Chapter 107: Rebellion
Night fell, and a thick fog enveloped the Hidden Mist Village, which was as deathly silent as ever.
Swish!
Dark shadows darted through the long streets. They moved like ghosts, their feet making no sound—all were masters of the silent killing technique.
"Aaargh!"
A tragic scream suddenly pierced the night from the Mizukage Tower. That scream was the signal for the uprising. In an instant, the sounds of fighting and shouting erupted from all corners of the village.
"It's started."
This same thought flashed through the minds of countless ninja, all with their own agendas.
The civilians of the village, hearing the sounds of battle, burrowed deep under their covers, trembling. In this village, coups were commonplace; the people could only endure.
Meanwhile, in a civilian house near the Mizukage Tower.
Neji-kun gently pushed open the window.
"One, two, three... six. A total of six conflict points."
Zabuza's rebels had attacked all six points simultaneously, all located near the Mizukage Tower. Other disturbances were being caused by the Elder's faction, a diversion to tie down forces loyal to the Fourth Mizukage and prevent them from reinforcing the tower.
And, of course, some of the village's thugs were using the chaos to loot homes and shops.
"Hikari, it's our turn," Neji-kun said to the young girl beside him after assessing the situation.
To deal with Obito, Neji-kun had brought Uchiha Hikari along. Amaterasu was an instant-cast dōjutsu that had burned Obito before, and in the movie, it was shown to counter his intangibility. Tsukuyomi was a genjutsu, and while a Mangekyō offered strong resistance, Tsukuyomi's ability to control time could still be effective in stalling Obito.
It was no wonder that in the original story, Obito had never bothered to "clean out" the Akatsuki's internal spy, Itachi Uchiha. Aside from Itachi's fatal illness, the biggest reason was that Obito wasn't confident he could win.
Mizukage Tower, Basement.
Kisame Hoshigaki swung Samehada, sending a rebel flying. He then pushed open the door to the hidden vault.
Inside, three ANBU stood motionless as statues, completely ignoring the battle raging outside the tower. Kisame gave them a flat look and walked in. The three ANBU turned their gazes on him, then quickly looked away, remaining silent.
The large basement was unnaturally quiet. Kisame suddenly felt uneasy. It wasn't the sound of fighting from outside, but the three ANBU beside him. They gave him an immense sense of pressure. Very few people in the entire village could make him feel that.
Just as Kisame was trying to guess their identities, footsteps echoed from the tunnel. A short man appeared.
"Lord Mizukage." Kisame bowed respectfully.
Yagura Karatachi glanced at the four men with hollow, lifeless eyes. His gaze then sharpened on one of the ANBU. "Komaru," he said coldly, "if you don't want those eyes anymore, I don't mind digging them out myself."
The ANBU called Komaru suddenly drew the small katana from his back. "Who... are you?!"
Komaru was one of the few survivors of the Red Eye clan. His clan had been purged by Kiri's leadership for rebellion long before Obito had even controlled Yagura. Only a few survivors, like himself, remained. He hadn't defected, instead joining the ANBU under a false name, seeking revenge.
The moment he saw Yagura, he couldn't control his hatred and had activated his Red Eye. That's when he saw it—a foreign chakra infesting the Mizukage's brain. He was being controlled.
Hearing Komaru's shout, the other two ANBU tensed, though Kisame remained impassive.
"Impressive eyes."
A voice of admiration suddenly sounded from behind Yagura. A man in an orange spiral mask stepped out leisurely.
Seeing him, Komaru and the other two tensed for battle. Komaru gripped his sword, his breathing heavy. The ANBU to his left extended a sharp, pointed bone from his palm—the rare Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai. The last ANBU exuded an icy aura, and the temperature in the room plummeted.
"You're the one controlling the Fourth Mizukage with genjutsu?" Komaru asked, his voice taut.
Obito crossed his arms and chuckled. "Komaru, you were the first to notice the Mizukage was being controlled. You haven't disappointed me."
With that, Obito tossed three files onto the floor. "Komaru, did you really think you could hide in the ANBU, that you could deceive the higher-ups? If I hadn't deliberately covered your tracks, you would have been sniffed out and killed long ago."
He looked at the others. "Sora, the Kaguya clan rebelled. The Elder wanted you dead several times; I was the one who stopped him. And you, Kanryu... if I hadn't released you from prison, the grass on your grave would be several feet tall by now."
These three ANBU were all bloodline users, geniuses Obito had been observing for the past decade as he managed Kiri. He had used various means to recruit them into ANBU, watching them, waiting for the right moment to bring them to his side. Now was that moment.
The three ANBU picked up their files. As they read, their expressions under their masks turned grim. After a moment of intense internal conflict, Komaru sheathed his sword. "Tell us your objective."
Sora looked at Obito with wariness, curiosity, and a hint of anticipation.
Kanryu crossed his arms and laughed. "You used the Mizukage's name to trick us into coming here. I doubt it was just to kill us, right?"
"Of course not." Obito shook his head. "You are stray dogs who have lost your clans, pawns cast aside by the village. If your identities were exposed, you'd be crushed like insects. I can offer you a new life."
Sora was suspicious. "A new life?"
Obito smiled confidently. "Join the Akatsuki. Fight as my comrades. Together, we will create a new future!"
"Akatsuki?" Kanryu said. "Never heard of it."
Obito's face stiffened, then he said coldly, "The Akatsuki is filled with masters, no weaker than any of the great villages. We may not be famous now, but we will soon reveal our fangs."
Komaru, Sora, and Kanryu exchanged glances, then nodded firmly. Their clans had been purged by Kiri; they felt no loyalty to the village. This man could control the Mizukage himself. An organization with that kind of power was, as he said, certainly on par with the Five Great Villages. They were sick of their lives in Kiri. They accepted Obito's offer.
"A wise choice." Obito had studied their personalities and wasn't surprised.
Kisame then asked, "Sir, Zabuza has gathered a large force and is staging a coup. How do you wish to handle it?"
Obito laughed dismissively. "It's just a farce directed by a clown who overestimates himself. Let him play for a while. Then, you three can go clean up the mess."
Sora asked, "Zabuza hates Kiri for what happened. Why not recruit him into the Akatsuki?"
Obito shook his head. "Akatsuki only accepts elites, not trash. Zabuza may be a genius for a commoner, but his ambition far exceeds his strength. He is not what the organization needs."
As a wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Obito knew the importance of bloodlines. Zabuza was called a "Demon," but he had no Kekkei Genkai, no forbidden jutsu, and no mastery of any one field. He was useless to the Akatsuki.
Frankly, the only person in all of Kirigakure Obito truly valued was Kisame. Kisame had the Hoshigaki bloodline, had earned the title "Tailed Beast without a Tail," and was completely disillusioned with this false world. Obito could understand his pain and confusion. For these reasons, he trusted Kisame with great responsibility. Komaru, Sora, and Kanryu were strong, but they hadn't touched the Kage-level threshold. If Obito wasn't under so much pressure from Kumo and the Uchiha, he wouldn't have bothered recruiting them.
A short time later, Neji-kun and Hikari slipped past several skirmishes and infiltrated the Mizukage Tower.
"Who—" An ANBU guard sensed something, but before he could speak, Neji-kun's chakra blade sliced his throat.
Neji-kun flicked the blood from his blade and scanned his surroundings with the Tenseigan, frowning. The internal security was far weaker than he expected. They had only encountered two Special Jōnin on their way in. This was partly due to Zabuza's coup drawing most of the manpower, and partly because the tower's main defenses were sealing formulas and barriers.
The seals partially obstructed his Tenseigan, and he couldn't pinpoint Yagura's location.
"Neji, why is this so complicated?" Hikari tugged his sleeve, tilting her head. "I can just smash the building with my Susanoo."
"Hikari, our target is the mysterious Uchiha. If you make a scene, what if you scare him off?" Neji-kun said patiently, his mouth twitching.
Hikari nodded, not fully understanding.
"Where is the Mizukage?" Neji-kun pulled her along, continuing deeper. According to Mei's intel, there was a massive hidden vault beneath the tower. Neji-kun guessed Yagura was hiding there, but even Mei didn't know the exact entrance.
Pushing his Tenseigan to its limit, Neji-kun meticulously observed his surroundings. He finally found the entrance in a storage room.
Using a Chakra Receiver Rosary to destroy the sealed door, Neji-kun followed the densest concentration of seals. However, he didn't find the Mizukage. Instead, he found himself in the Kirigakure Archive.
"Only four guards?" Neji-kun paused at the corner, glanced in, then decided to just walk in. He'd clean out the archive first, then find Obito.
"Who are you?"
"How did you get in here?"
"Stop!"
Neji-kun and Hikari were disguised as Mist ninja, so the four guards surrounded them instead of attacking immediately. "Identify yourselves!" the captain demanded.
Neji-kun smiled slightly, patting Hikari's head. "Hikari, show me your strength."
"Okay!" Hikari giggled, and her Mangekyō Sharingan spun to life. A crimson specter erupted from her body, instantly forming into a giant. Limited by the space, it was only the upper torso of her Susanoo.
The four guards stared, dumbfounded, at the red giant that had appeared from nowhere. By the time they recovered, the Susanoo blade had swung, reducing them to a pile of meat paste.
Neji-kun looked at the paste on the floor, then at Hikari's emotionless expression, as if she'd just swatted a few flies. He pursed his lips. 'So brutal. But I like it. That commotion probably alerted Obito.'
He pushed the thought aside and gestured to the main archive door, telling Hikari to break it down.
BOOM!
The heavily sealed door shattered like paper under the Susanoo's strike.
Hikari dispelled her Susanoo and looked at Neji-kun, tilting her head. "Neji, how was I?"
He ruffled her hair. "Impressive."
The two stepped inside. Neji-kun had assumed Obito would have looted the place clean after a decade, but it was surprisingly well-stocked. The shelves were lined with scrolls, mostly rare, high-level Water Style jutsu.
Besides scrolls, the largest collection was of various swords. Neji-kun even saw several of the famous Mist blades.
Zabuza had Kubikiribōchō (The Decapitating Carving Knife).
Kurosuki Raiga had Kiba (The Thunder Swords).
Kisame had Samehada (The Great Shark Skin Sword).
But the other four—Hiramekarei (The Twinsword), Nuibari (The Longsword "Stitching Needle"), Kabutowari (The Blunt Sword "Helmet Splitter"), and Shibuki (The Blastsword "Splash")—were all sitting on the racks, without owners.
Among the Seven Swords, Samehada was the best, and Kubikiribōchō looked the coolest. The others were just a step above regular chakra blades. But... they were free. Neji-kun wasn't picky. He took out several storage scrolls and began stuffing everything inside.
In another secret room.
When Hikari used her Susanoo, Obito felt the disturbance and frowned. "Someone broke in? Zabuza is more capable than I thought."
The underground vault was heavily sealed, so the sounds of fighting from upstairs hadn't reached him. He assumed it must be Zabuza who had made it this far. 'To get past Kisame and the other three...' Obito was genuinely surprised.
After a moment's thought, space warped, and he vanished into his Kamui dimension. Yagura remained in the room, motionless as a statue.