Chapter 388: Kotoamatsukami

Chapter 388: Chapter 388: Kotoamatsukami

Glancing at the unconscious Fourth Mizukage lying on the ground, then at Hyuga Kagami beside him, Shisui hesitated before saying, "If what we’re doing here gets exposed, wouldn’t it potentially cause a war?"

Kagami replied, "That’s exactly why we can’t use an ordinary genjutsu."

"But..." Shisui paused, still unable to make up his mind. "But he’s the Mizukage. He represents Kirigakure. If this gets out of our control, I’m worried it’ll bring trouble to the village."

Kagami stood up and looked directly at Shisui.

"If we don’t interfere, he won’t live much longer."

Kagami wasn’t simply trying to scare Shisui.

In the original timeline, Ao had used his Byakugan to see through Obito’s scheme of controlling the Fourth Mizukage and successfully dispelled the genjutsu placed on him.

And yet, not long afterward, the Fourth Mizukage died without so much as a ripple, and the position of Mizukage eventually passed to the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi.

As for the Fourth Mizukage’s actual cause of death, even Kagami wasn’t entirely sure. But there were really only two likely possibilities—

Murder or suicide.

If the Fourth Mizukage had been murdered, then it meant Kirigakure’s higher-ups had already reached a consensus regarding his fate, while the Fourth Mizukage himself—whether because of guilt or depression—had failed to notice it in time and was ultimately assassinated.

However, based on Kagami’s analysis of Kirigakure’s situation during his time here, he felt that this possibility was rather unlikely.

At present, the only person in Kirigakure who could genuinely threaten the Fourth Mizukage was Mei Terumi, a powerful shinobi who possessed two Kekkei Genkai—Lava Release and Boil Release.

However, Mei was a representative of Kirigakure’s moderate faction and an advocate dedicated to reforming the Village of the Bloody Mist. The chances of her participating in the assassination of the Fourth Mizukage were extremely low.

Besides, she might not even be capable of killing him.

Therefore, Kagami believed that the Fourth Mizukage had most likely died by suicide!

After all, suicide among shinobi was hardly unheard of. Kakashi’s father, Sakumo Hatake, whose reputation as the White Fang of Konoha had once surpassed even that of the Sannin, had died by suicide.

And the reason Sakumo Hatake had taken his own life was merely because a mission had failed, causing losses to the village.

By comparison, the Fourth Mizukage had been reduced to a puppet in someone else’s hands and had thrown Kirigakure into complete chaos. Whether it was the damage to his own reputation or the losses suffered by Kirigakure, both were far greater than the consequences of Sakumo Hatake’s failed mission.

Choosing suicide under such circumstances was entirely understandable.

However, whether the Fourth Mizukage had been unable to overcome his own guilt and taken his own life, or whether public pressure had ultimately driven him to suicide, Kagami had no way of knowing.

After pondering for a moment, Shisui asked, "Would Kagami-senpai really allow us to do something like this?"

Kagami glanced at Itachi and instructed, "Itachi, go keep watch up ahead. There are some things I need to discuss with Shisui alone."

Itachi nodded, then tactfully walked some distance away and began keeping watch.

Once Itachi was out of earshot, Kagami said to Shisui, "Lord Kagami has already told me everything about your situation. This operation was also authorized by Lord Kagami. Transplanting First Hokage cells carries enormous risks. You might not survive it, so this may be your only chance to use Kotoamatsukami. Do you really intend to take Kotoamatsukami with you to the grave?"

Shisui gave a bitter smile.

"I didn’t expect Kagami-senpai to even tell you about that..."

Kagami replied, "So there’s no need to doubt me. Everything I’m doing has been authorized by Lord Kagami."

"All right." Shisui finally relented. "Since Kagami-senpai has already made the decision, then let’s begin!"

Shisui hesitated no longer. He immediately activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, then propped up the unconscious Fourth Mizukage and used his fingers to pry open his eyelids.

As their eyes met, the four-bladed pattern within Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan began spinning rapidly.

"Dōjutsu: Kotoamatsukami!"

Thump... thump...

The instant Shisui activated Kotoamatsukami, Kagami, standing nearby, seemed to hear the beating of a heart.

However, he knew that it wasn’t an actual heartbeat. Rather, it was a resonance of wills caused by the dōjutsu of Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan.

At that moment, Shisui’s will and the Fourth Mizukage’s will became connected.

Kotoamatsukami was fundamentally different from ordinary genjutsu. It was a dōjutsu capable of genuinely altering the target’s will.

During the process of invading the target’s brain and altering their will, it could be detected by the Byakugan. At the Five Kage Summit, when Danzo attempted to alter the will of Mifune, the general of the Land of Iron, his actions had been exposed by Ao, who possessed a Byakugan.

However, once the alteration of the target’s will was complete and the ocular power was withdrawn, the person controlled by Kotoamatsukami would become indistinguishable from any ordinary person. There would no longer be another person’s chakra lingering within their brain, meaning that even the Byakugan would be unable to detect anything unusual.

This was precisely why Kotoamatsukami was hailed as the strongest genjutsu.

It only required the target’s will to be altered once. There was no need to maintain continuous control afterward.

Of course, if it had been Shisui himself who used Kotoamatsukami at the Five Kage Summit, then before Ao even realized that something was wrong, Shisui might already have silently completed the alteration of Mifune’s will without anyone noticing.

After all, Danzo lacked Uchiha blood. Every Sharingan-related forbidden technique and dōjutsu he used was essentially a crippled version of the real thing.

At that moment, Shisui said, "I’ve already invaded his mind. How should I alter his will?"

Kagami thought for a moment before instructing,

"Make him loyal to Kamigami!"

Shisui considered it for a moment and felt that it made sense.

If they implanted the command "Be loyal to Konoha" into the Fourth Mizukage, then his everyday words and actions would inevitably conflict with his position as Mizukage.

When that happened, even if Kirigakure’s higher-ups determined that he wasn’t under a genjutsu, they would still suspect that he had defected to Konoha. Either way, he would never be able to maintain his position as Mizukage.

Placing a hand gently against the Fourth Mizukage’s forehead, Shisui slowly said,

"You are a member of Kamigami. You will remain loyal to Kamigami until the day you die!"

With his head lowered, the Fourth Mizukage slowly repeated after him,

"I am a member of Kamigami. I will remain loyal to Kamigami until the day I die!"

After completing the alteration of his will, Shisui clutched his eye and began panting heavily.

Even before this, Shisui’s eyesight had already deteriorated severely. After using Kotoamatsukami this time, the vision in his left eye—the eye that had activated Kotoamatsukami—deteriorated yet again.

Not only was he now seeing double, dark shadows had even begun appearing in his vision.

Deactivating his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui staggered several steps and said, "My left eye will need at least ten years before it can use Kotoamatsukami again!"

The sudden deterioration of his eyesight had even disrupted Shisui’s sense of balance. Even something as simple as standing up had become quite difficult for him.

Kagami stepped forward and supported Shisui.

"Once this mission is over, you can undergo the First Hokage cell transplantation surgery. If everything goes smoothly, your eyesight should recover soon."

There were only two ways to restore the eyesight lost through the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The first was to transplant First Hokage cells containing Yang-nature chakra.

The second was to fuse the Mangekyō Sharingan of a blood relative with one’s own, evolving them into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

Shisui had no blood relatives who could provide him with another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan. Therefore, after refusing the pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan possessed by Kagami’s Fire Release clone, transplantation of First Hokage cells was the only path left for him...