Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

Then, on the main battlefield against Iwagakure, the Third Raikage fought against an army of 10,000 Iwagakure ninjas single-handedly in order to allow his comrades to escape. He fought for three days and three nights before dying from exhaustion.

Not long after, during the battle with Konoha, the Cloud Village's formidable Abby duo was overwhelmed by Konoha's "Yellow Flash," Minato Namikaze, and had to retreat, bringing the battle to a temporary halt.

Thus, the Hidden Cloud Village, the initiator of the Third Shinobi World War, suffered a complete defeat and had no choice but to cease hostilities and retreat in disgrace.

However, the war did not end with the quiet departure of Cloud Shadow Village.

Because in just a few months, the flames of war had unknowingly spread to every corner of the ninja world.

Similarly, Iwagakure, which had been recuperating for many years, was greatly encouraged after defeating Kumogakure and killing the Third Raikage. Soon after, they assembled a large army and launched a massive invasion into the Land of Fire.

Kirigakure, which had been watching from the sidelines, finally couldn't hold back any longer and sent troops across the sea to start a war with Konoha.

Over the past few months.

While the ninja world was engulfed in fierce battles and many geniuses were making their names, Kisame was still playing the role of an ordinary Kirigakure ANBU member.

After a long search, he finally found traces of Hozuki Mangetsu.

In a large mountain 100 kilometers southwest of Wuyin Village.

Kisame walked through the forest, searching carefully.

He sensed the presence of monster cells in this place, which means that Hozuki Mangetsu is nearby.

Not long after.

Kisame found a hidden cave.

He sneaked in quietly.

After passing through a dark and long passageway, Kisame arrived deep inside the cave and discovered a spacious underground chamber.

"Ah! It hurts, it hurts... Please spare me, ah..." From the secret room came someone's screams, mixed with pleas for mercy.

That familiar voice—it was indeed Hozuki Mangetsu.

Kisame hid in the darkness, trying his best to conceal his presence, and looked into the secret room.

A white slime was trapped inside a semi-transparent glass container, taller than a person. The outer wall of the container was covered with some kind of mysterious sealing spell, constantly emitting an eerie red light.

Under the red light, the slime inside the bottle melted like snow, as if scorched by intense sunlight, unable to gather any power.

Only its mouth remained unmelted, constantly wailing and begging for mercy.

The person Hozuki Mangetsu begged for mercy from was a strange creature that was entirely white, especially its face, which had no facial features but instead appeared as a vortex.

Whirlpool White Zetsu, A Fei.

Kisame recognized the other party at a glance; it was the most unique-looking of the White Zetsu clones and possessed immense power.

Tobi is Madara Uchiha's subordinate.

"Oh dear, it's no use begging me. Who told you to be so curious and find this place? As a result, you got caught by Lord Madara, didn't you? But speaking of which, your body is even more amazing than mine. Even Lord Madara couldn't kill you. It's truly incredible."

Ah Fei, with his butt sticking out, peered through the glass at the full moon of the ghost lantern inside the container, his face full of surprise.

It turned out to be the case.

From the chattering of the talkative Afei, Kisame quickly figured out what was going on.

Hozuki Mangetsu never gave up investigating the death of the Third Mizukage. Eventually, he discovered a clue and found the hiding place of the mastermind, Uchiha Madara.

He was defeated and became a prisoner.

anyway.

Kisame only saw Tobi in this cave, but found no trace of Madara. What happened?

He frowned, carefully recalling the plot of the original work.

After the battle at the Valley of the End, Madara Uchiha faked his death to escape Konoha and hid underground.

According to Kisame's speculation, Madara's hiding place could not possibly be near Kirigakure.

There are two reasons.

Firstly, Madara transplanted the Rinnegan to Nagato in his childhood, and he must have been monitoring the latter for a long time, so the place where he was hiding must not be far from the Land of Rain.

Secondly, during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Madara accidentally rescued Obito Uchiha, who had fallen into the tunnel. Kannabi Bridge was a crucial supply route for Iwagakure during their attack on Konoha.

Therefore, judging from the map, Madara's hiding place is most likely in the northwest of Konoha Village, somewhere in the border area between the Land of Fire, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Grass.

Then the problem is coming.

In his old age, Madara Uchiha's life was like a candle flickering in the wind. He was very inconvenient to move around and had to be connected to tubes and rely on the Gedo Mazo to prolong his life.

Under such circumstances, how did he manage to manipulate the Hidden Mist ANBU, who were thousands of miles away, to order them to capture Nohara Rin, implant the Three-Tails into her body, and place a cursed seal on her heart?

Madara Uchiha must have used some method.

The most likely possibility Kisame could think of was... the Shadow Clone Technique.

After all, while Madara was lurking underground, he discovered a large number of White Zetsu clones under the covert guidance of Black Zetsu. Using these White Zetsu and the power of the Sharingan, it wouldn't have been difficult for Madara to create a clone or puppet for use in the outside world.

Regardless.

Kisame did not intend to make any rash moves before seeing Madara himself or his clone, lest he alert Madara.

Now that we've discovered the cave, all we need to do is wait patiently.

Once the battle at Kannabi Bridge breaks out, Madara Uchiha will definitely take action.

Thinking of this, Kisame glanced at Tobi and Hozuki Mangetsu in the secret chamber, and quietly left the cave.

……

Some time passed.

News has arrived that during the decisive battle between Konoha and Iwagakure, the Kannabi Bridge was blown up, and "Yellow Flash" Minato Namikaze once again demonstrated his power, instantly killing dozens of Iwagakure ninja.

Under the intimidation of Minato Namikaze's name, the Iwagakure army was terrified and quickly withdrew from the Land of Fire.

Konoha won a great victory.

In this way, Konoha Village had defeated two powerful enemies, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, in the Third Shinobi World War.

Such a strong performance caused the Sand Village, which had been eager to wage war, to abandon its plans. The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, even changed his tune and personally visited Hiruzen Sarutobi in Konoha, hoping that the two great ninja villages could form an alliance to jointly maintain peace in the ninja world.

At this point, Konoha's last enemy was Kirigakure to the west.

Kisame was lurking near the cave.

He speculated that Madara Uchiha should have already rescued Obito by now, so the plan to kidnap Rin Nohara would probably begin soon.

really.

A few days later, a figure appeared in the woods.

To Kisame's surprise, the man had green hair and purple eyes, was short in stature, and carried a rod-shaped weapon decorated with green flowers on his back.

This man with a baby face and who looks very young is the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure—Yagura Karatachi.

The reason Yagura is here is because his eyes have been transformed into Sharingan patterns.

It seems that the Fourth Mizukage could not escape the fate of his predecessor and was also manipulated by Madara Uchiha using genjutsu.

Yagura, like a walking corpse, walked through the woods with a numb expression and arrived at the cave.

A man dressed in a long black robe slowly emerged from the cave. As he pulled back his hood, he revealed an arrogant face and a pair of scarlet Sharingan eyes.

So it really is... a clone of Madara Uchiha?

Kisame witnessed this scene from the shadows and his spirits lifted. The reason he was certain the man in black was Madara's clone wasn't because of the man's Sharingan, but because of the flame fan on the man's back.

Yes, a flame fan.

Kisame finally saw the ninja tool he had been dreaming of.

He calmed himself down and continued to wait patiently.

In front of the cave, Madara Uchiha gave a few instructions to Yagura Karatachi and activated his Sharingan again, strengthening his control over the latter's genjutsu.

Then, Ban entered the cave.

Yagura turned around, his Sharingan vanished, and without a word, headed towards Kirigakure.

"Tsk tsk, this Yagura Karatachi must be the most pitiful Mizukage ever," Kisame thought to himself.

During Yagura's tenure, he was first manipulated by Madara using his Sharingan, and later gained temporary freedom after Madara's suicide. However, a few years later, Obito returned to Kirigakure and once again manipulated the Mizukage with genjutsu, making him a puppet of the Sharingan twice.

After some deliberation, Kisame followed Yagura Karatachi and returned to Kirigakure.

The day.

After returning to the village, Yagura immediately dispatched a large number of ANBU ninjas to carry out a secret operation.

Without a doubt, these people are going to Konoha to capture Nohara Rin.

On the surface, they acted on the orders of the Fourth Mizukage, but in reality, they were all pawns of Madara Uchiha.

Kisame immediately found his superior, Fuguki, and reported what he had seen, embellishing the story and claiming that the Fourth Mizukage was colluding with an enemy and was betraying the village.

"Lord Fuguki, for the sake of Kirigakure's future, please stop the Fourth Mizukage!"

Kisame bowed deeply to the pufferfish demon, pleading anxiously.

"The Fourth Mizukage would actually do something like this?"

Upon hearing this, the pufferfish demon frowned, initially disbelieving Kisame's explanation.

But at that moment, an ANBU ninja rushed in and reported to him the unusual movements of the Kirigakure ANBU, which were exactly the same as what Kisame had said.

Upon hearing this, the pufferfish demon's expression finally turned serious. After a moment of contemplation, he gave the order to Kisame:

"Kisame Hoshigaki, I order you to immediately follow those ANBU ninjas, find out where they're going, and what they're planning to do. Contact me immediately if you make any new discoveries!"

"Yes, sir! I will definitely complete the mission."

Kisame straightened up, his face grim, and quickly turned and left.

A glint flashed in the pufferfish demon's eyes, and he immediately gathered his trusted followers, preparing to launch an operation.

If Yagura Karatachi is indeed colluding with an enemy and is caught red-handed, then his position as the Fourth Mizukage will be over.

At that time, he, the Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Demon, will be able to take his place.

Thinking of this, the pufferfish demon gripped his greatsword Samehada tighter, his heart gradually becoming restless.