The battle against Kirigakure had ended, but Shimizu soon found himself facing a new kind of crisis.
"That trick of yours even fooled me, senpai."
Satomi's tone remained as calm and cold as ever, making it impossible to tell what she was truly thinking.
Still, Shimizu had a bad feeling this time.
He carefully recalled the expression she had worn when she said those words earlier...
Yeah.
Definitely not his imagination.
But under those circumstances, he simply had not had time to keep fighting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. At the same time, he still needed to complete his mission as quickly as possible, so leaving behind a Water Clone to deceive Kirigakure and buy time had been his only option.
Of course, that had also meant deceiving Hyūga Satomi.
"Haha... there just wasn't time to explain to you back then," Shimizu said awkwardly. "Besides, if I'd said anything, the enemy would've noticed immediately."
"You seemed rather unconcerned about what might happen here."
"How could I not be?" he replied quickly. "Didn't I show them enough strength beforehand? I even killed one of them."
"People value their lives. As long as I stayed still, they wouldn't dare act recklessly."
Shimizu's gaze drifted awkwardly toward Garaga, hoping the giant snake would help him change the subject.
Unfortunately...
The enormous serpent was currently sprawled lazily along the lakeshore in a ridiculous straight-line pose, acting like some pampered lord while ordering several Konoha shinobi to pick debris from its teeth.
How many people had it even eaten?!
And Shimizu could clearly sense the terror radiating from those Konoha shinobi.
After all, "cleaning its teeth" really meant digging out human remains. Even if they belonged to enemy corpses, watching a giant snake casually devour people was still far beyond what many could stomach.
"..."
After a brief silence, Shimizu could only continue explaining himself.
"My Water Clone was pretty strong too."
Technically, its speed and physical strength had not differed much from the original body.
But Shimizu was not a taijutsu specialist. He was fundamentally a ninjutsu-type shinobi, and the tiny amount of chakra inside that Water Clone had been nowhere near enough to reproduce the same overwhelming offensive power as his real body.
Otherwise, why would the clone have been forced into retreat the moment the battle started?
The more he thought about it, the less convincing his own excuse sounded.
So he quickly changed directions.
"Besides, you're strong too. Forget self-defense—you even helped kill two ANBU earlier, didn't you?"
Although that achievement had really been the result of both of them fighting together, it did not matter if he credited it all to her right now.
Still...
Was strength really what the girl cared about?
"What about your mission, senpai?"
The moment the topic came up, Shimizu felt annoyed again.
After killing the Kaguya clan shinobi, he had rushed straight to the Mizukage's office, only to discover it completely empty. The Third Mizukage had most likely prepared an evacuation plan long ago and used some unknown method to transfer all important documents and intelligence beforehand.
After briefly explaining everything that had happened, Satomi parted her lips slightly, disbelief flickering in her pale eyes.
"The Third Mizukage... is dead?"
"Yes. I fought alongside Uchiha Fugaku earlier, but in the end, it was his dōjutsu that killed the Third Mizukage."
"I never imagined Fugaku-senpai's strength had already reached that level..."
"The Sharingan is different," Shimizu said slowly. "As long as the conditions are met, its power keeps evolving until it reaches an even stronger form."
As he spoke, his gaze unconsciously settled on Satomi's eyes.
Once upon a time, he had always mocked the Byakugan as little more than a "white-eye disease" type of Kekkei Genkai. Even Hyūga Hinata in his previous life's memories had never truly changed that stubborn and ridiculous prejudice.
But the first time he saw the eyes before him, that bias had completely shattered.
They resembled white crystal glass—clear, bright, and impossibly pure.
More than once, Shimizu had maliciously wondered whether some people might actually collect Byakugan eyes as trophies.
Some vague memory surfaced from his previous life... a manga where the protagonist's clan had their eyes stolen before being massacred.
Something... "Kurapi" something?
But the memory was too distant now, buried beneath the dust of time.
Soon, he shook away those strange thoughts.
"If that's the case," he continued, "then the Byakugan should also possess some kind of higher evolution, right?"
However, Satomi gently shook her head.
"...What? There isn't one?!"
Was it that Satomi herself did not know?
Or did the entire Hyūga clan simply know nothing about it?
Still, Shimizu quickly calmed down. Even if such an evolution truly existed, what could he do about it? He had only heard vague legends about the Tenseigan and knew almost nothing about the deeper mechanics behind these Kekkei Genkai.
He would not be able to help much anyway.
"...Even if there is," Satomi said softly, "it would never belong to someone from the branch family."
Right.
The cursed Caged Bird Seal of the Hyūga clan.
Earlier, Satomi's questions had merely been directed at Shimizu. But now, the topic had clearly touched upon the knot that had long existed in her heart.
For some reason, the surrounding air suddenly seemed much colder.
He needed to change the subject immediately.
"Hey, Shimizu," Garaga called lazily, its eyes still closed while enjoying its "VIP treatment." "Didn't you say you had something important to tell me?"
Even though the snake looked incredibly punchable right now...
Good job!
Shimizu instantly seized the opportunity.
"Right, something important. Stop fooling around. This is serious."
"Oh... alright."
The moment Garaga heard the tone in his voice, it immediately dropped its lazy posture.
The three Konoha shinobi responsible for cleaning its teeth fled at top speed the instant they were dismissed.
Shimizu quickly found paper and a brush, then wrote down all his concerns regarding Madara and the masked man, along with the disastrous possibilities that might unfold in the future.
"Go find Ichikishima-hime and have her reverse summon Orochimaru. Then give this letter to Orochimaru and tell him to personally deliver it to the Third Hokage."
"...You called me over just to run errands?"
"Didn't you just fight a battle? And eat a full meal afterward?"
"But—"
"No 'but.' If this matter isn't handled properly, I won't even be able to leave for the Land of Wind battlefield."
"...I'll go immediately!"
Poof!
With a burst of smoke, Garaga's enormous body vanished without a trace.
At the very least, the snake understood the importance of priorities.
And this was already the fastest method Shimizu could think of to send word back to Konoha.
Next...
He needed to ensure Rin Nohara's safety.
Shimizu immediately called over a nearby Konoha shinobi.
"Inform Fugaku, head of the Uchiha clan, that I need to speak with him urgently. Also notify Yoshimaru that the Third Mizukage is dead. I have important matters to discuss with him as well."
"Yes, sir!"
Watching the shinobi depart, Shimizu finally allowed himself a brief sigh of relief.
After fighting nonstop for so long, both his chakra and stamina were nearly depleted.
He needed time to recover.
Without hesitation, he swallowed his first soldier pill.
"Senpai... is there still going to be more fighting?" Satomi asked hesitantly, her expression somewhat unnatural.
Shimizu found her reaction strange. Satomi was not the type to fear battle.
"Probably," he answered.
Then he noticed the way she stared at the soldier pill in his hand, clearly hesitant about something.
Only then did he understand.
Ah.
Soldier pills.
Those things were packed with stimulants, and excessive use during adolescence could seriously damage the body's development.
The battle against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had consumed a tremendous amount of Satomi's chakra and stamina as well. If she wanted to continue fighting at high intensity, then soldier pills were her only option right now.
"I need to return to the camp we departed from earlier," Shimizu explained. "The sooner, the better. Even if I have to go alone."
Of course, having companions would be preferable. If he happened to run into a returning Kirigakure army alone on the way...
That would become a nightmare.
"It must be something very important..." Satomi said quietly. "May I ask what it is?"
After a brief silence, Shimizu finally answered.
"It's about Rin from Minato's old team. Obito's girlfriend."
"The intelligence I received suggests that Kirigakure has already set its sights on Rin. I just don't know how they confirmed that she's the perfect jinchūriki of the Three-Tails."
...
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