Chapter 15: Within the Hidden Mist Village
Presenting the identity certificate from the Daimyo's Mansion at the gate, Kiyoshi was immediately respectfully allowed to pass by the gatekeepers and entered the Hidden Mist Village.
"Father, I have arrived in the Hidden Mist Village!" Kiyoshi whispered to himself, his tone filled with emotion and longing for his father, Genji.
For Kiyoshi, he had lived in a peaceful era in his previous life, and in this life, he had lived outside the village since he was a child. Therefore, he had no emotional attachment to the Hidden Mist Village as it currently was.
His purpose in coming to the Hidden Mist Village this time was twofold: first, to see the place where his father had grown up and to inherit his father's will and unfinished dreams; second, as one of the five great ninja villages, the Hidden Mist could greatly help Kiyoshi's growth and development, and he also intended to use the power of the Hidden Mist to plan the revival of his parents.
Although Isshiki Otsutsuki did not have the Rinnegan and was unaware that the Rinnegan had the ability to reverse life and death, Kiyoshi, who had seen some edited clips of Madara Uchiha's resurrection and Nagato using the Rinne Rebirth Technique in his previous life, knew that there were means in the ninja world to revive the deceased, although the process would be very difficult.
But Genji was different. The Hidden Mist Village was personally established by Genji and his peers. Genji had a deep affection for the village. He had even been the captain of the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hōzuki's guard and was being cultivated by the Second as a potential successor to the position of Kage.
Looking around, Kiyoshi, who was visiting a ninja village for the first time, felt the difference between this ninja village, which his father Genji had only described to him, and an ordinary town. More than ten years had passed since the First Great Ninja War, and the Hidden Mist Village had long since recovered from its depression. As an island country bordering the ocean, the Land of Water had unique geographical advantages. The abundance of marine resources far surpassed that of the mainland. Thanks to this, both the Land of Water and the Hidden Mist Village were currently in a relatively prosperous stage.
After finding an inn to stay in, Kiyoshi began to plan his subsequent course of action.
He definitely couldn't go back to the Kaguya clan. Within the Kaguya clan, he was already considered dead.
Although the Kaguya clan was now almost completely at odds with the Hidden Mist Village and the Third Mizukage due to Kaguya Musashi's ambition, and the entire clan had moved out of the Hidden Mist Village, rarely undertaking village missions except for wartime, Kiyoshi still had to prevent himself from being seen by Kaguya Musashi's subordinates who knew his appearance. Although there were many ninjas with strange appearances in the Land of Water, he was the only one with two horns on his forehead, a feature that was too easy to recognize.
Therefore, even after entering the Hidden Mist Village where there were no Kaguya clan members, Kiyoshi maintained his Transformation Technique. Although he hid the horns on his forehead and the red dot between his eyebrows, his basic appearance did not change, as the only thing people knew about him was that unique pair of horns.
Actually, joining the special assassination tactics squad directly under the Mizukage, also known as the Anbu, was the best choice for Kiyoshi. First, they wore masks most of the time, which could cover his appearance, allowing him to not have to constantly maintain the Transformation Technique. Second, according to his father Genji, almost all the high-ranking officials in the Hidden Mist had experience serving in the Anbu.
But unfortunately, Kiyoshi was not even a officially registered ninja of the Hidden Mist Village. He didn't have a ninja registration number, let alone a ninja headband, let alone join the Anbu.
It had been almost five days since Kiyoshi arrived in the Hidden Mist Village, and he was still troubled about how to join the village.
During the reign of the Third Mizukage, who was known for his iron-fisted rule, the Hidden Mist gradually began to implement a policy of elite troops called the "Bloody Mist." It required graduating students of the Ninja Academy to fight each other in pairs until only one remained, aiming to cultivate the most outstanding and ruthless ninjas.
Initially, it was only experimental in nature, but with the continuous growth and excellent performance of the first batch of "Bloody Mist" ninjas, this bloody policy could now be said to be openly carried out in the Hidden Mist.
Therefore, with a relatively stable source of elite ninjas, if Kiyoshi didn't reveal his identity, it was almost impossible for him to join the Hidden Mist Village as a wandering ninja.
For the past five days, Kiyoshi had basically not left the inn. Troubled, Kiyoshi decided to change his mood and take a walk around the village to get some fresh air.
Coming to the street, Kiyoshi walked aimlessly. Suddenly, a commotion came from ahead.
"Seiji-sama!"
"Great Elder-sama!"
Greetings came one after another. The villagers consciously cleared the way and respectfully bowed to the approaching old man.
An old man with a wrinkled face but looking very amiable walked slowly, accompanied by two guards. The old man held a snake-shaped wooden staff and wore a large brown robe. He also kindly returned the villagers' greetings one by one.
This person was Elder Seiji, who held extremely high prestige within the Hidden Mist Village.
Kiyoshi, who did not recognize Elder Seiji, hurriedly followed suit, imitating the villagers' actions and bowing to the old man.
Elder Seiji, who was already 54 years old this year, was still quite energetic. As a follower of the First Mizukage Byakuren and one of the founders of the Hidden Mist Village, Elder Seiji had already served as an elder when the village was first established.
Moreover, after the First Hokage passed away and the Second Hokage took over, due to his outstanding administrative abilities and lack of desire for power, he was granted authority equivalent to the Mizukage by the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hōzuki.
By the time of the Third Mizukage, Elder Seiji was already a veteran who had served three generations of Mizukage and was the only surviving elder from the First Hokage's era.
The Third Mizukage also granted Elder Seiji authority almost equal to the Mizukage. However, Elder Seiji did not quite agree with the Bloody Mist policy implemented by the Third Mizukage. He believed that cultivating ruthless and psychologically distorted ninjas in this way would eventually bring disaster to the Hidden Mist Village. But due to the support of most of the Hidden Mist's high-ranking officials, Elder Seiji had gradually retired, retaining only the power over civil administration and no longer interfering with the village's military and political affairs.
Coming close to Kiyoshi, looking at Kiyoshi who was bowing to him, Elder Seiji's slightly cloudy eyes flashed with a sharp light, which quickly disappeared.
Kiyoshi, who was already 9 years old, now had facial features that leaned more towards his mother, Yukiko Kaguya. Elder Seiji, who happened to have a good personal relationship with the Sixth Elder of the Kaguya clan and had met Yukiko Kaguya, couldn't help but have some guesses in his heart when he saw Kiyoshi's appearance, which was extremely similar to Yukiko Kaguya's.
Ten years ago, Elder Seiji was still at the peak of his power in the Hidden Mist Village and had a very deep control over the village.
He knew the ins and outs of the power struggle that had occurred within the Kaguya clan. Not to mention that Genji Kaguya's ability to join the Shadow Guard was due to Elder Seiji's recommendation. Therefore, Elder Seiji felt quite sorry for what happened to Genji back then and paid close attention to him afterward. However, because this was only an internal family matter, he could not break the rules to help Genji.
That was why Elder Seiji had recognized Kiyoshi at a glance just now.
"Go and ask that young boy if his name is Kiyoshi. If so, please invite him to my house later," Elder Seiji turned his head and whispered to Bi, the guard behind him.
"Yes! Elder," Bi acknowledged the order and left.
After Elder Seiji left, Kiyoshi continued to walk forward on the street with the crowd. At this moment, he sensed an undisguised aura, roughly at the strength of a Special Jōnin, heading straight towards him.
After slightly distinguishing it, Kiyoshi recognized that this was the Chakra aura of the guard behind the elder he had just passed. He slowly stopped.
"Swoosh!" Bi instantly appeared in front of Kiyoshi. Because of Elder Seiji's instructions just now, Bi's attitude was still quite respectful.
"Young man, Elder-sama would like to ask your name."
"Me?" Kiyoshi asked Doubtly. Bi's arrival made him subconsciously think that his identity had been exposed, but then he thought again. An elder so beloved by the villagers would not possibly be connected with that group of brutes from the Kaguya clan, and besides, he had not sensed any malice from Bi or the Elder he had just met.