Mizukage Building, Kirigakure.
Drip… Drip…!
As ‘Terumi Noriko’ followed the two Kirigakure Anbu, blood kept dripping from his body.
After taking a few more steps, one of the Kirigakure Anbu turned back his head and noting the serious wound on his body, he said, “I think it would be best to patch you up first, at this rate, you will die before giving any information to Mizukage-sama!”
‘Noriko’ shook his head and said with a weak expression, “This matter is extremely important, we can’t delay… I don’t know how long Shimura Danzo’s soul will remain dormant, and how long I can keep control over this body, so it would be best to put the treatment on hold, first I have to deliver the information.”
The Anbu was doubtful, but he nodded nonetheless, “Alright.”
Not long after, the three people came to an underground sealed room in the basement of the Mizukage Building. The two Kirigakure Anbu instructed ‘Noriko’, “Sit here… We have sent the message to Mei-sama, she is on her way here… if you manage to convince her, then you may have a chance of seeing Mizukage-sama!”
“I understand, but please just hurry!” ‘Noriko’ nodded, and emphasized the importance of ‘time.’
…
A few minutes later.
Through the one-way glass, Terumi Mei, Utakata, Aō, and the other senior leaders of Kirigakure observed ‘Noriko’ silently sitting in the other room.
After a while of silence, Aō questioned Mei, “Mei-sama, what do you think, is he really Terumi Noriko?”
Mei shook her head, “I don’t know…” and explained, “Although we are from the same clan, I can’t say for sure… He was much older them me so we barely had any interaction… And I doubt other members of my clan would have any idea considering that he was a loner kind of guy and left Kirigakure a few years ago.”
Aō sighed and said, “Based on the rumors I have heard about Shimura Danzo, it seems to be possible, it is said that Shimura Danzo had a problem with ritual, so other souls in his body are able to take control of the body.”
Mei nodded, “I know, I have also heard of the rumors, and in this way, it is indeed possible.” She paused here, and added, “However, I feel that something is amiss… he sneaked back into the village and said that he must meet Mizukage-sama at all cost as he has to tell Yagura-sama something very important. He says that it is so secretive that he can’t even inform me… This is strange…”
Aō questioned doubtfully, “Do you suspect that he is after Mizukage-sama’s life?”
Before Mei can reply, one of the senior officials of Kirigakure snorted coldly, “His injuries are so severe, although, they have been healed temporarily by our Iryō-nin so he won’t immediately die, he is still in an extremely weak state… I don’t think we have anything to worry about, the one who should be worried is him… if he has some ill intentions, then he will die a miserable death.”
After a brief silence, Mei asked the Iryō-nin who treated ‘Noriko,’ “What is your opinion on his injury? Is it from a battle or self-made and how serious is it?”
The Iryō-nin replied, “All the injuries seem to be from the battle… and the penetrating injury on his chest is the most serious, the area in his chest is seriously burned as if electrocuted at high voltage…”
Mei muttered with a thoughtful expression, “A penetrating injury at the chest with signs of electrocution? I seem to know this certain guy from Konohagakure who has a thing for penetrating others’ chests with lightning wrapped around his hands… Could it be the work of that guy? If it is him then it would make sense.”
Aō nodded, “I think it’s possible that the person who injured him this badly is Hatake Kakashi from Konoha.” And added, “And if Hatake Kakashi was able to injure him, then perhaps his threat isn’t that great…”
At this time Utakata––who has remained silent up until now––pointed out, “Perhaps Hatake Kakashi was able to injure him using the element of surprise with his Flying Raijin Jutsu, are we sure that we can do that too?” and emphasized after a pause, “And do not forget that he possesses a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan… We can’t ignore that at all!”
Hearing Utakata’s reminder all the senior officials of Kirigakure became vigilant again, “This guy has Mangekyou Sharingan and he insists on meeting the Mizukage-sama… could it be?”
‘Noriko’ may be injured, but as long as he possesses the Mangekyou Sharingan, he has to be dealt with carefully.
At this time, a Kirigakure Anbu entered the room, walked closer to Mei, and whispered in her ear, “Mei-sama, Mizukage-sama has sent a message.”
Mei nodded “I see.” and prompted the Anbu to continue, “And what is Mizukage-sama’s decision?”
The Anbu replied, “Mizukage-sama has decided to meet him in person and hear what he has to say.”
Mei was taken aback, “What?” and couldn’t help but question the Anbu, “Why does Mizukage-sama want to meet him? He should be aware of the danger… This is too risky!”
The Anbu shook his head, “I don’t know.” And added, “This is Mizukage-sama’s order, it seems that he has something in mind.”
Hearing the Anbu’s words, Mei became silent, and after taking a deep breath, she nodded, “I see.” And questioned, “Is Mizukage-sama coming here?”
The Anbu shook his head, “No, we have to escort him to Mizukage-sama…”
Mei was hesitant, however, out of trust in Mizukage-sama, she nodded, “In that case be careful on the way, and if you find anything suspicious, take him to that place instead of taking him to Mizukage-sama!”
“I understand.” The Anbu nodded and left the room.
As the Anbu left, Aō and the others couldn’t help but look at Mei in confusion and ask, “Are you sure this is the right thing to do Mei-sama… what if something were to happen?”
Mei sighed, “This is Mizukage-sama’s order, we have no choice but to follow it.”
Since, Terumi Mei, the second highest authority of Kirigakure has said so, the others could only remain silent.
…
On the other side, after getting Terumi Mei’s approval, a team of Kirigakure Anbu led ‘Terumi Noriko’ out of Kirigakure.
On the way, ‘Noriko’ asked one of the Anbu, “Where are we going?”
The captain of the squad said coldly, “Don’t ask things you shouldn’t… just follow us.”
‘Noriko’s’ face turned cold, he immediately activated the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, put the Anbu team in a Genjutsu before they could resist, and questioned, “Answer me… where are we going?”
The captain replied with a dull expression, “To the Toto island.”
‘Noriko’ frowned, ‘Toto Island? Isn’t that Kirigakure’s military base?’ and questioned, “Why are we going to the Toto Island?”
The Anbu answered, “Because Mizukage-sama is on the Toto Island!”
“I see.” Muttered ‘Noriko’ as he stopped asking any more questions and instructed the Anbu team to continue on their route, of course, he didn’t release them from the Genjutsu.
After a few hours of continuous running, the group finally arrived on Toto Island.
Even from a distance, ‘Noriko’ was able to sense hundreds of Kirigakure shinobi guarding Toto Island.
Despite the presence of hundreds of Kirigakure shinobi on the Toto Island, ‘Noriko’ wasn’t panicked, instead, he was happy, because he felt that the more cautious Mizukage is, the greater will be the chances of success!
Arriving uninterrupted at the back mountain of Toto Island, the leader of the security on Toto Island pointed at the dark passage going deep into the ground and said, “You will find Mizukage-sama waiting for you in the room at the end of this passage.”
‘Noriko’ nodded, “Alright.” And quickly stepped into the dark passage.
‘Noriko’ didn’t care if this was a trap, he had obtained all the necessary information from the captain of the Anbu team and knew that the leader of security was indeed telling the truth. In fact, even if this was a trap, ‘Noriko’ wouldn’t care at all, rather he would be happy and excited because then he would enjoy slaughtering all the Kirigakure shinobi on this island!
Resisting his intent to kill, ‘Noriko’ chuckled as walked deeper into the dark passage. Soon, he saw a room and a young figure doing some paperwork inside the room.
‘Noriko’ immediately recognized the young figure, and looking at the young figure focused on the paperwork, ‘Noriko’ smiled slyly, ‘Karatachi Yagura… with this, my plan to take over Kirigakure is going to be complete!”
…
At the same time, back in Kirigakure.
Suddenly, a grey seagull cut through the cover of fog and flew down to Kirigakure, it landed on the bird post and raised its leg forward.
The Kirigakure shinobi responsible for collecting the information quickly took out the small piece of parchment from the scroll holster tied at the feet of the seagull and rushed towards the Mizukage Building.
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