Chapter 43: Turns Out You Dote On Your Younger Brother Too
A thundercloud storm emerged!
Uehara Naraka smiled faintly. The chakra within his body rapidly flowed into the thundercloud storm in his hand[s], and the storm's volume almost instantly swelled.
"Let me see where you are!"
Just as Uehara Naraka's words fell, the area of the thundercloud storm already covered the giant water sphere. Bolts of lightning flickered within it...
A bolt of lightning quickly broke free from the clouds, striking towards a certain position in the water, where Mangetsu Hōzuki's face was faintly visible!
Mangetsu Hōzuki could only stiffly endure this strike. His head slowly emerged, his face still showing disbelief, "Didn't see any hand seal gestures..."
However, time allowed Mangetsu Hōzuki no room for distraction!
Outside Slicing Maelstrom's thundercloud storm, an arc of lightning roamed, converging into an isolated cage. Within this cage, lightning struck down continuously!
Bolt after bolt of lightning struck Mangetsu Hōzuki's body!
"The power of the ninjutsu isn't overwhelmingly strong."
Mangetsu Hōzuki passively endured the lightning strikes, lowered his head, and continued analyzing, "But is this technique continuous? And the attack frequency is very high..."
In just a few short seconds, Mangetsu Hōzuki was forced out of his Hydrification state.
This was the weakness of the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification Technique: upon encountering lightning, the body couldn't fully hydrate and would be forced to manifest.
The giant spherical water ball, having completely lost Mangetsu Hōzuki's chakra, dissolved into waves flowing into the lake, revealing the figures of both Uehara Naraka and Mangetsu Hōzuki.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
As the giant water sphere was about to dissipate, Mangetsu Hōzuki began rapidly forming seals, releasing his own defensive ninjutsu.
The accumulated water on the ground quickly surged upwards, forming a hollow water prison just large enough to envelop Mangetsu Hōzuki, helping him resist the lightning falling from the thundercloud storm.
Bolt after bolt of lightning continuously struck the water prison!
Uehara Naraka walked step by step towards Mangetsu Hōzuki. Watching his expression through the water prison, he finally decided to tentatively offer terms of surrender, "Do you want to preserve your younger brother's life? As long as you surrender to me now and join our organization, I will let you and your brother live."
"..."
Mangetsu Hōzuki looked up, gazing at the wide-ranging thundercloud storm in the sky. His thoughts gradually settled, falling into a lengthy silence.
If he died here, his younger brother Suigetsu Hōzuki, only eight years old now, definitely couldn't survive in this man-eating Kirigakure (Village Hidden by Mist).
But he also bore the responsibility of reviving his clan!
After a while, Mangetsu Hōzuki slowly looked up at Uehara Naraka, "The Hōzuki clan is a ninja clan that participated in the founding of Kirigakure. Our clan's ancestor, Gengetsu Hōzuki, even became Kirigakure's Second Mizukage..."
"Oh, I know him."
Uehara Naraka spread his hands, "I heard back then the Second Mizukage led Mist forces to attack the Land of Fire and failed, then turned around to attack the Land of Earth, only to end up perishing together with the Second Tsuchikage..."
Not only that, their corpses were buried together before death.
Later, they were both dug up by a grave robber named Kabuto Yakushi.
Uehara Naraka suddenly smiled and said softly, "Does your family background have anything to do with your surrender? Our organization also has ninjas from the Uchiha clan; the Hōzuki clan doesn't seem particularly noble, right?"
"It's not about nobility."
Mangetsu Hōzuki's brow furrowed, his face hesitant, "The Hōzuki clan only has Suigetsu and me left. I still bear the heavy responsibility of reviving the clan. I cannot become a rogue ninja..."
Not only could he not, but he dared not.
Once he, the older brother, became a rogue ninja, how could his younger brother Suigetsu Hōzuki survive in Kirigakure?
He would definitely be killed!
As Mangetsu Hōzuki spoke, he proposed another solution, "If possible, I am willing to establish a subordinate cooperative relationship with Your Excellency, and can even provide Your Excellency with some intelligence from the village."
Mangetsu Hōzuki was genuinely worried about his younger brother. For this, he was even willing to violate his own ninja code and become Uehara Naraka's spy within Kirigakure.
If Mangetsu Hōzuki became Mizukage, Uehara might replace Uchiha Obito as Kirigakure's new shadow controller. But Mangetsu is fated to not live past seventeen; should I leave him in Kirigakure to wait for death?
Besides, Uehara Naraka himself doesn't know genjutsu. What could he use to control Mangetsu Hōzuki?
This guy only cares about his younger brother and reviving his clan; Mangetsu Hōzuki definitely doesn't care one bit about other matters!
Wait, younger brother?
Uehara Naraka suddenly remembered another pair of brothers in the ninja world with a peculiar relationship. Looking at Mangetsu Hōzuki, he chuckled lightly, "Do you believe your younger brother will become stronger than you? I have a method here, want to hear it?"
"What method?"
Mangetsu Hōzuki subconsciously looked up. As an older brother, he naturally also firmly believed his younger brother would definitely surpass him!
"What do you think about letting your younger brother become a ninja seeking revenge against you..."
A malicious smile spread across Uehara Naraka's face, "Wouldn't he grow stronger at an unimaginable speed, becoming someone capable of reviving the Hōzuki clan? Maybe he'd even have a chance to become the Fifth Mizukage in the future!"
"..."
After a moment of confusion, Mangetsu Hōzuki shook his head, "If only Suigetsu is left alive in the Village of the Bloody Mist, he definitely couldn't survive... Many people in the village are hostile towards the Hōzuki clan."
"Then entrust him to someone trustworthy."
Uehara Naraka thought of the brown-haired female ninja who gave him biscuits as charity and softly suggested, "Now that I've killed Yagura, the Village of the Bloody Mist should end soon, right? Find a way to entrust your younger brother to that ninja in Kirigakure named Mei Terumī. Do you think she would take good care of your brother?"
That woman Mei Terumī with the poor judgment seemed to really like taking care of Kirigakure's younger generation. Chōjūrō, the third-generation successor of the sword Hiramekarei, received much of her care.
"Mei-senpai?"
Mangetsu Hōzuki's eyes suddenly lit up, but then he hesitated, "Mei-senpai indeed takes good care of the village's juniors, but she's already twenty-three this year. She should be getting married soon..."
"Oh, only twenty-three?"
Uehara Naraka remembered when Mei Terumī gave him biscuits; she did look quite youthful and pretty. But this didn't stop Uehara from saying the next words, "You can rest assured about this! Don't just say twenty-three, even if she were thirty-two, she still wouldn't be able to get married!"
To increase his persuasiveness, Uehara Naraka continued, "Mei Terumī's dual Kekkei Genkai are extremely vicious. No one in Kirigakure would likely dare marry her, right?"
"...Your Excellency makes sense."
Mangetsu Hōzuki actually nodded involuntarily. Many ninjas who admired Mei Terumī gave up pursuing her after witnessing her fighting style.
Now Mei Terumī no longer had any suitors.
Some gossipy men in the village had said that rather than hoping for Mei Terumī to get married, it was better to hope she became Mizukage!
Mangetsu Hōzuki didn't dwell too much on Mei Terumī; he was more focused on his younger brother.
Mangetsu Hōzuki looked solemnly at Uehara and pleaded, "Now, please tell Your Excellency, how can Suigetsu become stronger! Right now, he actually aims to be like Zabuza-senpai; his sights are somewhat short..."
(End of Chapter)
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