500 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

That night, Kiyosuke didn't stay with the Terumi clan. He stayed in the inn Konoha had rented—after all, he was still the supervising teacher for this group of kids.

The next morning, just as they were eating, Shinichi burst in.

"Someone in Kirigakure defected!"

Kiyosuke spat out his miso soup.

"What the hell? A defection? Who? Someone actually dared to defect from Kirigakure?"Right now, Terumi Mei was personally overseeing the village—someone actually dared to rebel openly?

"It's some guy named Hoshigaki Shizuma. He took Kagura with him, and last night he stole the other five swords from Kirigakure's sword vault." Shinichi explained.

Hoshigaki Shizuma was an impulsive, hot-blooded type. Together with a few companions, he had a bit of fame in Kirigakure—some even called them the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Of course, Hoshigaki Kisame and Momochi Zabuza hadn't retired yet, and the Hiramekarei had been sealed away after Chōjūrō became Mizukage. But last night, Hoshigaki Shizuma's group stole five swords—everything except the Executioner's Blade and Samehada—trying to spark a coup and drag Kirigakure back into the Bloody Mist days.

"Hahahahaha! Them? Bring back the Bloody Mist? Hahahaha!"

Kiyosuke couldn't help laughing. That blood-soaked era took several Mizukage—from the Second all the way to the Fourth—to build. And these small-time wannabes thought they could restore it?

What a joke.

Seriously, why was Kirigakure's security as fragile as the Land of Light's?

How could five swords be stolen so easily?

If he'd known earlier, he never would've returned the swords. Might as well have let Konoha raise its own sword-wielding prodigies.

He shook his head.

"And what does that have to do with you? This is Kirigakure's business. Konoha can't interfere."

In the end, it was their internal matter. Konoha just had to watch—nothing more. Kirigakure should settle its own problems.

"But Kagura is involved too." Shinichi said.

"Kagura? That grandson of the Fourth Mizukage?"

Karatachi Kagura looked just like his grandfather. Yagura's genes were ridiculously strong—even the baby-face carried over to the third generation.

Kiyosuke picked at his ear.

"What about that kid?"

"He joined Hoshigaki Shizuma's rebel group." Shinichi said. "Kagura must have some reason he can't talk about. I think—"

"No thinking!"

Kiyosuke cut him off.

"You're a Konoha shinobi! You absolutely cannot meddle in Kirigakure's affairs. Never, ever interfere. Not even if Naruto shows up!"

This was a hard line. Kirigakure's problem had to be solved by Kirigakure. They didn't need to go looking for trouble.

"Dad… I…"

Shinichi opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

"I'll go ask Mom."

He lowered his head and left. From outside came Boruto and the others' voices.

"How is it?"

Kiyosuke sighed. Looked like he'd need to keep an eye on things tonight, or this was going to get messy.

That group of brats would definitely stir up trouble. That was what problem students did.

After breakfast, he went to find Terumi Mei. They were supposed to be on a vacation, but of course something had to happen. Terumi Mei was just as speechless.

"Hoshigaki Kisame and Momochi Zabuza are both out on missions, not in the village. Ao and Chōjūrō are handling it. I'll be acting tonight too."

"Unbelievable. We come here for a break and run into this. Did Shinichi come to you?"

"He did." Mei rubbed her forehead. "Why can't that kid get it? This isn't something small. They're treating it like some childish prank. Sigh… Kids raised in peaceful times always think too simply."

"Keep an eye on Shinichi and Boruto tonight. Those two are the worst." Kiyosuke said helplessly.

He knew exactly what his son was like—trouble magnet. And Boruto was even worse than Naruto when it came to sticking his nose into things. This wasn't something you could casually meddle in.

"Should we go take care of those rebels now?" he asked.

"Let Ao keep tracking them. You watch the kids tonight."

"Alright."

The couple made their plans and split up.

The field trip continued. After dinner, everyone was gathered in the inn.

Kiyosuke stood before them.

"Alright, tonight I'm going to teach you about the 'Bloody Mist.' Listen carefully—this isn't in your textbooks, understood?"

He looked at Boruto, Shinichi, and the others.

These brats were almost guaranteed not to behave.

So—

He flicked his finger. His own son burst into smoke.

"A shadow clone?"

These little punks actually tried to fool him with clones?

Boruto's clone paled.

"Sorry, Kiyosuke-sama…"

Pop!

He vanished too. And not just him—Mitsuki as well.

Kiyosuke's expression darkened. The air in the room grew heavy. Many students didn't even dare breathe.

Shino said, "This is my mistake. I'll go find them."

"You stay and teach! I'll find them! Those little brats!"

Kiyosuke opened the window. He looked back at the students.

"If anyone else runs, don't bother coming back to the Academy. Konoha has no place for shinobi who can't follow orders."

With that, he vanished. Everyone exhaled in relief.

"So scary… Kiyosuke-sama is furious."

"Yeah, yeah. Boruto and the others are in danger."

"No way, right? Shinichi is his son."

Shino added, "No. Precisely because Shinichi is his son, Kiyosuke-sensei will be even stricter. Shinichi isn't only his son—he's also the Fifth Mizukage's son. In matters like this, he must be even more cautious. You must never interfere in another village's affairs unless they formally hire us. And never do anything outside the mission. That is your duty."

"Yes!" everyone answered together.

Those close to Boruto and Shinichi silently prayed, hoping things wouldn't get too out of hand.

Shino sighed. These students always caused trouble.

What would've been a tiny issue in Kiyosuke's eyes—Kirigakure finds the rebels, deals with them, done—now risked becoming an incident between two villages because the kids got involved. No wonder Kiyosuke was angry.

"Alright, let's continue class. You need to understand how villages interact with each other, so you don't cause problems in the future."

Shino pulled out the lesson plan and prepared to teach.