Even people from outside the Water Country had heard disturbing rumors about the bitter conflicts between ordinary Kirigakure shinobi and those blessed with bloodline limit abilities.
When Konoha Village was first established, the founding leaders had implemented strict controls and careful screening processes for the shinobi and families who sought to join their ranks.
Even with these careful precautions in place, the Uchiha family had later caused tremendous problems and upheaval within the village.
The situation in Kirigakure had been far more problematic from the very beginning. During its founding period, the village had accepted virtually all shinobi and families who expressed interest in joining, regardless of their backgrounds or potential risks.
This overly permissive policy had laid the groundwork for the disasters that would follow in later years.
There was no need to elaborate extensively on the incredible power that bloodline limits could provide, but the more potent these genetic abilities became, the greater the inherent dangers they contained within them.
Any shinobi from the Uchiha clan who wished to awaken the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan was required to experience profound emotional trauma and psychological shock.
While it appeared that they gained tremendously powerful abilities through this process, the fundamental problem was that when a person underwent such drastic mental stimulation, their thoughts and personality would inevitably undergo very serious and often destructive changes.
In the best-case scenarios, these changes wouldn't negatively affect other people around them.
However, when individuals went to psychological extremes, it became impossible to predict just how dangerous and destructive the consequences might become.
There had been similar troubling examples throughout Kirigakure's history, such as the notorious Kaguya clan. The Kaguya clan possessed the extraordinarily powerful Kekkei Genkai known as the Dead Bone Pulse!
Whether it was due to the corrupting influence of the Dead Bone Pulse itself or some other factor, the shinobi belonging to this particular family had developed tendencies toward madness and an insatiable bloodlust that made them extremely difficult to control.
The Kaguya clan had caused internal strife, violence, and chaos within Kirigakure on multiple occasions, and they were ultimately completely wiped out by Kirigakure's forces during their final, desperate rebellion against village authority.
The crucial point was that this pattern of bloodline-related violence and destruction was not an isolated incident in Kirigakure's troubled history.
The successive conflicts and mounting casualties, combined with Uchiha Obito's later manipulation and control of the Fourth Mizukage Yagura to secretly instigate additional problems, had led to increasingly frequent and violent conflicts between regular Kirigakure shinobi and the various bloodline limit families.
Regardless of the complex underlying causes, the final result had been that Kirigakure's leadership systematically eliminated most of the bloodline limit practitioners within their territory.
Of course, there were still some shinobi families with particularly good reputations or extremely high political status that had managed to survive the purges.
However, there was absolutely no doubt that the Mizunotsuki clan had been completely destroyed during this dark period.
Otherwise, Haku wouldn't have been forced to wander aimlessly after accidentally exposing his Ice Release abilities, and he wouldn't have finally found stability only after being taken in and protected by the rogue ninja Zabuza.
Therefore, Shihouin Naraku felt genuinely confused and curious. Where exactly had Terumi Mei managed to find this shinobi from the supposedly extinct Mizunotsuki clan? Moreover, it seemed abundantly clear that this individual possessed Kage-level strength and abilities.
Before Naraku could pursue this line of thinking any further, a group of mysterious figures dressed in black robes suddenly entered the detection range of his Observation Haki!
"They've arrived much sooner than I expected," he mused to himself.
"I just departed from the area and the enemy immediately launched their attack. This timing strongly suggests that there must be a traitor among Terumi Mei's trusted subordinates!"
"Let me observe what develops next!"
Down below at the Mist Shinobi temporary camp, inside the main tent, Terumi Mei had been engaged in detailed discussions about their upcoming itinerary in Iwagakure with Mizunotsuki Yuki and Hozuki Sakuzuki when sudden sounds of commotion arose from outside.
"Hey! These annoying flies certainly breed remarkably fast. We just finished cleaning them out recently," Sakuzuki observed with obvious irritation.
Hozuki Sakuzuki stood up abruptly, his entire body radiating dangerous battle energy. "You two continue your discussion. I'll go deal with this garbage personally!"
"Wait, let's go together. The strength of this particular group appears to be somewhat extraordinary," Mizunotsuki Yuki interjected.
As the individual with the strongest sensory abilities among the three people present, she spoke with a distinctly solemn expression replacing her normally cold demeanor.
"Alright, let's go investigate this situation together," Terumi Mei decided.
She stood up decisively and led the group out of the tent to confront whatever threat awaited them.
The perimeter of the Mist Shinobi temporary camp was now completely surrounded by a large group of mysterious attackers wearing black robes and concealing masks.
"Who are you people? How dare you trespass into an official Kirigakure camp!" Terumi Mei demanded authoritatively.
She stared intently at the mysterious figure who appeared to be leading the hostile group, her beautiful eyes focused intensely on him as she attempted to discern his true identity through the concealing mask.
"Terumi Mei, you have two choices!" came a cold, threatening voice that echoed ominously around the entire camp. "Either retreat immediately, or die here!"
CLANG!
Every Mist shinobi in the camp simultaneously drew their weapons and fixed their sharp, determined gazes on the attackers positioned around the camp's perimeter.
Terumi Mei felt no wavering or uncertainty in her resolve, as this type of attack was exactly what she had anticipated might happen. If it hadn't been for Shihouin Naraku's protective escort during the earlier portions of their journey, this confrontation would have occurred much sooner.
Actually, to be completely accurate, attacks had already taken place previously, but those had merely been probing tests to assess their defenses. This current assault represented a serious, full-scale attempt on her life.
"Hey! It seems that our previous cleaning operation wasn't nearly thorough enough, and we missed some of these worthless remnants," Hozuki Sakuzuki observed with contempt.
His defiant eyes swept over the enemies positioned at the edge of their camp, and his expression became eager and excited at the prospect of combat.
Mizunotsuki Yuki asked quietly, "Do you want us to engage them?"
"Begin the attack!" Terumi Mei commanded without hesitation.
"Kill them all!" she added with deadly seriousness.
Following Terumi Mei's direct order, brutal and intense fighting immediately erupted throughout the area surrounding the camp.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
Water Style: Water Barrier!
Hidden Mist Technique!
Silent Killing Technique!
Within the span of mere seconds, various Water Style ninjutsu and Kirigakure's signature assassination techniques appeared across the battlefield, systematically claiming the lives of shinobi on both sides of the conflict.
"How interesting..." Terumi Mei muttered grimly.
Her beautiful face had become covered with an expression of cold fury. These attackers' fighting styles and the specific ninjutsu techniques they employed were exactly what Kirigakure shinobi specialized in and were most skilled at using.
In fact, you didn't even need to examine the situation closely. Anyone with extensive combat experience could easily determine that the two groups currently fighting were definitely from the same village and shared the same training background.
"Sakuzuki, Yuki, let's join the battle!" Terumi Mei declared.
"Leave no one alive!" she commanded ruthlessly.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama!" they replied in unison.
"Hey! Leave this to me!" Sakuzuki added with violent enthusiasm.
Two Kage-level shinobi instantly burst forth from behind Terumi Mei and charged directly toward the areas where the fighting was most intense and desperate.
Their entry into the battle immediately and dramatically changed the entire tactical situation. Terumi Mei's forces quickly gained the upper hand and began systematically eliminating the attacking enemies.
As she watched the enemy forces being cut down one by one, there was no visible emotional fluctuation in Terumi Mei's cold eyes.
Every single person who had come here to kill her was unmistakably a Kirigakure shinobi!
Moreover, these particular individuals had chosen their timing with suspicious precision.
They had appeared just as Shihouin Naraku was departing the area and when Iwagakure's protective escort forces were not yet present.
What made the timing even more suspicious was that this location was positioned in the territory of the Land of Grass, which was significantly distant from the border of the Land of Fire and somewhat removed from the Land of Earth as well.
This represented an absolutely perfect opportunity for conducting a surprise attack without interference!
However, in order to seize such a precisely-timed opportunity, the attackers would need to know Terumi Mei's exact whereabouts and travel schedule!
To put it simply and directly, Terumi Mei clearly had treacherous spies operating among her own trusted subordinates.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosive blasts caused bright flames to flash across the battlefield while thick smoke filled the air around the camp.
Terumi Mei remained motionless in her position, silently watching as the violent battle gradually died down around her.
One thousand meters directly above her head, Shihouin Naraku sat cross-legged in the air, calmly observing the entire conflict unfolding below.
"This was indeed an excellent opportunity for an assassination attempt, but unfortunately these attackers failed to obtain advance intelligence about Hozuki Sakuzuki and Mizunotsuki Yuki, which directly led to the complete failure of their assault," he analyzed.
"I suspect this will be the final wave of attacks..."
With Terumi Mei's demonstrated abilities and the support she now had available, she shouldn't be unable to overcome even this level of crisis.
Naraku understood without needing to think deeply that loyal elements within Kirigakure must be standing firmly behind Terumi Mei at this point, and the most serious internal problems should have been resolved.
As long as these advance assassins were eliminated, future challenges would become much more manageable.
"Well now, that's interesting, but Terumi Mei is still the Mizukage after all, so her personal strength is certainly not insignificant. She's definitely not someone who can be easily dealt with."
"No need to continue watching. The final result has already been determined!"
Within the detection range of his Observation Haki, Mizunotsuki Yuki and Hozuki Sakuzuki were rapidly and efficiently eliminating the remaining attackers.
Throughout the entire engagement, not even a single assassin had managed to break through the defensive perimeter established by the two Kage-level shinobi.
Only one concealed weapon with an explosive tag attached to it had accidentally penetrated through their defense line and struck near Terumi Mei's feet.
The explosive tag detonated successfully, creating a burst of flame and debris, but Terumi Mei emerged from the blast completely unharmed!
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