A sudden loud knock interrupted Kaguya En's thoughts.
"Come in."
"Clan Head-sama."
Kaguya Hikari's figure entered the courtyard, excitement evident on his face.
"I heard Mizukage-sama has arrived. Did he bring the promised Ninjato?"
Kaguya Hikari's gaze fell upon the Thunder Swords next to Kaguya En.
"Is this the Thunder Swords?"
"Clan Head, I believe no one in the entire Kaguya Clan is more suitable to wield the Thunder Swords than me. In my hands, Thunder Swords will undoubtedly unleash its full potential."
"Clan Head, may I be the one to wield this Thunder Swords?"
Kaguya En glanced at Kaguya Hikari and nodded.
"Very well."
Kaguya Hikari picked up the Thunder Swords, excitement evident on his face.
A burst of lightning flashed on the Thunder Swords.
"This is the power of the Thunder Swords!"
"Well done! Well done!"
Kaguya Hikari looked at Kaguya En.
"Clan Head, please rest assured, I will not disappoint the Thunder Swords. In my hands, Thunder Swords will surely shine brightly. I will definitely surpass what Kurosuki Raiga did."
"I will restore the reputation of Thunder Swords, that task falls to me, Kaguya Hikari!"
Kaguya Hikari fastened the Thunder Swords to his waist.
"Clan Head, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Kaguya En nodded.
"Very well."
As he was about to leave through the courtyard gate, Kaguya Hikari suddenly stopped and turned back.
"Oh, Clan Head, Uehara Soma managed to craft two Ninjato in such a short time, and he may produce even more in the future. Perhaps you could arrange for someone to negotiate with him."
Kaguya En looked puzzled.
He understood Kaguya Hikari well.
Kaguya Hikari was a typical member of the Kaguya Clan.
It could be said that all the negative impressions of the Kaguya Clan were confirmed by Kaguya Hikari.
However, Kaguya Hikari had talent.
In today's Kaguya Clan, Kaguya Hikari's strength ranks at the forefront.
Even Kaguya En, the head of the Kaguya Clan, may not necessarily be a match for Kaguya Hikari.
Therefore, when Kaguya Hikari expressed his desire to use the Thunder Swords, Kaguya En did not object.
Indeed, Kaguya Hikari might not be the person who can lead the Kaguya Clan in a positive direction, but there are no better options for the Kaguya Clan, at least considering Kaguya Hikari's strength.
But now, when Kaguya Hikari says he wants to send someone to negotiate for the Ninjato crafted by Uehara Soma, Kaguya En finds it amusing.
Kaguya En particularly wants to ask Kaguya Hikari a few questions—since you know Uehara Soma can produce more Ninjato in the future, and since you know you want to negotiate for those Ninjato, why did you behave the way you did last time on Forging Island?
Do you think your actions could still leave a good impression on Uehara Soma?
Or perhaps you think Uehara Soma would be generous enough to not mind at all?
Or maybe you believe that such behavior isn't offensive in the slightest?
What exactly are you trying to imply by saying this now?
If such a thing happened when Kaguya En didn't know Kaguya Hikari as well, Kaguya En might have asked questions, might have engaged in dialogue with Kaguya Hikari, or even might have wanted to guide Kaguya Hikari to change.
But now, Kaguya En knows Kaguya Hikari very well.
Kaguya En knows that he can't make Kaguya Hikari change in the slightest.
Kaguya Hikari's way of thinking is just like that of most people in the Kaguya Clan: extreme, stubborn, and arrogant.
Kaguya En has long given up on communicating with Kaguya Hikari and most members of the Kaguya Clan. He just hopes to find one or two seeds of hope among the younger generation of the Kaguya Clan.
"If only the heavens could grant my Kaguya Clan an Uchiha Shisui," Kaguya En thought as he watched Kaguya Hikari's departing figure.
"I wonder if the head of the Uchiha Clan has similar thoughts and situations," he pondered further.
...
A dark shadow suddenly appeared in the Mizukage's Building.
Unseen by anyone, it approached directly behind the Third Mizukage.
The Third Mizukage's expression became somewhat bewildered.
Uchiha Madara, or more accurately his clone placed a hand on the Third Mizukage's shoulder.
In a low voice, the Third Mizukage recounted all the recent events in the Hidden Mist Village to Uchiha Madara.
"Ninjato?"
Uchiha Madara's brow twitched slightly.
"Unhealable Blade, Kiriichimonji."
"Ice Blade, Blue Rose Sword."
Uchiha Madara chuckled disdainfully.
"It's no wonder that a village of incompetent ninjas like the Hidden Mist Village would consider mere Ninjato as their future. It's laughable."
"That so-called Mist Seven, not even a match for a mere Konoha Genin, what can these Ninjato achieve?"
"The truly powerful ones have always been the ninjas themselves."
"Ninjato only elevate some trash to a slightly less trashy level."
"They can't create true strong warriors."
The Ninjato that the Third Mizukage values and hopes for, crafted by Uehara Soma, hold no value whatsoever in Uchiha Madara's eyes.
The current representatives of Ninjato users are the Mist Seven, but even beings much stronger than them, like the Third Mizukage, Uchiha Madara completely disregards.
And in Uchiha Madara's view, Ninjato couldn't even create someone like the Third Mizukage.
"No need to pay much attention to it," Uchiha Madara dismissed.
Before long, Uchiha Madara departed.
His purpose in coming to the Hidden Mist Village had been accomplished.
To Uchiha Madara, the Hidden Mist Village was not important; he simply regarded it as a pawn to manipulate in order to achieve his own plans.
Uchiha Madara's true target was Uchiha Obito.
By disrupting the people most important to Uchiha Obito, stimulating him, and causing him to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Madara intended to pass on his subsequent plans to Uchiha Obito.
Uchiha Obito was also a pawn of Uchiha Madara's.
Just a slightly larger one, and he already had a plan in mind on how to manipulate him...
...
Forging Island.
Biwa Juzo looked at Uehara Soma across from him and said, "You've already mastered these Water Release Ninjutsu quite well, Soma. You can use them in battle without any problems."
"Continuing to invest time in practice could indeed lead to improvement, but the cost-benefit ratio is not high in the short term."
"Next, let me teach you some new Water Release Ninjutsu, Soma," Biwa Juzo said.
Biwa Juzo was somewhat surprised by Uehara Soma's learning speed. When Uehara Soma faced the Water Release Water Prison Jutsu, he learned it after just listening to it once and watching it once, making Biwa Juzo realize that Uehara Soma was a genius in Water Release.
But now Biwa Juzo found that Uehara Soma might be even more talented than he had previously imagined.
However, this wasn't actually a miscalculation on Biwa Juzo's part. It was that during this time, Uehara Soma's talent in Water Release had improved even further.
This made Biwa Juzo even more eager to cultivate Uehara Soma's abilities in Water Release.
With such talent, Biwa Juzo thought it would be a waste for Soma not to learn more Water Release Ninjutsu and improve his Water Release skills.
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