128. Entrusted with a Critical Mission: The Fifth Mizukage

Outside the Mizukage Building, the corpses of the Kaguya clan ninjas were piled high like a mountain. For the already precarious Hidden Mist Village, this rebellion, which only added frost to the snow, nearly caused the village to collapse and disintegrate. Fortunately, Kisame appeared in time, suppressing the Kaguya clan single-handedly.

"Mangetsu Hozuki, what on earth is going on here?"

The crowd asked Mangetsu on the surface, but their eyes were almost all fixed on Kisame standing to the side.

Hearing this, Mangetsu coughed solemnly and said to the crowd, "Don't be impatient. First, let's bring out the Great Elder, Gensui."

Following his instructions, Gensui was supported by others as he walked out of the Mizukage Building. Once everyone was gathered, Mangetsu walked over to Kisame, stood beside him, and revealed the "truth" to everyone.

"What? The Third Mizukage and the Fourth Mizukage were both controlled by the illusions of a mysterious Uchiha clan ninja while they were alive?"

"The perpetrator tried to silence witnesses, killing Lord Yagura, Lord Fuguki, and the entire Anbu, and even wanted to kill Mangetsu Hozuki, but was discovered and stopped by Kisame?"

"Kisame Hoshigaki was never a criminal, but a hero guarding the Hidden Mist Village from the shadows?"

"..."

After hearing Mangetsu's account, the crowd broke into a flurry of discussion, shocked beyond measure.

"That is the truth of the matter. I believe the most urgent priority now is to elect a new Mizukage to lead everyone in resisting the invasion of the Leaf."

Mangetsu glanced quietly at Kisame and then boldly proposed, "I recommend that Kisame Hoshigaki serve as the Fifth Mizukage!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was another commotion in the crowd.

"This... doesn't seem quite appropriate, does it?" someone whispered, questioning the decision.

After all, Kisame came from a third-rate family in the Hidden Mist, and his public identity was that of a criminal. Even if he were powerful, it would be difficult for him to win the respect of the masses as Mizukage.

At this moment, facing the whispers of the crowd, Gensui tapped his cane on the ground and said in a deep voice, "Quiet!"

After everyone had fallen silent, the Great Elder of the Hidden Mist continued slowly:

"It has always been our tradition in the Hidden Mist to have the strongest person serve as Mizukage. If anyone is dissatisfied with Kisame Hoshigaki's strength, you can challenge him face-to-face right now. Furthermore, in the current situation, it is not that Kisame wants to be Mizukage, but that we are begging him to take the position, and we must see if he is even willing to agree."

These words immediately left the Hidden Mist ninjas speechless. Indeed, the village was on the verge of destruction; becoming the Mizukage at this time was no enviable task. Perhaps, before the seat was even warm, the new Mizukage would be killed by the swarming Leaf army and lose his life. If Kisame were a rational man, the wisest choice would be to discard his Hidden Mist headband, flee the Land of Water, and go anywhere else in the ninja world—it would be a hundred times better than staying here.

Gensui, leaning on his cane, trembled as he walked down the steps. Then, he solemnly handed the blue conical hat, which represented the authority of the Mizukage, to Kisame.

"Lord Kisame Hoshigaki, are you willing to accept this mission in a time of crisis and serve as the Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist?" Gensui looked up at Kisame and asked with great respect, his cloudy eyes filled with anticipation and nervousness.

"Lord Kisame, please accept!" Mangetsu knelt on one knee and pleaded piously. Seeing this, the others glanced at each other, then followed suit, kneeling with their heads bowed.

Kisame looked at the crowd of Hidden Mist people kneeling before him, then turned to look at the Mizukage Building behind him. Finally, he reached out and took the Mizukage hat from Gensui's hands.

"From this moment on, I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am the Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village."

He said slowly. As his voice fell, a burst of cheers erupted in front of the Mizukage Building.

Half an hour later, in the conference room of the Mizukage Building, representatives of the various major families of the Hidden Mist gathered to discuss strategies to deal with the Leaf army. Under the current critical situation, there were two main schools of thought.

The first was to proactively propose negotiations with the Leaf to seek peace. To put it more bluntly, it meant begging the Leaf for mercy; even if they had to sign humiliating treaties, they wanted the Hidden Mist to survive.

The second was to run away. Some believed they should flee immediately, preserve the Hidden Mist's fighting strength, and use the complex island terrain within the Land of Water to wage guerrilla warfare on the sea, hoping that one day they could make a comeback.

Begging for mercy and running away. These two plans seemed different, but they actually shared one commonality: everyone present believed that in this upcoming war, facing the aggressive Leaf army, the Hidden Mist had no chance of victory.

In the conference room, the debate grew increasingly fierce. Throughout this, Kisame, as the new Mizukage, did not rush to express his views. Instead, he sat in his chair with his arms crossed, appearing to be resting his eyes. Finally, seeing that everyone was exhausted from arguing, he opened his eyes and said:

"Actually, we have a third option."

"Lord Mizukage, what is that option?" Gensui asked hurriedly.

"Defeat the Leaf and avenge the deceased Third and Fourth Mizukages."

Kisame said slowly. As soon as these words were spoken, the conference room fell silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Indeed, as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, it was a profound humiliation that two consecutive Mizukages had been controlled and killed by the Uchiha clan ninjas of the Leaf. How could such a blood feud not be avenged? But the problem was that they couldn't win. A single Uchiha had already turned the Hidden Mist upside down; the Mizukage was dead, the Anbu were annihilated, and even the Tailed Beast was lost.

And now, among the Leaf's army, in addition to the Uchiha, there was the equally renowned Hyuga clan, along with other major Leaf clans, all of whom crushed the Hidden Mist in both numbers and strength. Not to mention that in the rear of the Leaf Village, there was the strongest Hokage in history, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the long-famed Sannin, and the "Yellow Flash" Minato Namikaze, who was renowned throughout the ninja world. If these people reached the front lines, the Hidden Mist would be even less of a match.

"Lord Mizukage, like you, we all want revenge against the Leaf, but even if every ninja of the Hidden Mist dies in battle, I fear... we cannot repel this attack from the Leaf." A Hidden Mist ninja stood up and said to Kisame with a look of despair. His words echoed the sentiments of everyone present.

"I don't care. Since I am the Mizukage, I will do what I believe a Mizukage should do. That does not mean kneeling and begging the Leaf for mercy, nor does it mean slinking away in defeat." As Kisame said this, he stood up, scanned the room, and said to everyone, "I give you two choices. Either leave the Hidden Mist Village now—and if you leave, don't come back—or stay and help me defeat the Leaf."

As soon as he finished speaking, he hoisted Samehada onto his shoulder, kicked open the door of the conference room, and strode out. In the conference room, everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Kisame walked through the streets of the Hidden Mist and soon arrived outside the village. He gripped the hilt of Samehada with both hands, thrust the great sword directly into the ground, and stood like an iron tower at the entrance of the village, gazing into the distance. Behind him was the Hidden Mist Village, and before him was the Leaf army that would soon arrive.

After a while, "Lord Mizukage." Mangetsu, Mei Terumi, and Ameyuri Ringo ran out from the village to report the situation to Kisame. After Kisame finished speaking in the conference room, several representatives of major families had returned to their clan grounds on the spot and led their clansmen to flee the Hidden Mist in haste. Now, the number of people remaining was half of what it had been before. There were fewer than a thousand ninjas left in the Hidden Mist, fewer than even some small ninja villages. These remaining people did not stay because they trusted Kisame, the interim Mizukage, but because they had long been determined to live and die with the village.

"Go back and tell Gensui to have the remaining people stay in the village, guard the Mizukage Building and other structures well, and do not come out." Kisame instructed the three of them.

"And you?" Ameyuri looked up at Kisame, unable to stop herself from asking.

"Lord Mizukage, you wouldn't be thinking of..." Mei Terumi vaguely guessed something, but she dared not believe it.

"Boss Kisame, you..." Mangetsu also opened his mouth wide, looking stunned.

"Go." Kisame waved his hand and said nothing more.

...

Land of Fire, Hidden Leaf Village. In the hall of the Intelligence Department, people were coming and going, a scene of busyness. This was the command post behind the battlefield, where several Jonin of the Yamanaka clan wore headsets, constantly receiving intelligence from the front lines and then relaying the commands of the command post.

For the past few days, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had personally sat in the command post to oversee the situation on the front lines. At this time, besides him, other high-ranking officials of the Leaf, including Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, as well as Jiraiya and Orochimaru of the Sannin, were all present.

In the center of the hall was a huge screen showing a map of the battlefield in the Land of Water. According to intelligence from the front, the Leaf army had captured one town after another and would soon reach the mainland of the Hidden Mist. The outcome of this war was already decided.

After a while, Tsunade and Minato Namikaze also arrived in the hall.

"Is Kakashi awake?" Jiraiya asked immediately upon seeing them.

"He's awake. However..." Tsunade nodded and frowned, "That guy Kakashi only remembers that he killed Rin Nohara with his own hands; he knows nothing else and couldn't provide any valuable intelligence." She looked up at the big screen, her brow still furrowed: "What about that bastard Kisame Hoshigaki? Is there any news of him?"

"Unfortunately, no." Orochimaru smiled and pointed to the map, saying to Tsunade, "You should be able to see that the Hidden Mist is about to be finished. Given Kisame's style of conduct, he must have betrayed the Hidden Mist and fled to who knows where." His "interest" in Kisame was no less than Tsunade's.

"Damn it." Hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but clench her fists. She swore that sooner or later, she would capture Kisame and get back her student, Shizune.

Just then, more intelligence came back from the front.

"Lord Hokage, the vanguard of our army has reached the Hidden Mist Village." A Yamanaka clan member reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The final battle has begun." Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and said leisurely.

Land of Water, outside the Hidden Mist Village. Amidst the thick, pervasive fog, the figures of hundreds of Leaf ninjas moved quickly, completely unaffected by the mist. Because they were ninjas of the Hyuga clan.

Led by their patriarch, Hiashi Hyuga, the Hyuga clan used their Byakugan to see through the mist formation outside the Hidden Mist Village, arriving ahead of their rivals, the Uchiha clan. The Hyuga clan and the Kaguya clan of the Hidden Mist had been on good terms for generations; tracing back a thousand years, the two families even shared the same ancestor. Therefore, they had made contact several days ago, agreeing that the Kaguya clan would launch a rebellion and act in concert with the Hyuga clan to take the Hidden Mist Village in one stroke. After that, the Kaguya clan would surrender to the Leaf. In this way, in this high-profile war, the Hyuga clan could seize the most glory and claim the greatest credit.

However, plans could not keep up with changes.

"Stop." Hiashi Hyuga made a gesture and said softly, signaling his clansmen to cease their advance.

"According to the agreement, the Kaguya clan should have sent people to wait for us here." He frowned and muttered to himself.

"Could it be that their rebellion failed?" Hizashi Hyuga speculated.

Hearing this, Hiashi used his Byakugan to look toward the Hidden Mist Village hidden behind the thick fog. The distant Hidden Mist was very quiet, with no movement at all, but in Hiashi's Byakugan, the chakra of everyone in the village was fully exposed. A rough count showed only a few hundred people, far fewer than Hiashi Hyuga had expected.

Hmm? He suddenly discovered that at the entrance of the village, there was a single stream of chakra, far away from the other Hidden Mist ninjas. It was a lone person.

"Go catch him and bring him back for interrogation." Hiashi ordered his brother.

"Yes." Hearing this, Hizashi Hyuga immediately took several clansmen and approached the village entrance rapidly. Soon, they saw a very tall man wearing a black suit, standing at the village entrance like an iron tower. In the man's hands was a great sword covered in barbs, which was thrust into the ground in front of him.

Is he the guard ninja? He is certainly dutiful. Seeing this, Hizashi Hyuga ordered his clansmen: "Go, take him alive!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Several Hyuga ninjas immediately rushed toward Kisame.

Finally here? Kisame was not surprised to see the Hyuga ninjas appearing from the mist; he picked up Samehada and met them head-on. A battle immediately erupted between the two sides. These Hyuga ninjas were well-trained, using the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist to launch sophisticated, coordinated attacks, surrounding Kisame. In their view, the big, clumsy guy in front of them was full of openings; as long as he was struck by the Gentle Fist, his body would be paralyzed, and he would be reduced to a prisoner.

However, what Hizashi Hyuga and the others did not expect was that Kisame, who appeared bulky, was exceptionally agile. He easily dodged every attack from the Hyuga group, even attacks from behind, as if he also possessed a Byakugan and had a 360-degree field of vision. And every time Kisame counterattacked, the great sword Samehada swung out, not only with great power but also with speed and precision, inevitably striking his enemies.

Something was wrong. By the time Hizashi Hyuga realized this, all the other Hyuga clansmen except him had already been beaten down by Kisame.

Swish. Kisame swung his blade again, wounding Hizashi Hyuga. Hizashi was about to retreat when he felt his whole body go numb, and amid a bout of dizziness, he fell to the ground with a thud. That was because Kisame had coated Samehada with poison from a salamander. The concentration of the poison was not high and not fatal, but it was enough to incapacitate a person.

Kisame used Samehada to hoist Hizashi Hyuga up, returned to the village entrance, and shot chakra threads from his index finger, binding him and the other Hyuga clansmen to the pillars of the village gate. These Hyuga ninjas, who had come to capture prisoners, had instead become his prisoners.

Kisame had just finished when a sharp shout came from behind: "Let them go!"

It was Hiashi Hyuga, rushing out of the mist with his remaining clansmen.