Chapter 127 (Patreon)

Mei Terumi’s imagination was beginning to run so far ahead that even Kushina found it difficult to maintain her composure.

Just because someone could use Wood Style, did that automatically make them a member of the Senju Clan?

By that logic, wouldn’t Danzō’s former subordinate, Tenzō—the shinobi now known as Yamato—also be considered a Senju?

The human experiments involving the First Hokage’s cells were among Konoha’s darkest secrets. There was no possible way Kushina could reveal such information to an outsider.

She searched her mind for a believable explanation, but nothing came to her.

Left with no other choice, Kushina glanced toward Roy.

The two had been together for so long that words were rarely necessary. A single gesture from Roy was enough for Kushina to understand what he wanted, and one look from Kushina told Roy precisely what she meant.

You’re the one who brought this woman here. Hurry up and deal with her.

Roy understood immediately.

He didn’t hesitate. If he left Kushina to struggle with this problem any longer, he would undoubtedly be the one suffering for it later that night.

Roy walked directly toward Mei and merged into her body.

The world before Mei’s eyes abruptly changed.

In the next instant, she found herself within that familiar inner space, standing face-to-face with the man she had come to Konoha to find.

Instead of immediately demanding answers, Mei carefully examined her current condition.

She could no longer sense her physical body in the normal way. Her present state closely resembled descriptions of consciousness leaving the body that she had encountered in several old records.

“Didn’t I already give you all the information I had?” Roy asked. “Why did you still come all the way to Konoha looking for me?”

His voice pulled Mei out of her thoughts.

“Thank you for the warning you gave me before.”

Her gratitude was sincere.

Without Roy’s intelligence, the Masked Man’s strange abilities might have allowed him to place the Fourth Mizukage under his control without anyone noticing once Yagura took office.

If that happened, Kirigakure would likely descend into another Bloody Mist era—perhaps one even more brutal than before.

Although Roy belonged to Konoha, Mei still owed him her heartfelt thanks.

Gratitude, however, was not the only reason she had come.

Konoha had known about the Masked Man for at least a year. In that time, it should have gathered more information about him.

Mei had considerable faith in Konoha’s intelligence network. After all, it remained one of the most powerful hidden villages in the shinobi world.

“You want more information about the Masked Man?”

Roy hesitated.

He needed to consider carefully which pieces of information could safely be revealed and which had to remain hidden.

His reluctance had nothing to do with the blood feud between Konoha and Kirigakure.

The real problem was that revealing certain truths could provoke Obito and Zetsu, bringing disaster upon Kirigakure instead of saving it.

For instance, if Roy revealed Zetsu’s existence, Kirigakure would undoubtedly attempt to verify the information.

Once Zetsu discovered that they were investigating him, he would inevitably incite Obito—or perhaps even Nagato—to silence them.

With its current strength, Kirigakure could neither stop Obito if he abandoned all restraint nor withstand Nagato’s overwhelming power.

Worse still, if they captured a Mist shinobi and extracted the source of the information, Konoha would also be dragged into the conflict.

Konoha possessed several powerful shinobi, but none offered a simple solution.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lacked a decisive technique capable of killing an enemy like Nagato in a single strike. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal was certainly powerful, but it required too much preparation.

Even after entering Sage Mode, Jiraiya would be unable to withstand a large-scale Shinra Tensei or escape Chibaku Tensei.

Might Guy was only fifteen or sixteen years old. Compared to the Guy from the original timeline, he had more than a decade of growth and training still ahead of him. It was uncertain whether he could even open the Seventh Gate at his current age.

And even if he could, it wouldn’t be enough.

The Eight Inner Gates was a forbidden technique whose power depended heavily on the user’s physical foundation. The stronger the shinobi’s body was before opening the gates, the more power the technique would release.

Might Duy had opened the Gate of Death against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. At the cost of his life, he had managed to kill four of them.

Guy, after more than a decade of further training, had opened that same gate and severely injured Six Paths Madara.

The difference between them made the importance of the user’s physical foundation obvious.

Even the Susanoo wielded by Fugaku and Shisui would struggle to overcome Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain.

Kushina might be able to keep Nagato occupied, but that would still leave Konan, Obito, and Zetsu. They might even bring Kakuzu with them.

At this stage, avoiding a direct confrontation with Zetsu and the forces behind him was the wisest choice.

“Hey, don’t tell me you’re trying to invent some false information just to send me away.”

Seeing Roy fall silent with a thoughtful expression, Mei couldn’t stop herself from calling out to him.

She had stayed awake night after night, searching through countless records before finally tracing the clues back to Konoha. If she left without obtaining anything useful, all that time and effort would have been wasted.

Didn’t this man understand that a woman needed enough sleep to preserve her beauty?

“It isn’t that I’m unwilling to tell you.”

Roy spread his hands.

“The power behind the Masked Man goes far beyond anything you can imagine. Forget Kirigakure—even Konoha has no intention of confronting them directly at this stage.”

Mei’s expression gradually became serious.

“You successfully prevented Yagura Karatachi from falling under his control, so maintaining the current situation is your safest option. Kirigakure’s priority should be strengthening itself and training more powerful shinobi as quickly as possible.”

Mei immediately wanted to argue.

She acknowledged that Konoha was stronger than Kirigakure overall, but they were both counted among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The difference between them shouldn’t be insurmountable.

If Konoha refused to confront the Masked Man directly, perhaps Konoha was simply being too cautious.

The shinobi of Kirigakure had been forged during the Bloody Mist era. They did not fear battle.

However, when Mei met Roy’s grave gaze, the words she had been about to say refused to leave her mouth.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, she believed him.

The power supporting the Masked Man might truly be far more terrifying than she had imagined.

“Are we supposed to stand back and let them do whatever they please?” Mei asked. “If what you’re saying is true, perhaps Kirigakure and Konoha could join forces—”

Her voice abruptly stopped.

Roy was staring at her as though she had just suggested something unbelievably foolish.

Mei quickly realized the problem herself.

The threat posed by the Masked Man might persuade Kirigakure and Konoha to cooperate temporarily, but such an alliance would immediately alarm the other three Great Shinobi Villages.

Even if Konoha and Kirigakure explained the truth, the others would never believe some seemingly absurd story about a mysterious Masked Man controlling events from the shadows.

They would simply assume that Konoha and Kirigakure were secretly planning something on a massive scale.

The mere thought made Mei’s head ache.

Joining forces with Konoha would arouse the suspicions of the other villages.

Refusing to cooperate, however, meant that Kirigakure lacked the strength to deal with the Masked Man alone—at least according to Roy.

No matter which path they chose, Kirigakure would be placed in a dangerous position.

There was another, even more serious problem.

The Masked Man wanted revenge against Kirigakure.

Even if he had failed to take control of the Fourth Mizukage, he could still use his space–time ninjutsu to hunt down Mist shinobi whenever they left the village on missions.

Kirigakure couldn’t simply order every shinobi to remain within the village and focus solely on defense.

Were they supposed to stop accepting missions altogether?

Without the income provided by missions, Kirigakure would be forced to rely entirely on funding from the Land of Water’s daimyō. The village couldn’t survive like that indefinitely.

Nor would the daimyō continue supporting an entire village of shinobi who never completed any work.

“Damn it! Is there really no way to solve both problems?”

Mei placed her remaining hope in Roy.

He had somehow gathered detailed information about the Masked Man, most likely by taking advantage of the Spirit Transformation Jutsu’s unique properties.

If Roy went to Kirigakure and used the Spirit Transformation Jutsu to suppress the Masked Man’s consciousness, wouldn’t that resolve the entire problem?

Could the Masked Man’s body still perform ninjutsu on its own once his consciousness had been restrained?

Would he still be able to let attacks pass through him?

“It’s a clever idea.”

Roy waved one hand dismissively.

“But forget it. That isn’t happening.”

He couldn’t travel to Kirigakure by himself. He would either have to bring Kushina or one of the others with him—or stab Mei Terumi, who was standing directly in front of him.

More importantly, Obito himself wasn’t the true problem.

Zetsu and Nagato were the ones Konoha needed to be most wary of at the moment.

If they eliminated Obito, Kirigakure would indeed be safe for a while.

However, Zetsu’s attention might then shift toward Konoha.

Given Zetsu’s information-gathering abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to deduce that Konoha had provided Kirigakure with the means to counter Obito.