Land of Water.
Inside the Mizukage's secret chamber.
Although Yagura Karatachi had been under control all these years, he could still see and hear everything.
Watching the Kirigakure he loved be reduced to this state—
watching countless bloodline-limit clans be exterminated by his own hands—
felt like knives carving into his heart.
As Kirigakure descended further into chaos, dragging the entire Land of Water into decline with it,
Yagura's sense of guilt reached its peak.
Yet there was nothing he could do.
Under Obito's manipulation, he was completely unable to act of his own will.
He lived in deep seclusion, never appearing in public, and never coming into contact with Ao, who possessed the Byakugan.
Even if someone suspected something was wrong with Yagura, there was nothing they could do.
Because… no one could defeat Yagura.
As for how Obito managed to enslave him—
that was only possible because he had brought along the Deva Path Pain and others.
After severely injuring Yagura first, Obito was then able to control him.
The Mangekyō Sharingan's ability to control tailed beasts was beyond question.
Obito had once controlled the Nine-Tails—
controlling Yagura along with the Three-Tails was naturally no problem.
But tonight, Obito had used Izanagi.
He had, in effect, already "died" once.
As a result, his control over Yagura was interrupted.
Sensing the disappearance of that ocular power, Yagura instantly smashed open the secret chamber he had hidden himself in for years, letting out a grief-filled roar.
"Damn those Uchiha!"
The Three-Tails, Isobu, had also been controlled by the Sharingan for a long time.
Along with Yagura's furious roar,
massive amounts of tailed-beast chakra surged straight into the sky!
The entire Kirigakure could feel that terrifying pressure!
Terumī Mei and many other Mist ninja leapt toward Yagura's location to investigate.
"Did Isobu go berserk?!"
Everyone was gripped by fear.
Kirigakure had already suffered enough—
if a tailed beast rampaged inside the village, the losses would be unimaginable!
But when everyone arrived,
they saw only Yagura, his expression calm.
The tailed-beast chakra erupting from him was steadily withdrawn back into his body.
Although Yagura looked composed, his eyes were filled with emptiness and pain.
To destroy the village he loved most with his own hands—
that agony made life worse than death.
Yagura had finally appeared in public.
Terumī Mei exchanged a glance with Ao beside her.
Ao activated his single Byakugan and scanned Yagura carefully.
The result left him stunned.
He shook his head at Terumī Mei.
Terumī Mei frowned.
How was that possible?
The Fourth Mizukage should have been under control.
Seeing Terumī Mei and the others arrive,
Yagura slowly let out a breath.
"All jōnin—come to the office. I have something important to announce."
—
Hokage Building.
"What?! Itachi attacked Danzō and gouged out his eye?!"
"And he escaped unscathed from Danzō's encirclement?!"
Hearing the report from the spy embedded at Danzō's side, the Third Hokage almost dropped his pipe.
The spy replied in a low voice, "Yes. Uchiha Itachi also possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"He used the same Susanoo as Shisui, but its color was orange-red."
The Third Hokage's expression turned extremely grim.
There were several reasons he had allowed Danzō to move against the Uchiha.
One of them was that one of Shisui's eyes had gone missing.
There was a high chance it had been seized by the Uchiha clan.
The terror of Kotoamatsukami needed no explanation.
Letting Danzō handle such a matter was naturally ideal.
Another reason was that the Third Hokage believed that even if the Uchiha resisted, they could still be completely wiped out—
especially with Itachi, one of the Uchiha's strongest fighters, already defecting to Konoha.
Ninja were high-attack, low-defense.
With an insider, decapitation strikes could be carried out at any moment.
The Uchiha had no chance at all.
Dealing with arrogant, self-important Uchiha geniuses was ridiculously easy.
All it took was praising them a bit in the right situations, and they would quickly lose themselves.
For a seasoned politician like the Third Hokage, that was nothing more than moving his lips—child's play.
He then brought Itachi into ANBU, making it even easier to indoctrinate him.
Fugaku, burdened with the typical Uchiha flaw of arrogance, believed with absolute confidence that Itachi would never betray the clan.
So he sent him to infiltrate Konoha as a spy.
Fugaku's stupidity lay in this—
for two full years after Shisui's death, he barely communicated with Itachi at all.
He had no understanding of Itachi's mental state, yet arrogantly assumed that Itachi was firmly on the clan's side.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage assigned Itachi missions every day, brainwashing him relentlessly.
The other two elder advisors played the villains, applying pressure to Itachi,
while the Third Hokage played the benevolent figure, spouting lofty, righteous words.
In this way, Itachi came to trust the Third Hokage without reservation—
even though the Hokage only ever made empty promises.
When Itachi reported which members of the police force were more radical,
the Third Hokage found excuses to dismiss them.
When Itachi reported that the police force gathering together made a coup likely,
the Third Hokage found reasons to divide them.
From start to finish, Itachi was completely played in the palm of the Third Hokage's hand.
And with nothing more than words, the Third Hokage could wipe out an entire clan.
That was the terror of politics.
Moreover, Itachi lived inside an information cocoon the entire time,
unable to clearly perceive what was really happening.
Only years after defecting—once his horizons broadened—did he finally realize how foolish he had been.
But by then, the deed was done.
Crushed under immense psychological pressure,
and with the Mangekyō Sharingan being something that heavily drained the body,
Itachi died young.
Under normal circumstances, at this point in time, Itachi would never have awakened.
But the Third Hokage never imagined that the Uchiha possessed something like Izanami—
a forced mental reprogramming technique.
If your mind wasn't clear, you'd be trapped in the loop forever.
All the Third Hokage knew now was this—
Itachi had switched sides at the critical moment.
And Itachi was a Mangekyō Sharingan user.
The Third Hokage was now truly stuck.
He had some understanding of how terrifying the Mangekyō Sharingan was.
Unless he had combat power of an equal level, the only option was to pile up corpses.
The Uchiha clan was now undoubtedly prepared to fight to the death.
If Konoha moved now, the losses would be enormous.
The Third Hokage took an irritated puff from his pipe.
"How is Danzō now?"
The Root-clad spy replied:
"When I left, preliminary examinations showed that Lord Danzō had suffered severe mental trauma, and his body was also exhibiting other issues."
Even Kakashi—at the peak of his physical condition—had been bedridden for a week after a single Tsukuyomi.
Danzō was already over sixty.
Both his physical and mental states were obvious weaknesses.
On top of that, the modifications to his Wood Release arm were unstable.
It was still unknown how long it would take for him to regain consciousness.
Although the Third Hokage didn't know the specifics of Tsukuyomi, he understood one thing—
Danzō wouldn't be of any use for the time being.
"Immediately summon Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura!"
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