_________ POV Narration_________

The Mizukage rolled to break the momentum as he passed through a few trees.

He felt pain, but his mind was not fixated on it. Instead, his eyes were wide open looking at the direction he came from.

'Shit! I could barely react to him... And he's much stronger than me, I can't possibly block his blade...'

"Just so you know, attacking me means you aren't getting your swords back..." The Mizukage's blood turned cold, his eyes widening as he heard a voice from above him.

He immediately rolled to the side and looked up.

The Masked Assassin was just sitting down on a sturdy tree branch, legs crossed and head tilted to the side.

"Running away isn't something a Kage ought to do..." The Mizukage grunted as his hands turned into a blur.

"Soot Release: Black Cloud of Death!"

The Mizukage turned his head to the ground and spat out a thick cloud of smoke.

In an instant, his surroundings, as well as a huge part of the forest, turned completely black.

'If he's faster and stronger than me, then I'll take away his vision!

His breathing will also be affected by the soot, and it's only a matter of time before he chokes out because of the increased carbon in the air...'

The Mizukage smiled a bit as he strategized a way to deal with the assassin.

"This is a rather nifty skill... But it won't do you much..." The Mizukage heard a voice from behind him and immediately rolled to the side.

He felt the earth tremble where he had stood before, his sensor skills told him that he had just dodged an axe kick in the nick of time.

"I guess you weren't all that attentive to rumours about me... But I am a pretty good sensor..." Ken slowly got up, dragging his leg on the ground as he stepped forward.

"Tsk!" The Mizukage his hands moved once more, this time he decided on a more damaging approach.

"Lava Release Chakra Mode!" The Mizukage gritted his teeth as he used one of his trump cards instantly.

Ken tilted his head as he felt the temperature in the forest rise up. He smiled a bit as he realized what exactly he was feeling.

'A technique similar to that of the Raikage... Interesting...'

The Mizukage's entire body was now constantly exuding lava and was covered in a layer of lava and red chakra.

The ground at his feet bubbled madly as it seemed to turn into magma just from coming in contact with his feet.

The Mist Kage could only grit his teeth as he felt his skin heating up. The technique was a very dangerous one, if used for too long it would burn someone's insides.

It didn't increase speed, but it provided the Mizukage with a layer of defence that harmed his opponents, as well as a large boost in attack power.

Unfortunately, the form was not sustainable, and Ken could feel it. He could feel how uncomfortable the Mizukage was.

'Shit... This was supposed to be a last resort. But what else am I supposed to do?! One good hit from him and I'm done for... But I only have a few minutes in this form...

The only person in the world that could use this form risk-free was the Jinchuriki of the 4-tails. And that's purely because of the Tailed Beast's chakra alignment...'

Ken immediately tested the waters, throwing a kunai that he spawned in his hand with a flick of the wrist.

The Kunai melted before it even reached the Mizukage, who just scoffed at the attempt.

"Don't even think about it... Lava Release: Blast Breath!"

The Mizukage brought his hands together once more and spat out a large stream of Magma towards the Assassin.

The Mizukage then punched forwards. And Ken immediately jumped to the side, looking back, he could see a large ball of magma swallowing his previous position.

'I don't know if I can easily heal after getting hit by that... Burns are always annoying to deal with, some also leave scars.

I can't attack him physically either... Well, I can try flying slashes, but he can likely block most of what I can do unless I go all out.'

Needless to say, Ken was quite impressed. The last thing he had expected was for the Mizukage to actually put up a praise-worthy struggle...

'So much for just playing around a bit, I guess... I was going to spare him as well...

He basically has nothing to do with this whole feud, and I didn't think he'd be much of a threat...'

Ken sent a flying slash, clashing with the magma blast and sending it flying everywhere.

He didn't even flinch when a few droplets of magma fell on his skin, burning it slightly as he jumped backwards.

'Till now, the Raikage and the Tsuchikage were the only ones I thought would be able to give me trouble.

The Hokage is also pretty strange. I thought he didn't feel that special in person, but he's supposedly the strongest Kage currently...'

The Blind Swordsman rolled to the side once more, dodging blast after blast of Magma, the forest and ground around him had long since started melting.

The rock boiled over into scalding magma, the trees turning into charcoal. The field was now unrecognizable, and the heat created fires that were spreading throughout the forest.

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Ken sent another flying slash, this time, the Mizukage tapped his hands on the ground, raising a wall of molten lava right in front of him.

Ken scowled as he saw his flying slash bend into the magma, which seemed to turn elastic as it bent around his slash and blocked it with efficacy.

More and more droplets fell on his body, blocked by his armour which was already heating up and distorting.

Ken just scowled and ripped it off his torso, throwing it forward to block a smaller magma bullet while he jumped to the side once more.

He wanted to conserve as much energy as possible in case he needed to deal with the Tsuchikage, so he didn't want to go all out either.

The Blind Swordsman jumped, as the magma wall turned into a wave that swallowed a good part of the forest below him.

The Mizukage seemed to notice that, with a smile, he made a few more hand signs.

"Lava Release: Molten Bullets!"

He immediately spat out dozens of small magma balls towards the assassin that was currently free-falling.

They bent around in mid-air, attacking him from different angles and trying to follow his trajectory.

'As if I'd get hit by that...'

Ken immediately found his footing in mid-air and vanished right before the molten bullets hit him.

The bullets hit each other and caused a bright explosion. The Mizukage panted as he felt his skin burning.

'I'm wasting too much chakra... Shit, what can I even do if he's able to dodge in mid-air?'

He had already tried his best to ruin any footing that the assassin might've had. Ken was constantly burning his legs when stepping on the ground.

But that didn't seem to do anything, much to the disappointment of the struggling Mizukage.

The Mist Leader looked up, to see Ken flickering around in mid-air. He was becoming faster and faster as he gained momentum, to the point where he became impossible to track.

'Shit, what's his next move?!'

The Molten Kage prepared to raise a dome around him, to try and block any attack that the Assassin had in stock.

And just as he raised that dome, a large flying slash, much bigger and more imposing than the ones sent before, was flying towards him.

Despite the raised dome, the Mizukage still rolled to the side, listening to the instincts that screamed at him to dodge regardless of said dome.

The defence he had built only served to slow down the flying slash, as it hit the ground with a thunderous screech. Creating a large and deep scar in the burnt-down field.

The Mizukage didn't even have enough time to exhale properly as he felt someone else appear further off to the side.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" The Mist leader only had enough time to turn his head and see a gigantic wave heading his way.

'Shit!'

Was all that he had the time to think before the wave collided with him. Steam rose as the Mizukage's temperature cooled down forcefully.

Almost as if on cue, the lava covering the Mist Leader cooled down into the stone, trapping him as the water crushed him and pushed him away further into the forest.

Ken landed on the now-wet ground without any issues. A clone landed near him as well, he had made it in preparation for something similar to what Tosho had pulled off.

But he didn't get to use it, unfortunately.

"There was no need for that, Tosho..." The Blind Assassin spoke to the figure that walked out of the still-burning forest.

"I know you would've won Lord Ken, but I remember you saying that you didn't wish to exert yourself too much before the outcome of the fight is decided."

A masked figure walked out of the forest, dressed in clothes similar to those of Ken, the only difference being the fact that he wore light armour more akin to that of Anbu underneath his coat.

His mask had one red line in the centre, and on his back was a large blade covered in bandages.

"How are things looking on that front?" Ken didn't push the issue further, knowing that Tosho wasn't trying to ruin his fun on purpose. He just dispelled the clone and felt his chakra returning to him.

"The big fights are still very much the same as when you left... Currently an ongoing stalemate.

B seems to be slowly gaining the upper hand against the Waterfall Kage, but he seems to be avoiding large-scale attacks because of the presence of allies on the battlefield..."

Tosho gave his leader a quick situation report. But there wasn't much to give in the first place. Ken had only been missing for around 4-5 minutes.

"Predictable, but it can't be helped... The Raikage was adamant about bringing more men along just in case. Seems to have backfired..."

Ken shook his head, while his First Blade just shrugged.

"It's also possible that B doesn't think his opponent would get injured enough to warrant the drain on his chakra... Impossible to read his thoughts."

The Blind Assassin considered Tosho's words for a few seconds, before nodding and slowly turning around.

"Anyway, I'm sure he'll pull through. He's pretty strong. Can you go and deal with the fodder so the Cloud troops can take a step back? Just as a precaution."

Tosho nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke. Ken sighed as he was now alone in the burnt-down aftermath of his 'entertainment' session with the Mizukage.

The outcome didn't really matter to him in regard to the Hokage's request. There was already no salvaging the alliance even if they all stopped fighting now.

But Ken still wanted the Cloud to win.

Bloodthirsty Warmonger or not, the Raikage was still someone Ken could have some use for in the future.

He was both already invested in building a friendly relationship with Ken, and already considered Ken an ally.

'I should check on the Mizukage... He seems to still be moving...'

-------------

The Mizukage's bones trembled, he couldn't even count how many bones in his body were crushed as the cooled-down magma that covered his body cracked and pushed into his body.

The pressure of the large wave was too much for the human body to bear. A regular person would have died 100 times over.

Thankfully, the Mizukage was still alive.

'But for how long...?'

He could only move his limbs slightly, most of his injuries didn't even give him the liberty to use Ninjutsu.

'Technically, I could still survive...'

The Mizukage's shallow hopes were dashed against the rocks as he felt a figure walk over to him... He half opened his eye to look at the figure of a tall man.

The same man that put him in his current position. One wearing a white mask with a large red dot in the center.

He didn't look completely untouched, granted, he was now covered by a slightly burnt coat, wearing only a pair of pants and burnt sandals underneath it.

He had on his hip a long blade that dragged on the ground as he walked forward, unperturbed by his appearance.

So his clothes had taken damage, the problem was that he wasn't injured in any way...

'If he lets me live...'

"Well, this was a rather anti-climactic ending... You were so focused on attacks coming from the sky that you didn't even bother to look to the side..." Ken shook his head as he crouched down near the Mizukage's head.

The Mizukage let off a pained chuckle.

"Indeed... I have much to learn... Too bad I don't have any time left..."

The Mist Leader did think of begging to be spared for a second. But he still had his pride.

Ken wasn't known for his mercy, and if he was going to die anyway, he was going to die with dignity.

"... You know, you can still leave. I'll just tell the Raikage you escaped. He won't question me regardless."

The Mizukage's eyes shot open, the man that had already resigned himself to his fate was now seeing a bit of hope.

In the first place, he had no business butting in the feud between the Cloud and the other two villages. He had tried to take down Ken only for his transgression against the Mist...

As the Mizukage, the village was his number one priority. So he couldn't let its reputation fall off lest its investors gave them fewer missions.

But the Mist was going to be left in a really bad spot if he just died there.

"I am willing to vow to not go after you or the Dark Brotherhood anymore... I also understand that the blades won't be returned, and am ok with it as long as you spare me.

I can assure you that no one will seek them out while the mist is under my rule."

Ken rubbed his chin for a second. The Third Mizukage spoke with honesty, but he couldn't speak for future generations, which was understandable.

'Hmmm, fair enough. I had plans to deal with the Mist regardless, but if they're offering to not get involved with us, then I am happy enough.

Even if he's lying, in the future I'll kill him before he even thinks of activating that annoying mode of his...'

He wasn't concerned about the future. By the time the future generations of the Mist sought out the blades, his Brotherhood was not going to be troubled by a mere Hidden Mist Village.

At least not if everything went as planned.

"Ok then. I will remember your words, Lord Mizukage." Ken slowly stood up, much to the relief of the Mizukage, who could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Ken didn't stick around to see how the Mizukage was feeling. He merely threw him a few pills to assist his healing and left towards the battlefield.

'Let's 'see' how the others are faring...'