Before long, the Third Hokage also joined in the collective gasp of astonishment, making even the early spring air feel slightly warmer.
Reducing the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist to just two members—this was something even he had never dared to imagine.
Gazing at Seiki, the Third felt a deep sense of satisfaction well up from within.
Outstanding talent, strong will, firm conviction—he had it all!
Especially his handling of this entire incident; in Seiki, he saw shadows of his own teacher.
Back then, the Second Hokage had protected them all exactly like this!
Orochimaru let out a soft chuckle. "Sensei truly is our salvation—the crisis vanished the moment you arrived."
The Third laughed as he accepted Orochimaru's praise. "Haha, don't flatter me too much! This was all thanks to Seiki and the others."
"Now that the danger has passed, when do you plan to return to the village and take charge, sensei?"
"I'm already here, so let this old body move around a bit. I can't keep letting that shameless old man Raikage push you young folks around."
They weren't being overly optimistic—they knew the full impact this event would have on Mist.
After all, the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist were practically Mist's face to the world. Losing five at once equated to Leaf losing two Sannin in one go.
Both in terms of combat strength and morale, Mist would face a devastating setback.
Under such circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Mist immediately fled back to the Land of Water.
Seiki reminded respectfully, "Lord Hokage, apart from our cooperation, we also owe this success greatly to Master Might Duy's efforts!"
"Might Duy?" The Third smiled and nodded. "When we return to the village, promote him to Tokubetsu Jonin."
Might Duy still had significant drawbacks—if he didn't open the Eight Gates, his strength barely matched that of a Chunin, making him easily outmatched by stronger opponents.
Could they really ask him to keep opening the Eight Gates?
If he carried the title of Jonin, it would actually bring more harm than good.
Seiki didn't say much further. He knew clearly that in this incident, Might Duy was destined not to become the celebrated hero.
Just like in the original story—he single-handedly took down four members of the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, but when Biwa Juzo asked Itachi about it, all he got was a dismissive, "Never heard of him."
The reason was simple: a powerful warrior like him remained a Genin his whole life. If this fact got out, wouldn't that imply the Leaf's leadership was full of incompetent fools who couldn't recognize talent?
Even many common villagers were unwilling to acknowledge this truth.
After all, many of them had once looked down on that father and son. Admitting someone they'd scorned as a hero now—wouldn't that expose their own foolishness?
Comparatively speaking, promoting younger excellent ninja like Seiki, Asuma, and Mizuki better fit the political narrative of Konoha.
So, the current outcome wasn't bad at all.
Guy gave a couple of polite thanks, then whooped and sprinted off with wild excitement. "Dad! Your youth has finally been acknowledged—you're a Tokubetsu Jonin now!"
"What? I'm now a Tokubetsu Jonin?" Might Duy nearly jumped up from his sickbed, his expression twisting in excitement. "Woooohoooo!"
Everyone around watched with sweat-dropped expressions.
This guy definitely doesn't exude any aura of strength.
In the meeting room, Jiraiya rubbed his chin and asked, "Can opening the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates let a Genin surpass the strength of a Jonin? Sensei, should we consider having more people train in the Eight Gates?"
He knew about the Eight Gates, but previously no one had gone beyond the Fifth Gate, so it hadn't received much attention.
"Do you really think just because Might Duy managed to reach the Seventh Gate means others can do the same?" The Third shook his head slightly, looking at Might Duy with admiration in his eyes. "It takes a solid decade of unwavering grit! I'm not even talking about ordinary people; even you guys probably wouldn't be able to do it!"
"A ten-year investment into a single ninjutsu, with no guarantee of success?" Jiraiya was stunned. That was one hell of a heavy price to pay.
The real issue, however, was that they already knew how Might Duy performed in battle. If it hadn't been for Seiki's control, he might not have even killed a single Jonin before dying himself.
Such performance naturally failed to excite much interest.
Of course, that was also because they didn't know about the power of the final gate yet, otherwise they wouldn't have remained so indifferent.
Orochimaru asked from the side, "Sensei, should we now discuss the distribution of these ninja blades?"
"Of course, however..." The Third smiled toward Seiki. "Since these are spoils of war, they should be distributed by the person who brought them back!"
Upon hearing this, the Jonin present suddenly looked at Seiki with eager eyes.
Aside from personal strength, at least a third of the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist's reputation came from their unique ninja blades.
If they could get their hands on one of those blades, they might just stand a shot at matching the fame of the Seven Swords.
Seiki smiled gently, "Before that, I'd like to request priority allocation rights for two of the ninja blades for my teammates."
The Jonin exchanged wary glances—but not one dared voice their complaints.
Although they felt it would be a waste for a Chunin to use such powerful weapons, the distribution right belonged to Seiki. Their chances weren't great anyway, but if they voiced objections, they might lose all chance entirely.
...
Cloud Village outpost.
"What did you say?" Raikage asked in disbelief, "Those seven idiots got five of their own taken down by Seiki Shimaseki?"
Dodai gave a bitter smile, "Though it sounds incredible, that is exactly what happened!"
"I waited for two whole years without taking action! All to let Konoha lower their guard!" Raikage cursed, "Now look at this, Konoha certainly won't give us another opportunity!"
Still feeling dissatisfied, he continued cursing, "At least if they couldn't kill anyone, they wouldn't have lost five themselves! Were they deliberately going to offer their heads to Seiki Shimaseki as gifts?"
"We actually underestimated him," Dodai said seriously. "He willingly took a backseat role for two years, concealing his brilliance among the others. Even so, he still managed to forge a formidable reputation."
A's expression darkened too, "I always felt there was something off about that guy. He always looked calm—like nothing ever fazed him. Maybe that sly dog is still hiding his real power even now!"
"B, you're not getting cold feet because of all the setbacks you've had against him, are you?" B asked skeptically.
The Raikage gave him a side-eye. "You think I was playing it cool like some battle-hardened general? Maybe I *was* holding back a little 😐?"
A clenched his fists and shouted, "Believe me already! That brat is the most dangerous one on this battlefield!"
Dodai pressed on, "Lord A, what proof do you have for that?"
"A man *and* a rival just knows!" A barked.
The Raikage twitched his mouth in exasperation and quickly changed the subject, "That brat has already become a formidable opponent; let's never speak of assassinating him again."
Dodai asked, "Then what should our attitude be toward the Mist Village next?"
"Revenge, naturally!" The Raikage said with a deadly aura. "Tried to steal from us Cloud nin? Think we ever let go of what's ours once we've grabbed it?"
"I held back before for the sake of cooperation, but since they couldn't even handle something as simple as an assassination properly, they no longer deserve existence!"
He truly had the right to say that; the Cloud Village had been locked in a two-year war with Konoha. They hadn't just avoided losing — they hardly ever even found themselves at a disadvantage.
And those Mist fools? Crushed in just two days of fighting. What right did such weaklings possess to stand among the Five Great Hidden Villages and collaborate with them?
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