Naruto SI: Kaito Red Lightnin Chapter 156
Then, his chakra surged violently.
A dark red aura erupted around him, the oppressive presence of his bijū chakra filling the air.
A translucent red chakra cloak began to form around his body.
Mangetsu's eyes narrowed. "He's using his Bijū mode… I can't win this." He could already sense Mist shinobi approaching from the distance—loyalists answering their Mizukage's call.
Mangetsu made his decision.
But before he could act, he was suddenly bisected in two—only for both halves to turn into water.
Yagura scoffed. "A water clone, huh?"
Taking advantage of the distraction, the real Mangetsu darted through the forest surrounding the Hidden Mist Village. However, he didn't get far. Just as he reached the treeline, he was forced to dodge a circular blade of water.
He barely twisted out of the way, but not fast enough—the blade cleanly severed his left arm. Mangetsu gritted his teeth, clutching the dripping remains of his limb as water pooled on the ground.
Looking up, he saw Yagura standing atop a tree, still cloaked in his bijū chakra. Yagura's voice echoed through the mist, cold and taunting. "You think you can get away from me that easily?"
….
Kaito stood up from the tree branch, his sharp eyes scanning the Hidden Mist Village below. His mind was a mess of thoughts, weighing his options carefully.
He clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. "They're going to get themselves killed if I don't do anything... but—" He hesitated, doubt creeping in. "Should I really interfere with another village's affairs? If I get caught... it could lead to war."
His eyes darkened as another thought surfaced. "Knowing Obito, he might just use it as an excuse to start one anyway."
Kaito turned his gaze toward the direction where the Kaguya Clan had once stood. His fingers curled even tighter into his palm.
"But..." he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. He trailed off, closing his eyes. The images were still fresh in his mind—lifeless bodies of children and women scattered across the battlefield.
His stomach twisted in regret. "I could have saved them… if I had just..." He exhaled sharply, shaking off the feeling.
He had failed them. If he had remembered in time, he could have gotten them out. Now, there was nothing left but regret.
With a heavy sigh, Kaito shifted his focus to the other clans in Kiri. Through his Mind's Eye of Kagura, he could sense the children and women gathered within their clan compounds, only a handful of Chūnin stationed to guard them.
"If I don't do something… this will be their end." His frown deepened. "Yagura, under Obito's control, will no doubt order their slaughter."
Kaito frowned, deep in thought. "If I remember correctly… there weren't any known members of Kiri's clans during the Fourth Shinobi War. Other than Mei, who became the Mizukage, I don't recall anyone else. Well… there was Mangetsu's little brother, the one who ended up with Sasuke, but he was never really a Kiri shinobi. I don't think he ever considered himself one."
His eyes narrowed. "That could only mean he was found by Orochimaru during this event. If that's the case, then the other Kiri clans… they didn't make it. They were wiped out."
Kaito's jaw tightened. He knew the Hidden Mist was one of the three nations responsible for the destruction of Uzushio and the Uzumaki Clan. But that was at the end of the Second Shinobi War—most of the ones involved had long since died. This generation wasn't to blame.
His gaze shifted to another location.
Zabuza.
He could sense him alongside Mangetsu and the clan heads, moving in to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage.
"Mangetsu must have died here in the original timeline…" Kaito realized. "So he died helping in the failed assassination attempt on Yagura."
A sudden shift in the air pulled him from his thoughts. The mist surrounding the Hidden Mist Village grew thicker, rolling in unnaturally fast.
Then—boom!
Explosions erupted at the village wall, shaking the ground beneath him. Kaito's eyes snapped toward the source of the blasts. The attack had begun.
He let out a slow sigh, his decision already made. "I know myself… I won't be able to live with this. If I do nothing, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
He brought his hands together, forming the cross hand seal. In an instant, fifteen shadow clones popped into existence around him.
"You know what to do," Kaito said, his voice firm.
Without hesitation, the clones flickered away, vanishing into the mist as they sped toward the clan compounds.
Meanwhile, Kaito crossed his arms, his gaze locked onto the battlefield below. He watched as Zabuza and his team engaged Yagura.
"Let's see how this plays out."
...
Meanwhile, Kaito's clones had split into three teams of five, each heading toward one of the major clans involved in the coup—the Terumi Clan, Hozuki Clan, and Yuki Clan.
The group assigned to the Yuki Clan compound approached silently, concealed within the thick mist. As they got closer, Kaito's clone immediately noticed something troubling—the state of the Yuki compound was far worse than the others. It looked more rundown, neglected.
"They've really been treated like outcasts here…" he thought, his expression tightening.
Using the mist as cover, the clones infiltrated the compound swiftly, slipping past the few stationed guards. They moved like ghosts through the shadows, heading toward the central hall where the clan members were gathered.
Once in position, the clones silently formed hand seals, preparing a genjutsu Kaito rarely used. "Temple of Nirvana."
From above, glowing ghostly feathers began to descend, softly floating down like a gentle snowfall. The Chūnin guards stationed outside blinked in confusion, watching the strange sight.
One of them instinctively reached out to touch a feather—only for his body to sway and collapse, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Inside the compound, the clan members huddled together, weary and anxious. A woman cradling her young daughter yawned, blinking drowsily.
"You feel sleepy too, huh?" she murmured as her daughter let out a tiny yawn of her own. The woman's eyelids fluttered before she slumped forward, still holding her child protectively in her arms.
All around her, the same thing happened. Whispers of confusion turned into murmurs, then silence as one by one, the Yuki clan members drifted into unconsciousness.
The last conscious Chūnin swayed on his feet, his vision hazy as he mumbled, "Wha…?" He barely had time to finish his thought before his knees buckled, and he hit the ground.
Kaito's clone watched carefully, scanning the room. When not a single person stirred, he nodded to himself. "Good, that worked."
Once he was sure everyone inside was asleep, the clones moved quickly. golden chakra chains sprang from their bodies, carefully wrapping around the unconscious Yuki members.
With everyone secured, the clones gathered chakra and formed a ram hand seal. In an instant, they teleported the first group away.
The process repeated—one group at a time—until the entire Yuki Clan had been evacuated.
The Hozuki Clan operation went exactly the same way. The clones infiltrated, cast Temple of Nirvana, and secured the unconscious clan members with chakra chains before teleporting them away in groups.
Everything was going smoothly.
expect at the terumi clan compound
Kaito's clones moved cautiously through the mist, approaching the Terumi compound with the same strategy, but as they got closer, one of the clones froze, sensing a massive and familiar chakra signature—Mei Terumi. One of them sighed, shaking his head. Damn it… I didn't expect Mei to be on guard. She's going to make things difficult. Despite the setback, they had no choice but to proceed. They couldn't afford to stop now. Without hesitation, they formed hand seals and cast Temple of Nirvana, sending the glowing illusion of feathers drifting into the air.
Inside the Terumi clan's main hall, Mei Terumi's eyelids grew heavy as a strange drowsiness began to creep over her, but her sharp mind quickly recognized the signs of genjutsu. Her fingers flashed into a hand seal, and she muttered, "Release." The moment she did, the sleepiness vanished, her body snapping back into full awareness.
Her eyes flew open, scanning the room. Around her, most of the clan's Chūnin had already collapsed, completely unconscious under the genjutsu's effect. Mei's fingers instinctively tightened around the kunai in her thigh holster as she surveyed her surroundings, her pulse steady, but her mind racing.
"A genjutsu? Here?" The timing was too suspicious—this wasn't an ordinary attack. A deep sense of unease settled over her.
"Could it be Yagura? Did he find out about the coup?"
Her eyes widened as realization hit her. If this was Yagura's doing, then her clan was in serious danger.
Kaito cursed under his breath, thinking, Damn it, she didn't fall for that… well, I was expecting as much. Aware that time was short, he motioned for the other clones to move in and start gathering the sleeping clan members. They slipped through doorways and hallways, collecting unconscious civilians—children, non-shinobi elders, and other non-combatants. Kaito had already decided not to save the shinobi elders, knowing they were too stuck in their ways and would only make things harder by spreading their prejudices. While the other clones worked, the lead clone moved to confront Mei Terumi.
In a blur, Kaito's clone appeared in front of Mei, who reacted instantly, running through a rapid set of hand signs before spewing out a wave of molten lava. "Lava Release: Melting Apparition!"
Kaito dodged backward, raising his hands in a halting gesture. "Stop! We don't have time for this—Yagura already knows about the coup!"
Mei's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't hesitate. "What are you talking about?!" she demanded, but didn't wait for an answer, quickly forming another set of seals. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" A massive water dragon surged toward Kaito, but he sighed and vanished with a Body Flicker. Before Mei could react, he reappeared right in front of her and struck her stomach with a precise palm strike, sending her skidding backward.
She quickly regained her footing and began forming another jutsu when her body suddenly froze, intricate sealing marks appearing across her skin. Panic set in as she looked down. I… I can't move! W-what is this?! Just then, Kaito's clone shot out a golden chain, wrapping it around her torso. Mei's eyes widened in realization—she knew only one person who could create chains like these. 'He's not a real Kiri shinobi… He's that Uzumaki kid!'
Kaito's clone met her gaze for a brief second before muttering, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time for a full explanation," and swiftly knocked her out.
Behind him, the other clones rushed through the corridors, carrying the still-sleeping Terumi clan members wrapped in chakra chains. One clone nodded to the lead clone and said, "We got everyone." The lead clone exhaled and gave the final command, "Now, move out." The clones immediately formed hand seals, chakra flickering around them, and in an instant, they were gone, teleported away using Hiraishin, leaving the Terumi compound in complete silence.
….
Kaito watched from the shadows as the massacre unfolded, the assassination team failing miserably. Yagura had just killed the Terumi clan head, and Kaito could sense Zabuza fleeing, leaving Mangetsu behind to fight alone.
Kaito narrowed his eyes, thinking, I knew Yagura was strong even before he became a Jinchūriki, but this… if I had to scale him, he's at least around the Sannin tier in strength. And now, as a Perfect Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, that makes him the strongest Kage among the Five, even if Hiruzen was still in power.
Shaking his head, he knew Mangetsu stood no chance.
"If he were older, if he had mastered Gengetsu Hōzuki's techniques, then maybe he could fight Yagura. He has the potential, but right now… he's too young, too inexperienced."
Then, Kaito's eyes widened. 'In the original timeline, Ao was the one who discovered Yagura was under a genjutsu using his Byakugan… and Yagura died after he was freed from it. But now… Ao doesn't have his Byakugan because of me.'
His stomach twisted. 'If Ao never notices the genjutsu… then…'
Kaito frowned deeply, a weight settling on his chest. 'Did I just doom all of Kirigakure by taking the Byakugan from Ao?'
His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Mangetsu retreating he fled toward the forest. and Yagura was right behind him.
"I need to save him." Kaito said as he flickered off the tree
Kaito appeared at the scene in an instant.
Mangetsu was barely standing, gripping his severed arm, his face twisted in pain.
Yagura stood atop a tree, his Bijū cloak pulsing, the chakra swirling violently as he began shifting into Version 2.
Without a second thought, Kaito—still in his Kiri shinobi disguise—appeared in front of Yagura.
Before the Mizukage could react, Kaito's foot crashed into his jaw with immense force, sending Yagura flying backward through the air.
His leg was wrapped in chakra chains, hidden under a genjutsu to prevent recognition of the Uzumaki technique.
The moment Yagura was sent flying, Kaito Body Flickered and vanished.
He reappeared beside Mangetsu, who barely had time to react before Kaito placed a hand on his shoulder—
And teleported them out of there.
Yagura charged into the clearing, his V2 cloak flickering violently as his eyes scanned the surroundings.
But there was no sign of his opponent.
His chakra slowly powered down, the burning cloak dissipating as he rubbed his jaw, still feeling the force of the hit.
Frowning, Yagura muttered to himself, "Who was that?"
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