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JST Chapter 234: The Future of Kirigakure
🕑 Added 2025-04-03 20:58:32 +0000 UTC"The freedom I pursued, the vision that was once blocked, has finally been obtained today!" Hyuga Hizashi suddenly knelt down and looked up at Kazuki. Under the reflection of the sun, Kazuki's white hair seemed like a saint descending to the world, radiating brilliance.
The saint stroked my head and granted me freedom...
This is probably what Hyuga Hizashi was thinking now.
Hyuga Hizashi recalled his acquaintance with Kazuki. It was Kazuki who invited the major shinobi clans at the root. The arrogant Hyuga elders were unwilling to send a member of the main family, so they sent him, a branch family member, to participate.
But Kazuki did not despise him; instead, he welcomed him with a smile and granted him the corresponding status and respect.
And now, Hizashi was still struggling with how to ask Kazuki to release the bird from the cage. In his opinion, he had to risk half his life just to be qualified to hint at it, right?
But Kazuki did not hesitate—he released him straightforwardly.
[From the target Hyuga Hizashi: You have obtained the kekkei genkai - Byakugan!"
"Hizashi, I have great expectations for you and the Hyuga branch family."
Kazuki patted Hizashi's shoulder, signaling him not to continue kneeling: "How to use the seal to release others from the cage—this is something you must carefully consider..."
Kazuki rubbed his eyebrows tiredly.
Hizashi was startled and quickly asked, "Kazuki-sama, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Go do what you must."
Kazuki handed Hizashi a scroll and said softly, "This contains a mission for you. Wait until the war is over..."
Hizashi took it with both hands, placing it close to his heart with great care, and promised in a deep voice, "Kazuki-sama, I swear to complete the mission!"
Kazuki smiled and said no more: "Go and inform Kisame, Terumi Mei, Kaguya Jinzaburo, and Zabuza to gather at the place where the Three-Tails and Six-Tails are sealed. I need to make some arrangements."
Hizashi accepted the order and quickly ran off.
"Ocean Contract, loyalty, and strength..."
Kazuki muttered these keywords in his mind. He is one of the best teachers in Konoha...
Before the age of ten, Nohara Rin and Asuma, who were mediocre in talent, were able to learn medical ninjutsu and high-level fire release techniques comparable to Uchiha Madara under Kazuki's training...
As for the issue of loyalty, that was even easier to handle.
Loyalty of the heart is loyalty, loyalty through genjutsu is also loyalty, and loyalty of the heart combined with genjutsu is the most unbreakable loyalty!
After the battle with Kazuki, the weak Kirigakure shinobi were purged, leaving only those with immediate combat ability.
Adding to the internal purge by Kaguya Jinzaburo, there were actually only about 2,000 people left in Kirigakure...
But they were all elites, talents worth training and indoctrinating.
Kazuki played with the Mizukage hat in his hand and stood up.
Meanwhile, Senju Tobirama watched this scene, his heart heavy with sorrow.
The ocean is the graveyard of Kazuki's future, and the Kirigakure village and its shinobi are the grave keepers chosen by Kazuki for himself…
Senju Tobirama couldn't help but wonder once more…
When did Kazuki realize the existence of the Rinne Sharingan? And when did he develop the resolve to seal himself and suppress the Six Paths Sage?
Senju Tobirama did not know…
He only knew that when it came to the Will of Fire and love for the shinobi world—
Kazuki stood above all!
...
"Huh... Three-Tails and Six-Tails, are the two tailed beasts of Kirigakure sealed here?"
Under the guidance of Kisame and others, Kazuki and the core shinobi of Kirigakure arrived at a valley.
"Yes, Kazuki-sama."
Kisame carried the large sword Samehada on his back, and his upright face was full of vigilance. He was seriously and honestly performing his duty of guarding Kazuki. His small eyes kept scanning the surrounding environment, as if he were afraid that the tailed beasts would suddenly attack and harm Kazuki.
"In the depths of this lake, the Three-Tails is hiding..."
"And in the mountain above it is the Six-Tails. Since Kirigakure does not have a suitable sealer or Jinchūriki, they can only be temporarily stored here."
Kazuki nodded.
After the internal cleansing of the 'surrender Kazuki faction' or 'new faction' formed by Kisame and others, the remaining two or three thousand Kiri-nin were all in their strong and vigorous youth stage but lacked a solid foundation.
Compared to the old school, they lacked the inheritance and foundation of ninjutsu. For high-level techniques such as sealing jutsu that require talent, classics, and time to refine, no one had mastered much, let alone the ability to deal with the tailed beasts, which bore the name of natural disasters.
They were a group of fools who could only act recklessly...
But Kazuki was very satisfied with such a Kirigakure. What he wanted was these undeveloped warriors whose strength and mindset had not yet been solidified.
With a little guidance, their strength would improve rapidly. After a heart-to-heart talk, discussing their ideals and ambitions, their loyalty would gradually rise, becoming unstoppable...
To some extent, Kazuki was also reducing the difficulty of unlocking the final bond tied to the shinobi that formed the Kirigakure group.
Kazuki was still tempted by the reward of the Ocean Contract.
In fact, Kazuki had considered something even more extreme, such as killing all the shinobi in Kirigakure and leaving only a few. In that case, loyalty could be instilled directly using dojutsu, but considering the subsequent storyline, this would be unsightly...
"Kirigakure has two tailed beasts, the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails, yet the village's strength has always ranked at the bottom among the five great shinobi villages."
Kazuki commented objectively: "This is naturally related to the internal friction caused by the previous Blood Mist Village, but the inability to fully utilize the power of the two tailed beasts is also a crucial factor."
"Like the rising Iwagakure and Kumogakure, after mastering the method of allowing Jinchūriki to use the power of the tailed beasts, their threat to large armies and their tactical significance have increased by several levels."
Mei sighed softly.
In reality, it wasn't that Kirigakure had no chance to master the power of the tailed beasts...
It was just that the Third Mizukage was unwilling to take that risk. He merely extracted some of the tailed beasts' chakra for external use, primarily to suppress opposition voices within the village. This was a very helpless situation.
From this perspective, perhaps if the Third Mizukage had mastered the power of the tailed beasts, the progress of the Blood Mist Village would have accelerated even more.
Mei glanced at Kisame and Zabuza, shook her head, and sighed internally: 'If the Blood Mist Village had continued a little longer, even if Kazuki-sama had not appeared, perhaps even these Anbu directly under the Mizukage would have been unable to endure it and defected one after another...'
Zabuza watched this scene silently.
Kisame surrendered to Kazuki because he couldn't find his own place and was tormented by his inner struggles.
Jinzaburo was loyal to Kazuki because of his personality change after being beaten, and the purity of Kazuki's Shikotsumyaku.
Mei saw Kazuki's lava and boil release techniques, which surpassed those of her clan, and she also developed some special thoughts.
These three people represented some of the sentiments of the current Kirigakure shinobi. They believed that Kazuki's fighting style and personal charisma were a good fit for Kirigakure and sincerely wished to join his ranks.
But there were also those, like Zabuza, who harbored doubts.
No matter how gently Kazuki defeated them, their inner guard would not be lowered in an instant, which was a normal level of vigilance...
What exactly did this man want from them?
It wasn't possible that he had killed half of Kirigakure's people, was now feeding the survivors well, and expected nothing in return, right?
That was too nerve-wracking and unsettling.
Even if Kazuki waved his hand now and ordered them to be the death squad on the front lines against Konoha, it wouldn't be surprising.
After all, they were prisoners of war, and such treatment was expected.
But in this situation, the shinobi led by Zabuza felt like piglets kept in a pen. They knew that sooner or later, they would be used, but they had no idea what Kazuki intended to do...
It was a very conflicted mindset.
In general, they just hoped that Kazuki would make some excessive demands so they could feel at ease—Kazuki, kind-hearted man, please let us do some hard labor; otherwise, we will feel uneasy eating your food!
But today...
When Kazuki requested to see the two tailed beasts, Zabuza breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, were they going to plunder Kirigakure's war resources and head to Konoha?
In that case, Kirigakure could at least make a reluctant contribution to Kazuki. Although, as the defeated side, these were Kazuki's spoils of war, at least they could sleep more soundly at night, knowing they had some value.
Zabuza knew that no matter how special Kazuki was, if Kirigakure wanted to survive, it had to be useful!
This was the cruel shinobi world.
And Kazuki didn't care about the twisted thoughts of some Kiri-nin, because when working under him, Kazuki's principle was to try to give them a better ending than in the original timeline—but if necessary, he would abandon that principle...
This was all taught by Senju Tobirama. After all, the Will of Fire could be flexible, and principles could naturally be flexible.
