Going to Kirigakure?
He remembered that the last time Kiyosuke went to Kirigakure, he caused quite a commotion there. Not long after, the Third Mizukage died at his hands.
He wasn't worried about Kiyosuke's safety, but rather about the Fourth Mizukage. If he remembered correctly, the Fourth Mizukage had just taken office not long ago, right?
Hiruzen Sarutobi said softly, "Investigate secretly. Don't cause trouble."
"Lord Third, you know me. I'm not the kind of person who likes to stir up trouble," Kiyosuke said with a serious look, as if he was being wrongly accused.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him without saying a word. He took a puff from his pipe and said, "I understand. Be careful. That's an enemy who could make the First Hokage fight a fierce battle."
No one knew what method Madara Uchiha had used to maintain his youth. Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi's physical functions were declining severely, and he was much weaker than before.
"Got it," Kiyosuke nodded and left the Hokage's office.
When he arrived at the gate of Konoha, he noticed that the guards had changed.
It seemed to be the gate - keeper brothers, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.
These two chunin had decent strength, but being gate - keepers... well, it was okay!
However, it was quite impressive that they could keep guarding the gate until Naruto's son's generation.
They had been professional gate - keepers for decades, Uncle Kotetsu and Uncle Izumo...
They were lucky. Even during Orochimaru's Konoha - Destroying Plan and Pain's attack on Konoha, the two of them managed to survive. Well, later, Naruto had to rush to the Konoha gate before he could go to Ichiraku Ramen.
You know, because of these two gate - keepers, Pain didn't even dare to enter through the main gate, and Orochimaru had to sneak in. Only Itachi Uchiha, who was an undercover agent, could bring people in openly...
Cough cough, just kidding. These two would probably remain chunin until they were old. That was probably their fate in life. Guarding the gate only required recording suspicious people coming in and out. It was neither dangerous nor tiring. One could say they had already entered their elderly life and started to enjoy their retirement.
Leaving Konoha, Kiyosuke headed straight for the Land of Water. On the way, he changed his appearance to avoid being detected by Zetsu.
Neither Black Zetsu nor White Zetsu could be easily sensed. He had to be on guard against them. If Obito was really in Kirigakure, he had to hide himself well.
Disguised as a samurai, he followed a caravan into the Land of Water. Then, by waterway, he sneaked into Kirigakure.
In the middle of the night, he climbed out of the cold river water and stepped onto the land of Kirigakure.
It was early spring, and the night was still a bit cold. After evaporating all the water on his body, Kiyosuke changed his appearance again, this time into a member of the Kaguya clan.
Walking on the street at night, it was desolate and not lively at all.
He remembered that there used to be a night market in Kirigakure at night. What was going on now? Why wasn't the night market open?
"Who are you?"
A group of ninjas jumped out from around the corner and saw Kiyosuke strolling around. Seeing his appearance, they roared, "It's a remnant of the Kaguya clan! Kill him!"
Kiyosuke:???
What was going on?
Wasn't the Kaguya clan one of their ninja clans? Why were they trying to kill them?
However, he wouldn't just sit there and wait to be killed. He immediately ran into an alley, and the team chased after him. They didn't know where they had run off to.
He then jumped down from the wall, clapped his hands, and said, "They're really inexperienced. Don't they ever look up?"
These Kirigakure ninjas seemed quite young. But for some reason, they had a strong murderous aura. Oh well, they just lacked practical experience.
In a blink of an eye, he had become a ninja with abundant experience.
"Come to think of it, I should go to Mei and find out what's going on. Something must have happened in Kirigakure."
He came to the compound of the Terumi clan and skillfully sneaked into the place where Mei Terumi lived.
He carefully avoided the sleeping maids and gently knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Mei Terumi asked.
"It's me," Kiyosuke called out in his original voice. "Mei, it's me. Open the door. I need to talk to you."
Mei Terumi, who had been drowsy, suddenly became energetic. She lifted the quilt, then shrank back in, wrapping herself up. She whispered, "Aren't you in Konoha? Why are you in Kirigakure?"
"I said I have something important. Open the door, or I'll come in myself," Kiyosuke said.
"You... come in yourself..." Mei Terumi shrank into the quilt like a quail, only sticking her head out.
Kiyosuke opened the door, changed back to his original appearance, and sat cross - legged beside Mei Terumi. He said, "I came to Kirigakure to investigate something. Someone is using my friend to do bad things. I came here to get my friend back. I'm sorry for disturbing you so late."
After hearing this, Mei Terumi felt a bit uncomfortable and said with a hint of temper, "Friend? A girl?"
Kiyosuke looked at her curiously, blinked, and smiled, "Do you hope it's a boy or a girl?"
"I..." The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't say them. She said sullenly, "What does it matter to me if it's a boy or a girl?"
If it doesn't matter to you, then why did you ask?
Kiyosuke shook his head and asked, "What happened in your Kirigakure? Did the Kaguya clan rebel? When I climbed in, I disguised myself as a member of the Kaguya clan and was actually chased. And I saw a lot of ninjas patrolling along the way. Is your Mizukage crazy?"
Mei Terumi said, "This is Kirigakure's business. It has nothing to do with you, a Konoha ninja."
"Oh, so he is crazy!" Kiyosuke guessed right. Obito was indeed here, and he had controlled the Fourth Mizukage and started causing trouble in Kirigakure.
Madara Uchiha had used Kotoamatsukami to control Obito, making him think that the people of Kirigakure had taken Rin away, and that Kiyosuke and Kakashi were the ones who killed Rin. He wouldn't let any of them go!
Kiyosuke and Kakashi were put aside for now. First, he would deal with Kirigakure.
So, before the Nine - Tails incident, he came to Kirigakure, controlled the Fourth Mizukage, and also the Three - Tails inside him. Manipulating Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage, he turned the village into the "Bloody Mist Village."
Even before the death of the Third Mizukage, Kirigakure had implemented such a system, but it wasn't this extreme.
Still, it was cruel. For example, the year after Kiyosuke and the others graduated, a person named Zabuza Momochi killed all the ninjas of the same class and became the only genin in Kirigakure that year.
It was just that Kiyosuke didn't meet him during the war.
Now, not only the ninja academy but also under the control of Obito, Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage, started targeting those ninja clans.
Using the defeat in the Third Great Ninja War as an excuse, he began to massacre the kekkei genkai users.
The Suigetsu clan, the Kaguya clan, and the Houzuki clan were all wiped out. Only a few people managed to escape from Kirigakure and were living in exile. Even the Terumi clan where Mei Terumi belonged was affected. If it weren't for some clan members being village elders, it would probably have been completely massacred.
Previously, Mei Terumi and Ao had gone out to hunt down those people but didn't find them.
After hearing Kiyosuke's words, Mei Terumi bit her lips. This man had guessed it right.