Obstruction

Hell Valley, deepest within the Chinoike Clan’s territory.

Around twenty corpses lay on the ground. Before a newly erected gravestone, Oyakuro En hesitated briefly before handing his daughter to Pakura. Then, sword in hand, he severed the heads from the corpses and arranged them before the grave as an offering to his deceased wife.

The only notable detail was that all of their Ketsuryūgan had been gouged out.

As long as the corpses were processed within twenty-four hours, the Chakra capable of powering the Ketsuryūgan could be extracted and used to create Human Puppets that inherited the Kekkei Genkai.

Shimizu stood with his arms folded, silently watching the scene.

Beside him were Pakura, Baki, Sada, and the remaining sixty-odd men, women, elderly, and children of the Chinoike Clan.

Oyakuro Yo, the clan elders, and all their closest confidants had been wiped out. The remaining clan members stood around the grave in deathly silence, staring at the severed heads laid before it.

"From this moment onward, I, Oyakuro En, am the new clan head of the Chinoike Clan. You have no objections, do you?"

Feeling the ocular power emanating from Oyakuro En’s Ketsuryūgan, not a single member of the Chinoike Clan dared object.

Before today, the entire Chinoike Clan had numbered fewer than a hundred people. Only thirty-odd of them had awakened their eyes, and merely seven or eight possessed strength at or above that of a Special Jonin.

Now that all the elders, along with their families and confidants, were dead, the strongest among those remaining was only a Chunin. No one had the ability to resist Oyakuro En.

Not to mention the even greater force standing behind him.

"Very well. Since there are no objections, I will announce an order to all clan members. Starting now, gather your belongings. Each person may carry only what will not hinder movement. Within one hour, we will withdraw from Hell Valley and head for Sunagakure."

With his hands behind his back, Oyakuro En addressed every member of the clan.

In truth, he did not care about these clansmen at all.

His only bond with the clan had been his wife. Now that she was dead, only his daughter remained.

As far as he was concerned, even wiping out the entire clan, together with all those elders, would not be enough to accompany his wife in death.

That had been his original intention.

Yet even though his ocular power had reached a level not inferior to Oyakuro Yo’s, it would not have been easy for him to destroy the entire Chinoike Clan alone.

He had originally planned to move his daughter to safety first, then make a breakthrough from within, steal the clan’s wealth, hire Bounty Hunter Ninjas from the underground Bounty Office outside, and work with them to assassinate Oyakuro Yo and the few stronger elders from both inside and out before exterminating the clan. But Shimizu’s appearance had changed his mind.

These people were stronger—strong enough to wipe out the Chinoike Clan with ease—but they had come with a clear purpose: to absorb the Blood Pond Clan.

Shimizu’s group had already revealed both their intentions and their strength.

They were definitely going to bring the Ketsuryūgan’s Kekkei Genkai back to Sunagakure. If they did not choose him, they could choose someone else.

And putting himself in their place, Oyakuro En knew that if he obtained this Kekkei Genkai, he certainly would not leave it to another shinobi village.

So if he did not go with them, what would become of him in the end?

How to protect himself and his daughter, what he should do, and how to do it well had become perfectly clear.

Thus, Oyakuro En changed his objective. He would punish only the ringleaders, become the new head of the Blood Pond Clan, and lead the clan into Sunagakure.

He still had a daughter.

If possible, he naturally hoped his daughter could have a wonderful future—and secure one for himself as well.

Then he might as well sell himself and the entire Blood Pond Clan to Sunagakure in exchange for that future. Among shinobi, becoming a ninja of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was the most comfortable path and the easiest way to rise. They were also the five greatest powers in the shinobi world.

And among those five top forces, Konoha and Sunagakure currently stood in the first tier.

This was the best choice, and the only choice.

"Move quickly. There isn’t much time."

Shimizu suddenly turned his head toward the valley entrance.

"You have an escape tunnel here, right? Hurry up. Kumogakure’s people are here. Pakura, you lead the group from here. Bring as many people back to the village as possible. I’ll hold them off."

Shimizu looked relaxed, but inwardly, he had become somewhat cautious.

Why did it have to be these two?

The next instant, Shimizu vanished from where he stood.

With a grave expression, Pakura handed the infant in her arms back to Oyakuro En.

"Clan Head En, please hurry."

"I understand. Follow me."

Oyakuro En did not dare delay and immediately set off.

Baki and Sada exchanged a glance, both realizing that the enemies who had come this time were no ordinary opponents.

They knew Shimizu’s strength well.

Below the Kage level, their current lineup could easily handle anyone.

For Shimizu to personally go and intercept them meant the enemy’s strength had reached an extremely high level.

At the very least, he was not confident that dozens of people could withdraw safely while the enemy was present.

They were most likely top experts of the shinobi world on the level of the Five Kage.

Otherwise, Shimizu would not have believed that none of them could even intervene.

Just as Pakura and the others began moving, an enormous crash erupted nearly a thousand meters away, confirming their suspicions.

An enemy capable of making such a commotion was definitely no ordinary foe!

Still, they were not overly worried. They had already witnessed Shimizu use the Flying Thunder God Technique in the Land of Grass.

With that ninjutsu, and Shimizu’s strength, as long as he was cautious enough, he could escape unscathed under nearly any circumstances.

Boom!

Thunder roared. Shimizu stood in place with a ninja sword in hand, staring at the burly man he had sent flying with a single slash.

This guy… was he the future Fourth Raikage?

No wonder he was so strong and so fast. His strike had actually failed to injure him.

Still, if it was only him, he would be manageable. The real problem was the other one.

"Hm…"

A muscular man half a head taller than the Fourth Raikage, with a mane of blond hair and the bearing of a Lion King, stepped forward with steady strides and stood in front of the Fourth Raikage.

"I’ll handle this one. Find an opportunity to break through and locate the Chinoike Clan members."

The Third Raikage fixed Shimizu with a pair of tiger-like eyes as he spoke to his son behind him.

"There’s no need to look for them. They’re already people of Sunagakure."

Shimizu shook his head. A Summoning Scroll slid from the sleeve around his left arm, summoning three puppets behind him.

"Sunagakure. Puppeteer. Separation Release. Swordsmanship. You must be Chiyo and Ebizo’s remarkable disciple. Leave now and leave the Blood Pond Clan behind, and I can let you go."

The Third Raikage extended one hand toward Shimizu.