Shimura Masao stroked his chin, then suddenly turned his gaze to Yūhi Shinku. Earlier, Shinku had carried the head of Sunagakure jōnin Koshikawa to the intelligence division.
Shinku didn't take credit meant for Kairen; instead, he honestly told the truth.
But Shimura Masao, who controlled the distribution of merit points, suppressed the matter and refused to award any merits to Moku Kairen.
Masao summed up: "That brat — he was the one who killed Koshikawa of Sunagakure before, and the hill he guarded was found strewn with a bunch of very fresh Sunagakure corpses. How on earth did he manage that?"
Shinnosuke answered with a sour look: "Everyone underestimated him. He's a Kekkei genkai ninja; his Kekkei genkai is a troublesome one!"
"A Kekkei genkai?!" Asuma's voice rose a few degrees, then he immediately asked, "What is it? What's his Kekkei genkai?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke clenched his jaw against the pain and replied slowly,
"Smoke-Transformation. He can change into a cloud of smoke — all physical attacks are useless against him. And… his aptitude for jutsu is extremely strong, he can perform the Body Flicker Technique with just one hand…"
"But the most important thing is that brat is unbearably infuriating — he insulted me time and time again, and that directly affected my judgment. If I'd been able to stay calm, I could have used our Sarutobi family's Seal to trap him. I wouldn't have been beaten into such a sorry state."
Everyone listened quietly. Nara Yūji's eyes sparkled.
A long-standing puzzle that had tormented him was finally solved: why did Moku Kairen repeatedly break the common sense that applied to ordinary ninjas?
It turned out to be a Kekkei genkai awakened within his body.
Shimura Masao found a seat and sat down, his fingers tapping the table beside him as a thoughtful light flickered in his eyes.
"…A Kekkei genkai I've never heard of…"
A Smoke-Transformation bloodline rendered physical attacks invalid. Such a bloodline could hold an invincible position on the battlefield; it was the perfect type for charging into the thick of things.
A fierce desire to recruit him flared inside Shimura Masao, but he immediately shook his head.
His family's retainer Yūten had warned him: Moku Kairen's personality was recklessly bold — he even dared to insult the head of the Shimura family, Shimura Danzō. There was nothing he wouldn't do.
Shimura Masao mentally put a cross next to Moku Kairen's name, this man must die. Besides, his background implicated the Senju Clan, and the Shimura family did not want to see that clan rise from the ashes.
Nara Yūji asked, puzzled: "That can't be right. Performing any ninjutsu requires chakra — does he have such a huge chakra reserve to sustain your attacks?"
Shinnosuke showed a puzzled expression on his face: "I don't know either. His chakra seems endless and never drops. I suspect he is—"
Masao stood up and cut Shinnosuke off, stating outright:
"Stop guessing. He is a descendant of the Senju Clan, having an enormous chakra pool is exactly what we'd expect!"
Shinnosuke nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I also guessed he was a Senju descendant."
'The Senju Clan?!'
Nara Yūji raced through his thoughts — that clan that had all but vanished from the village's records.
A huge chakra reserve, unimaginable talent for jutsu, even a body comparable to a Kekkei genkai…
Wood Release wasn't simply a Senju Clan Kekkei genkai, it was a technique developed solely by the First Hokage, based on that clan's natural affinity and creativity with jutsu.
If a descendant awakened a special Kekkei genkai, it wouldn't be particularly strange.
If Moku Kairen really was a descendent of the Senju Clan, then everything made sense!
Shimura Masao looked at Sarutobi Shinnosuke and said slowly,
"Now, we need to discuss how to deal with Moku Kairen."
Shinnosuke's eyes turned cold. "How else? Kill him, of course!"
Masao shot him a look. Shinku felt bitter inside, he immediately led Nara Yūji and Asuma out.
The three walked out of the tent. Asuma's thoughts were complicated; he had assumed Kairen was just a civilian with unusually high talent.
But now it turned out the man possessed a Kekkei genkai — and one of such value.
Nara Yūji shook his head. "So what if he has a Kekkei genkai? So what if he can beat a jōnin?"
"He offended both the Sarutobi family and the Shimura family — Kairen really is arrogant beyond cure. Wait and see. His end will be miserable!"
Shinku clenched her fist. She now stood on Kairen's side, he couldn't watch him be plotted against by the Sarutobi and Shimura families.
With that in mind, Yūhi Shinku instantly used the Body Flicker Technique and left. Since it had been determined that Kairen was a Senju descendant, there was only one person in the village who could save him now.
That person was one of the Three Legendary Sannin — Princess Tsunade.
Shinku trusted that Tsunade would, for the sake of clan ties, protect Kairen. Shinku wanted to pass this news to Tsunade so she could hurry to the battlefield in the Land of Rivers and save Kairen's life.
After everyone left, only two silent people remained inside the tent.
Shinnosuke said bluntly, "That brat must die. He cut off two of my fingers — and one of them was my right hand's most important finger. That's a major blow to my ninja career."
Missing two fingers would make hand seals much more difficult for Shinnosuke in future.
Masao secretly smiled, taking a certain grim pleasure in Shinnosuke's misfortune.
The Sarutobi family and the Shimura family had clashed many times over the Hokage position.
"He can die, but I want his body. The Smoke-Transformation bloodline — a special bloodline derived from the Senju Clan's physiology — the Shimura family must obtain it."
Shinnosuke waved his hand indifferently.
"Do as you please. Your Shimura family even dared to study the First Hokage's corpse — what wouldn't you dare?"
Masao sneered coldly.
"Isn't that what your Sarutobi family's Hokage agreed to?"
"…"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke said nothing.
After a long silence he finally asked, "How will we kill him?"
Shimura Masao took a sheet of paper from his chest pocket and looked at the map and defensive lines printed on it:
"Intelligence ninjas report that in the next two days several high-ranking Sunagakure ninjas will raid the Eighth Frontline, and there are a considerable number of high-level shinobi."
"Then we'll concentrate heavy troops around the Eighth Frontline. We can ambush the Sunagakure ninjas, and we can also use them to kill Moku Kairen."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Do we need to go to such lengths to kill a genin?"
Shimura Masao sneered: "You still think he's a genin! He almost cut off your head — you haven't learned your lesson."
"You—"
Shimura Masao ignored Sarutobi Shinnosuke's sullen face and turned and strode out of the tent. He had a very low opinion of Shinnosuke.
Even if Kairen had a bloodline that rendered physical attacks useless, he was not without weaknesses: trap him with Earth Release, seal him with sealing techniques, bind him with ropes…
There were many methods. As a jōnin, Shinnosuke should have thought of them, but instead he'd been so enraged by a genin who barely squeaked through the academy that he'd lost his composed ninja judgment.
"Trash! Dream on if you think you can contend for the Fourth Hokage!" Shimura Masao sneered and slowly walked toward his office.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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