Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Meanwhile—

Within a forest some distance away from Kirigakure—

Kakashi leaned quietly against a tree trunk with his eyes closed, silently waiting.

"So this time…"

A familiar female voice suddenly sounded nearby.

"It's your turn waiting for me?"

After some time, Mei Terumī appeared wearing blue clothing.

Seeing Kakashi there didn't surprise her in the slightest.

Instead, she sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Looks like you also failed to meet Elder Genji."

"Failed?"

Kakashi sighed helplessly.

"I was directly thrown out by the Mizukage himself."

"He assigned me a mission to gather information from Konoha regarding the Chūnin Exams."

"Then explicitly ordered me not to return to Kirigakure before the exams begin."

"Obviously…"

Mei shrugged.

"The entire mission was just an excuse to send me away."

"Well…"

Kakashi looked toward her thoughtfully.

"You were close to Elder Genji. Him suspecting you is fairly natural."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do about that?"

Mei immediately gave Kakashi a look as though he were an idiot.

"It's not like I intend to betray Kirigakure."

"Obviously I'll complete the Mizukage-sama's mission."

Then she sighed dramatically.

"Haa… honestly, warning you earlier ended up costing me my position in the village."

"What a terrible business deal."

"..."

Kakashi wisely chose silence.

For some reason, every sentence he spoke lately seemed to result in Mei attacking him verbally.

Very dangerous woman.

"Oh right."

Mei suddenly remembered something.

"The Mizukage-sama specifically instructed me to closely monitor however Konoha handles Shisui Uchiha's funeral."

"He seems strangely concerned about that."

Concerned about Shisui's funeral?

Kakashi immediately fell deep into thought.

He absolutely did not believe a village leader would genuinely become so emotionally invested over "repaying a life debt."

Thinking from a more conspiratorial angle, Kakashi's first instinct was that perhaps something had been done to Shisui's corpse—

Something subtle enough that even the professional ANBU specialists earlier failed to detect.

After all—

Kakashi would never forget Kirigakure's schemes involving Rin.

His expression gradually turned serious again.

Mei, who had been observing him the entire time, naturally noticed this immediately.

Interesting…

Looks like my "mission" made him realize something.

Could the Mizukage-sama's orders actually contain another meaning?

"Alright."

Mei suddenly changed the subject intentionally.

"Let's get moving."

"Since I'm heading toward Konoha anyway, you should at least start thinking about how you'll compensate me as the host."

"..."

Kakashi was instantly denied further thinking space.

No matter what, they first needed to return to Konoha and report everything.

Thus, the group resumed traveling toward the Land of Fire.

Meanwhile—

Inside Kirigakure's dead prison—

Yagura Karatachi quietly observed the completely destroyed prison cell and the lingering mist concealing the scene.

Then, just as he prepared to leave—

His expression suddenly changed.

The Fourth Mizukage sharply turned around and stared directly into the surrounding mist.

This mist…

No.

This isn't my technique.

"Hidden Mist Technique…"

Yagura's pink eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So that's how it is."

"Your Silent Killing techniques improved significantly."

"Using my own mist as concealment…"

"And even I failed to notice your presence until now."

Yagura spoke calmly toward empty air as though muttering to himself.

Then suddenly—

Everything exploded.

Blood-red chakra instantly erupted around Yagura's body.

He dropped into a monstrous crouching posture resembling a turtle-like beast.

Inside his mouth rapidly formed a compressed sphere of dense purple-black chakra—

The Hidden Mist concealed figure instantly realized the danger and hurriedly raised his blade before himself desperately.

A Tailed Beast Bomb!

"BOOOOOOM!!!!"

The resulting explosion shook the entirety of Kirigakure.

Countless shinobi instantly rushed toward the dead prison.

"Mizukage-sama?!"

"What happened?!"

The first arriving ANBU stared in horror.

The prison building had already become nothing more than complete ruins.

Only the Fourth Mizukage remained standing calmly amidst the destruction.

Before him lay half of a massive broken blade—

And a pool of blood.

"Momochi Zabuza belongs to Akatsuki."

Yagura's voice remained utterly emotionless.

"He entered the dead prison to eliminate witnesses and destroy evidence."

"Afterward, he attempted to assassinate me and was severely wounded instead."

"Issue a pursuit order immediately."

"Once discovered…"

"Kill him on sight."

"Yes!"

Yagura lowered his gaze slightly.

Within the lingering mist remained tiny traces of unmelted ice crystals.

His expression gradually darkened.

There was another person present too?

Someone helped Zabuza escape?

Yagura's conclusion was entirely correct.

At this exact moment—

A slender, beautiful youth almost resembling a girl sprinted desperately through the forest while carrying Zabuza's enormous body on his back.

Fear consumed him completely.

In truth, Yagura's earlier suspicions toward the higher-ups weren't entirely baseless.

Some factions inside Kirigakure genuinely didn't want the Mizukage returning.

And Zabuza—one of the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen candidates who even possessed future Mizukage potential—had accepted their offer.

For the sake of his own ambitions, he attempted to assassinate Yagura.

Yet none of them could possibly imagine what happened next.

They only guessed the Mizukage might visit the dead prison to interrogate Akatsuki-related intelligence.

Thus, they prepared an ambush.

When Yagura truly arrived alone, they initially believed the opportunity had come.

But who could've expected the Mizukage would suddenly reveal such terrifying information?!

They missed their best opportunity to attack.

And simultaneously exposed themselves to the Mizukage.

White now ran with everything he had.

The unconscious Zabuza on his back was already in critical condition.

The frozen wound across his abdomen—temporarily sealed using Ice Release—barely kept him alive.

After the assassination failed, returning to Kirigakure for treatment became absolutely impossible.

White's mind endlessly replayed that horrifying scene.

The instant Zabuza's Executioner Blade touched the purple-black chakra sphere—

It shattered completely.

The sheer destructive power of that chakra bomb was terrifying beyond imagination.

Had Zabuza not ordered White beforehand to remain hidden inside the prison…

"Zabuza-sama…"

White's expression became desperate.

"Please hold on."

"I'll definitely save you."

"Just like you once saved me…"

At this moment, neither of them realized—

A future event destined to shake the entire ninja world—

Would ultimately change because of them.

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