MTLNOVEL Chapter 439: Jaw-dropping
Kazuyama Gekkō shrugged casually, completely composed—though the moment he opened his mouth, he was full-on in smug mode.
"No, no, Lord Hokage, you're too kind."
"My meager skills could never compare to yours—you're the legendary ninjutsu instructor, after all. Not only are you immensely powerful, but you also trained the famed 'Konoha Sannin' who shook the entire Ninja World."
"Tsk tsk, who doesn't know your reputation?"
Flattery. Absolute rainbow-tier flattery. And judging by Hiruzen Sarutobi's beaming grin, it was landing perfectly.
Danzō, on the other hand, looked like his face had been dragged across the bottom of a pot, while the two advisors and ANBU Commander Midori wore identical looks of speechless dismay.
"Enough. You don't need to flatter him—or butter him up," Koharu Utatane cut in.
"Just tell us what you really did in Amegakure. The village is in full lockdown—we need more information."
She dragged the conversation right back to the issue at hand. Kazuyama smacked his lips and silently cursed, "Old fox."
The room was quiet. Everyone's eyes were on him—even Hiruzen had stopped smiling, his expression now completely serious.
Knowing he couldn't dodge it anymore, Kazuyama launched into his tale.
"Alright, alright, since you're all dying to know, I'll keep it short."
"First, I used the harassment tactic. Slipped in using Transparent Escape, then hit Hanzō's castle with a wave of writhing snakes."
"You know how my Summoning Technique works—it's all snakes. Gave his castle a full-scale pressure wash, so to speak."
"And that's not even the best part. I rigged the snakes with trap seals and explosive tags. Tsk, tsk."
If they wanted details, he'd give them something to make their scalps tingle.
Sure enough, as soon as Kazuyama described the snake swarm, every face in the room shifted—Hiruzen included.
Their looks ranged from blank and helpless to genuinely stunned.
Even without reading minds, Kazuyama could guess what they were all thinking: this kid really doesn't think like a normal human being.
But he wasn't done.
"That was just round one. I took a few days to rest—summoning that many snakes isn't exactly easy."
"And of course, Hanzō and his crew had to deal with the snake corpses."
"A few days later, I came knocking again. This time, no snakes. Instead—heheh..."
Mid-sentence, Kazuyama pulled an empty vial from his robes and set it on the table.
"This stuff's from Orochimaru. It attracts insects—massively effective and covers a wide range."
"I dumped it all over Hanzō's castle."
"Then I waited until the bugs swarmed the place. Once it was crawling, I used Crystal Release to… give the castle a little makeover."
As he spoke, Kazuyama pressed his right hand to Hiruzen's desk. A moment later, a dazzling crystal unicorn rose from the surface—transparent and sparkling in the light.
Stunningly ornate.
And utterly absurd.
The expressions in the room hit new levels of disbelief. Even Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane's mouths began to twitch uncontrollably.
They were seriously tempted to crack open Kazuyama's skull to see what was going on in there.
Who even thought of something like this? Flood a guy's castle with bugs, then redecorate it with crystal sculptures?
No wonder Hanzō lost it. Who could tolerate some punk barging into their home, unleashing snakes, dumping insect bait, and then remodeling the place like a bored interior designer?
Especially when the final product couldn't even be seen properly.
"After that mission, I figured Hanzō would be on high alert, so I laid low for a while."
"But I had time to kill, so I picked up a job off the black market."
"You all know how that went, so I'll skip the recap."
"When I went back to Amegakure, I didn't even bother hiding. Just used Transparent Escape to slip in and went straight for Hanzō's castle."
"I mean, the guy's a so-called 'Demi-God of the Ninja World'—anything less than a direct attack would've been an insult. So, yeah... we fought."
"That's it!"
Seriously, could this guy hear himself?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched. He shoved his pipe into his mouth and took a hard drag to mask his embarrassment.
But inwardly, he was beyond speechless.
This kid knew full well who Hanzō was, and still pulled off all that? If it were him in Hanzō's shoes, even he would've personally hunted down Kazuyama Gekkō.
"Ahem, ahem..."
He got so worked up, he ended up choking on the smoke. The coughing fit was enough to jolt everyone in the room back to reality.
They turned to look at Kazuyama, each wearing a look that defied description.
If they had to describe it, they'd say Kazuyama didn't seem human anymore. He really did live up to his nickname—a ghost. No... a demon.
A demon without compassion or limits.
All because Hanzō had targeted him during the war. And what did Kazuyama do?
He volunteered for the mission, and then unleashed a campaign of chaos so devastating it would probably take Hanzō years to let it go.
"Alright, Kazuyama Gekkō. You did an excellent job on this mission."
"You can rest in the village for now. The Ninja Academy also needs you back for classes."
"Sakumo's already complained to me more than once about losing one of his best teachers."
Kazuyama grinned. He knew anything that came next wasn't his concern, so he turned and left the Hokage's office.
Once he was gone, Hiruzen took another deep puff.
"You all heard it. Kazuyama Gekkō did a solid job on this mission."
"Sure, the methods were... well, let's not dwell on that. Mission accomplished—that's what matters."
Ninjas were judged by results. Whatever anyone said, Kazuyama had completed the task of disrupting Amegakure flawlessly.
...
"Hmph. Just a bunch of underhanded tricks."
"Hiruzen, this is what you call one of the village's rising stars? Looks more like a thug to me."
"I still say you should transfer Kazuyama Gekkō to my command. I'll teach him what a ninja is supposed to be."
Danzō had looked ready to explode ever since Kazuyama opened his mouth. Now he finally let it out.
But Hiruzen didn't respond with a direct rebuke.
Because truthfully, even he had to admit—Kazuyama's methods weren't exactly dignified.
Lurking outside someone's home to unleash snakes, bugs, and crystals... What kind of person even thought of that?
Still, Kazuyama was on his side. He had to defend his people.
If needed, he'd just have Midori whip him into shape.
"Danzō, just drop it. Kazuyama Gekkō is ANBU—any discipline should come from ANBU."
"You focus on training your Root Division."