The kunai in Hatake Satoru's hand quickly made a small sharp dent in the table.
"Yeah... that should make some sense."
Hozuki Mangetsu frowned as he looked at the kunai.
He had a feeling this principle could be used for something, but he couldn't quite figure out how.
Hatake Satoru was the kind of guy who might suddenly say, "That's all I'm gonna teach you," and leave, which made Mangetsu a little uneasy.
"You guys use that Water Release: Wild Water Wave jutsu a lot, right? It's one of your basic moves."
"This idea could be used to improve it."
"Keep it at a C-rank so it doesn't use much chakra, but boost its power as much as possible."
"I really like stuff that's powerful but doesn't cost much to use."
Hatake Satoru turned his head proudly and leaned in toward Hozuki Mangetsu with a look that clearly said, "Let's see what you've got."
Mangetsu wasn't great with book learning, but when it came to applying techniques like this, he caught on fast.
Hatake Satoru usually taught them really theory-heavy stuff, but this time the theory actually made sense.
Use a small amount of chakra to create as much power as possible.
That's a big deal in real combat.
"So I need to control the water flow, make the area as small as I can, and increase its speed and impact?"
"Then spin the water to make it pierce better?"
Starting with a basic C-rank jutsu and improving it with this concept wasn't a bad idea at all.
Hozuki Mangetsu nodded slowly, starting to understand how it worked. With some practice, he could probably get the hang of it.
Hatake Satoru gave him a thumbs-up.
"Ah—since it's based on Wild Water Wave, it's a bit different~"
"So the name of this move is... Spiral Shadowless Instant Kill Ultra Speed Line!"
Hatake Satoru said it with a big grin, stringing together a whole bunch of flashy words.
Anyone else standing there—even if it wasn't Shisui—any other student would've cracked a joke about that ridiculous name.
But the one standing there was Hozuki Mangetsu.
Mangetsu, Kirigakure's infamous child prodigy, who'd taken out plenty of enemies—but deep down, he was still a kid around ten years old.
To someone like him, Hatake Satoru's over-the-top naming style was totally irresistible.
His eyes lit up right away, and a bit of excitement showed on his face.
"Whoa!! That's so cool! Satoru-sensei, you're amazing! I didn't know you were this good at naming stuff too!"
"I really—love this kind of thing!!!"
Hatake Satoru froze for a second, then broke into a satisfied smile and gave Hozuki Mangetsu a strong pat on the shoulder.
"Oh! No wonder I had my eye on you—you even connect with me on a soul level~"
...
Late at night, inside the Mizukage building.
A few people were kneeling in front of Genji's desk. Their Anbu masks had been taken off and placed beside them, revealing their full faces.
"Hatake Satoru and Shisui of the Body Flicker have been working at the ninja academy lately. Nothing unusual has been seen."
"Mizukage-sama has already ordered the Kaguya clan to be pushed to the edge of the village."
These were the spies Genji had risked so much to plant inside the Anbu.
Yagura was paranoid and ruthless—one small slip, and he could have them all wiped out. The fact that these few had survived this long was already impressive.
"But it's just an order for now. They haven't actually been moved yet."
"The Kaguya clan is really unhappy about it. If nothing changes, they might try to attack Mizukage-sama soon."
One of the men lowered his voice as he went on.
"Recently, Mizukage-sama has been calling back Anbu who were out on missions. We think he's gathering his power in secret to wipe out the Kaguya clan."
The Kaguya are all war-crazy. They don't need a good reason to start a fight.
But at the same time, their reputation in the village is awful.
If Yagura really tried to wipe them out, it's unlikely anyone in the village would lift a finger to help them.
Yagura was being pretty open about pushing the Kaguya clan out. It looked like he was ready to burn bridges and go all in.
The power balance among the village's big clans would shift once the Kaguya were gone.
The Kaguya clan had a powerful Kekkei Genkai. If they were all taken out, the Mizukage's position would become even stronger.
And the remaining clans? They'd probably all start fearing for themselves.
Genji's lips pressed into a thin line. He still remembered what Hatake Satoru had said to him earlier.
Was this what he meant when he talked about big changes coming from the Mizukage soon?
That guy… he really *did* know something.
Genji let out a deep sigh. He could already sense that Hatake Satoru had seen all this coming.
But how much did that Konoha kid actually know? That was still unclear.
Genji picked up his cane and slowly stood up, his hands shaking slightly.
"Keep a close eye on Yagura. Bring me the Kaguya clan leader—I need to discuss something important."
"Yes, sir."
The people kneeling on the ground bowed slightly and quickly left.
Outside the window was nothing but darkness. The buildings around them were completely dark—not a single light on.
Most people in Kirigakure lived like hiding rats, scared and staying out of sight.
But under the cover of this blood mist, something big was about to happen.
.......................................
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