"No matter what, no matter how great the cost, we must get back the body of Mizukage-sama."
"Send the message back..."
The Mist Ninjas were in a mess. The death of the Third Mizukage was definitely an unexpected incident. From the beginning, the enemy broke through the village blockade, to the Third Mizukage fighting the enemy, to the Six-Tails going berserk, and finally Orochimaru sneaking up to kill the Third Mizukage. In just one day, a series of heavy blows that caught them off guard and dared not even think about happened.
The Kirigakure's operation ended in a disastrous defeat, the biggest setback since the village was founded. The lives of the Third Mizukage and hundreds of ninjas were sacrificed in vain, but they returned without success. The most tragic thing was that even the body of the Third Mizukage was looted by the enemy.
It never rains but it pours! The Hidden Mist Village was already at war with the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Cloud Village, and at a critical juncture, the Third Mizukage was killed. It was a double whammy. But the Ninja World would not stop the war because of their tragedy. Without the leader of the Mizukage, Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village would definitely take advantage of their situation and launch a violent attack.
Some clear-headed Kirigakure have already thought of this, but they dare not say it out loud. They are afraid that the Kirigakure Village will never recover because of this, and they can only madly devote themselves to the search for the body of the Third Mizukage.
If the body can be found, everything can be saved! Facts have once again proved that there will be no good results if the shadow of a village leaves the village, even if he brings thousands of double-flowered red sticks.
Duke became excited. Among the entire ruins, only a large house was relatively well preserved. He couldn't help but think of treasure hunting and walked towards the big house.
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Duke cut through the thorns that blocked his way, pushed open the gray door, and strode into the house. The deserted house was very empty, and there was not even a table or chair to be found, but the walls were covered with hideous evil ghost masks, staring at the visitors, which was chilling.
"This is a treasure! In that case, I won't be polite! But which one is the real Death Mask?" Duke scratched his head and found that all the masks were made of the same material and shape, and he couldn't tell the real ones from the fake ones.
Whether it was the bloodline of the Ice Release or the corpse of the Jinchūriki, Orochimaru couldn't let go of them. He just wanted to seize every possibility and dig out enough data in a short time.
Duke stood on the tower, feeling a little disappointed. The ruins of the Hidden Tide Village had been abandoned for too long, and there were only ruins, and even the buildings had weathered into sand.
"The Uzumaki clan has a special physique, huge chakra and natural longevity, but they have a hot temper and are not liked by others. Because of their unique and powerful sealing techniques, they are feared by other countries and ethnic groups. During the war, the Uzumaki Country was attacked by many countries and was destroyed. Only a few descendants of ninjas were scattered around the world." Orochimaru spoke slowly, popularizing the unpopular knowledge of the ninja world for Duke.
"The Uzumaki clan..." Duke suddenly realized that if this was the case, it was not surprising that the Uzumaki clan's symbol appeared here. The Uzumaki clan and Konoha's Senju clan were distant relatives and allies. The two clans had been friends for generations. When the first generation established Konoha Village, they chose the clan's symbol as the symbol of Konoha ninja to prove the everlasting friendship between the two clans.
Duke picked up a mask, brushed off the thick dust, and examined it carefully in his hands. He didn't know what material the mask was made of, but it felt cold to the touch, with a texture that was not stone but gold.
"That piece of open space covered with weeds should be the training ground for the ninjas of the Uzushiogakure Village... those buildings are residential houses, and there are shops on both sides of the street... what's over there?" Duke looked down at the village and suddenly found a large house that was still well preserved.
"If Lord Orochimaru doesn't want to, don't force it. Red Bean is stupid, lazy and can do nothing but get into trouble. How can she be qualified to be your disciple?" Duke advised hurriedly, belittling Red Bean as if it were worthless.
On the outskirts of the border of the Water Kingdom, there is an unknown, dilapidated ancient city. It is desolate and desolate everywhere. The deserted ruins are overgrown with weeds, and are full of insects and snakes. There is no trace of human habitation.
Duke shrugged, dropped the measuring cup in his hand, walked out of the secret passage, and came to the deserted street of the Hidden Tide Village, wandering aimlessly. Finally, he turned over and jumped onto a high tower, scanning the ruins.
Orochimaru was concentrating on his research. Duke watched for a while, but lost interest because it was boring. He fiddled around the room. "If you have nothing to do, you can go out for a walk. I have something to do in a while." Orochimaru was disturbed by the sound of bottles and jars colliding in his ears. He waved his hand and asked Duke to go as far as he could.
"I dealt with it briefly. There is a shortage of experimental equipment here, and forcibly taking samples will cause destructive damage to the corpse. After returning to the village, I will ask the Third Hokage to bring the corpse over for careful study." Orochimaru was slightly disappointed. If he really waited for Sarutobi Hiruzen to give him the Third Mizukage's corpse, he was afraid that the value of the corpse would have been squeezed out of it.
Duke was about to follow Orochimaru in when he saw a familiar sign. Not far away in the weeds, a vortex-shaped sign was deeply engraved on the stone wall. All Konoha ninjas were familiar with this sign because they all had it on the back of their clothes.
"In that case, let's go back!" Orochimaru didn't care. After the Uzushiogakure Village was captured, all the valuable items were looted. Even if there were any left, after such a long time, they would have turned into a pile of earth.
"No wonder Orochimaru is still doing well after leaving Konoha. He had prepared a way out for himself in various places in the ninja world long before he rebelled." Duke muttered to himself, could it be that Orochimaru is born in the Year of the Rabbit? Why does he have so many nests? Orochimaru came to the central dissection table, released the body of the Third Mizukage sealed in the scroll, and began to collect hair, blood and skin tissue samples, not shying away from the fact that Duke was still watching.
"The Land of Whirlpools, a country destroyed by war." Orochimaru took Duke and walked quickly to a stone wall. He pressed the mechanism in the corner and opened a secret door.
"So that's how it is. An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure... He attracts jealousy because of his powerful strength and is eventually destroyed." Duke nodded. This is so similar to the current situation of Konoha.
"Have you collected the materials so quickly?" Duke was referring to the body of the Third Mizukage. It was so weird that the anatomy madman didn't even cut into slices.
Duke sighed for a while, then followed Orochimaru into the secret passage. Soon they arrived at a secret room. The room was brightly lit, with bricks and stones on all sides. On the experimental table, various test tubes, beakers, and a large number of mysterious equipment were neatly arranged. In the center was a stone platform. It was obvious that this was a secret base of Orochimaru, and it was specially used for research.
Duke looked around curiously. Remaining building debris and collapsed stone pillars were everywhere. They were still magnificent despite the wind and rain, proving that they were once prosperous. This ancient city was very large, but for some reason it disappeared in the long river of history.
"Never mind, take them all. I calculated with my fingers and found that this treasure is destined to be with me." The smile on Duke's face was about to overflow. He carefully collected all the masks together, sealed them in a scroll, and put them into the gap between his inner clothes.
In the crowd, Mei Terumi picked up the Kirigakure forehead protector that Duke had dropped. There was a deep scratch between the four waves on the forehead protector. Mei Terumi said nothing, holding the forehead protector tightly and looking towards the direction of the Land of Fire.
"Temple sacrifice!?" A line of words could be vaguely seen on the wooden plaque above the door.
"Lord Orochimaru, where is this place?" Duke asked. He could smell the scent of the sea in the wind, so it seemed like this was an island like the Land of Waves.
"Come to think of it, you really care about Hongdou!" Orochimaru suddenly said with a thick smile: "Zixiao mentioned to me some time ago that she wanted me to accept her as my apprentice..."
"Ah! I saw some gadgets that I thought were interesting, so I put them away, planning to bring them back to help Anko cheer her up." Duke didn't wait for Orochimaru to come in, as he walked out of the house and greeted him.
A giant python that was taking a nap suddenly curled up and twisted a few times before dying. Duke and Orochimaru broke open the snake's belly and walked out. The birds around were startled and flew away, bringing a little melody of life to the dead silence.
Just as he put the scroll into his arms, the overjoyed Duke heard Orochimaru's unique hoarse voice coming from outside the house.
"Duke-kun, what are you doing here?"
Inside the secret door was a long stone staircase with torches lit on both sides. It was extremely eerie and terrifying, like a giant python with its mouth wide open, ready to devour someone.
"This is the former Uzushiogakure Village, a powerful ninja village where the famous Uzumaki clan settled." Orochimaru came behind Duke at some point.
The news of the Third Mizukage's murder would soon spread throughout the ninja world. Orochimaru knew that the village would soon issue an order for him to hand over the body, so he didn't have much time and every minute and every second was precious.
"The demon mask from the Hidden Uzushio Village... could it be?" A light bulb went off in Duke's mind and he looked at the mask in his hand excitedly, as if he had discovered an incredible treasure.
"Really? But I've already promised Zixiao that I'll take her as my apprentice!" Orochimaru chuckled, "I didn't expect that kid to be so bad. I really misjudged her. I thought she was a genius!"
"Lord Orochimaru must have made a mistake. We'd better confirm it again!" Duke frowned and looked at Orochimaru, with cold air lingering on his index finger and a murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
Orochimaru smiled faintly, Snake Eyes and Duke confronted each other, and for a moment, the air became much colder!
"You are too nervous, Duke! I really plan to take her in as my disciple, I have no other intentions." Orochimaru licked his tongue and looked at Duke with fanatical eyes. The materials of Mizunotsuki have been collected, and the only one left is Duke, the outlier.
(End of this chapter)