Chapter 390: Steaming Danger Tyranny

Chapter 390: Chapter 390: Steaming Danger Tyranny

Of the money used to fund Konan’s six hundred billion explosive tags, nine times out of ten, most of it had come from Kakuzu’s blood, sweat, and tears.

As for the funds Obito used to create his army of one hundred thousand White Zetsu...

Those were probably Kirigakure’s compensation funds for its fallen shinobi.

The moment that thought occurred to him, Hyuga Kagami felt his teeth ache.

Now he finally understood why, even after Mei Terumi took office and vigorously reformed Kirigakure, the village’s strength never really recovered. By the time the position of Sixth Mizukage passed to Chōjūrō, Kirigakure had practically become a joke.

So it turned out that before Mei Terumi had even taken office, Obito had already dug up Kirigakure by the roots.

After a long silence, Hyuga Kagami slowly said, "Before this, I thought you people from Kirigakure were downright ridiculous. All your Kekkei Genkai clans were wiped out, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen either fled or died, and recently, you even managed to lose a Jinchūriki. But now, I don’t see it that way anymore."

Yagura Karatachi said coldly, "What do you mean?"

Hyuga Kagami curled his lips. "Now I actually think it’s pretty impressive that Kirigakure has fallen this far and still hasn’t completely collapsed. Frankly speaking, that’s no small feat! Heh, as expected of Kirigakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"

"You...!"

Yagura’s cheek twitched violently.

Tossing the account book aside, Hyuga Kagami continued, "With a deficit this massive, there’s no way the Daimyō of the Land of Water is going to clean up your mess for you. You’re finished!"

Yagura’s expression darkened. "My current situation really is terrible. There are a lot of voices opposing me within the village, and I don’t have any subordinates around me that I can truly trust."

Before this, Yagura had never had anyone he could confide these thoughts to.

But after Shisui used Kotoamatsukami to alter his will and make him recognize Kamigami, he could instead pour out these troubles to Hyuga Kagami and ask the organization for assistance.

Hyuga Kagami clasped his hands behind his back and casually wandered through Kirigakure’s archive of secret techniques as he said, "In your situation, there really is no saving you through conventional means."

Money wouldn’t simply appear out of thin air.

If the compensation payments couldn’t be distributed, there was no way to stabilize the hearts of the people. No amount of talking would change that.

On top of that, there was the dark stain of Yagura having once been controlled by Akatsuki. Even if Yagura talked himself hoarse trying to explain everything, Kirigakure’s shinobi probably wouldn’t trust him again.

Yagura followed closely behind Hyuga Kagami and said, "You specifically said there’s no saving me through conventional means. In other words, there’s still an unconventional method worth trying?"

Hyuga Kagami stopped in front of a secret technique scroll labeled Steaming Danger Tyranny. Picking up the scroll, he casually said, "You’re still the strongest person in Kirigakure. As long as you make it so Kirigakure can’t afford to lose you, then no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, they can all be tolerated when the survival of the entire village is at stake!"

"This secret technique, Steaming Danger Tyranny, was developed by the Second Mizukage. Aside from the Second himself, no one has managed to master it to this day."

After briefly explaining the Steaming Danger Tyranny technique to Hyuga Kagami, Yagura asked, "Then how do I make the village unable to do without me? Right now, the elders favor Mei Terumi as the next Mizukage. You might not be familiar with her, but she possesses two Kekkei Genkai—Lava Release and Boil Release. She has no obvious weaknesses and is extremely powerful. She’s fully qualified to replace me."

Hyuga Kagami flipped through the Steaming Danger Tyranny scroll and said indifferently, "Then we’ll start with her."

Yagura’s eyes widened. "What? You want to assassinate her?!"

"Why would we assassinate her? She’s a valuable piece we can use against Akatsuki." Hyuga Kagami smiled before continuing, "We only need to make Kirigakure’s elders understand that she can’t hold everything together by herself."

Yagura breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami became completely absorbed in studying the Steaming Danger Tyranny secret technique scroll in his hands.

This technique had been the Second Mizukage’s signature move.

And in the end, it was with this very secret technique that the Second Mizukage had fought the Second Tsuchikage to mutual destruction.

After all, the Second Tsuchikage possessed Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta that stood above even Kekkei Genkai.

The fact that the Second Mizukage had been able to use Steaming Danger Tyranny to force the Dust Release-wielding Second Tsuchikage into mutual destruction was enough to show just how terrifyingly powerful this secret technique was.

Hyuga Kagami carefully studied the Steaming Danger Tyranny technique, while Yagura, despite being the Fourth Mizukage, stood obediently beside him like a little attendant, not making a sound to disturb him.

After a long while, Hyuga Kagami sighed in admiration. "The Second Mizukage really was something else!"

After saying that, Hyuga Kagami directly stuffed the Steaming Danger Tyranny secret technique scroll into the ninja pouch at his waist.

His movements were so natural that it was almost as though he were taking something from his own home.

Yagura completely ignored the fact that Hyuga Kagami had just pocketed one of Kirigakure’s secret technique scrolls and asked, "What exactly should we do?"

Hyuga Kagami pondered for a moment before saying, "Right now, Kirigakure’s most urgent priority is hunting down the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata, and bringing the Six-Tails back under your control. Your village elders shouldn’t obstruct you on something like this, so you can have Mei Terumi form a pursuit squad to hunt down the Six-Tails Jinchūriki. Then, we’ll..."

......

Two days later.

Mei Terumi walked out of the Mizukage Building with her brows slightly furrowed and a solemn expression on her face.

Ao and the rest of her trusted subordinates immediately gathered around her and asked, "Why did the Fourth summon you?"

"The Fourth ordered me to assemble a pursuit squad and hunt down the fugitive Utakata." After a brief pause, Mei added, "The Fourth also said that if I can successfully complete this mission, he’ll voluntarily step down and hand the position of Mizukage over to me."

"Great!"

Mei Terumi’s trusted subordinates immediately burst into cheers.

Ao, however, furrowed his brow. "Hunting down Utakata probably won’t be that easy."

Mei nodded. "Mm. I’m not completely confident that I can defeat him either."

Both Mei and Ao understood that the best person to hunt down the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata, was actually the Fourth Mizukage, who was himself a Jinchūriki.

However, the Fourth Mizukage had made this mission a test of whether Mei was qualified to inherit the position of Mizukage, leaving her with no way to refuse.

If she refused the mission, she would lose her qualification to become Mizukage. And right now, she was the only candidate in the village capable of replacing the Fourth Mizukage.

If she lost that qualification, then there would be no one left who could replace him.

Ao said, "We’ll need to prepare traps beforehand and request assistance from the elders’ sealing team. I also heard that Utakata was seriously injured during his previous battle with the Fourth Kazekage. As long as we prepare properly, capturing him shouldn’t be too difficult."

Mei’s expression gradually became resolute. She instructed Ao beside her, "Go make the preparations. We leave this afternoon!"

From Mei’s perspective, the Fourth Mizukage wasn’t deliberately making things too difficult for her.

After all, if she couldn’t even complete a mission like this, then perhaps she truly wasn’t qualified to inherit the position of Mizukage!