"Unknown ninja—hands on your head. Squat down."
Having completely judged Shimizu to be nothing more than an ordinary wandering ninja, the Mist shinobi spoke with unmistakable arrogance.
Shimizu hesitated for a few seconds, then complied.
To the Mist ninja, this reaction was only natural. They were shinobi of Kirigakure, representatives of the Land of Water. How could some stray rogue ninja from nowhere compare?
Such domineering conduct was backed by the strength of an entire nation.
Even so, they did not lower their guard.
Only one stepped forward to restrain Shimizu. Two remained at a distance, ready to provide support at any moment. The fourth still stayed hidden in the shadows—extremely cautious.
But their caution was not what Shimizu wanted.
So he spoke sincerely, "I'm willing to fully cooperate. I have no intention of ending up on the Hidden Mist ANBU blacklist. Becoming enemies with the Land of Water isn't my goal."
The Mist ninja were unmoved.
The first one quickly approached.
The instant his hands touched Shimizu's—
Lightning flashed. The cry of a thousand birds pierced the air.
Only an unsealed technique like "Lightning Blade Slash" could launch such a sudden attack right under an opponent's nose.
Even though they were wary, the Mist ninja were still shocked by the abrupt lightning strike.
The one who had stepped forward reacted instantly and tried to retreat—
But no one could outrun lightning.
His hands were severed on the spot.
"AAAH!"
Overwhelmed by agony, the Mist ninja let out a miserable scream.
Shimizu did not kill him.
Any extra movement would have fully alerted the others. Only by striking at the precise moment of contact could he sever the man's hands so smoothly.
And a shinobi without hands had effectively lost almost all combat ability.
"Kill him!"
The battle erupted instantly.
The Mist ninja reacted quickly—two kunai nearly grazed Shimizu's chest.
But at the very moment his attack landed, Shimizu had already used the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from his original position, causing their strikes to miss.
Soon, thick mist began to spread.
It was the Hidden Mist's signature technique—Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique.
This basic ninjutsu was commonly used by Mist shinobi. Within the white haze, they could flicker in and out of sight to ambush their opponents, and the density of the mist could be controlled by the amount of chakra infused.
Because it was a Water Release technique, Shimizu knew some of its properties.
One key detail—
The technique required chakra to stir up water vapor in order to create dense fog.
In other words, there was a water source nearby.
But in their immediate battlefield, there was no visible water.
Which meant—
The fourth Mist ninja, the one still hidden, was stationed near water.
Within seconds, the heavy mist fully formed.
Clearly, that hidden shinobi had already infused a considerable amount of chakra into the water beforehand.
Had he anticipated Shimizu would fight back?
Even if he had—
So what?
At this moment, Shimizu was brimming with confidence.
In peak condition, he believed his speed and his Water Release techniques ranked among the best in this world.
The only thing he lacked—the same bottleneck that once limited Kakashi Hatake—was an immense reserve of chakra.
Without hesitation, Shimizu chose to aggressively strike the ninja hidden near the water.
A water source meant he could use "Instant Water" in the shortest possible time to eliminate the enemy concealed deep within the mist.
Because the fog did more than block vision—
It also disrupted chakra perception.
Only true instantaneous movement could evade sudden assaults and deliver lightning-fast killing blows.
After several rapid leaps, Shimizu spotted it—
A lake.
Just as he had predicted.
In an instant, he arrived at the center of the lake—
And began pouring a massive amount of chakra into the water.
The two Mist ninja gave chase. Even the one who had been hiding in the shadows couldn't understand this rogue ninja's bizarre decision to move toward a water source.
Didn't he know that water made shinobi of Kirigakure even stronger?
Or was he relying on something?
There was no more time to think.
Shimizu completed his first set of hand seals.
Water Release: Heavenly Weeping!
Within the dense fog, thousands of high-speed water needles suddenly shot forth!
Shimizu's counterattack wasn't meant to achieve a decisive kill. What he wanted was to force the pursuing Mist ninja to shift positions, producing even the slightest sound.
In this thick mist, he could only rely on experience and sound to judge his enemies.
And he only needed an approximate direction.
His next set of hand seals was already complete.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave!
A violently pressurized linear water beam burst from Shimizu's mouth, sweeping forward with devastating force, annihilating everything in its path. Trees were sliced clean in half.
That was the area where he judged one of the Mist ninja to be hiding.
Sure enough—
One of them had been concealed behind a large tree in that forest.
Now he was reduced to ruins along with it.
This sustained S-rank Water Release attack consumed a massive amount of chakra.
Was it worth spending so much chakra to eliminate just one enemy?
By his estimation, another ninja was hiding in the forest to his right.
But what about the one who had been concealed from the very beginning?
Suddenly—
A massive sphere of water rose from beneath the lake and instantly enveloped Shimizu.
The timing was impeccable. This was likely an elite among the Mist ninja.
It was another signature technique of the Hidden Mist—
Water Release: Water Prison Technique.
This jutsu could restrain an enemy, even slowly suffocate them within the sphere.
But the user had to remain stationary to maintain it.
"Finally caught you,"
The ninja who had been hiding revealed himself at last. His voice was hoarse and cold.
"Sawai. Kill him."
The ninja named Sawai used Body Flicker to appear before Shimizu, gripping a kunai. A ferocious grin twisted his face, as though mocking this arrogant rogue who dared attack Hidden Mist shinobi.
But the sudden cry of birds caused his grin to freeze A left hand instantly pierced through his chest.
He could even see the blood dripping from the hand protruding from his own torso.
Another Shimizu stood behind him, his cold gaze shifting past him to the last remaining teammate.
The intense pain prevented Sawai from making a sound. He simply slumped over and sank into the lake.
"What?!"
The Mist ninja maintaining the Water Prison stared in shock, unable to comprehend what had happened.
"When—?!"
Inside the water prison, the trapped "Shimizu" wore a faint, inscrutable smile—
And gradually dissolved into the cold lake water.
Only then did the Mist ninja realize—
The one he had captured was merely a Water Clone.
In truth, Shimizu had created the Water Clone at the same time he cast his first Water Release technique, deceiving all of them.
He could have used Severing Wave a second time in succession to kill Sawai outright from the beginning—
But he needed to conserve as much chakra as possible for what was coming next.
Now, only one enemy remained.
"You're ANBU from the Hidden Mist, aren't you?" Shimizu asked casually.
"You're no wandering ninja," the Mist shinobi replied steadily.
The powerful Water Release. The lethal Lightning Release. The ghostlike speed.
How could such a ninja be an ordinary rogue?
"Who are you?"
"Seems I was right. The Three-Tails has already attacked the Land of Water?" Shimizu continued.
"You knew it was the Three-Tails?!"
At last, the final Mist ninja could no longer suppress his shock.
"Not only do I know—strictly speaking, the reason the Three-Tails appeared in the Land of Water… was because of me."
From the Mist ninja's reaction, Shimizu confirmed that Isobu had indeed surfaced in the Land of Water.
The Mist ninja said nothing further, merely staring at Shimizu coldly.
He had something he needed to do.
"I know what you're doing," Shimizu said lazily. "The water is filled with your chakra."
"Then you—"
"Why don't you guess what I'm planning?"
The Mist ninja whose hands had been severed at the start had already fled back to the fishing village to summon reinforcements.
When Shimizu had first entered the village, he had sensed nine Mist ninja in total.
Each possessed chakra reserves somewhere between chūnin and jōnin level.
He was confident he could eliminate them all.
From the very beginning of this fight, he had never intended to let a single one escape.
Reducing the Hidden Mist's active forces as much as possible—
That had always been his objective.
Everything was for even the slightest advantage in the coming Third Great Ninja War.
Weakening the enemy was itself a way of strengthening one's own position.
As for any potential diplomatic consequences—
Would a group of people whose corpses wouldn't even remain have any chance to report what happened here to Kirigakure?