Situation in Kirigakure

"Tut, tut, tut. That masked guy moves fast."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. The group of three had already landed in the Land of Water, and signs of chaos were now evident everywhere.

That was only natural. That guy’s Space-Time Ninjutsu was no slouch either—at the very least, it was much faster than us taking a boat here, Yota muttered to himself.

"Boom!" An Exploding Tag detonated violently, sending severed limbs flying everywhere.

"Damn it! He set a trap even as he was dying! Those damned Bloodline Clan ninja!" Two masked ninja shouted furiously. They were clearly Anbu from Kirigakure.

Yota looked around. This had originally been a dock in the Land of Water, but the sight of residents cowering and trembling inside their homes, along with the practiced way they had fled the moment the battle began, suggested this was far from the first time something like this had happened.

"Who are you three?" At that moment, one of the Kirigakure Anbu looked up and spotted Orochimaru’s group of three, calmly striding through the panicked crowd. Their Akatsuki uniforms in particular made it obvious at a glance that they were no ordinary people.

Without saying a word, Yota glared with his Sharingan. The two Anbu immediately settled down.

The trio then began gathering information. Before long, they understood the current situation.

About a week ago, Kirigakure’s Fourth Mizukage—a baby-faced fellow apparently named Yagura—had suddenly begun targeting the small-scale Bloodline Clan ninja throughout the Land of Water for reasons unknown.

As an island nation, the Land of Water had more complex internal factions than the other major countries. Many smaller islands housed small ninja settlements and bloodline clans.

Naturally, these local factions often had deeply intertwined ties with Kirigakure. Many were simply nests that Kirigakure’s clans had placed outside the village. The Fourth Mizukage’s actions had undoubtedly put the entire village on edge.

After learning more about Kirigakure’s situation, Yota could not help but sigh inwardly. So internal strife really wasn’t Konoha’s exclusive specialty!

Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kirigakure might even surpass Konoha as the village with the fiercest internal conflict!

To put it bluntly, this really wasn’t Obito Uchiha’s fault. Kirigakure’s bloodline ninja had long been at each other’s throats, while civilian ninja suffered widespread oppression.

No matter how rotten Konoha was, after the Second Hokage established the Ninja Academy system, Konoha had gained a foundation that transcended the clans. Kirigakure had also established a Ninja Academy, but from the very beginning, it had enforced a rule that graduates had to kill their classmates!

Yota had originally thought such a brain-dead rule had been proposed by Obito Uchiha. But thinking about it, Obito Uchiha might not even have been older than Zabuza. When Zabuza graduated, Obito was still just Henji!

Mist Ninja raised under such a system naturally had no concept of comradeship. And that was exactly what Kirigakure’s clans wanted. Clan ninja in Kirigakure did not need to attend the Ninja Academy, while a fragmented civilian class with no sense of unity could never oppose the clan ninja.

It was not until Zabuza Momochi’s actions shattered Kirigakure’s graduation system that the civilian ninja’s situation truly improved, allowing them to form a class of their own.

And now, that civilian class had developed and expanded to its limits. It was beginning to fight for its interests within Kirigakure, so the recent infighting was perfectly normal.

It had been the same in the original story. The reason Obito’s policy of purging Bloodline Limit ninja had been so successful was primarily because it catered to the interests of that class.

In truth, if Kirigakure’s bloodline clans had united, the civilian class would never have had a chance to rise. But even within the bloodline clans, they fought endlessly among themselves, practically beating each other’s brains into pulp. That was the real reason Obito’s conspiracy had gone so smoothly.

For instance, the Yuki Clan Yota had been thinking about had already been nearly wiped out by the Hozuki Clan. No one even knew where the surviving clan members had fled.

"This really is…" Yota scratched his head. So the Yuki Clan had been this pathetic.

But on further thought, the Hozuki Clan that had destroyed the Yuki Clan was no simple force. The Second Mizukage had been a Hozuki Clan ninja, and Kirigakure’s famed Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had their summoning scrolls controlled by the Hozuki Clan.

Put that way, the Hozuki Clan was practically Kirigakure’s equivalent of Konoha’s Senju. It was hardly surprising that they could wipe out the Yuki Clan.

As for why the Hozuki Clan had it out for the Yuki Clan, wasn’t it obvious? The Hozuki Clan’s Hydrification and various Water Release Ninjutsu were innately countered by the Yuki Clan’s Ice Release. Under those circumstances, it would have been strange if they had not wanted to kill them off.

This is going to be troublesome… If I can’t find the Yuki Clan, I’ll have to try synthesizing Ice Release myself. Yota sighed inwardly.

Actually, it would not be too difficult for Yota to synthesize Ice Release himself. His bloodline was already very close to that of the Ōtsutsuki clan. As everyone knew, the closer one’s bloodline was to the Ōtsutsuki clan, the greater one’s talent for Chakra. Ninja at the level of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths could easily master Ice Release without any training at all; it simply held no meaning for them.

If Yota devoted himself to studying it for a year or two, he could also synthesize a Bloodline Limit like Ice Release. He just did not want to go through the trouble.

Forget it. I’ll leave it to fate. I’ll deal with the Kaguya Clan first and at least absorb two Shikotsumyaku Bloodline Limit ninja. Maybe once I’ve gathered all the Ōtsutsuki clan bloodlines within me, I’ll be able to develop Ice Release with a wave of my hand.

Yota now possessed the Bloodline Limits of four shinobi clans: Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki Clan, and Hyuga. The only thing missing from the Hyuga clan was the crucial Byakugan.

After all, slowly devouring the other things would not affect Hizashi Hyuga’s or Neji Hyuga’s health, but eyes came only in pairs. Yota could not exactly absorb both of their eyes, could he?

It seems Kirigakure once stole a Byakugan from the Hyuga clan. Perfect—I’ll confiscate it. When the time comes, the Hyuga clan will have to thank me for it.

While questioning people, Yota continued muttering to himself inwardly and decided to seek out the Kaguya Clan first. After hearing the intelligence, Orochimaru and Sasori of the Red Sand also felt that this was an excellent opportunity. The three immediately agreed and headed toward the Kaguya Clan’s territory.