Malphegor
patreon
GSiN: Ch. 85
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 07:43:45 +0000 UTC---Ryouma's POV---
Before long, I arrived at the command center.
I didn't bother knocking, I simply reached out and opened the door to the senior officers' office and walked right in.
Although I didn't usually stay here obediently, it was still considered my workspace. I had my own desk and chair, so knocking would have actually seemed strange. The room smelled of ink, paper, and the distinct scent of chakra-infused scrolls. This was probably the universal aroma of military bureaucracy across all nations.
Inside, only Fugaku and Hizashi were present. At the moment, both were seated at their desks, flipping through scrolls.
When Fugaku saw me, his expression changed immediately. He stood up, a slight smile appearing on his face, and said, "Ryouma! That's great, you're safe." His eyes quickly scanned me for injuries. "We received concerning reports about potential Kiri movements..."
Hizashi also smiled and said, "Jonin Aotsuki, we've been preparing contingency plans in case extraction was needed." He maintained his formal composure, but I could see the slight tilt of his head that indicated his full attention was on me. "Was your mission to the Land of Water successful?"
I gave a cheeky grin. "More or less successful."
"Well, that's okay. After all, considering the situation, wait, are you saying you succeeded?"
Hizashi had considered the possibility that I had completed the mission, but since I came back so soon, he assumed the mission had run into trouble.
Fugaku, on the other hand, had full confidence in me. One look at my face told him there was more to the story.
I walked over to my desk, pushed myself up, and sat on top of it, legs dangling like a schoolboy rather than a jonin who had just returned from a high-level mission.
Fugaku leaned forward slightly.
How much to share? The Mizukage's death is necessary information, but Madara... that's a powder keg I'm not ready to light. I began slowly recounting what happened during the mission.
"I infiltrated Kiri successfully using a simple disguise..." I explained.
"You planted explosive tags throughout the village?" Fugaku asked, eyes narrowing.
"Something like that."
I felt that piece of information about Madara should be discussed privately with Tsunade first, and it would be better to tell Hiruzen alone, after all, he was the Hokage.
Fugaku was a good person, but if the Uchiha clan found out that Madara was not only alive but still capable of fighting, who knew what kind of thoughts that might provoke?
Most of the Uchiha members had extreme personalities. If they started heading down the path of rebellion again... honestly, I didn't want to have to fight against my own village's ninjas.
So it was better to extinguish that fuse before it ever got lit.
"The Mizukage wasn't as formidable as his reputation suggested," I continued.
"You engaged him directly?" Hizashi asked.
I shrugged. "He didn't give me much choice. Once my cover was blown, Yagura identified me immediately. Their sealing technique was actually quite interesting, a five-point water prison variant with chakra suppression properties."
"After that, I left Kiri once I had killed the Third Mizukage."
Upon hearing my account, Fugaku and Hizashi both fell silent.
They glanced at each other. Fugaku hesitated, then said, "So you're saying... Kiri is..."
I finished his sentence, "Completely done for."
At that moment, I took out a scroll with my left hand and unrolled it single-handedly. The next second, the seal was released.
With a puff of smoke, the corpse of the Third Mizukage appeared in the center of the command room.
Seeing the body clearly, Fugaku and Hizashi both drew a sharp breath. Fugaku stepped back involuntarily, eyes wide. "This is... undeniable proof."
The looks they gave me unconsciously turned into ones of awe. I had taken on one of the Five Great Ninja Villages single-handedly, destroyed it, killed its Kage, and made it back unscathed.
I quickly formed a hand seal and resealed the Third Mizukage's corpse into the scroll.
This body was extremely important. It had to be brought back to the village. It couldn't be casually discarded at the frontlines like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been.
I stored away the scroll, clapped my hands, and said, "That's about it. Now I'm going to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to send this intel along with the Third Mizukage's body back to the village. If everything goes as expected, the war here should be over soon."
I slid off the desk and straightened my gear, mentally calculating the chakra requirements for transporting both myself and the Mizukage's remains back to Konoha.
With that, I prepared to leave. But Fugaku immediately called out to stop me. "Wait, Ryouma."
Seeing my puzzled look, I paused. "Something else I should know?"
"It concerns your team, there was an incident while you were away," Fugaku said, his tone serious.
"A few days ago, Shisui and Shiori killed three special enemies who had disguised themselves as Konoha ninjas. They were spreading false information claiming that you were seriously injured. Their goal was to lure Shisui and the others to the Land of Water. Fortunately, they didn't fall for it, and that's thanks to Shiori. She..."
"She sensed something was off immediately," he continued. "When they tried to isolate her from Shisui, she launched a preemptive strike. Brilliant tactical awareness for one so young."
A genuine smile crossed my face. "That's Shiori for you. Her instincts are sharper than most jonin's trained senses."
Fugaku, like spilling beans, told me everything that had happened over the past few days.
After confirming that Shiori and Shisui were both safe, I relaxed a bit. If they had gone to the Land of Water while I was on my way back, things would've been awkward. Luckily, she had heeded my earlier advice and didn't act impulsively.
But then I grew curious. "These so-called special enemies, how 'special' were they?"
"They weren't wearing clothes. Their entire bodies were white, and even their blood was white." Hizashi frowned, discomfort visible on his face.
White Zetsu. It had to be. It was probably another one of Uchiha Madara's schemes.
I couldn't help but grumble inwardly, Madara sure was full of fire when he was young, so how come all he wants to play with now are these creepy shadow games?
I sighed and asked, "Where are those bodies now?"
"They're still in the interrogation division's corpse storage room," Fugaku replied. "Our specialists haven't been able to make much sense of them."
I thought for a moment, then nodded slightly. "In that case, I'll take those three corpses back to Konoha with me too. The research division might uncover something our field teams missed."
Fugaku and Hizashi naturally had no objections. After all, the frontline had studied them for days and hadn't uncovered anything significant, except that the cells were highly active. The plan was to send them back to the village anyway.
After bidding farewell to them, I made a trip to the interrogation department to retrieve the White Zetsu bodies.
Then I scanned the camp briefly with my sensory ability and located Shiori.
At the moment, she was in the frontline mission hall, looking for a task suitable for her. If this were my previous life, this scene would've looked like a girl picking out elegant jewelry at a shop window.
Unfortunately, in this war-torn shinobi world, girls of her age were instead picking missions meant for killing.
Children shouldn't be soldiers. Yet here we are, generation after generation, perpetuating the same bloody cycle. It was pretty hellish, honestly.
And I was beginning to become numb to this. Still, I had friends. With them here, I could still continue.
With a sigh, I entered the mission hall, my eyes quickly scanning the room until I spotted her small figure by the mission board.
I walked up to her first and greeted her, "Shiori, what are you doing?" I glanced at the mission scroll she was studying. "Looking for something with a bit of challenge but not too bloody? Or are you in the mood for reconnaissance today?"
Hearing my voice, she tensed for a brief second, then visibly relaxed, the corner of her lips curling ever so slightly.
But her voice remained as cold as ever. "Don't bother me. I'm thinking."
"Uh..."
I was slightly stunned by her blunt reply, but I wasn't bothered by such minor things.
She furrowed her brows as she browsed for a bit longer, but eventually gave up. Kiri had been acting unusually quiet lately, and it had been days since there were any missions requiring combat.
Well, their command structure was decapitated, their infrastructure compromised. They were likely pulling back to reassess.
She turned and looked at me. "Judging by your expression, I assume your mission went smoothly?"
I replied as if it were obvious, "Of course it did. Did you expect anything less? By the way, have you had any more headaches these past few days? Any clues about that voice?"
"I have some guesses, but I'll need to return to the village to confirm them."
I pulled out a scroll and shook it in front of her, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "Well, look at that. I'm just about to head back to the village to deliver some things. Want to hitch a ride?"
