Tianqing leaped over and pounced.

"Quick Sage Mode!"

After years of training, Tian Qing no longer needs the aid of scrolls and can quickly enter Sage Mode on her own. At the same time, the speed and power boost that Sage Mode brings to Tian Qing has also increased significantly. In just an instant, Tian Qing silently stunned the two guard ninjas. With her previous Sage Mode, she could not have achieved such speed.

To conserve chakra, after defeating the enemy, Ameyoshi deactivated Sage Mode and then set up a small mechanism to make the unconscious guards appear as if they were still on duty. This way, at least from a distance, nothing would be noticeable, allowing her to buy herself as much time as possible.

After sneaking into the Shuiying Building, Tian Qing tiptoed toward the Shuiying's office.

According to intelligence, the Third Mizukage is protected by about ten Jonin who take turns guarding him 24 hours a day to ensure his safety. Therefore, it is completely impossible to get close to the Mizukage without alerting others.

Unfortunately, they never expected that Tianqing had no intention of getting close to Shuiying.

Entering a small room some distance from the Mizukage's office, Ameyoshi peeked through the window at the brightly lit office, where shadowy figures moved about. She wondered if the Third Mizukage, Sano, was still inside.

"It's about time, isn't it?" Tian Qing estimated the time and began setting up barrier puppets in the four corners of the room.

These barrier puppets were developed by Konoha's barrier team and Tensei, and they come in sets of four. Each puppet is covered with inscriptions, and by placing them in the four corners of a room, a small barrier can be temporarily created. This barrier can eliminate sound and chakra fluctuations within the barrier, ensuring that all sounds and chakra fluctuations emitted from within the barrier will not be transmitted, thus guaranteeing the secrecy of actions.

Just seconds after Tian Qing finished setting up the barrier, a pre-arranged mechanism in a house directly opposite the Mizukage's office building began to operate. A recorder started playing a voice that Tian Qing had recorded beforehand. This voice was amplified by more than a dozen loudspeakers set up outside the house and resounded throughout the sky above Kirigakure.

"Third Mizukage Sano, is the Third Mizukage Sano here? You dare to take my seat? You dare to open the door? I know you're home!!" The girl's sweet voice echoed repeatedly throughout Kirigakure. Amplified by more than a dozen loudspeakers, the deafening sound shattered the dreams of countless people. The content of her words left them dumbfounded. What did she mean?

"What are you all standing there for? Go check it out!" A squad leader shouted at his men before rushing off towards the Mizukage's office.

"Oh, yes!" The Mist Ninja, regaining their senses, rushed toward the source of the voice, like a group of hornets whose nest had been disturbed.

At the same time, the Third Mizukage heard the noise outside, opened the office window, and stood by the window looking at the commotion in the distance, seemingly pondering what was going on and why someone had suddenly mentioned his name.

Upon seeing the figure standing by the window, Ame finally confirmed the location of the Third Mizukage, and then she drew her serpent sword.

If you want to confirm your previous guess, just shoot this mysterious Third Mizukage and you'll know!

"Enter Sage Mode!"

Instantly, a large amount of Sage Chakra surged from Tensei's body.

"Boiling Bone Cannon, prepare for long-range artillery fire!"

Tian Qingping held the snake-shaped sword upright, its blade stretched straight, and activated the artillery mode!

"Chakra charging begins!"

A dazzling light gathered within the serpentine sword, while the radiant glow and intense chakra fluctuations emitted were absorbed by the newly set up barrier, with not a trace leaking out. From the outside, the small room appeared as peaceful and serene as ever.

Tianqing looked at the Third Mizukage from afar. "You know what? In a certain Time and Space Administration Bureau, those magical girls use cannons to connect and make friends. So, Third Mizukage, would you like to be my friend?"

P.S. Do you also like magical girl fanfends?

Speaking of which, it seems the movie for the original Magical Girl Sakura Kinomoto has been released? Honestly, it's been so long, and I only just realized that Tomoyo's feelings for Sakura were like that... I was so innocent back then.

Chapter 5: Fired and Ran Away – So Exciting!

"Celestial Art: Baboon Bone Cannon!!"

A large amount of Sage Chakra flowed out from Tensei's body, then compressed and gathered in the bone rings of the snake-shaped sword before roaring out. The large mouth at the front of the snake-shaped sword opened, aiming without hesitation at the Third Mizukage Sano, who was standing by the office window in the distance.

"emission!!"

"Boom!!" The dazzling white light pierced through the surrounding silencing barrier in an instant, and then a huge sound erupted. However, before the roar could reach the ears of others, the dazzling white light had already shot straight toward the Third Mizukage in the distance at a speed far exceeding the speed of sound.

The moment the shelling began, Sano suddenly felt a surge of immense fear. His inner alarm bells rang, and without a second thought, he immediately prepared to lie down.

He had no doubt about his intuition, which had saved him many times on the battlefield. Even if his intuition was wrong this time and he suddenly lay on the ground covered in dust, so what? Losing face was better than possibly losing his life.

But with the terrifying firing speed of the baboon bone cannon, how could a mere human being's subconscious movements possibly have enough time to dodge it?

The Third Mizukage underestimated the speed and power of the Baboon Bone Cannon enhanced by Sage Chakra, and overestimated his own reaction speed, for which he paid a heavy price.

This baboon bone cannon shot shattered half of his body.

The sudden burst of white light was so intense that it irritated everyone's eyes. It took three breaths after the dazzling light disappeared for their vision to gradually return to normal.

Then the Jonin present witnessed a sight they would never forget: the left half of their Third Mizukage's body above the waist had completely disappeared, and the pulsating internal organs could be faintly seen inside the huge cross-section wound on his body.

The instantaneous high temperature generated by the baboon bone cannon evaporated half of the Third Mizukage's body, and at the same time, it temporarily solidified the blood on the cut surface of the wound, stopping the bleeding. Therefore, the blood behind the wound did not gush out all at once, which allowed the Third Mizukage to retain his life for a moment.

The Third Mizukage seemed not to understand what was happening. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his damaged vocal cords prevented him from making a sound. Then, an immense pain swept over him, pulling his consciousness into darkness.

As his consciousness faded, his severely unbalanced body, missing half of its length, fell backward, tearing open the thin layer of congealed blood on the massive wound. Blood gushed out, a spray of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, flowing across the ground.