Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Misty Tensions
"Tsk tsk, that 'Madara' sure moves fast."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Now that the three of them had arrived in the Land of Water, the chaos in the country was already apparent.
'No surprise there,' Shin thought, 'the speed of that Obito's space-time ninjutsu is way faster than us coming here by boat.'
Suddenly, an explosion echoed nearby, and debris scattered around as severed limbs flew through the air.
"Damn it! These damn rebels!" cursed two masked figures, who seemed to be Anbu from Kirigakure.
Looking around, Shin noted that the pier they had just docked at was eerily quiet. The locals peeked nervously from their hiding places. They appeared well-practiced in avoiding conflict, likely having witnessed many similar scenes before.
"Who are you three?" One of the Kirigakure Anbu shouted, spotting the trio amid the panicked crowd. Their distinctive Akatsuki uniforms made them stand out instantly.
Shin met their gaze in silence and, with a chilling stare, silenced the two Anbu, who immediately fell quiet.
With the Sharingan's genjutsu, the trio quickly gathered information and pieced together the situation.
About a week ago, the fourth Mizukage, Yagura—a young, child-looking Kage—inexplicably ordered an assault on smaller bloodline clans within the Land of Water.
As an archipelago, the Land of Water had a particularly fragmented structure, with smaller islands home to various bloodline clans and small families. Many of these groups were somehow connected to Kirigakure, sometimes serving as affiliated allies or assets of the hidden village. Now, Yagura's actions had set the entire nation on edge.
As Shin listened to the details, he couldn't help but think, 'So even a place as fierce as Kirigakure has its own internal mess, just like Konoha.'
Though Konoha had its issues, the establishment of the academy under the Second Hokage encouraged harmony beyond clans. Hidden Mist Village, by contrast, had a graduation system notorious for forcing students to kill their classmates, ingraining mistrust and division from an early age.
Initially, Shin had assumed someone like Uchiha Obito concocted this ruthless system. Yet, considering Obito's age at the time, it made sense that the system might have existed long before him.
The harsh conditions of Kirigakure produced ninjas with little concept of camaraderie. This was exactly what the higher-ranking clans in Kirigakure desired; the clans themselves didn't participate in the academy, and the divided commoners posed no threat to their dominance.
It was only after Zabuza Momochi's defection, who had attempted to abolish this deadly graduation system that conditions improved slightly for civilian ninjas.
However, now that these civilian ninjas had grown more assertive and started pushing for power, conflicts had naturally flared up again.
In the original storyline, the animosity Obito's policies stirred against bloodline users resonated effectively because it capitalized on this existing tension.
In truth, if the bloodline clans in Kirigakure had united, the commoners would have stood no chance. But instead, these clans clashed so fiercely that it was as if they were tearing each other apart. This division made Obito's manipulation almost effortless.
For instance, the Yuki clan—whom Shin was particularly interested in—had nearly been wiped out by the Hozuki clan, with its few surviving members scattered.
"So that's how it is…" Shin murmured, realizing how vulnerable the Yuki clan had become.
On reflection, it was not simple to challenge the Hozuki clan, a clan possessing several Jonin-level ninjas with their secret jutsus. They could easily rival a clan like the Senju in Konoha.
The Yuki clan's ice-based abilities were a natural counter to the Hozuki's water-based abilities, so a rivalry was all but guaranteed. Understanding this, Shin concluded that the Hozuki clan's feud with the Yuki Clan was almost inevitable.
"Finding the Yuki clan seems increasingly difficult… If I can't locate them, I might have to attempt recreating the ice release myself," he mused.
Realistically, recreating ice release wasn't beyond Shin's reach. Given his current chakra affinity, which was increasingly close to that of the Otsutsuki, his chakra manipulation abilities had grown significantly. Otsutsuki descendants like Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths could effortlessly wield ice release, though they usually saw little value in it.
With about a year or two of dedicated training, Shin figured he could likely recreate the ice release through sheer will, though he would rather avoid the hassle if he could.
'Fine, we'll see how it goes. For now, let's start by confronting the Kaguya clan and finding some bloodline ninja corpses to absorb. Perhaps ice release will come naturally once my Otsutsuki bloodline is further augmented.
Currently, Shin has collected bloodline abilities from the Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Hyuga clans, though his acquisition of the Hyuga bloodline has remained incomplete without the Byakugan.
After all, he could absorb other traits without drastically impacting members like Hizashi or Neji Hyuga, but he couldn't exactly take their eyes.
'It seems that one of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan was stolen by Kirigakure at some point,' Shin thought, 'I could take it back—perhaps they'll even thank me later.'
As they strategized, Shin solidified his plan to target the Kaguya clan first. After digesting the information, Orochimaru and Sasori agreed that this would be the best opportunity to make their move. Determined and united, the trio set off toward the territory of the Kaguya clan.
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