Chapter 557: The Genius Hoshigaki Shizuma

The younger brother Hoshigaki Nanami had mentioned—the one Kakashi kept misunderstanding her relationship with—was none other than Hoshigaki Shizuma from Boruto.

The villain responsible for kicking off yet another remarkably stupid storyline.

In Boruto, Shizuma once took a blade for Yagura's grandson, Karatachi Kagura.

From then on, all he had to do was pull down the collar of his sweater and reveal the scar, and Kagura would immediately lose the will to defy him…

…

Perhaps this was simply what Naruto's victorious world looked like.

A shinobi world overflowing with bonds.

Suspicious as hell.

In any case, by the Boruto era, Hoshigaki Shizuma had become the leader of a faction that wanted to overthrow Kirigakure's government and restore the Bloody Mist.

Kagura—the boy Shizuma could control simply by flashing that scar—was also the Fifth Mizukage Chōjūrō's disciple.

He inherited Chōjūrō's giant iron fish of a ninja sword, Hiramekarei, and was even designated as a future Mizukage.

Then came the classic development.

Because everything involved Kagura, Chōjūrō kept indulging him and letting things slide.

He indulged him so much that, in the end, Kagura's character was simply killed off.

Of course, maybe Chōjūrō was just too weak.

Kirigakure in the Boruto era was basically one enormous beginner delivery service.

Everyone was fodder.

And how strong were Shizuma and the people who wanted to overthrow Kirigakure's government?

Chūnin.

Yes.

That's right.

Even Hoshigaki Shizuma, the strongest among them, was only around chūnin level.

Then he and his new Seven Ninja Swordsmen picked up the legendary blades and proceeded to get beaten by Boruto and his classmates—

Actually, wait.

Boruto had come to Kirigakure on a school trip celebrating their graduation from the Academy.

Which meant these chūnin were casually defeated by a group of kids who technically weren't even genin yet.

Apparently, history had to show proper respect to the proud tradition of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen getting demolished by genin-level opponents.

Except Might Duy had opened the Eight Gates.

At that point he genuinely possessed Kage-level power.

Boruto's class?

They were really just Academy graduates.

At best, genin level.

It wasn't as if Momoshiki Kurama had possessed Boruto and played the game for him.

Boruto didn't even have Momoshiki installed yet.

And yet, before these same fake Seven Ninja Swordsmen were beaten up by Konoha elementary-school students, they had just given Mizukage Chōjūrō a brutal beating.

Chōjūrō stood there covered in wounds and blood while saying cool things like:

"If you aren't prepared to get hurt, you'll never defeat your opponent."

Dude.

You were the Mizukage.

You were fighting a handful of chūnin.

Chūnin who would shortly afterward be beaten up by children from Konoha.

Why were you proudly talking about accepting injuries while bleeding all over the place?

By that logic, Senju Hashirama would have needed to prepare himself for serious injury every time he went outside to catch a chicken.

The funniest part was what investigators later discovered.

Kirigakure's conservative leadership had actually been secretly funding Shizuma and his rebels all along.

Those higher-ups really were geniuses.

Next door, Orochimaru had resurrected the First and Second Hokage for the Konoha Crush and still failed to overthrow Konoha.

Meanwhile, Kirigakure's conservatives apparently thought funding a few chūnin would be enough to overthrow their own government.

Even more absurdly, judging by Chōjūrō ending up badly injured and Kagura outright dying later on…

They almost succeeded.

That was why Makoto had previously complained that the Boruto era felt like a new-generation shinobi world whose very laws had been heavily corrupted by destiny.

If the manga's plot was the Shu Kingdom from the newer Romance of the Three Kingdoms adaptations bullying people without a shred of humanity while Wu played political intrigue, then Kirigakure's anime-original storyline was like a cute cartoon dinosaur trying to reenact The Art of War while everyone in Wei collectively suffered a psychiatric breakdown.

And right now, the father Nanami had mentioned—the one spreading Bloody Mist ideology—was still alive.

Together with Hoshigaki Shizuma, who had completely inherited his father's beliefs and treated restoring the Bloody Mist as his life's purpose, the father and son were practically two smiling sharks with filthy intentions.

That description was surprisingly accurate.

On the surface, the two warmly welcomed Aoi Rokushō into their community.

They even gave him a house and told the neighboring villagers to take good care of him.

Behind the smiles, however, they were already plotting against him.

"This is Konoha's wanted notice."

Hoshigaki Chinrei, the current clan head, stared darkly at the document in his hand.

"It says he stole an important classified item from Konoha."

"Classified?"

Shizuma immediately frowned.

"He never mentioned that to us."

"Exactly."

Chinrei's expression grew colder.

"If he doesn't consider us his own people, then there's no reason for us to treat him as one of ours.

"He'll betray us sooner or later.

"Better to strike first.

"Son, go notify your uncles."

Chinrei dragged a finger across his throat.

"No, Father."

Shizuma shook his head.

"I think I know what he stole.

"We can deal with him afterward, but first we need to get that item. With it, our cause can advance much further."

"Oh?"

Chinrei raised an eyebrow.

"What item?"

"Konoha's newest Sage Mode training method."

"That thing?"

"Yes. That thing."

Shizuma nodded solemnly and began analyzing the situation.

"Think about it, Father.

"Konoha publicly said an important classified item was stolen, but we haven't heard anything about them sending people after Aoi Rokushō.

"He's only a chūnin.

"He didn't fight anyone along the way, yet he escaped all the way here without any trouble.

"What does that tell us?

"The thing Konoha lost is important…

"But not that important.

"And there's only one thing that fits both conditions.

"The Sage Mode training method Konoha is currently spreading throughout the entire shinobi world."

"That actually makes sense."

Hoshigaki Chinrei stroked his chin and carefully considered his son's reasoning.

A secret Konoha already intended to distribute eventually was about the only kind of classified information they would treat so casually after it was stolen.

But to the rebels, that information would be incredibly valuable.

Kirigakure's government would receive the training method directly from Konoha.

They, as rebels, had no such opportunity.

If they wanted to compete with Terumī Mei's forces—or even seize the initiative before she could—they needed Sage Mode too.

With that thought in mind, the Hoshigaki faction began moving.

Unfortunately for them, everything they did was under Kisame's surveillance.

For a Kage-level shinobi like Hoshigaki Kisame, secretly observing a village whose strongest fighter was merely a chūnin with little meaningful combat experience was almost embarrassingly easy.

Kisame asked Itachi whether they should intervene.

After all, Aoi Rokushō was a Konoha missing-nin.

Itachi simply told him to keep watching.

So they kept watching.

And soon, several dark figures quietly slipped toward Aoi's house after he drank a cup of drugged tea and fell into a deep sleep.

A short while later, they emerged carrying something.

Following the advice of Hoshigaki Shizuma—who apparently possessed the ability to think from the Mizukage's perspective at an absurdly young age—they did not kill Aoi first.

What if the sleeping drug failed?

What if the treasure had some kind of security mechanism?

What if Aoi woke up and destroyed himself along with it?

Better to steal the treasure first.

"My lord, this is it."

The villager who had retrieved the item respectfully handed the Sword of the Thunder God to Hoshigaki Chinrei.

"He was holding onto it even while asleep. This has to be the treasure."

"What is this?"

Chinrei frowned.

He turned the Sword of the Thunder God over several times in his hands but could not make sense of it.

His son had guessed they were looking for the Sage Mode training method.

Shouldn't that have been written on a scroll?

What the hell was this thing?

"Father, I know!"

Shizuma, once again thinking on the level of a future Mizukage, raised his hand from the back of the crowd and pointed excitedly at the sword.

"This is a ninja tool created by Konoha to accelerate Sage Mode training!"

He looked at his father.

"Father, do you remember the shop selling Bottle-kun?"

"So that's what this is?"

Hoshigaki Chinrei looked at the conspicuous opening near the upper portion of the Sword of the Thunder God.

Realization dawned across his face.