Chapter 374: Collapsing Order

Chapter 374: Chapter 374: Collapsing Order

The moment Hyuga Kagami finished speaking, Kurenai stepped forward.

"How can we do that?!"

"Stop trying to tough it out. You can barely even stand right now. How are you supposed to continue the mission?" After a brief pause, Hyuga Kagami continued calmly, "Kirigakure is different from the other ninja villages. It’s surrounded by sea on all sides. Once our identities are exposed, escaping will be extremely difficult. In your current condition, even if you came along, you’d only hold me back."

Hearing Hyuga Kagami’s flat, matter-of-fact words, Kurenai unwillingly sank back to the ground.

Hayate and Yugao looked equally dejected.

They hadn’t even entered the Land of Water yet, and they had already lost the ability to continue the mission. The sense of defeat weighed heavily on all three of them.

Hyuga Kagami swept his gaze across the battlefield and said indifferently, "Although we were forced into battle without any preparation, among the Kirigakure shinobi who attacked us, only their leader was a jonin. The rest were all chunin and genin."

He didn’t spell it out, but his meaning was already perfectly clear.

Hyuga Kagami was somewhat disappointed with the performance the three of them had just shown.

Kurenai looked puzzled. "There was only one jonin among them?"

Hyuga Kagami nodded.

"My Byakugan can see the amount of chakra within their bodies. Judging by their chakra reserves, only one person among this group reached the standard of a jonin."

Kirigakure’s prolonged internal turmoil had caused severe internal attrition within the village, but at the same time, it had also cultivated an unusual ruthlessness among its shinobi.

And on a battlefield where life and death were decided in an instant, that ruthlessness could sometimes produce unexpectedly devastating results.

Upon learning that a single Kirigakure jonin leading little more than a dozen chunin and genin had managed to leave the three of them in such a state, Kurenai no longer insisted. Somewhat dispirited, she said, "Alright."

After Kurenai, Hayate, and Yugao left the camp and began retreating toward the Land of Fire, a dark figure silently landed beside Hyuga Kagami.

"Senpai, why were you so determined to prevent them from participating in this mission?"

The dark figure was none other than Uchiha Itachi, who had followed Hyuga Kagami’s instructions and departed ahead of them to lure the Kirigakure shinobi toward the camp.

Hyuga Kagami asked, "Do you think my Team 7 is capable of completing this mission?"

Itachi thought carefully for a moment before frowning and shaking his head.

"If we exclude your combat strength, Senpai, I’m afraid your Team 7 would have a very difficult time completing the mission assigned by the Hokage."

Infiltrating one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages and assassinating its Kage—

A mission of this difficulty would carry enormous risks even if it were entrusted to Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, much less an ANBU squad that had only recently been formed.

Moreover, the situation in Kirigakure was also connected to the Akatsuki.

If the Fourth Mizukage truly was colluding with the Akatsuki, then there was a good chance that members of the Akatsuki were stationed near him. With Team 7’s strength alone, completing such a mission would be extraordinarily difficult.

Because Itachi knew just how powerful Hyuga Kagami was, he hadn’t found the Hokage’s assignment particularly strange at first. But now that he thought about it carefully, he gradually sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

Seeing Itachi frowning deeply as though lost in thought, Hyuga Kagami smiled.

"You don’t need to overthink it. The Third probably made this arrangement simply because he genuinely couldn’t spare anyone else. All he can do is place his hopes on our Team 7 taking advantage of Kirigakure’s internal turmoil to carry out a decapitation strike against the Fourth Mizukage."

On one hand, Konoha had to gather intelligence on the Akatsuki.

On the other, it had to remain on guard against the Akatsuki retaliating against the village.

Hyuga Kagami knew very well that the Third had very few cards left in his hand.

Itachi sighed.

"Fortunately, you were the one who accepted this mission, Senpai. If it had been assigned to another ANBU squad, even if they managed to succeed, I’m afraid they would have had a very difficult time escaping the Land of Water alive."

Hyuga Kagami nodded. "My subordinates are all outstanding shinobi. I don’t want them dying young for no good reason in some foreign land."

Itachi asked, "How should we proceed from here?"

Hyuga Kagami took a scroll from the ninja pouch at his waist and tossed it to Itachi.

"Follow the route marked on the scroll and infiltrate Kirigakure. Once you’re inside, find a safe house somewhere within the area I marked and wait there for my orders."

The safe infiltration route recorded on the scroll had been secretly transmitted by Konoha’s spies embedded within Kirigakure. As long as Itachi followed the marked route, he could easily avoid the patrols of Kirigakure shinobi.

Itachi caught the scroll. "Understood."

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Kagami added, "If I haven’t contacted you within a week, or if the situation inside Kirigakure suddenly deteriorates, withdraw on your own."

Itachi was somewhat curious. "Are you really planning to carry out the mission alone, Senpai?"

Hyuga Kagami replied, "You don’t need to worry too much. En will be accompanying me."

"En-senpai is participating in this operation as well?"

During the previous assault on the Akatsuki, Uchiha En—one of the most powerful members of Kamigami—had unexpectedly been absent. Both Shisui and Itachi had found this extremely strange.

Hyuga Kagami rubbed his nose. "Yeah. En will be participating this time, and she’s already infiltrated Kirigakure ahead of us. Alright, we’ll talk about everything else later. It’s time to move!"

Whoosh...

Itachi asked no further questions.

With a flicker of his body, he vanished from the spot amid the sharp sound of rushing wind.

Hyuga Kagami briefly cleaned up the battlefield before entering Tenseigan Chakra Mode. Transforming into a brilliant streak of blue light, he soared into the sky.

Before long, he landed aboard the air fortress hovering dozens of miles off the coast of the Land of Water.

When the Third had assigned him this mission, Hyuga Kagami had taken advantage of the time spent getting Team 7 accustomed to working together to secretly move the air fortress from the deserts of the Land of Wind to the vicinity of the Land of Water.

"Lord!"

Upon seeing Hyuga Kagami, the two little ones, Gaara and Karin, obediently greeted him with a respectful bow.

During their time aboard the air fortress, the two children had been living carefree lives. Aside from the restricted areas designated by Hyuga Kagami, the entire air fortress had practically become their personal playground.

Hyuga Kagami didn’t particularly mind.

Balancing work and rest was one of the best ways to relieve stress and ease the mind. Gaara and Karin had both lived far too repressed and miserable lives in the past. If that continued for too long, it would inevitably cause tremendous harm to both their physical and mental well-being.

So while he was using this time to nurse Karin’s body back to health, letting the two children relax and enjoy themselves certainly wasn’t a bad thing.

After arriving at the laboratory, Hyuga Kagami wasted no time. He immediately used the Soul Descent Technique to switch bodies, then took control of his Fire Release clone and departed from the air fortress.

The reason Hyuga Kagami had insisted on operating alone this time wasn’t merely because he didn’t want his Team 7 subordinates throwing their lives away for nothing.

There was another reason as well.

Having Team 7 accompanying him would make it inconvenient for him to act freely.

Under the light of dawn, Hyuga Kagami, now draped in a gray cloak, slowly walked through the streets of Kirigakure.

Perhaps because of the prolonged internal turmoil, Kirigakure appeared somewhat desolate. It was nowhere near as prosperous as Konoha.

There weren’t many shops lining the streets, nor were there many customers.

Instead, groups of beggars and orphans could be seen wandering through the streets and alleys in droves.

After passing through one of the streets, Hyuga Kagami’s sharp senses immediately detected something.

Someone had set their eyes on him.

"Tch..."

Clicking his tongue, Hyuga Kagami deliberately turned into a narrow alley.

Before long, several burly thugs carrying wooden clubs chased him into the alley and snarled, "Hand over all your money and food!"

Bang! Bang!

Hyuga Kagami’s figure flickered.

In an instant, he knocked the thugs to the ground before quietly leaving the alley.

"They’re brazen enough to rob people in broad daylight inside the village itself. Has public order already completely collapsed...?"

Thinking this over, Hyuga Kagami entered an izakaya that was still open for business.

After ordering a few small dishes, he made his way to the second floor.

The izakaya wasn’t far from the Mizukage Building, and from the second floor, he could vaguely make out its silhouette in the distance.

Gazing at the Mizukage Building through the window, Hyuga Kagami narrowed his eyes.

According to the intelligence Konoha’s spies had sent back to the village, Kirigakure’s coup was already like an arrow drawn to the string—it could erupt at any moment.

Yet from what Hyuga Kagami could observe, security around the Mizukage Building was remarkably lax. There appeared to be no preparations whatsoever for dealing with a coup.

"Even our spies managed to uncover news of the coup. Could Obito, who’s controlling the Fourth Mizukage, really know nothing about it?"

Hyuga Kagami shook his head, immediately dismissing the thought.

"Perhaps... this coup is exactly what Obito wants to see?"

......

Meanwhile, inside a large residence not far from the izakaya where Hyuga Kagami was staying...

Zabuza, with the ninja sword Samehada strapped across his back, swept his cold gaze over the subordinates gathered before him.

As one of the outstanding shinobi of Kirigakure’s new generation, Zabuza had spent years building up his own faction and had gathered a considerable number of followers under his command.

Now, he had assembled them all in one place.

There were more than sixty of them, nearly filling the entire residence.

Suppressing the agitation in his heart, Zabuza declared, "Tonight, we will change Kirigakure—and change history!"

In an instant, all sixty-plus Kirigakure shinobi dropped to one knee in unison.

"We await your orders!"

Zabuza nodded in satisfaction.

By now, the Fourth Mizukage had become increasingly unpopular within Kirigakure. Especially after Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, had also defected, nearly all the factions that had previously supported the Fourth Mizukage had turned against him.

This was precisely why Zabuza dared to launch a rebellion.

As far as he was concerned, as long as he could launch a surprise attack on the Mizukage Building and successfully assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, Kirigakure would be left without a leader and would have no choice but to accept him, allowing him to ascend to the position of Mizukage.

After all, in the current Kirigakure, there were no longer many people capable of competing with him for the position.

......

On the second floor of a rundown shop across the street from Zabuza’s residence...

Ao staggered several steps before sitting down heavily on a bench, panting for breath.

Mei Terumi, standing beside him, quickly reached out to support him.

"What’s wrong?"

Ao shook his head. "Maybe I’ve been using the Byakugan for too long. I suddenly feel a little dizzy."

Although the Byakugan didn’t impose the same enormous, almost unbearable burden on a transplant recipient as the Sharingan did, it still placed a strain on its user.

Moreover, even members of the Hyuga Clan found it difficult to keep their Byakugan activated continuously for extended periods of time.

Mei said, "Rest for a while first."

After catching his breath, Ao said, "Including the ones who secretly entered the residence today, Zabuza has already gathered around sixty or seventy people. Nearly all of his key subordinates have arrived as well. I suspect he’ll make his move either tonight or tomorrow!"

Hearing this, Mei Terumi fell into deep thought.

Although Zabuza had kept his movements concealed, they couldn’t escape the notice of those who were paying attention.

Mei believed that quite a few people in the village had already noticed something. Even if they didn’t know the specifics of Zabuza’s operation, they had more or less guessed what he intended to do.

Yet the Mizukage’s reaction was impossible to make sense of.

And that was precisely what puzzled Mei.

After a moment, she asked, "Are the defenses around the Mizukage Building still the same as yesterday?"

Ao replied, "Yeah. Basically nothing has changed. There are still three ANBU squads stationed around the perimeter, along with the Mizukage Building’s regular guard force in plain sight. As for the interior, our people just sent word that the defensive forces haven’t changed either. There are still two ANBU squads and one Barrier Team."

Mei murmured, "Why...? Could the Fourth really have noticed nothing at all?"

Ao gave a bitter smile.

"It’s been almost a year since we last saw the Fourth in person, hasn’t it? I’m starting to wonder whether the Fourth inside the Mizukage Building is even the real Fourth Mizukage!"

Because sealing formulas covered both the interior and exterior of the Mizukage Building, even with a Byakugan, Ao was unable to see the details of what was happening inside.

And although the subordinates Mei had planted within the Mizukage Building firmly insisted that the Fourth Mizukage was indeed inside, Ao couldn’t shake the feeling that there had to be some hidden reason behind the Fourth Mizukage’s prolonged refusal to show himself.

Mei glanced at Ao without saying anything.

By now, practically every clear-headed member of Kirigakure’s upper ranks shared Ao’s suspicions regarding the Fourth Mizukage.

Some of the Fourth Mizukage’s recent actions had simply been far too abnormal.

The most baffling example was his latest decision to inexplicably dispatch the village’s Jinchuriki and elite jonin to assist the Akatsuki—an order that had left practically everyone in Kirigakure completely bewildered.

Knock, knock...

At that moment, a faint knocking came from outside the door.

Mei Terumi said, "Come in!"

A shinobi dressed as a Kirigakure ANBU entered the room and respectfully handed a report to Mei.

"My Lady, this is the intelligence you requested!"

Mei nodded and casually accepted the report.

The intelligence contained records of every unfamiliar person who had entered Kirigakure over the past week.

Looking at the densely packed list of names, Mei only skimmed through it briefly before her delicate brows knitted into a deep frown.

"Damn it, there are actually this many... Looks like the entire shinobi world is waiting to watch Kirigakure make a fool of itself!"

There was little need for speculation.

Of the strangers entering Kirigakure during such a sensitive period, nine out of ten were either intelligence brokers or informants and spies dispatched by other ninja villages.

Ao, standing nearby, said coldly, "This probably isn’t all of them, is it?"

The Kirigakure ANBU replied helplessly, "At present, the ANBU has fractured into multiple factions. Our surveillance over the village is nowhere near as tight as it used to be, so there may indeed be some who slipped through our net without us noticing."

The Kirigakure ANBU, who were supposed to be loyal to the Mizukage, had themselves descended into chaos.

Aside from a small number who remained loyal to the Fourth Mizukage, the vast majority of Kirigakure’s ANBU had begun seeking their own backers and searching for new masters to pledge their loyalty to.

Mei Terumi had recruited quite a few Kirigakure ANBU to her side.

And inside the residence across the street, there were likewise plenty of Kirigakure ANBU serving under Zabuza.

This was also why, despite knowing full well that Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, had defected, Kirigakure had still failed to organize a pursuit and capture operation.

Kirigakure’s ANBU had already become completely paralyzed...