I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

Of course, not being interested in the regular Sharingan doesn't mean he's not interested in the Mangekyou Sharingan, but he just hasn't found the right opportunity to attack Itachi. If he fails, he will be hunted down by all the Akatsuki members.

However, he didn't have time to go to the Land of Whirlpools, but he could make use of Kakuzu.

As long as a high bounty is offered on the black market, Jiao Du will naturally become a henchman, at the cost of only a small amount of money, and he has never lacked money.

Chapter 99 Naruto, Zabuza, and Hozuki Mangetsu

The next morning.

After a bounty was placed on the Uchiha clan on the black market, Orochimaru sought out an information broker in the black market to buy information about the Land of Whirlpools, but unexpectedly encountered Sasori of the Red Sand who was also buying information.

Sensing the familiar chakra, Sasori of the Red Sand turned and stared intently at Orochimaru, frowning.

His attempt to confuse Orochimaru failed, and his interest in the Sharingan was discovered, making the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

Orochimaru glanced at Sasori and chuckled, "Scorpion, you're probably not here to buy information about the Land of Whirlpools, are you? After all, the Sharingan isn't of much value to you."

After being ridiculed, Scorpion's expression turned somewhat ugly, and he began to manipulate Hiruko, which was about to make a move.

The tense atmosphere made the intelligence merchant break out in a cold sweat. He quickly said, "My lords, this intelligence is a free gift to that guy. Please calm down first."

If it were an ordinary rogue ninja, the intelligence merchant would naturally not give away the information for free.

However, one of them was Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, and the other ninja was at least of equal strength. He was very afraid that he would be caught in the crossfire of the battle between the two and die inexplicably.

Orochimaru glanced at the information merchant and said with a smile, "I've always been a ninja with principles. Here's the money for buying the information. Do you want to count it?"

The intelligence merchant, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon, was about to accept the money when the Red Sand Scorpion pierced his heart.

"Why did you kill me? I don't know anything..."

Sasori of the Red Sand, expressionless, said to Orochimaru, "Although I don't want to continue teaming up with you, we've reluctantly reached a consensus on heading to the Land of Whirlpools. Let's set off together."

After accepting the invitation, Orochimaru said meaningfully, "Scorpion, have you ever considered that this might be a trap set by Zetsu? Why would he tell us about the Uchiha clan? Is it simply because we're all members of Akatsuki?"

Sasori glanced at Orochimaru and said dismissively, "I know Zetsu is using us, but even if there are traps in the Land of Whirlpools, as long as it proves that Uchiha are active there, can you really resist the temptation of the Sharingan?"

Orochimaru nodded. He had no interest in the Uchiha clan yesterday, but he had received information from Danzo.

Among the Uchiha who escaped from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools was Uchiha Shisui, who had been missing for a year. Shisui possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan, so attacking him wouldn't violate the organization's rules.

A few hours after Orochimaru and Sasori left the black market, Jiraiya, who had gone out to look for Naruto, appeared at the scene.

He had been searching for Naruto's whereabouts through the black market, but after several months he had found nothing, so he simply left the border of the Land of Fire and went abroad to search for Naruto's whereabouts.

But as soon as they arrived in a town outside the Land of Fire, they heard the news that the black market had been destroyed.

Jiraiya frowned as he casually asked a wandering ninja nearby, because the one who destroyed the black market was none other than Orochimaru, who had defected from the village.

He originally intended to find Naruto, but unexpectedly learned about Orochimaru's whereabouts...

……

Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu were imprisoned for half a month.

Naruto finally found time to meet the two. Upon seeing Naruto, Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu both frowned, secretly cursing him as a coward.

In their eyes, Naruto possessed the strength to instantly defeat them and was capable of leading Uchiha Shisui. He must hold a high position in Konoha, yet such a powerful figure dared not reveal his true colors before them.

Sensing their thoughts, Naruto stepped forward and released part of the seal on Zabuza and Mangetsu.

Zabuza immediately shouted, "If you're going to kill me, hurry up! The proud warriors of Kirigakure will never surrender to Konoha."

Naruto glanced at Zabuza and chuckled, saying, "If you really want to die, you can commit suicide before I catch you. And who told you we're Konoha ninjas? This is the Land of Whirlpools."

"You're not Konoha ninja?"

Zabuza looked at Naruto and Shisui suspiciously, not believing them at all.

Hozuki Mangetsu, however, seemed to remember something and frowned, saying, "Could the rumors be true? Did the Uchiha really defect from Konoha?"

"Full Moon, do you really believe their nonsense?"

Hozuki Mangetsu shook his head slightly and then said, "I don't believe the enemy's words, but if Konoha really had such a powerful sealing technique master, the Fourth Hokage wouldn't have died because of the Nine-Tails' attack, and there wouldn't have been a war with Kumogakure."

Zabuza fell silent. Hozuki Mangetsu's words made a lot of sense; the other party was very likely not a Konoha ninja.

Otherwise, they should be in Konoha's Anbu right now, instead of still being in the Land of Whirlpools. He had never heard of Konoha having a powerful Jonin who was proficient in sealing techniques.

But if the opponent isn't a Konoha ninja, then it's even more terrifying.

Someone in the ninja world actually dared to take in the Uchiha clan, offending the strongest ninja village, Konoha.

After a moment's thought, Hozuki Mangetsu looked at Naruto and said, "Since you are not a Konoha ninja, why did you attack us? We have no grudge against you. Is it because you took in the Uchiha?"

"If that's the case, we can keep this secret and it will never be leaked."

Upon hearing this, not only Naruto, but even Shisui's gaze towards Hozuki Mangetsu became strange. Could this kid have some kind of intellectual problem?

“Killing you will also keep it a secret.”

Hozuki Mangetsu sighed softly, then said, "If you really wanted to kill us, you wouldn't have kept us alive until now. You must have a use for us."

Naruto nodded slightly: "You're much smarter than that guy over there."

“Zabuza is just a bit too straightforward…” After a pause, Hozuki Mangetsu continued, “Why don’t you tell us your conditions for releasing us? As long as we don’t betray the village, we can accept them.”

Naruto tapped the table and said with a smile, "Before we talk about terms, I'd like to know why you have the idea of ​​assassinating the Fourth Mizukage. That's very important."

Upon hearing this, Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu exchanged glances. Had their secret of assassinating the Mizukage been exposed?

But after seeing Shisui standing to the side, the two felt much relieved. Shisui was a master of genjutsu in Konoha. For ninjas whose brains hadn't been sealed, their memories had long been completely wiped clean, and the secret of assassinating the Mizukage was definitely not going to be kept.

However, they were more curious as to why the other party suddenly asked this question. Was it because they wanted to take the opportunity to attack Kirigakure?

They wanted to overthrow the Mizukage's rule, but they still had feelings for Kirigakure. Otherwise, they would have left Kirigakure directly and become rogue ninjas, instead of taking great risks to plot the assassination of the current Mizukage.

Chapter 100 Can you represent Kirigakure?

"Because the Fourth Hokage neglected political affairs for many years, allowing the Jonin of Kirigakure to fight for power and profit, and launched a persecution against the bloodline clans, he also lost the war against Sunagakure."

After a moment's thought, Hozuki Mangetsu listed several of the Fourth Mizukage's crimes.

If the Fourth Mizukage's order hadn't been so absurd, he and Zabuza wouldn't have considered assassinating him. After all, assassinating the Fourth Mizukage was extremely risky, and even if they succeeded, they might not become the new Mizukage, and they would easily be feared by the new Mizukage.

Upon hearing these accusations, Naruto smiled and said, "The Fourth Mizukage you all speak of seems utterly wicked and deserving of death by everyone, but I'm more curious about what benefits the Fourth Mizukage would gain from doing this."

After a pause, Naruto continued, "Think about it, the Fourth Mizukage is already the supreme ruler of Kirigakure. Kirigakure is, in principle, his private property, so there should be no need to specifically target bloodline clans."

"To put it another way, if those bloodline families really threatened his rule, he should personally lead people to kill them in their ancestral lands, instead of hiding in a corner and not even showing his face. That doesn't make sense."

“You’re right, this doesn’t make sense.”

Naruto's words silenced Hozuki Mangetsu.

He once thought that the Fourth Mizukage was incompetent and feared that the bloodline clan would threaten his rule, which was why he issued such absurd orders. But after putting himself in the Mizukage's shoes, he couldn't understand his motives for issuing these orders.

Naruto glanced at the silent Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza, and then said:

"By the way, your Fourth Hokage, when he took office as Mizukage, he shouldn't look like this now, right?"

Under Naruto's guidance, Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza fell into deep thought, as they also didn't know when the Fourth Mizukage had become the way he was now.

Seven or eight years ago, I was just a low-ranking ninja in the village and not qualified to come into contact with important figures like the Mizukage.

But they still remember a little bit of what happened.

At the time, Kirigakure was at war with Sunagakure. The Fourth Mizukage, in his capacity as Mizukage and Jinchuriki, suppressed the opposition within the village and ended the Blood Mist policy with force, which objectively alleviated the conflicts within the village.

However, just a few months later, the Fourth Mizukage suddenly issued an order to purge the bloodline ninjas and reinstated some of the Blood Mist policies, ushering in a new era of internal strife.

So what exactly happened to the Fourth Mizukage that caused such a huge change?

While Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu were puzzled, Shisui, who was standing to the side, seemed to have thought of something, and his expression changed repeatedly.

When a person suffers a major blow, their personality and life goals may change. But there is another possibility: someone may have used genjutsu to control the Fourth Mizukage and forcibly manipulated his will.

His Kotoamatsukami can do this, and other Mangekyou Sharingan should be able to as well.

So the answer seems to have emerged: the Fourth Mizukage was very likely controlled by the Sharingan, and the perpetrator was likely the masked man who created the Nine-Tails Night.

Thinking of this, Shisui looked at Naruto. Naruto must have realized this earlier than him, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically sought out these two Kirigakure prisoners half a month later...

"So what exactly caused the Fourth Mizukage's personality to change so drastically? Could it be that he is no longer the Fourth Mizukage you know, but merely a puppet being manipulated?"

Once the atmosphere was sufficiently built up, Naruto revealed the thoughts that Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza had in mind.

After being seen through, Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza's expressions became extremely solemn, because only if the Fourth Mizukage was controlled by genjutsu could his subsequent actions make sense.

However, the Fourth Mizukage was no ordinary ninja. In addition to being proficient in Water Release, he was also the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails.

Even if faced with a powerful illusion, the Three-Tails within the body can help break free from it, unless the person behind it possesses strength far exceeding that of the Mizukage.

But if all of this is true, wouldn't their plan to assassinate the Mizukage become a joke?

As long as the mastermind is still alive, and given their successful assassination, those who take power are merely new puppets, and the future of Kirigakure will remain shrouded in gloom...

Thinking of this, Zabuza felt a sense of despair.

Hozuki Mangetsu did not despair. He looked intently at Naruto. The fact that Naruto could tell them these things meant that he and Zabuza still had value to them, and that everything could still be changed.

"You're telling us this? Are you trying to get us to go back and reveal that the Mizukage has been manipulated?"

"If that's all there is to it, Uzushiogakure should be able to do it too... What exactly do you want? To completely destroy Kirigakure and then seize the Land of Water?"

Naruto glanced at Hozuki Mangetsu and said with a light laugh, "I look down on the barren land of the Land of Water. I'm only telling you this because I find it interesting. Besides, even if I didn't tell you, the higher-ups in Kirigakure should have already realized this."

Hozuki Mangetsu nodded; he knew that the high-ranking person the other party was referring to was Master Yuan.

Master Yuan was a founding member of the village and held a prestige in the village that surpassed that of the Water Shadow. However, in recent years he has stepped down from his post and no longer participates in the management of the village.

He had previously thought that Master Yuan was senile and was simply watching the Fourth Mizukage issue absurd orders.

But now it seems that Master Yuan may have discovered the person behind the scenes, so he has been quietly accumulating strength, ready to take action against the person behind the scenes at any time.

At this moment, Hozuki Mangetsu seemed to realize something and said, "The ninja who is manipulating the Mizukage behind the scenes is your enemy? So you want to use the Hidden Mist Village to eliminate this threat? You really are cunning."

Naruto shrugged and said, "It's just a little trick to use one wolf to devour another. But you Kirigakure don't have any other choice. Unless you're willing to let the Mizukage be manipulated by the person behind the scenes, you'll have to face the masked man sooner or later."

"However, if you cannot deal with the masked man, you can seek help from Uzushio Village. But if the help is not free, the price may be unacceptable to Kirigakure."

Hozuki Mangetsu became interested and then asked, "What exactly is the price?"

Naruto glanced at Hozuki Mangetsu and said calmly, "I can represent the Land of Whirlpools, but can you represent Kirigakure? When that day comes, I believe Kirigakure will offer a suitable price."