Chapter – 412 Encountering Amatsukami

In the dim light of the setting sun, a squad of shinobi traveled through the rugged mountain roads, their speed extremely fast, and their steps did not make any sound, they traveled through the mountain ridge and went down the valley.

This squad of shinobi is the one led by Terumi Mei all for the purpose of completing the mission assigned to her by the Yondaime Mizukage.

While running at the center point of the squad, Mei looked at the shinobi around her.

When the elders of the council heard of the mission assigned to her, they all decided to provide her with strong support. The importance of Rokubi and Utakata who have it sealed inside him is very high for the village, so, in addition to making Mei the next Mizukage, their intentions are obviously to bring back Utakata.

As such the shinobi following her on this mission are not just her trusted subordinates, but even a few shinobi from the Anbu (e.g., Tsurugi) and a few others including the subordinates of Elders who are experienced in sealing Bijuu. There is one more individual, named Harusame, the master of Utakata for extra reassurance to bring back Utakata.

Overall, the entire squad consists of 16 shinobi including her, all with exceptional skills at the level of Tokubetsu Jonin or higher.

Ao who was running very next to Mei said to her at this moment, "I think with this squad we should be able to bring back Utakata quite easily."

Mei shook her head, and said with a sigh, "But the problem is not just Utakata, there are also Akatsuki and Amatsukami, I fear that they might also be pursuing him. Mizukage sama warned me that there are chances of encountering the members of Akatsuki and Amatsukami, and if we do encounter them, then it would increase the difficulty of this mission to a very high level."

Ao was silent upon hearing Mei's reasoning.

Indeed, if it was just Utakata, then with this line-up, bringing him back would have been fairly easy. Utakata's strength is indeed extremely good, but unlike Yondaime Mizukage he is not a perfect Jinchuriki.

And since he can not display the full potential of the Bijuu sealed inside him, since he can not risk losing control over him, as such he would avoid using the power of Rokubi if he doesn't have to.

Moreover, Utakata doesn't have any reason to not come back to Kirigakure, especially after he learns of the fact that Yondaime Mizukage was being controlled by Akatsuki. So, the probability of Utakata resisting until the bitter end is very low.

But it would all be a different case if Akatsuki or Amatsukami were to be involved too.

'I do hope that I can bring back Utakata safely.' thought Mei.

Soon the hunter team led by Mei passed through a ravine and came across another valley.

According to the intelligence given to her by the Yondaime Mizukage, since disappearing from the Land of Rain, Utakata has been aimlessly wandering around, sometimes he would visit a town or a small village, but most of the time he would remain in forests and mountains so as not to attract much attraction.

The forest past this valley is the last place where Utakata was last spotted, so this is obviously the first search point to find out the clues in order to discern the direction he went.

"Everyone be careful… we have company!" But just as the squad entered the forest, Ao suddenly warned the squad of 16.

The squad of 16 hurriedly scattered.

Mei asked, "Who is it and where?"

Ao did not reply to Mei, but pointed in a direction and said, "There!"

Everyone looked in the direction Ao pointed at and noticed nothing except for the tree, and can't help but frown in confusion.

Mei said, "Nobody is there."

Ao shook his head, and said, "No, someone is there, he is using some kind of Ninjutsu to turn himself invisible. Come on out, I have already noticed you."

"Ho? You managed to locate me even though I was invisible, I gotta hand it to you, Byakugan truly is a nemesis of invisibility Jutsu." A voice came, then the figure of a shinobi also became visible to everyone, "But, I must say I am surprised that someone who is not a shinobi of the Hyuga clan can master the use of Byakugan to such a degree."

He was carefreely sitting on the tree branch pointed out by Ao while dangling his legs in a to-and-fro motion. But even though he sat there without a care in the world, and did not do anything, no one could take him lightly. Everyone felt extreme pressure on top of their heads and had sweat flowing down their temples.

He wore a golden rimmed black cloak with various symbols on it, and a blue mask with the symbol of water Chakra on it.

He is none other than, "You are Suijin of the Amatsukami!" muttered Mei.

Suijin looked at Mei, then said with a grin, "Ne-ne you are Terumi Mei, aren't you? What are you people doing here? Is it possible that you people are here to greet me? Are you people a fan of mine? Do you people want my autograph? Or do you want a picture with me?"

While Suijin spoke, Mei signaled everyone to take a combat stance, then she said to Suijin, "Our purpose for coming here does not concern you, leave now, and we can resolve this issue without a battle."

Suijin chuckled, "Hahaha… you are funny, do you really think that just because you are asking me politely, I will withdraw?"

Mei frowned, and asked, "Then what else?"

Suijin thought a little, then said, "How about an answer first?"

Mei asked curiously, "Answer? Answer to what exactly?"

Suijin chuckled, and asked with a mocking smile, "I heard a rumor recently according to which the Yondaime Mizukage of Kirigakure had become a puppet in the hands of Akatsuki, is it true?"

Mei's face turned cold, "That's just a baseless rumor without any evidence to proof." She was trying her best to make sure that the shock o her face wasn't visible, the same was the case with the people behind her. Some were surprised by this revelation because there were not aware of such information, but was it true or not?

Suijin shook his head, and said, "It's not a baseless rumor, I know for a fact that your Yondaime Mizukage had become a puppet in the hands of Akatsuki, in fact, you people ought to thank the Amatsukami, after all, it was one of us, specifically, Homusubi, who fought and defeated the person who controlled the Mizukage in the underground floor of the Mizukage Building."

"What??!!" Everyone exclaimed upon hearing Suijin words.

It seemed that Suijin was enjoying everyone's shock, and said, "Kirigakure is really finished."

Mei calmed her shock and asked with a solemn expression, "You have stopped us here, it wouldn't just be to talk nonsense, would it? What could you possibly want from us?"

"Trying to change the topic, are we?" Suijin said, then continued, "But I suppose it's pointless to speak about that for now, anyway, since you people have come here with the kind of formation, I take it that you people are here for the Jinchuriki of Rokubi, aren't you?"

Mei gritted her teeth, she knew where this was going, she did not want this to happen.

Suijin did not care about Mei's reaction, and said, "If you people value your lives then go back, Amatsukami is interested in the Rokubi and few of its abilities, so we are going to capture Utakata."

Ao said furiously, "Don't joke around! Rokubi belongs to Kirigakure, do you think that we will just let you capture Utakata?"

Suijin sneered, "Even your Mizukage is not necessarily yours what are you talking about claiming ownership over a Bijuu? Hurry up and leave, else I don't mind taking a Byakugan with me too."

Mei stopped Ao from wasting his breath against Suijin, and said, "It appears that the events of Yondaime sama have made people underestimate us Kirigakure Shinobi who have grown in the Village of the Bloody Mist. Since you of the Amatsukami have set your sights on the Rokubi, then there is nothing left to talk with you."

After speaking so, Mei quickly printed hand seals, and then shouted, 'Yoton: Yokai no Jutsu!' (Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!)

Instantly a lot of lava was spit out by Mei, this lava was like a high-pressured spray, and went toward Suijin as if it would melt him.

Poof…

With a poof of smoke, Hiramekarei appeared in Suijin's hands, he separated the sword into two parts, then with one part in each hand, he poured chakra into the sword which soon took the shape of a hammer, and he waved then waved the sword in the direction of the incoming lava spray to block it.

The chakra hammer black the lava form coming on him, but it still splashed on many nearby trees burning them.

Pssshhhh… Psshhh… Psshh…

"That attack was barely even effective, is that the best you can do? Because if that's really the case then I am going to be so disappointed." – Suijin said in a disappointed tone.

"That sword… It's Hiramekarei!" – Ao muttered in shock.

"It just means that what he spoke was indeed the truth." Tsurugi, the commander of Hunter nin of Kirigakure said.

Harusame said, "We have to assume that other members of Amatsukami are also nearby, so we will have to resolve this fight as early as possible."

Ao nodded and after printing hand seals, he released mist from his mouth, 'Kirigakure no Jutsu!'

Whoooooooooshh…

The mist released by Ao seemed to have covered the entire valley in a thick cover of mist. It was already past dawn and with thick mist in the air making it very hard to see anything.

Next, the shinobi of Kirigakure who are experts on Silent Killing of Kirigakure, scattered under the cover of smoke waiting for the opportunity to kill Suijin.

'Heh, that was a big mistake!' – thought Suijin as he flashed from his position, his objective, knock out all the Kirigakure shinobi.

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