Under Seki's control, massive seawater rose into towering waves and came crashing down toward Kakuzu and Takeshi.
"Ice Release."
Takeshi didn't even bother to dodge, generating an immense chill. Just as the waves were about to touch him, he froze them solid.
With the advantage of having Isobu supplying him with chakra inside his body, Takeshi simply froze the entire stretch of seawater in this area into ice.
"Ice Release?!"
The dense mist dispersed at that moment, and seeing the massive glacial waterfall beside him, Seki instantly realized Takeshi's identity.
Konoha's White Reaper!
Seki's expression darkened immediately.
However, deep down, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Takeshi's self-revealed identity gave him a bargaining chip to retreat.
Not only had the village once issued a directive allowing the abandonment of missions upon encountering the "White Reaper," but now, with intel that Takeshi had set foot near the Land of Water, Seki could completely use this to offset the blame for a failed mission.
Thinking this, Seki hesitated no more. Right in front of Kakuzu and Takeshi, he began forming hand seals.
He wanted to create the illusion that he was about to launch an attack, using it to mislead the two so he could use the Body Flicker Technique to escape.
"Good idea, but it won't work."
Takeshi flicked a few senbon toward an inconspicuous spot.
The sudden strike left Seki's real body with no time to evade, and several senbon pierced straight into his flesh.
"When did you notice?"
Barely holding himself upright, Seki couldn't believe his Water Clone had been seen through.
"After I activated Sage Mode."
Takeshi admitted it openly, with no intention of hiding anything.
And without waiting for Seki to react, Takeshi flickered to his front in an instant, pressing a curse mark onto him.
"Now, tell me—what's your purpose in coming here pretending to be a pirate? I'm very curious."
Takeshi's smile was, in his own eyes, friendly. But to Seki, it was like the terrifying grin of a death god from the depths of hell.
Torture wasn't Takeshi's specialty, so he gladly entrusted this glorious and arduous task to Kakuzu.
After a stretch of scenes unsuitable for children, Kakuzu finally spared what was left of Seki and relayed the obtained intel to Takeshi.
When he finished, Kakuzu shook the blood from his hand with a sigh. "As expected of a Kirigakure jōnin—his mouth was tougher than I thought."
"Of course. A jōnin is one of the top combat forces in a hidden village—they can't have obvious weaknesses. If you could pry an answer out of him that easily, then he wouldn't be a jōnin from one of the Five Great Hidden Villages."
Frowning at the nearly lifeless Seki, the kindhearted Takeshi flicked out a senbon, sending this tattered Kirigakure jōnin to the Pure Land.
Of course, none of this could be seen by Kimimaro or Haku.
Signaling Kakuzu to use Fire Release to erase every trace before them, Takeshi only left with the two children once he confirmed the entire scene was engulfed in flames—leaving Kakuzu alone to count the remaining loot.
...
After ensuring not a single coin was left behind, Kakuzu informed Takeshi of the intel he had extracted from Seki.
In short, Seki's mission was to disguise himself as a pirate, creating a pretext for Kirigakure to send ninja under the guise of maintaining order, thereby getting close to the Land of Craftsmen to search for the ultimate ninja tools left behind by the founder of the Artisan Ninja Village, Seimei.
"Ultimate ninja tools?"
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Takeshi rubbed his chin with his right hand, trying hard to recall any intel about Seimei.
After thinking for quite a while—both from his past life and this one—Takeshi had no memory of this Seimei.
Even his understanding of the Artisan Ninja Village was limited to the basic intel a jōnin should know.
It was the second-largest exporter of ninja tools after the Land of Iron, having supplied a considerable number of tools to the Five Great Nations during wartime.
But its own combat strength was weak. Though it carried the title of a hidden village, most of its ninja were far more skilled as craftsmen than as fighters.
"I've heard of them. The so-called ultimate ninja tools are four things: the Infinite Armor, the Weaknessless Soaring Shortswords, the Garian Sword, and the Fire Sword."
Like a living fossil of the ninja world, Kakuzu fluently listed the names of the four tools, also giving a brief introduction to Seimei.
"As for Seimei, he's the founder of the Artisan Ninja Village. His strength was… decent."
Seimei.
For Kakuzu to rate someone's strength as "decent," this Seimei clearly had some real skill.
"Kirigakure is looking for the ultimate ninja tools because after the Third Great Ninja War, three of the Seven Ninja Swords fell into Konoha's hands. The newly appointed Mizukage urgently needs to replenish the Seven Swordsmen's lineup, so they've set their sights on the Artisan Ninja Village."
So that's it.
Takeshi nodded without speaking.
He knew this matter well—both the Executioner's Blade and Samehada were taken by him.
Even the Lightning Blades's capture was partly related to him… though the one who acted was Obito.
Still, this so-called "ultimate ninja tools" sounded impressive. Keeping them in the Artisan Ninja Village seemed like a bit of a waste...
A bold idea began to take root in Takeshi's mind.
...
Elsewhere, a squad of Kirigakure ANBU arrived at the site of Seki's last battle.
"According to the intel, this is where Seki's pirate group was hiding."
One ANBU looked at the scorched marks on the ground, his expression growing grim beneath his mask.
"What exactly did they encounter here? A Fire Release of this scale isn't something an ordinary ninja can perform."
A man with shark-like teeth and gill-like marks on his face listened to the report, then smirked and shook his head.
"Shame, huh~"
Hoshigaki Kisame.
If Takeshi had been here, just that voice would have been enough to identify him.
The Monster of Kirigakure, Hoshigaki Kisame.
He was also one of the leaders of this operation—specifically tasked with eliminating anyone who might leak classified information.
"Change of plans. Halt the operation."
The ANBU captain, after examining the charred corpses, walked over and announced the mission's suspension.
The corpses before him were unrecognizable. He couldn't confirm whether Seki had survived or was among them.
So, he could only order all the bodies packed up and delivered to ANBU's autopsy department for intel analysis.
"Tough luck these days, huh."
As they moved the corpses, one ANBU muttered quietly.
"Yeah. First the Kaguya clan got attacked, all their clan assets looted, and now even the mission to find the ninja tools has been forced to stop."
Another ANBU murmured in agreement.
"Tsk tsk tsk, someone actually dared to rob that bunch. The Kaguya clan's gonna be furious."
"..."
Chatting quietly, they gathered up all the corpses and left the area immediately.
It wasn't until several hours after the Kirigakure ANBU departed that the ninja of the Artisan Ninja Village finally arrived, late as always.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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