Naruto: Multiverse Character Templates

After Raiga died, the remaining four Kirigakure shinobi did not hold out for long before they were killed by the guardian shinobi.

Hiruko whistled, and the giant bird in the sky descended.

He hurried forward and helped the daimyo of the Land of Water down.

"Can anyone tell me why Raiga Kurosuki suddenly attacked me?"

The daimyo looked at Raiga's corpse, his expression as dark as storm clouds.

The twelve guardian shinobi looked at one another, but none of them could answer.

If it had been an ordinary Kirigakure shinobi, they could have said he might have been a spy from another shinobi village.

But Raiga was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. It was impossible for him to be a spy from another shinobi village.

Were they supposed to say that the Third Mizukage had ordered it?

"Immediately send word to the Third Mizukage. I need an explanation."

The daimyo did not make things difficult for them and spoke coldly.

"Yes, Daimyo-sama!"

The twelve guardian shinobi answered in unison.

"Daimyo-sama."

Hiruko suddenly spoke. "I suggest issuing another order. Do not allow the Third Mizukage to come to the metropolis."

"You are right."

The daimyo paused slightly, then agreed.

Raiga had tried to assassinate him, and the greatest suspect was the Third Mizukage.

"Who are you?"

The daimyo exhaled, calmed himself slightly, then looked at Hiruko.

Hiruko immediately told him his background truthfully.

Because he had performed human experiments, he had become a missing-nin of Konoha.

But he had not given up on his research.

It was just that experiments consumed too much money.

Because he had no money, he had come to the Land of Water metropolis, hoping to earn some.

After hearing the sounds of battle, he had rushed to the daimyo's estate.

"So, you saved me because you want to serve under me?"

After listening, the daimyo asked.

"That is correct."

Hiruko nodded and admitted it.

The daimyo looked at the twelve guardian shinobi.

"There is indeed a Konoha missing-nin named Hiruko."

One guardian shinobi immediately said.

The daimyo nodded slightly.

Since Hiruko's words were true, he could indeed be used.

"Join my guardian shinobi, and I will provide you with funding."

The daimyo thought for a moment and said.

"Thank you, Daimyo-sama!"

Hiruko immediately said gratefully.

"The estate has been destroyed. We will go to the secondary residence first."

The daimyo looked at the ruined estate and said.

Under his lead, everyone went to the secondary residence, a slightly smaller daimyo estate.

Time arrived at the next day.

The Mizukage building in Kirigakure.

"What did you say?"

The Third Mizukage looked at the daimyo's envoy before him with a confused expression.

"Although you are the daimyo's envoy, you still cannot speak nonsense!"

Yagura Karatachi warned.

"Mizukage-sama, this matter is absolutely true."

The daimyo's envoy said in a deep voice, "Raiga Kurosuki attempted to assassinate the daimyo last night and has already been killed by the guardian shinobi."

"This is absurd!"

Genji tightened his grip on his cane and asked, "Why would Raiga assassinate the daimyo?"

"That is exactly what the daimyo wishes to know."

The envoy relayed, "The daimyo said he needs a reasonable explanation."

"What exactly is going on?"

Ryōgetsu Hōzuki said in confusion, "Although Raiga acted strangely at times, he was an excellent shinobi. He would never..."

At this point, he suddenly stopped.

Because those words sounded as though he were saying Raiga's assassination attempt had been ordered by the Third Mizukage.

"No matter what happened, Kirigakure would never assassinate the daimyo."

The Third Mizukage took a deep breath and said, "I will personally go to the metropolis to investigate this matter."

"Mizukage-sama, the daimyo said you are not allowed to go to the metropolis."

The envoy immediately said.

The Third Mizukage's expression instantly stiffened.

The daimyo of the Land of Water clearly no longer trusted him, and even believed that this matter had been ordered by him.

But he had no proof to defend himself.

"Then I will go."

Seeing this, Genji quickly spoke.

"Elder Genji, I will trouble you. You must prove Kirigakure's innocence."

The Third Mizukage suppressed the emotions in his heart and said.

No matter what attitude the daimyo of the Land of Water had, they could not break with him.

Once they did, without financial support, Kirigakure would struggle to continue developing.

"I understand."

Genji said with a serious expression.

"Envoy, go rest for now. Tomorrow, Elder Genji will return to the metropolis with you."

The Third Mizukage looked at the envoy and said.

The envoy bowed slightly and turned to leave.

"Ryōgetsu, summon the Lightning Swords, Kiba, immediately."

The Third Mizukage ordered.

Ryōgetsu opened the ninja sword summoning scroll.

He formed hand seals with both hands and pressed them onto the scroll.

A burst of smoke passed, but nothing appeared.

"As expected."

The Third Mizukage narrowed his eyes and said, "The assassination of the daimyo cannot be unrelated to the Kuja Pirates."

He understood the twelve guardian shinobi of the daimyo of the Land of Water.

None of them were skilled in sealing techniques.

Especially sealing techniques capable of blocking the Summoning Technique, which were even rarer.

Only the five great shinobi villages possessed sealing techniques with similar effects.

"If the daimyo cuts off funding to Kirigakure because of this, the other shinobi villages can take advantage of the chaos and start a war."

The Third Mizukage continued.

"Which shinobi village would break the rules like this? They actually dared to target a daimyo?"

Genji frowned and asked.

Not attacking a daimyo was an unwritten rule among all shinobi.

Once someone broke this rule, the next shinobi world war would become even more dangerous.

After all, there would definitely be people who tried to directly assassinate the daimyo of the five great nations.

"The shinobi village most likely to have this kind of boldness is Kumogakure."

Yagura thought for a moment and said.

Everyone agreed.

"We must take precautions."

The Third Mizukage rubbed his brow and said, "Sitting around and waiting to die is not our style."

"Mizukage-sama, I am willing to go."

Yagura immediately said.

"Good. Tomorrow, take people and patrol the sea region where the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water meet. Prevent a sneak attack from Kumogakure."

After thinking for a moment, the Third Mizukage said.

"Konoha also cannot be ignored."

Genji reminded him.

"Ryōgetsu, have the Anbu pay more attention to Konoha's movements."

Hearing this, the Third Mizukage spoke again.

Compared to Kumogakure, Konoha followed the rules more closely.

Since the village was founded, it had never taken the initiative to start a war.

Most importantly, Konoha had Iwagakure above it, Sunagakure to its left, and Kumogakure and Kirigakure to its right.

It did not dare move recklessly. The moment it moved, it would affect the whole situation and trigger reactions from the other four shinobi villages.

But Kumogakure was different.

Because the Land of Lightning was a nation surrounded by sea on three sides.

It was not easy for other shinobi villages to attack it.

That gave it greater freedom of action.

The Raikage building in Kumogakure.

The Third Raikage put down the document in his hand and nodded.

This document was related to Yugito Nii.

She was Kumogakure's Two-Tails Jinchūriki.

Not long ago, she had already been able to successfully use partial tailed beast transformation.

And she was only seven years old.

If things continued like this, she would definitely be able to become a perfect Jinchūriki.

A perfect Jinchūriki's strength was far greater than that of an ordinary Jinchūriki, and they could play a more important role in war.

At that moment, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in."

The Third Raikage raised his head and said.

"Raikage-sama, we just received intelligence."

Dodai walked in and went straight to the point. "Raiga Kurosuki of Kirigakure failed in an attempt to assassinate the daimyo of the Land of Water."

"What is going on?"

A confused expression appeared on the Third Raikage's face.

"We are not sure."

Dodai said uncertainly, "Perhaps it is related to Kirigakure being repeatedly punished by the daimyo of the Land of Water recently."

"Pay close attention to this matter."

The Third Raikage instructed.

This matter was truly strange.

He suspected someone was manipulating things from behind.

"Yes, Raikage-sama."

Dodai turned and left.

But when it was almost time to leave work, he once again appeared in the Raikage's office.

"Kirigakure has made a move."

Dodai said in a deep voice, "Aside from sending Genji to the Land of Water metropolis, they also sent Yagura Karatachi to the northwest border of the Land of Water."

"So Kirigakure suspects that Kumogakure did this?"

The Third Raikage asked coldly.

The Land of Lightning was northwest of the Land of Water.

Yagura's appearance was undoubtedly meant to guard against Kumogakure.

"Most likely."

Dodai nodded, then asked, "Do we need to issue a statement?"

"No need."

The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes and said, "Since they think we did it, so what if we do something?"

"Raikage-sama, you mean...?"

Dodai could not help freezing and subconsciously asked.

"This is a good opportunity."

The Third Raikage instructed, "Let A and B go train."

"I will notify them immediately."

Dodai understood.

On one hand, this was to train Kumogakure's new generation A-B Combo. On the other hand, it was to look for an opportunity to start a war.

If they could heavily injure Yagura and the others, perhaps they could use the momentum to provoke a war with Kirigakure.

The next day.

Nine in the morning.

Konoha's Anbu base.

Natsuki looked at the intelligence before him and could not help falling into thought.

He had not expected the Third Mizukage to send Yagura to guard against Kumogakure.

Kumogakure was even more reckless and had made no clarification at all.

They had even sent the future Fourth Raikage, A, and Killer B, also known as the A-B Combo, to deal with Yagura and the others from Kirigakure.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would most likely fight.

But it had to be said, this suited Kumogakure's usual style very well.

From another perspective, it also showed that Kumogakure had wanted to provoke a war for a long time.

In fact, there had been a similar scene in the original story.

Before the Third Shinobi World War broke out, Kumogakure's A-B Combo had fought Minato of Konoha.

Natsuki exhaled.

The Third Shinobi World War was already imminent.

In a certain sense, he had pulled open the curtain this time.

Although the result had come about by accident.

It was also normal.

Even without this incident, Kumogakure would still have taken the initiative.

After all, the Third Shinobi World War was not far away.

Once Guy, Asuma, and the others became chunin, it would fully erupt.

These two years were the preparation period for the five great villages.

Because a full-scale war involved preparations in every aspect, especially logistics.

Natsuki put down the intelligence in his hand and took out the Lightning Swords, Kiba.

Kiba was a rare pair of swords.

And judging from its effects, it was more similar to the Sorcery Clima-Tact in how it was used.

Simply put, it was not for a warrior, but for a caster.

Kiba's greatest function lay in drawing lightning.

After Natsuki obtained it, he had examined it.

As expected, the reason it could draw lightning was that Lightning Release chakra crystals had been added to the blades.

In other words, it was the same as the Sword of the Thunder God.

Natsuki planned to use it as material to forge a new ninja tool after unlocking Flame from the Senji Muramasa Template.

The Broken Sword, Kubikiribōchō, and the Bluntsword, Kabutowari, would be handled the same way.

Natsuki put away Kiba and went to the Research Department.

Kirigakure and Kumogakure's movements had to be reported to Orochimaru.

Konoha could make preparations in advance.

"So, Raiga Kurosuki was controlled by Kumogakure when he assassinated the daimyo of the Land of Water?"

After listening, Orochimaru asked.

"Perhaps Raiga had already died, and this Raiga was someone from Kumogakure disguised as him."

Natsuki made up an explanation.

He did not plan to tell Orochimaru the truth.

The main reason was that assassinating a daimyo violated the rules of shinobi.

Although Orochimaru might not necessarily care, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Kumogakure doing something like this is within expectations."

Orochimaru nodded slightly, then said, "Konoha needs to prepare for war. You will be responsible for this matter."

"Yes, Sensei."

Natsuki turned and left.

After that, he arrived at the Hokage Secretariat's office.

Minato, Shikaku Nara, and Mikoto were all there.

"I am announcing something."

Natsuki said, "Starting tomorrow, purchase large amounts of supplies, especially ninja tools and medicine."

"What is going on?"

Hearing this, Minato immediately asked, "Is war coming?"

"It is not certain yet, but there is nothing wrong with being prepared."

Natsuki then explained Kirigakure and Kumogakure's movements.

"No wonder."

Shikaku nodded and said, "Once Kumogakure takes action, it probably will not be something small."

Hearing this, Natsuki could not help secretly thinking that Kumogakure's style truly was known by everyone.

Another week passed.

Natsuki received intelligence from Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

They had also begun preparing for war.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the current shinobi world was already filled with undercurrents. Once the timing arrived, the Third Shinobi World War would officially begin.

The Land of Water metropolis.

Natsuki appeared at Hiruko's residence.

Ever since Hiruko became one of the daimyo of the Land of Water's guardian shinobi, he had been given a large courtyard.

"Natsuki-sama."

When Hiruko saw him, he quickly bowed.

"Has Genji found anything?"

Natsuki asked.

Genji had already arrived in the Land of Water metropolis three days ago.

"They finished extracting the memories from the corpses of Raiga and the other four yesterday, but they gained nothing."

Hiruko paused, then said, "Aside from that, he also asked about the whereabouts of the Lightning Swords, Kiba."

"What was the result?"

Natsuki asked again.

Although Raiga had seen him, Natsuki had already erased that section of his memory.

There were many methods to erase memories.

For example, sealing techniques.

In the movie The Lost Tower, Naruto traveled back to the past through the Ryūmyaku and saw Minato.

When they parted, in order to avoid affecting the future, their memories were erased.

Aside from sealing techniques, there was also the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Erasing memories was simple, but rewriting memories was difficult.

In Natsuki's memory, only Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami could rewrite memories.

Otherwise, rewriting Raiga's memories would have achieved even better results.

"Whether it was the daimyo or the twelve guardian shinobi, they all said they did not see Kiba."

Hiruko changed the topic and said, "But he asked me several times. He has most likely set his sights on me."

"That is normal."

Natsuki was not surprised.

Although Hiruko had his own reason for appearing at the daimyo's estate, Genji and the others definitely would not believe him.

"They will most likely try to secretly capture you, extract your memories, and investigate the specific situation."

Natsuki thought for a moment and said, "This is a good opportunity."

He could use this chance to make the daimyo of the Land of Water completely lose trust in Kirigakure, thereby agreeing to support the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

However, there was still one prerequisite.

The daimyo of the Land of Water had to trust Hiruko and let him establish the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Natsuki's mind moved, and he suddenly thought of something.

In the original story, it was mentioned that if the Chimera Technique could perfectly fuse five kekkei genkai, it could achieve immortality.

To be honest, Natsuki did not really believe it.

But it might be useful for deceiving the daimyo of the Land of Water.

For a powerful ordinary person like a daimyo, the greatest weakness was naturally the fear of death.

If there was hope of immortality, he would definitely try it at all costs.

"Hiruko, have you told the daimyo about the experiment you are conducting?"

Thinking of this, Natsuki asked.

"Not yet."

Hiruko answered.

"Find an opportunity to tell him, especially emphasizing that if the experiment succeeds, it could grant immortality."

Natsuki reminded him.

"Yes, Natsuki-sama."

Hiruko immediately answered.

After that, Natsuki opened a spatial door and walked into it.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the daimyo's estate in the Land of Sea.

"Master!"

Ichikishimahime immediately pressed close to him.

"Call Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime over."

Natsuki pressed a hand against her head and pushed her away.

"Yes, Master."

Ichikishimahime stopped and turned to leave.

Before long, she returned with Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime.

"Three matters."

Natsuki went straight to the point and said, "First, send Ryūchi Cave's snakes to monitor Genji and the others from Kirigakure."

"Yes, Master."

Tagorihime nodded.

"Second, after they make their move, guide the other guardian shinobi into dealing with them."

Natsuki continued.

The unlock condition for Tsumukari Muramasa from the Senji Muramasa Template only required that he not use genjutsu to control the daimyo of the Land of Water.

The guardian shinobi were not included in that condition.

When the time came, he could control these guardian shinobi and have them join the Seven Warlords of the Sea, saving him from having to search everywhere for jonin.

"Third, use this opportunity to prepare to liberate the slaves of the Land of Water."

Natsuki continued.

He had previously ordered Ichikishimahime to find out which places in the Land of Water had large numbers of slaves.

Starting with the metropolis, there were seventeen large cities with large numbers of slaves.

When the daimyo of the Land of Water was overwhelmed by the matter with Kirigakure, he definitely would not investigate too deeply where these slaves had gone.

After all, slaves could be found again.

The shinobi world as a whole was still in a feudal society, so slavery would not disappear.

And Kirigakure would likewise not care about these slaves.

Because they had even more troublesome matters to deal with.

For the first two matters, Natsuki did not need to personally go.

The third matter required his Door-Door Fruit.

After all, without teleportation, sending so many slaves to the Land of Sea would be impossible.

(To be continued.)

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