"Enough talk! Die! Crystal Release: Crystal Shuriken!!"
Guren quickly formed hand seals. Around her, countless pink crystalline flakes shimmered into existence, swirling like a storm of snowflakes before shooting toward Kiyosuke with terrifying speed.
Unlike ordinary shuriken, each carried a deadly cutting power far more lethal.
The crystal shuriken tore through Kiyosuke's body, slicing clean through the massive tree behind him.
"Oh, that's quite the impressive power," Kiyosuke remarked, glancing back with a light smile.
"Damn it—what's with your body?!" Guren gritted her teeth, startled by what she saw. She didn't have much intel on Kiyosuke and had no idea about his unique constitution, which made him extremely troublesome to deal with.
Kabuto Yakushi spoke up at once, reminding her,
"Be careful, Guren. Kiyosuke-sama's body is made of flame. As long as he doesn't come into contact with water, physical attacks are useless against him. Let me lend you a hand. Summoning: Edo Tensei!!"
The ground beneath them rumbled as a coffin slowly rose from below.
The lid creaked open, revealing a man with a thin mustache and a high-collared cloak.
Seeing the man's face, Kiyosuke said,
"So that's it—you came to the Land of Water just to dig up graves. You actually managed to track down the Second Mizukage's body, huh?"
Kabuto chuckled. "The Mist's corpse-handling unit is the best in the entire ninja world. Finding any trace of Hōzuki Gengetsu took me a lot of time—but the reward is well worth it."
Kirigakure had always been the strictest village when it came to corpse management and secrecy—a system founded by none other than the Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu.
He had modeled Kirigakure's structure after the Second Hokage's system—establishing the Mist Academy and the ANBU, and drafting the Secrecy Law that safeguarded Kirigakure's hidden operations. He also founded the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, an elite unit directly under the Mizukage's command.
However, due to years of poor leadership and the chaos of the Third Great Ninja War—especially after their confrontation with Kiyosuke—Kirigakure had fallen into decline. Now, only Momochi Zabuza and Chōjūrō remained, while Hoshigaki Kisame was currently undercover within Akatsuki.
The remaining legendary swords had yet to find worthy wielders—some lost, some unrecoverable due to missing scrolls. Mei Terumī had been tearing her hair out over it. Every time she saw Kiyosuke, she'd get furious and insist on fighting him for "three hundred rounds." But of course, she was no match for him. In the end, she could only collapse weakly on top of him, gasping for breath like a puddle of melted wax…
...
Hōzuki Gengetsu slowly opened his eyes, staring at his hands.
"Strange… wasn't I dead? What's going on?"
"I've brought you back to life, Second Mizukage—Hōzuki Gengetsu," Kabuto said calmly.
"You're now in a state of Edo Tensei. And that man standing before you—he has quite a history with Kirigakure. The Third Mizukage and the previous generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen all died by his hand. You could say… he's your village's greatest enemy."
Hinata and the others exchanged awkward glances.
Calling him "Kirigakure's greatest enemy" might not be true anymore…
After all, he was practically about to marry the Fifth Mizukage.
Still… this was the Second Mizukage.
"Kiyosuke-sensei, what should we do?" Hinata asked nervously, instinctively stepping back. The group huddled behind Kiyosuke—they knew this was far beyond their level. The best thing they could do was not get in the way.
"It's fine," Kiyosuke said. "You all withdraw for now. What comes next isn't something you can handle."
"Damn it! Edo Tensei… that bastard Tobirama and his accursed forbidden jutsu—still causing trouble for me even after death!" Gengetsu cursed, his hair styled in that comically distinctive way. He shot Kabuto a glare, memorizing his face, then looked back at Kiyosuke.
"So, kid… you're that strong, huh?"
By his reasoning, the one who succeeded him as Mizukage should've been his own top disciple—a shinobi of power not far from his own. With the Seven Ninja Swordsmen supporting him, the Mist should have remained formidable. But this young man before him—aside from being good-looking—didn't seem particularly special.
"More or less," Kiyosuke said with a shrug. "The Third Mizukage was terminally ill at the time—he even sealed the Three-Tails inside himself. It was basically suicide. I couldn't do anything about it."
"Well… that's fate, I suppose. Can't blame the kid for being useless. What about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"Oh, them? My team and I took care of that a long time ago. No need to bring up ancient history."
"Heh… interesting." Gengetsu stroked his chin and chuckled.
"I didn't summon you here for a chat," Kabuto snapped, frowning.
"Damn!"
Gengetsu suddenly felt his arm rise involuntarily, his face hardening.
"That's the Water Gun Technique—our clan's secret jutsu! Kid, do something and seal me!"
"Fire Gun!"
"Water Gun Technique!"
Their index fingers both fired high-speed projectiles—one flame, one water. The two collided midair with a sharp hiss.
"Oh?" Gengetsu's eyes lit up. "That's quite similar to my technique."
Then, noticing something beneath him, he frowned. The ground was wet.
"Careful—this is the Water Balloon Technique."
Bubbles erupted from the soaked earth beneath him, surging upward toward Kiyosuke.
"Firefly Style: Fire Daruma!"
Green flames burst forth, colliding with the incoming bubbles. In the explosion of smoke and mist, Kiyosuke lunged forward, fingers like blades, bringing his arm down in a fierce strike.
Gengetsu's movements were slippery and fluid—he slid back just in time, patting his chest.
"Whew, that was close. Not bad, kid. You've got skills."
"Not too bad yourself," Kiyosuke said lightly as he landed.
Gengetsu grabbed a nearby man, slit his wrist, and drew blood.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a burst of chakra, a massive clam appeared, its gray shell etched with Kirigakure's insignia.
"Whoa… that thing's huge. How long would it take to eat something like that?"
Gengetsu nodded solemnly.
"It would take a while, yeah. Clams were always my favorite—"
"Wait, no!" He waved his hands quickly. "This isn't for eating! Be careful, the Mirage is coming!"
From beneath the clam's body, thick tendrils exhaled a dense white mist. Both Gengetsu and the clam vanished from sight.
...
They reappeared elsewhere. Gengetsu's voice echoed faintly,
"Remember—attack the clam. What you see now is only the mirage."
"I know," Kiyosuke replied.
A spear of flame formed in his hand. He aimed in one direction and hurled it with all his strength.
Boom!
The weapon froze midair, as though it had struck something invisible—then exploded.
With a snap of his fingers, Kiyosuke ignited the area in a wave of roaring flame. The fire wrapped around the massive clam, burning it completely.
The mirage shimmered, then collapsed.
Gengetsu reappeared behind Kiyosuke, kunai in hand, thrusting forward.
An explosion detonated instantly. His body reformed through Edo Tensei's regeneration.
"When did you use a clone? Even I didn't notice."
"That was the real me," Kiyosuke said, driving his flaming fist into Gengetsu's chin and sending him flying. "I can turn my entire body into fire—kind of like how your clan liquefies itself. That's why they had you, the Mizukage, fight me."