Chapter 147: Standoff and the Start of Battle

The reason Uchiha Feiyu set it up so that pain could still be felt within the Illusion Space was for fear that if pain were truly dulled, Terumi Mei would develop the habit of trading injury for injury.

In that Illusion Space, that kind of fighting style was certainly fine, but if she played like that in reality, she would likely kill enemies fast, but die even faster.

In the Illusion Space, Terumi Mei did not train for several years; after only one year of practice, she had already developed her potential to the limit, and her combat experience was already extremely rich.

If they continued to fight further, although it could improve some combat experience, the effect on the growth of her strength would no longer be significant, so Uchiha Feiyu directly ended the Genjutsu.

When Terumi Mei woke up again, looking at the ceiling before her, she felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Even though only a few seconds had passed in reality, she had already undergone a year of bitter cultivation in the Illusion Space, and her strength had even improved significantly; even if there was no change in her chakra volume or physical constitution, her actual Power Level was simply worlds apart from the version of herself from a few seconds ago.

However, Terumi Mei was only dazed for a moment before she came to her senses; in the Illusion Space, she felt nothing, but in reality, she only felt her body was cold, greasy, and damp, which was quite uncomfortable.

"Are you awake?! If you're awake, hurry up and get dressed, and prepare to take office as the Fourth Mizukage!"

Uchiha Feiyu patted Terumi Mei on the chest, and five red marks appeared instantly, which also made Terumi Mei fully regain her focus.

Over these past few years, Uchiha Feiyu appeared not to have been doing anything major in the Ninja World, but in reality, relying on Orochimaru and the Grass Ninja Village's sacrifices, both his spiritual energy and chakra volume had increased by a large margin, and even the Black Qi used for sacrifices had grown to several thousand strands.

"What a powerful feeling... I have never felt this good!"

Uchiha Feiyu also followed behind Terumi Mei, slowly concealing his figure.

After the Pill entered her stomach, Terumi Mei felt a slight tremor in her body, and a massive warm current flowed through her internal organs and limbs, instantly causing her to break out in a light sweat.

Clenching her fists, a look of confidence appeared on Terumi Mei's face; with her current strength, let alone a baby-faced person like Yagura, even if the Third Mizukage were standing right there, Terumi Mei had the confidence to completely crush him!

The growth of basic constitution is the most difficult thing for a ninja; on the contrary, abilities like ninjutsu belong to technique, and as long as a ninja's talent is strong enough, they can be mastered quickly.

With Terumi Mei's current basic constitution, she had long since surpassed her version from the original timeline during the Fourth Shinobi World War, and had even exceeded it by quite a distance.

Yet the current Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist seemed to have something wrong with their brains; without making any preparations, they directly killed the Third Mizukage, and afterwards, without any cover-up or concealment, they completely exposed their own ambitions...

Most of the Blood Qi Pills refined by the Hunyuan Treasure Box were given to the sacrificing ninjas as motivation for them to continue working, but even if only one-fiftieth was skimmed off, it was still a significant amount of Pills, and now Uchiha Feiyu took out quite a few and fed them directly to Terumi Mei.

Regarding Uchiha Feiyu's instructions, Terumi Mei just nodded confidently, brushed back her long hair, and walked straight out the door.

There were ninjas who felt that the situation was not quite right, but since even the Third Mizukage was dead, these ninjas had no way to reverse the current situation; the only way to minimize the loss to the Ninja Village was to quickly annihilate the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the forces under them.

At this moment, at the entrance of the Water Shadow Building in the Mist Ninja Village, the Yuki Clan and the ninjas under the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had gathered, but it was clearly visible that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were at a disadvantage in this regard.

"These Pills can be used to increase your physical constitution; once your physical constitution is improved, it will also increase your chakra volume."

Of course, for most of the Mist ninjas, they didn't feel there was anything wrong with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's actions; anyway, there were plenty of ninjas in the Mist with bad brains, so wasn't it normal for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who were known as the representatives of the Bloody Mist, to have abnormal brains?

In just a short moment, Terumi Mei's Qi and Blood surged by nearly double, and her physical constitution, neural reflexes, bone density, and tolerance all underwent earth-shaking changes, and with the improvement in physical strength, the amount of chakra in her body also surged by another fifty percent.

Having regained consciousness, Terumi Mei climbed off the bed, first used Water Release to clean her body, and then hurriedly put on her clothes.

The combat power she could display would definitely no longer be at the bottom of the Five Kage as in the original work, only slightly better than that young man Gaara; a stronger physical constitution could compensate for the deficiencies in her taijutsu, and a higher chakra volume could also allow her ninjutsu power to increase significantly.

One must know that the head of the Yuki Clan was the Mizukage, and being killed by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist without any warning or reason naturally caused a great deal of anxiety and resistance among many ninjas.

After she finished dressing, Terumi Mei still had time to tidy up her makeup, and Uchiha Feiyu, who had been waiting impatiently nearby, took out a gourd, poured out some Pills from it, and stuffed them to Terumi Mei:

As for the Pills that truly increased chakra and Soul energy, they also had an effect on Uchiha Feiyu himself, and had long since been absorbed by him.

"Alright... they've probably already started fighting outside, I don't want my medicine field to suffer too much loss, so I'll leave the rest to you!"

If the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had already made a series of preparations, and after killing the Mizukage, had directly raided the Yuki Clan and divided, disintegrated, won over, or annihilated the core forces of the Third Mizukage, perhaps they could have barely stabilized the situation in the Mist Ninja Village for a period of time.

This also led to the fact that after an hour of confrontation, nearly half of the Mist ninjas had already stood on the opposite side of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, while another portion of ninjas remained neutral, choosing to watch the situation.

"These guys... have they gone crazy? Anyone with eyes can see that our strength is superior, right! Why do they still look so fearless?"

Yagura, who had a baby face, frowned as he looked at the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist opposite him, feeling a little puzzled.

It could be seen that the ninjas under the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were already somewhat cowering, yet the seven of them alone appeared completely fearless, as if they were the ones with the upper hand.

"Forget it, no matter! In any case, since they have committed the treasonous act of killing the Mizukage, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist cannot be left alive..."

"Cough, cough, cough... wait a moment..."

Amidst violent coughing, an old man with a bald head who looked like he was at the end of his life walked over, holding a cane decorated with a poisonous snake.

"Lord Yuanshi... you have come as well!"

Yagura spoke respectfully; as a veteran of the third generation who had helped establish the Ninja Village alongside the First Hokage, although Yuanshi's own strength had declined to the limit due to his age, to the point where he might not even be able to beat a Chunin, his experience and connections were undoubtedly the anchor of the entire Mist Ninja Village.

"I have to come... these seven guys must have been controlled by someone using Genjutsu!"

Yuanshi sighed and said somewhat helplessly; as soon as he finished speaking, the entire Mist Ninja Village suddenly erupted:

"What, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were controlled by Genjutsu! How is this possible?!"

"Hmm... come to think of it, it is indeed very strange... when did these seven guys become so united? Theoretically, shouldn't the seven of them, when gathered together, insult each other a few times, or even trade a few blows?"

"Controlled by Genjutsu, indeed, that makes sense, and even Lord Mizukage was once controlled by Genjutsu, so it is perfectly normal for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to be controlled by Genjutsu!"

Following the discussions of many, the ninjas behind the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist also looked at each other in dismay; at this time, a ninja with a shark face frowned and asked Suikazan Fuguki:

"Lord Suikazan, are you really still conscious right now?"

Suikazan Fuguki grinned, and the Samehada in his hand suddenly turned and swung back; the sharp fish spikes, like a mace, directly broke free from the white cloth wrapped around the blade, emitting a sinister tearing sound.

The shark-faced ninja standing behind Suikazan Fuguki had his eyes shrink slightly, and he retreated rapidly, yet he was still left with a fine bloody cut on his chest by the great sword.

"Are you doubting me?! Hoshigaki Kisame!"

The ninja named Hoshigaki Kisame retreated several steps, and after standing steady, he coldly wiped the blood from his chest and stuck out his tongue to lick it:

"It seems you really have a problem! You weren't this irritable before, and your composure wasn't this shallow."

"Hehehe, think whatever you want! Anyway, I just want to turn this Mist Ninja Village upside down right now!"

As soon as Suikazan Fuguki's words were out, the group of ninjas behind the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist all slowly retreated; this group of ninjas had followed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist with the intention of "following the dragon," thinking that they would get more benefits once the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were in power, but they didn't really want to destroy the entire village.

In just a moment, there were no other ninjas left around the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist; the bonds between Mist ninjas were already thin to begin with, let alone the fact that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were representatives of the Bloody Mist—those who could follow them were certainly not good people, so it was perfectly normal for them to withdraw when they saw things going south.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were also controlled by Genjutsu... damn it, who exactly did this?! Could it be the Uchiha of Konoha again?"

Yagura angrily swung the weapon in his hand; it was an iron rod with a curved hook, which looked quite strange.

"In any case, it's not an ordinary Genjutsu; if it weren't for Ao's Byakugan, I'm afraid no one in the entire Ninja Village would have been able to discover that something was wrong with them."

"From now on, all high-level officials in the Ninja Village must undergo periodic Genjutsu checks; from the Mizukage down to the average Jonin, everyone must be checked before they can go on missions!"

Yuanshi said firmly, and Yagura nodded slowly with an ugly expression, picking up his weapon and saying:

"Let me try first to see if I can resolve the Genjutsu on these guys!"

"You alone cannot deal with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... let Utakata join forces with you!"

After saying this, a young ninja with delicate features and a leisurely expression walked out from behind Yuanshi; he glanced at Yagura, nodded slightly, and then turned his gaze toward the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Yagura was stunned for a moment, looked at Utakata, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and suddenly seemed to think of something:

"You are... a jinchuriki?!"

Nodding slightly, Utakata's voice was light, cold, and detached:

"That is correct, I am the jinchuriki of the Six-Tails."

The existence of a jinchuriki is a top-secret matter in any Ninja Village; even though Yagura had already become a candidate for Fourth Mizukage, he did not know that this delicate youth before him was actually his own village's jinchuriki.

Yagura was still slightly skeptical about this jinchuriki's strength, but upon second thought, being able to suppress the Six-Tails for so many years without letting it go on a rampage in the village even once, this talent in itself demonstrated Utakata's strength.

"Good, let us go together..."

"Master Yuanshi, wait a moment, add me to the mix as well!"

A crisp voice echoed; both Yagura and Utakata turned their heads and happened to see a charming young woman walking over with a light smile on her face.

"Mei?! Why have you come too?"

Yuanshi said with some surprise; unlike Utakata, the jinchuriki who had always lived in seclusion in the village, Terumi Mei was a famous genius ninja of the Mist Ninja Village even while hiding her own Bloodline Limit, and coupled with her stunningly beautiful appearance and mature, noble temperament, there was almost no one in the Mist Ninja Village who did not know her.

"Terumi Mei, what is this woman here for?"

Yagura frowned; although Terumi Mei was quite famous in the Mist Ninja Village, in his view, her strength was just so-so—she could be called a genius, but she was definitely no match for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist right now.

Yuanshi knew a bit more; he knew that Terumi Mei had already synthesized a Bloodline Limit and was not much weaker than the lower-ranked members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but he also did not think there was any benefit to Terumi Mei joining this battle.

"Hey, hey, hey, have you few finished discussing? I gave you a little time, and you've been talking endlessly over there, haven't you? You even treat us like cargo... be careful, or I'll hack you to death!"

The one who spoke was none other than Kurosuki Raiga, who held the Thunder Blade; as his voice fell, the pair of Thunder Blades in his hands also swung, and terrifying lightning surged from the Thunder Blades, striking directly at Yuanshi!

"Elder Yuanshi!"

"Kurosuki Raiga, how dare you!!"

"Watch out!!"

The speed of the lightning was incredibly fast; even Yagura and Utakata did not react in time. If the lightning had struck them personally, they would have had ways to deal with it, but they never expected that Kurosuki Raiga's first move would actually blast toward Yuanshi!

No sooner said than done, just as the lightning was about to blast onto Yuanshi's head, Terumi Mei also waved her jade hand, and a semi-circular Water Wall instantly rose from the ground.

(End of this chapter)