novelden Chapter 165 Aftermath
Chapter 165 Aftermath
Naruto and Team 7 successfully returned to Konoha. Meanwhile, the shadow clone, operating under the alias Menma, after handling the aftermath of the Land of Waves incident, began gathering information about the current state of Kirigakure. A question lingered in his mind: in the current timeline, had the policy regarding the Village of the Bloody Mist ended?
He quickly obtained some key information by utilizing the intelligence network that the [Ember] organization had initially established.
The intelligence that came back indicated that the reign of terror in the Blood Mist Village had not been completely ended, but the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had already stepped down.
Currently, Kirigakure is in a state of leaderlessness, with the most senior and highly respected elder, Yuan Shi, temporarily leading the village's daily affairs and maintaining its basic operation.
This result surprised and confused Naruto. His original understanding was that the reason Kirigakure became the fearsome "Village of the Bloody Mist" was entirely due to Obito's corruption after Rin's death and his use of the Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
However, a detail he had overlooked or misunderstood came to light: the brutal and oppressive "Blood Mist" policy had already begun to take shape during the reign of the Third Mizukage, and did not originate entirely during the Fourth Mizukage's time. Due to its unique geographical environment and historical reasons, Kirigakure had always harbored radical and xenophobic forces within its ranks.
If Naruto could revisit the original Naruto manga right now, he would see that on the night Obito witnessed Rin's death and fell completely into darkness, the Hidden Mist ninjas who participated in the siege were already referring to their village as "Village of the Bloody Mist."
Of course, it is undeniable that after Obito successfully controlled the Fourth Mizukage Yagura with his Mangekyou Sharingan, he greatly exacerbated and distorted the existing Blood Mist policy, pushing it to a more extreme and inhumane peak.
Things like forcing ninja academy students to kill each other as a graduation exam, persecuting and purging families with bloodline limits... these foolish things were largely amplified by Obito's covert manipulation and encouragement.
Now that the Fourth Mizukage has stepped down... this likely means that Obito's direct control over Kirigakure has ended, and the mastermind behind all this trouble has probably already left.
In summary, after decades of internal strife, self-destruction, and brain drain, Kirigakure's military and economic strength have plummeted to their lowest point in history, leaving it extremely weak.
The village's primary task at present is undoubtedly internal rectification, appeasing the people, and restoring its vitality. It has neither the time nor the energy to expand outwards or provoke trouble.
Now that the Land of Waves incident has been settled, and the news of Zabuza Momochi and Haku's "death" has not been confirmed, there may be some clues that they may still be alive... So, what will Kirigakure, which is in a state of extreme weakness and thirst for talent, do?
The answer is almost certainly yes.
The high-ranking officials of Kirigakure, especially Elder Genshi who is temporarily in charge, will likely try to contact and find Zabuza and Haku immediately, attempting to bring the powerful "Demon" rogue ninja and the even more precious boy with the rare Ice Release bloodline limit back to the village.
Of course, with Menma's forceful intervention and the "life-saving grace," Zabuza Momochi and Haku have already been branded with the [Jin] organization. If Kirigakure still dares to try and poach them at this point, they're probably just wishful thinking.
Menma was extremely confident in his ability to pull Haku back from the brink of death, and the system notification immediately confirmed his assessment of Zabuza's loyalty.
【Ding! 】
[Congratulations, host! You have established a bond level of 4 with the original character "Momochi Zabuza"!]
Points earned: 600!
Good heavens… Menma was slightly surprised. The first time they established a bond, they jumped directly to level four? This was enough to show that his position in Zabuza's heart was far more important than he had imagined, and perhaps even more important than Zabuza himself admitted.
In his bond record, apart from the time when the emotional impact on Satsuki was too intense and the level directly exceeded the limit to "beyond calculation", and the time when he met Guy and reached level three due to "youthful resonance" on their first meeting, Zabuza's initial level four favorability firmly ranked second.
However, what happened next at the organization's base left Menma speechless.
Although Haku's fatal wounds were completely healed by the Crazy Diamond, he remained unconscious for two days due to excessive chakra depletion during the previous battle.
For the past two days, Zabuza has been staying by Haku's bedside almost every step of the way. He even eats hastily, just quietly and motionlessly watching Haku's sleeping face, waiting for those eyes to open again.
Finally, Haku slowly woke up. Zabuza suppressed his excitement and calmly explained to Haku their current situation and the fact that they had joined the [Jin] organization.
But when explaining the reasons, this guy started to arbitrarily modify the "script".
He never mentioned that he only submitted to join because of Bai. Instead, he fabricated a story, claiming that on the day Kado betrayed him, he was in dire straits and almost lost his life. It was Menma who saved his life.
To repay this life-saving grace, Zabuza Momochi decided to pledge allegiance to the [Jin] organization. As for saving Haku... he described it as an "add-on" that Menma did incidentally.
He deliberately used a seemingly cold but actually awkward tone to speak to Bai. "Listen, Bai, our lives were both bought back from the brink of hell by that organization. From now on, my sword and my life belong to [Jin]."
Finally, he added, "Don't ask unnecessary questions. Just follow me as before."
Menma, listening from the side, was utterly speechless. "..."
Why are you playing the tsundere? Who was it that cried and begged me to save that person? Now that the person is alive, you're putting on airs? This whole "saving face at all costs" act is just...
As if to mock Zabuza's awkward statement, a new notification sounded in Menma's mind the moment he finished speaking.
【Ding! 】
[Congratulations, host! You have established an initial bond with the original character "Bai"!]
Points earned: 150!
Menma wasn't surprised at all. Given Haku's almost blind loyalty and dependence on Zabuza, it would be strange if he didn't develop a positive impression of [Jin] and the organization's leader after hearing that Menma had saved Zabuza's life.
For Bai, the details of how he miraculously survived such a fatal injury were not important; he wouldn't even delve into the extraordinary power involved.
As long as he can stay by Zabuza's side, it makes no difference to him where he is, which organization he belongs to, or what identity he has.
If the system could measure Haku's bond level with Zabuza, the value would probably already be level 10 or higher.
Afterwards, Menma arranged the work for the two. He assigned Zabuza and Haku to the Anbu of the [Jin] organization, with Uchiha Shisui specifically in charge of leading and coordinating them.
Although Zabuza is quite strong and can be considered an elite Jonin, he is indeed somewhat lacking compared to the monster-filled combatants of the current [Jin] organization.
On the contrary, Bai is still young and in a period of rapid growth. He possesses a rare Ice Release bloodline limit and has extremely high talent. It is almost inevitable that he will grow into a Kage-level fighter in the future.
Now that Zabuza has given up his ambition to change Kirigakure, it's a good time to let him train in the organization and see if he can make further progress under Shisui's guidance, or develop a new fighting style.
After properly settling Zabuza and Haku, Menma withdrew a large sum of money from Kakuzu, which he had just "squeezed" from Gato, to purchase a large number of explosive tags in preparation for possible future tactics.
With this, the matter concerning Menma's Land of Waves was finally brought to a complete end.
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(No update tomorrow morning, updates will be combined in the afternoon)