Chapter 432: The Great Net Woven by the Third Hokage

Chapter 432: Chapter 432: The Great Net Woven by the Third Hokage

This ninja crow was the one Kagami had deliberately sent out that night when he collected Kimimaro’s cell tissue.

Now that the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had become his subordinate, Kirigakure’s archives were naturally as good as Kamigami’s archives.

And after Kirigakure wiped out the Kaguya Clan, it had confiscated a large collection of ancient texts treasured by the clan. Those ancient records were precisely the best historical materials for tracing the origins of the Kaguya Clan. Perhaps he might even find some information concerning the Hyuga Clan among them.

After returning to the laboratory, Kagami temporarily set the ancient scrolls aside and opened the letter whose ink had yet to fully dry.

The letter had been personally written by Yagura.

In it, Yagura mentioned that Kirigakure had recently received a secret invitation from Konoha, inviting him, as the Mizukage, to travel to Konahagakure and attend a new Five Kage Summit.

The purpose of Yagura writing this letter personally was to ask Kagami whether he should attend this Five Kage Summit being secretly held in Konoha.

Putting the letter down, Kagami thought to himself, "When did the village send out an invitation like this? How did I not hear even the slightest whisper about it?"

But a moment later, he understood.

Following the failure of Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure’s joint surprise attack on the Akatsuki, as well as the revelation that the Fourth Mizukage had secretly been controlled by the Akatsuki, the fact that the Akatsuki possessed the ability to threaten Kage-level shinobi was no longer anything unusual in the shinobi world.

Therefore, a Five Kage Summit that could once have been held openly now had no choice but to be conducted in complete secrecy for the sake of security.

Otherwise, if the Akatsuki discovered the movements of the Five Kage, then the Kage who had left the protection of their respective villages could very well become targets of the Akatsuki.

"Looks like the Third Hokage hasn’t been sitting idle either!"

The corners of Kagami’s lips curled upward as he sighed inwardly.

The Third Hokage had first drawn in the surrounding smaller ninja villages—Kusagakure, Takigakure, and Otogakure—and through the grand alliance ceremony, firmly tied all of them to Konoha’s war chariot.

At the same time, this eased the pressure along the Land of Fire’s borders, allowing Konoha to consolidate its forces and turn five outstretched fingers into a single clenched fist!

Afterward, the Third Hokage secretly began planning a new Five Kage Summit.

Even Kagami had to admit that the Third Hokage’s timing this time was exceptionally precise.

First of all, Sunagakure had already formed an alliance with Konoha, so it would inevitably support Konoha’s proposal to convene the Five Kage Summit, and the Kazekage would certainly attend.

Kumogakure’s Two-Tails Jinchūriki was still in the Akatsuki’s hands, and whether she was even alive remained unknown. Therefore, the likelihood of Kumogakure attending the Five Kage Summit was also extremely high.

As for Kirigakure, the Fourth Mizukage had only just broken free from the Akatsuki’s control. Having suffered such a humiliating loss of face, his hatred for the Akatsuki was currently at its peak, so the likelihood of him attending the Five Kage Summit was equally high.

Of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, four were highly likely to attend.

By then, even if Iwagakure refused to come, it would hardly matter.

Without a doubt, these arrangements alone were enough to show that the Third Hokage had already realized one thing:

If they continued fighting alone, not a single village was a match for the Akatsuki.

And so, behind the scenes, he had begun weaving a massive net around the Akatsuki, simply waiting for them to walk straight into it.

If the Mizukage himself had not happened to be Kagami’s subordinate, then even Kagami, an ANBU squad captain, would have been kept completely in the dark by the Third Hokage.

That alone showed just how secretive this Five Kage Summit was.

Without much hesitation, Kagami wrote a single character on the letter—

"Approved."

He then sealed the letter back inside the small storage scroll, tied it to the ninja crow’s leg, and sent the crow on its way.

Naturally, Kagami was more than happy to see the Third Hokage’s plans succeed.

After that, Kagami began going through the ancient texts of the Kaguya Clan that Yagura had sent him.

These ancient texts included not only a genealogy recording nearly a thousand years of the Kaguya Clan’s history and inheritance, but also secret scrolls documenting the clan’s various secret techniques and forbidden techniques.

In particular, one of those secret scrolls contained the results of the Kaguya Clan’s centuries of research into their Kekkei Genkai—the Shikotsumyaku.

"A blood replacement ritual!?"

Before long, the contents of one particular page caught Kagami’s attention.

According to nearly a thousand years of research conducted by the Kaguya Clan, they had discovered that the more talented a clansman was, and the more thoroughly they developed the power of the Shikotsumyaku, the shorter their lifespan tended to be.

And after dissecting the corpses of countless clansmen, they made a shocking discovery.

There was a toxin-like substance deeply rooted within the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai itself.

Thus, the greater a clansman’s talent and the further they developed their Shikotsumyaku, the shorter their lifespan would become.

But the Shikotsumyaku was the very foundation upon which the Kaguya Clan had built its name and reputation. It was the power they had relied upon to dominate during the chaotic Warring States Period.

Therefore, the Kaguya Clan’s upper echelon immediately suppressed this discovery and began conducting secret research.

To break this curse that threatened the very continuation of their clan, the Kaguya leadership carried out countless inhumane experiments on living subjects.

After sacrificing a vast number of innocent clansmen, they finally discovered that the toxin rooted within the Shikotsumyaku was primarily concentrated in the body’s blood circulatory system.

As long as the blood was replaced, the damage the toxin inflicted upon the body could be greatly reduced.

Later, the Kaguya Clan discovered a certain medicinal herb.

If this herb was refined into medicinal pills and used together with the Blood Replacement Ritual, the harmful effects of the toxin on the body could be completely eliminated.

"So that’s how it is. It isn’t that Kimimaro alone suffers from a Kekkei Genkai disease—the entire Kaguya Clan has it!"

After understanding this point, Kagami frowned, rose to his feet, and headed toward the cultivation room.

Inside the cultivation room, two large nutrient tanks each contained a developing clone.

Although there were as many as ten embryos that had successfully completed cellular fusion, with Kagami’s current financial resources, there was simply no way for him to cultivate all of them at once.

He could only work within his means.

So, for the time being, he had selected the two embryos with the highest cellular activity and begun cultivating those first.

Even with Tenseigan chakra accelerating their growth, cultivating the embryos would still require more than a month at minimum.

As a result, the Wind Release clones inside the large nutrient tanks were currently no bigger than the palm of his hand.

Staring at the two clones, Kagami thought to himself, "If the entire Kaguya Clan is afflicted by this Kekkei Genkai disease, then I’m afraid my Wind Release clone won’t be able to escape it either."

The cellular source for the Wind Release clone had been collected from Kimimaro.

And at the time the cells were collected, Kimimaro was already suffering from the Kekkei Genkai disease. Therefore, that toxin-like substance should already be present within his cellular tissue.

According to the secret scroll, the only way to remove that toxin was through blood replacement.

However, not just anyone’s blood would work.

The blood had to come from a member of the same clan—and specifically, from a clansman who did not suffer from the Kekkei Genkai disease.

In other words, it had to come either from a member of the Kaguya Clan who had yet to awaken the Shikotsumyaku, or from one who had already undergone the Blood Replacement Ritual and whose body was therefore free of the toxin.

But now that the Kaguya Clan had been exterminated, such people had effectively ceased to exist.

While contemplating how he might cure the Kaguya Clan’s Kekkei Genkai disease, another thought suddenly flashed through Kagami’s mind.

"Why does the Kaguya Clan’s Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai contain a toxin so potent that even members of the Kaguya Clan themselves can barely withstand it?"