Masahiko and Mifune froze for a long time facing each other with widened eyes and shrank pupils; the scene was extremely embarrassing for a while.
Samurai's concentration was indeed very strong, but how can Masahiko accept defeat.
"I'm going to lose if we keep this. Mifune is so ugly, and looking at him is quite uncomfortable. He seems to simply enjoy doing this…" Masahiko secretly thought, "It seems that I have to find another way."
Masahiko smirked for an instant, and with his right hand, he quietly condensed the wind release, then a faint wind twisted at the fingertip. With a flick of his finger, a breeze blew towards Mifune's eyes…
Mifune was able to react and titled his head to dodge, then he put his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
"You blinked!"
Mifune: "???"
Masahiko smiled a little, and then it quickly faded away, and his expression became more and more serious. After mischief is over, it was time for business.
"Let's talk about it, so what were you talking about before?"
Mifune gradually lowered his right hand from the handle, and then he said, "Sorry, Elder. It's just that the timing of your appearance is too coincidental. Please follow me."
Mifune searched for a moment, took out a folded map, and unfolded it in front of Masahiko's eyes.
"This is the Land of Iron's map and its surrounding areas. But I don't know where the senior came from."
"The Land of Earth."
Mifune nodded, "Sure enough. If you came from the Land of Whirlpools, you might have been able to save those innocent people along the way."
"Huh?" Masahiko frowned, looked for a moment on the map, and found a country with a small red cross on it, "That country was destroyed?"
Mifune sighed, "The news came yesterday that this country was completely destroyed."
Masahiko was taken aback, "All annihilated?"
Mifune nodded, indicating that it was indeed the case.
"Hey, great elder, what does it mean to be annihilated? It won't be…" Karin's face looked worried.
"Yes, it means that." Masahiko took a deep breath.
Annihilation means that the country wasn't taken by another one but was destroyed, and the people living it got slaughtered from the Daimyo to the most ordinary civilian.
This is not something that one of the major villages would do. This was definitely done by a ninja. But even in the Warring States, only a few people would do such a thankless thing. What kind of hatred of grudge would make you do this?
After a pause, Mifune continued to speak, "According to the information, a ninja released a large-scale Ninjutsu in that country. I have asked one of the samurai to lead the team to investigate. It's estimated that they will be able to return early tomorrow morning. Maybe there are still some civilians who need help there."
"A large-scale Ninjutsu? There are indeed not many ninjas who can destroy the country, but they are not too few."
Although it's called country, its size isn't even comparable to a village-like Konoha. It's just an inconspicuous dot on the map. There are many such small countries near the Land of Iron. They are all affiliated with the Land of Iron. They're under the Samurai protection, and only a few ninjas live there.
In today's Shinobi World, there are still some ninjas who can use large-scale Ninjutsu to destroy a country of this size. Not to mention others like the Jinchuriki.
Mifune nodded, "This matter will surely put everyone in the surrounding small countries at risk. If nothing is found after the investigation, I hope Elder would help catch these murders."
Masahiko nodded firmly, "I have nothing to do with this matter!"
Mifune was taken aback and turned his head to shout, "Okiji, arrange a room for our guests. Elder must be tired. It's getting late. Please have a rest."
Masahiko has no choice but to offer something in return now, "Don't worry, I'll help you with the investigation as a reward for Kimimaro's training."
Mifune nodded, "Thank you, Elder, for your kindness."
Seeing that the samurai named Okiji have arranged the guest room and walked over, Masahiko suddenly remembered something.
With a wave of his hand, the puppet Hanzo appeared in front of everyone.
"This is… Hanzo-Dono!" Mifune was taken aback, recalling the news he heard, "He's really dead."
"Well, not only that he's dead, but his corpse has been turned into a puppet." Masahiko explained, "I remember that you knew him before. Find someone to give him a proper burial. There's no place for him in the Land of Rain any longer."
Mifune took a deep breath, "I see, Elder."
"After this, when Yahiko comes here to ask the Land of Iron to join the Akatsuki as a neutral country, this will probably cause some troubles…."
…..
The next day, early morning.
Masahiko took the three children for breakfast; following a samurai's guidance, he came to an open field. Mifune stood there quietly, holding a wooden sword, looking like he was waiting there for a long time.
"Elder, I need to test this kid's swordsmanship first."
Masahiko turned his head, "Kimimaro, only use your bone blades, don't use any other abilities."
Kimimaro stepped forward full of fighting spirit, but Mifune was far from the opponent he could stand against now. Waving his wooden sword lightly, Mifune left Kimimaro barely holding his bone blade in his hand.
After trying a few moves, Mifune's wooden sword waved, and Kimimaro flew back to Masahiko.
"Have he been fighting all this time by only using his instincts? He has a lot to learn."
Masahiko nodded, "So I will stay here for about three months. During this time, I will trouble you with the task of finding a good teacher for him, Mifune.
"Three months is barely enough." Mifune responded, "Time is running out. Before Okisuke returns, I will personally teach him the basics of swordsmanship."
Masahiko nodded in satisfaction and patted Kimimaro's shoulder, "Stay focused all the time, and study hard."
"Yes, God."
Kimimaro practiced the basics of swordsmanship with Mifune, and Masahiko took care of Haku and Karin training.
As time went by, Mifune's face became more worried, not because of something Kimimaro did, but because the samurai named Okisuke didn't return yet.
It wasn't until noon when a samurai reported that Okisuke had finally returned that Mifune was relieved.
Masahiko was also very curious about this, and left the three children to practice on their own, and followed Mifune to meet the samurai named Okisuke.
"General Mifune, this is the young master of the country that was destroyed. They were out by the time the country was attacked, so he dodged the bullet." Okisuke explained the reason behind his late arrival, and glanced at Masahiko with curiosity, still didn't take the initiative to ask.
Masahiko looked at the young master of the country. He was a beautiful six or seven-year-old boy with pigtails in his hair.
Masahiko wanted to call Haku over to see which one is more beautiful, even though he felt that Haku would win this one.
Focusing on the most important matter, Mifune asked about the situation in that country.
Okisuke shook his head and said, "There are no survivors. The country didn't look like it was destroyed by multiple attacks, it's more like it was turned into ruins under a super large-scale Ninjutsu, and the civilians had no chance to escape. It doesn't even feel like a Ninjutsu. It's more like if it was destroyed by a natural disaster."
Mifune turned to Masahiko with a heavy face.
Masahiko nodded thoughtfully, "Take me there. I want to take a look. There are no more than five ninjas who can destroy a country with a Ninjutsu. I… probably know who it is."