Chapter 362

Mizunuki Ryosuke successfully broke through Kitsuchi's psychological defense with just one sentence.

Kitsuchi subconsciously looked toward Mizunuki Ryosuke, but when he saw Mizunuki Ryosuke's eyes, his heart was shocked again.

What kind of eyes are these!!

Deep, dark, and seemingly carrying magic that could see through people's hearts!

In an instant, Kitsuchi only felt that all the thoughts in his heart were like big-character posters posted outside the door, seen clearly by Mizunuki Ryosuke.

"Since it's not because of fearing the desperate counterattack of the Rock Ninjas, what exactly is the point he cares about?"

Kitsuchi's heart was full of doubts, and at the same time, he completely lost his composure.

Ignoring Kitsuchi, who had lost his composure, Mizunuki Ryosuke continued to speak.

"The reason I didn't let the Hidden Cloud consume you is really to save you."

"Your pattern is still too small; if Ohnoki were here, he would probably understand what I mean."

While Mizunuki Ryosuke was speaking, he revealed a compassionate posture, and his eyes still carried a few inexplicable deep meanings.

Seeing this, Kitsuchi's heart was filled with more doubts, and the depths of his heart were still hidden with a few panics.

Mizunuki Ryosuke's short sentence brought huge pressure to Kitsuchi.

Originally, before this, the most Kitsuchi did within the Hidden Rock was to assist Ohnoki, but now he suddenly shouldered the heavy responsibility of the Hidden Rock, and naturally, he would be worried about gains and losses suddenly.

Plus, being said like this by Mizunuki Ryosuke, Kitsuchi was naturally somewhat at a loss.

"What is he thinking? What does he mean?"

"Would Father handle it better than me if he were here?"

"What if my handling method has problems, wouldn't that be..."

Kitsuchi's psychological pressure was getting bigger and bigger; under this high pressure, people's subconscious would have some lazy thoughts.

Thus, in his subconscious, he had actually accepted Mizunuki Ryosuke's thoughts a bit.

It seemed that in the depths of his subconscious, he felt that if everything was not as Mizunuki Ryosuke said, it couldn't be explained.

Kitsuchi gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't continue like this; no matter whether Mizunuki Ryosuke's words were true or false, having his thinking constantly led by the other party and constantly being affected was not a good thing.

At this instant, Kitsuchi truly realized Mizunuki Ryosuke's terror!

Not only the combat power that could suppress everything, but also the keen insight that could see through fire and the terrifying means of playing with people's hearts.

Rather than being led by the nose by Mizunuki Ryosuke, Kitsuchi was more willing to take a step back and get rid of the influence of Mizunuki Ryosuke's words.

"The Hidden Rock can accept failure, but cannot accept surrender."

"As long as you return the Third Tsuchikage, the Rock Ninjas will accept the ending of failure, agree to withdraw to the Land of Earth immediately, and return all the land occupied in the Land of Moon."

Kitsuchi still tried his best to keep his tone steady and not be affected by the hesitation in his heart.

Just this time, Kitsuchi didn't dare to continue looking at Mizunuki Ryosuke; his gaze shifted downward unnaturally, and although his tone was still steady, it seemed somewhat lacking in confidence compared to before.

Seeing this expression of Kitsuchi, the smile at the corners of Mizunuki Ryosuke's mouth became more obvious.

Regarding Kitsuchi's words, Mizunuki Ryosuke was silent at first, but soon a low laugh reached Kitsuchi's ears.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph, hahaha..."

Mizunuki Ryosuke first laughed lightly, then gradually developed into hearty laughter.

Kitsuchi frowned, the steadiness on his face disappeared without a trace, and he looked at Mizunuki Ryosuke with suspicious eyes.

He didn't understand why Mizunuki Ryosuke was laughing, only feeling that this laughter was like a sharp knife, piercing the bottom of his heart.

"Let me guess, are you going to say next..."

"If I don't agree to your terms, the worst that happens is we both perish, right?"

"Are you also going to say that you still have over ten thousand Rock Ninjas with combat capability in your hands, and that a desperate struggle might not necessarily end in failure, right?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke gradually reined in his somewhat ostentatious smile and questioned Huang Tu in a calm tone.

....

His inquiry seemed to strike directly at the weakest point in Huang Tu's heart.

Indeed, the crux of the problem was: even if Huang Tu could negotiate terms with such bravado, what was his capital for doing so?

The person sitting here before him was, after all, the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, not the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud.

Even if he staked everything on a final, desperate counterattack, the casualties would be Cloud Ninjas; what did that have to do with the Hidden Mist?

Did he really think that after establishing an alliance, everyone was one big family?

Was he joking? How could Huang Tu not know about the infighting between allies?

Before Huang Tu could speak, Mizunuki Ryosuke spoke again.

"What's more, do you think the Hidden Rock still has a chance to perish together with us?"

As his voice fell, Mizunuki Ryosuke looked at Huang Tu with the expression of someone who had him completely cornered, his eyes filled with a playful look.

"What do you mean by that?"

Huang Tu finally couldn't sit still; a trace of panic appeared in his expression.

Although Huang Tu could be considered sufficiently excellent, in a situation where strength and intelligence were unequal, his mental defenses were still successfully broken by Mizunuki Ryosuke.

"Since you already know that the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Mist have formed an alliance."

"Then you wouldn't think that I, this Mizukage, am a commander without an army, would you?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke continued to look straight at Huang Tu, his expression neither happy nor sad, his eyes still carrying a profound meaning that was impossible to fathom.

"A leaf blinds the eyes, preventing one from seeing Mount Tai." Following Mizunuki Ryosuke's words, Huang Tu suddenly thought of something.

Mizunuki Ryosuke's terrifying combat power had made Huang Tu subconsciously ignore that the other party was also the supreme military commander of a nation—the "Mizukage"!

He didn't care about Mizunuki Ryosuke in the tent anymore, quickly rushing out to scan the surroundings of the battlefield, seemingly searching for something.

Finally, he found his target.

On the hill to the east of the battlefield, wisps of thick fog suddenly emerged.

Looking from afar, one could see many flickering figures at the edge of the dense fog; set against the mist, they looked like ghosts that had just floated from the Nine Netherworlds into the human realm.

From a distance, the thick fog obscured the sky and sun, and the figures within were hazy and uncountable, but at least one thing was certain: there were at least several thousand ninjas among them.

The source of the thick fog, naturally, needed no further explanation.

Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique! This signature technique was highly characteristic of the Hidden Mist.

And the "ghostly figures" hidden in the fog naturally needed no explanation; they were, of course, the Mist Ninjas.

Seeing this, Huang Tu's pupils constricted slightly.

Clearly, there were a thousand Rock Ninjas acting as a garrison on the eastern coast; how could...

At that moment, Huang Tu understood that the Mist Ninjas must have deployed enough combat power to crush the thousand Rock Ninjas, resulting in their total annihilation, to the point that not even a single person had come to report the news.

At the very least, it could be concluded that a force capable of annihilating a thousand-man Rock Ninja unit without leaving a single survivor must be the main force of the Hidden Mist!

Huang Tu even imagined the scene of this main Mist Ninja force crossing the sea and crushing the Rock Ninja unit on the coast.

It was only because of the concealment of the Hidden Mist Technique that Huang Tu was completely unable to judge how many people were in this main Mist force!

One thousand, two thousand? Or three thousand, five thousand, ten thousand?

As one of the five great ninja villages, if the Hidden Mist was determined to intervene in a war, deploying a force of ten thousand ninjas was not difficult.

If the Hidden Mist really had a ten-thousand-man ninja force supporting the battlefield...

Huang Tu didn't even dare to think in that direction for a moment.

Currently, several core members of the Rock Ninjas had been defeated, some killed and some captured, and morale had plummeted to the extreme.

And on the battlefield, as it stood, the numbers of Cloud Ninjas and Rock Ninjas were not very different.

According to Huang Tu's estimation, as long as this Mist Ninja force had three thousand people, the entire Rock Ninja front would likely collapse immediately.

Looking at the white fog that obscured the sky, Huang Tu felt his heart stop beating for a moment.

In the vast Hidden Mist, would only a force of less than three thousand come to participate in the war under such circumstances? Thinking about it, it was impossible.

The spreading thick fog eventually stopped at the edge of the battlefield, falling into a standoff with the Rock Ninja troops; clearly, this force was waiting for the order to attack.

Seeing this situation, Huang Tu knew that everything was exactly as Mizunuki Ryosuke had said.

The Hidden Rock had completely lost the possibility of perishing together with them.

At that moment, Huang Tu took heavy steps and turned to walk back into the tent.

He knew that an even crueler reality was waiting for him to face.

In the tent, Mizunuki Ryosuke remained in his previous posture, sitting in the main seat, looking at Huang Tu with a light, airy gaze, saying nothing.

Under these eyes, which were like torches, Huang Tu's soul seemed to have been weighed and measured clearly...

"Senior Ninja Huang Tu, what are your thoughts and what do you have to say now?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke asked lightly, but every word seemed to strike the weakest part of Huang Tu's heart.

The ones who had arrived on the battlefield at this moment were, naturally, the elite Hidden Mist Mist Anbu led by Hozuki Mangetsu.

Under Mizunuki Ryosuke's precise control of the war situation, Hozuki Mangetsu's entry at this time was just right.

Even if Hozuki Mangetsu only had two thousand men under his command, under the effect of the Hidden Mist Technique, Huang Tu could not judge the number at all and could only rely on subjective speculation.

As for whether the number of Mist Ninjas Huang Tu thought had arrived was five thousand or ten thousand, these were not important.

What was important was that the arrival of the Mist Ninja force had successfully shattered the last shred of luck in Huang Tu's heart.

Huang Tu was silent; for a moment, he simply didn't know what to say.

The situation was gone; even if he was unwilling, what could he do?

The only thing he hadn't understood from the beginning to the end was why Mizunuki Ryosuke, having already secured victory, would go to the trouble of coming to negotiate with him.

Wouldn't it be better to just cut the weeds and eliminate the roots?

The Hidden Rock and the Hidden Mist were enemies with a long-standing feud; how could enemies give the other side a chance out of mercy?

What exactly was his goal? There must be a point Huang Tu hadn't grasped, which had led to such a passive situation.

What was it for?

Huang Tu fell into deep thought; as long as he could figure out Mizunuki Ryosuke's motivation, there would still be a glimmer of hope.

"Lord Mizukage, I have one thing I don't understand; please enlighten me."

"Things have come to this; why are you insisting on coming to persuade us to surrender when you have such a great advantage?"

Unable to figure it out, Huang Tu simply stopped thinking about it.

Under the circumstances where he was restricted everywhere, Huang Tu launched a final struggle, which was to ask Mizunuki Ryosuke directly.

— Author's Notes —

·· ····Seeking flowers··· ····