Following Ichikishimahime's guidance, Gekko Chizan arrived at the northern side of Kirigakure.
The four big characters reading "Ninja Academy" were bright crimson, glaringly eye-piercing even under the thick fog covering the night.
"Tsk tsk, only Kirigakure would use a color like that for a signboard."
"They really don't treat children like children. Do they want to raise them into killers?"
Gekko Chizan shook his head. He truly had no fondness for the Third Mizukage—dying was what he deserved, being controlled by Uchiha Madara was what he deserved, and being beaten to death by him was even more deserved.
A perfectly good talent-training base, and he turned it into… whatever this is?
Blood Mist Village—hmph, bottom-tier!
Gekko Chizan was just about to turn around and leave this suffocating place when he suddenly heard faint sobbing.
He followed the sound and found a small boy hiding in the corner of a wall, crying.
The boy had several wounds on his body, seemingly injuries from training.
Gekko Chizan's brows tightened slightly. He wasn't a cold-blooded monster, but the child looked about the same age as his younger brother.
And yet here he was, poisoned by this god-forsaken place where even chickens wouldn't lay eggs nor birds drop shit.
All these injuries… sigh.
Gekko Chizan let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Chizan, what are you sighing for? Isn't this normal?"
"The weak are prey to the strong. Honestly, I think Kirigakure's approach matches Ryūchi Cave quite well."
"Chizan, I know you didn't grow up with this environment, but you must keep the coldness in your heart. That's the correct path to becoming strong."
Snakes are cold-blooded.
Just as the three serpent sisters were thinking about how to persuade him, Gekko Chizan suddenly spoke.
His voice was filled with exasperation.
"Hey hey hey, what are you three talking about?"
"Compassion? Don't joke around. Why would I go soft?"
"I'm just saying—look at that kid. He's about the same age as my little brother, Gekko Hayate, right?"
"Look how hard he trains, how strict it is here. One mistake and he's done for. That kind of pressure—tsk tsk."
At this point, Gekko Chizan's tone suddenly changed, becoming extremely serious.
"So I've decided—once I get back, I'm giving him extra training. I'll make him obsessed with swordsmanship."
"Hmph, I'll give Lightning Blades to Kakashi and Obito the moment I return, and have them spar with him in swordsmanship every single day."
"I refuse to believe it. If I use the supreme techniques, that brat still will fall in love with swordsmanship?"
Tagorihime shook her head and sighed inwardly: I overthought it… he could never go soft…
Tagitsuhime: Hmph, I knew he wasn't thinking anything decent.
This little episode didn't shake Gekko Chizan's heart at all.
Come on—was he the type who felt heartache for everyone he looked at?
Anyone useless to him, he couldn't care less. How many people died in the Third Great Ninja War? If he felt bad about that, he wouldn't have survived.
Besides, how many people had he killed already?
This was the ninja world. He had no time for mourning.
Kirigakure's ninja academy actually had dormitories. The dorm area was on the right side of the school.
This surprised Gekko Chizan for a moment, but considering war and the Blood Mist era causing Kirigakure's death rate to skyrocket, he accepted it.
Gekko Chizan had just taken a step to leave when he suddenly stopped again.
He turned his head toward the still-crying kid.
"Tagitsuhime, make him stop crying. As a man, crying at every little thing—ugly."
"Use a Genjutsu to leave him some… impression."
Leaving those words behind, he resumed walking toward the dorm area.
Tagitsuhime let out a mischievous laugh, transformed into human form, extended her right hand, and a streak of red light shot directly at the boy.
With a flash of red, the boy's crying stopped instantly.
His tear-reddened eyes burst with a wave of terrifying crimson light.
"Kill… kill everyone…"
Of course, Gekko Chizan knew nothing of this, because he had already arrived at the dorm entrance.
Smelling the faint blood scent lingering in the dormitory, Gekko Chizan stepped inside and began searching for Terumi Mei under the guidance of the serpent sisters.
He finally found her in a single room on the top floor.
"Chizan, the number of people on this floor is a bit low. Their ages and presence feel about the same—they must be a group of peers."
Gekko Chizan didn't reply. Blood Mist graduation exams were extremely cruel—you had to kill the people around you.
This floor was probably all near-graduates. So having fewer people was normal.
He wondered if that crying brat from earlier was also part of this year's candidates…
Forget it. Work comes first.
Gekko Chizan used Sage chakra to blanket the entire room, pushing the already-exhausted Terumi Mei into the deepest possible sleep. Even if all of Kirigakure exploded, she wouldn't wake up.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Chizan, you're getting more and more twisted."
"Breaking into a girl's room in the middle of the night—tsk tsk tsk."
Gekko Chizan was used to Tagitsuhime's venomous tongue, so he ignored her.
With a wave of his hand, several large snakes appeared and wrapped Terumi Mei up.
Flying Thunder God activated—he vanished from the room.
He reappeared at the coast of the Land of Water, right onto the ship they had used earlier.
Placing Terumi Mei on the deck, Gekko Chizan began contemplating how to make her willingly follow him.
He still remembered vividly how things went with Yugito back then—it exhausted him to death.
"Chizan, what are you hesitating for? Let me hit her with a Genjutsu and implant a subconscious directive."
"Just make her recognize you as her master, no?"
"And I'll give you this—your taste isn't bad. This girl's chakra is very full. And unless my sense of smell is wrong, she also has a kekkei genkai."
Tagitsuhime stretched out her tongue and licked Terumi Mei, then turned to look at Gekko Chizan, her eyes full of surprise.
Tagorihime and Ichikishimahime were shocked as well.
And then Gekko Chizan saw an extremely bizarre scene.
The three serpent sisters extended their long tongues and began licking Terumi Mei all over. Tsk tsk, this sight was a bit hard to look at.
Thankfully the three serpent sisters were all female—if they were men, damn, that would've scared someone to death.
"Hey, the three of you, that's enough."
"Stop licking."
"Help me think—how do I win over this kid?"
"As for the kekkei genkai, yeah, she definitely has one."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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