Half a day later, Kisame returned to the village and met with the Mizukage at the secret location as agreed.
"Mizukage-sama, Suikazan Fuguki betrayed Mist and attempted to hand the Cipher Division to the Kiri rebels, but I've already eliminated them all!"
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Upon hearing Kisame's report, Yagura—who looked like a child—turned around.
"Suikazan Fuguki was a trial I left for you, and you haven't disappointed me!"
"A trial?"
Yagura smiled slightly, "A trial to uncover the truth of this world!"
Kisame frowned slightly, "Mizukage-sama, I don't understand!"
"Only after you've completed countless dirty missions for the country and village—betraying others to get the job done, your hands stained with comrades' blood—will you realize the ninja world is nothing but a lie!"
Kisame fell silent, his gaze dropping to his hands. "I understood this point the very first time I killed a comrade. As a Mist ninja, I had to kill my own fellow Mist shinobi. What was the meaning of everything I've been holding onto? What was my purpose? Where was my stance? The only thing I could truly feel was my own hypocrisy!"
"Since you've reached such realization, then welcome to become my comrade!" A man wearing a spiral mask and sporting a punk hairstyle stepped out from the darkness. "I will find a place for you in this false world!"
"Who are you?" Kisame warily placed his right hand on the hilt of Samehada behind his back.
Obito opened his eyes. "Someone like you—searching for truth within falsehood!"
After all, he needed to recruit Kisame into Akatsuki. To avoid future inconsistencies in character portrayal, he decided not to pretend to be Madara Uchiha this time.
"The Sharingan... I see. So the person I regarded as Yagura was actually you!" Kisame chuckled bitterly. "Then what was the meaning of killing my own comrades?"
Just then, as if lightning had illuminated his mind.
A sealed memory suddenly unlocked itself. Kisame murmured, "So everything in this world is false?"
Obito remained unfazed, assuming Kisame had simply been shocked by the revelation. "From now on, I'll become your comrade and create a real world for you!"
Kisame looked at him with complex eyes, then smiled. "I understand. From now on, I'll serve you!"
There's something strange about that look... Though puzzled, Obito dismissed it as lingering shock from the revelation. "Good. Next, I'll explain my Moon's Eye Plan to you..."
As Kisame left the secret location, he looked up at the hazy sky shrouded in mist. "The truth of this world... truly resembles Mist's sky—filled with endless fog!"
Within the secret location, Black Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"It seems he's the new comrade you've chosen! However, is it really okay to reveal everything—Yagura, and the Moon's Eye Plan—to such a newcomer?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Trust the ones you hire, and distrust the ones you don't!" Obito sighed with a complex tone. "This was something my senior once told me. What a pity—I'm now using these very words to destroy this false world!"
At the same time, inside an underground cavern.
"The method to contact Aizen... I remember it was..."
"No need for formalities. I'm right here!"
Upon hearing this sudden voice, Kisame's back muscles tensed for a moment before quickly relaxing.
He turned around. Standing within his field of vision was Aizen.
"It seems you've made your choice," Aizen said with a faint smile.
"I lost!" Kisame exclaimed. "You foresaw this moment three years ago and suppressed my memories back then. It must have been so I could witness this in person!"
Initially, he had indeed wondered whether this was a setup between the two, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
Both of them were much stronger than him—he wasn't valuable enough for them to stage such a performance.
Most importantly, the one manipulating the Fourth Mizukage showed no signs of deception, genuinely believing he controlled everything.
If this was indeed an act, then Kisame could only admit the other's acting was masterful.
Thinking of this, Kisame asked, "I lived in the false world woven by that Masked Man. And was that Masked Man himself living within your fabricated illusion?"
Aizen gently clapped his hands. "No wonder you're the one I favored—you've uncovered the truth so quickly!"
Kisame couldn't help but inhale sharply. That powerful Masked Man who had manipulated the Fourth Mizukage was nothing more than a pawn trapped in illusion, and worse yet, believed himself to be a god who had pierced through all falsehood!
Though he felt sorrow and amusement, what overwhelmed him the most was the sheer shock at Aizen's power and vision!
It felt just like when he was a child, looking up at the stars, awestruck by the infinite vastness of the night sky.
Kisame exhaled heavily. "If it were anyone else but you, my lord Aizen, no one else could lead me to the truth!"
However, Aizen simply shook his head slightly. "You're mistaken. The one who can truly lead you to the truth isn't me."
"What?"
"Your mission is false, this world is false, but the people who genuinely care and love you are real. They are the true proof of your existence in this world."
"Those who truly care about me..." Kisame's eyes turned distant as he recalled the image of Reina, the woman he had killed with his own hands.
She had been the only one—someone who still cared for him right until her very last moment.
And yet, he had ended up killing her for the sake of a false mission.
"After all, someone like me is doomed to live in lies forever, isn't that right?"
As he muttered softly, a third voice echoed within the cave.
"Please don't say that, Mr. Gōki. Everyone has their own value and purpose in this world!"
Upon hearing the voice, Kisame jerked around in disbelief, as if struck by lightning.
"You—you're not dead? Or rather, I personally killed you myself!"
Reina shot Aizen a grateful glance. "It was my lord Aizen who saved me and granted me a new life!"
"Oh, and by the way, I also saved the others too."
Blue smiled. "Of course. They wouldn't be as forgiving as Reina. Right now, they probably hate you!"
He knew clearly that Kisame probably wouldn't care about those people's lives, but Reina would!
If he wanted Reina to become the chain binding Kisame, first he needed to make sure she carried no sense of guilt!
Sure enough, upon hearing that her companions weren't dead, Reina visibly relaxed, then turned an "aggressive" gaze toward Kisame.
"I know, Mr. Gōki," Reina said in a gentle tone, "that you're actually a very kind person who always takes care of everyone. Back when enemies were chasing us, you got yourself injured all over just protecting us! You've never lived for yourself—you've always treated yourself like a tool. Living like that must be so tiring!"
As Reina stepped closer with that compassionate gaze, Kisame instinctively backed away. "W-wait, wait! Don't come any closer! Don't get all friendly with me!"
He could handle killing people, but dealing with emotional situations like this was just too difficult for him!
Reina blinked. "Mr. Gōki, what's wrong with you?"
Kisame helplessly looked toward Aizen for assistance.
But Aizen simply smiled. "Even ninjas should have their own lives! A ninja is a person first, and a tool second."
"But…"
"If you really need a mission, then let me, your leader, give you one!" Aizen grinned. "Try communicating with Reina using genuine human emotions!"
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