Gengetsu flew into a towering rage.
He had considered the possibility that Kiritori might pull something even more outrageous.
For example, he might return to the village only to prove incapable of organizing any effective manpower, leaving everything in complete chaos...
There might even be internal conflict or something along those lines.
In Gengetsu's eyes, Kiritori was an amateur when it came to warfare. But as a man who bore the title of "Kage," there were certain basic things he had to do.
He might do them badly, but he still had to do them...
"Hey, hey, Senju Tobirama, are you hearing this?!"
"Hey—!"
Gengetsu channeled his chakra and furiously hammered at the White Zetsu communication module attached to his body.
"Me, the Second Mizukage—I'm going to kill the Third Mizukage!"
"You win! Kirigakure and I were wrong! We'll find some way to compensate Konoha, all right?!"
As for Madara's order that he put pressure on Hiruzen...
At this point, Gengetsu could only see it as one enormous joke.
Put pressure on him?
On who, Kirigakure or Hiruzen?
After the Third Mizukage fled back to Kirigakure, he discovered that only a small number of die-hard loyalists still obeyed him. The vast majority of Kiri shinobi, meanwhile, were consumed by an indescribable fury.
The entire village was like a pressure cooker on the verge of exploding...
Because the entire rationale underpinning the Third Mizukage's credibility had collapsed.
The oppressive brutality of the Bloody Mist could only keep the Kiri shinobi clinging to hope because they believed that perhaps such an environment of constant infighting really could temper them into better shinobi...
But after Sarutobi Hiruzen crushed them, even that last excuse the Kiri shinobi had used to convince themselves fell apart!
From the Third Mizukage's perspective, even Nakamaro, the man most loyal to him, had begun questioning him...
'Didn't you say the Bloody Mist would make Kirigakure better?'
Those words were hardly severe, yet they left the Third Mizukage with no possible defense.
Under the crushing pressure of condemnation from all sides, his morals and convictions slipped even further...
And so, the Third Mizukage brazenly looted most of Kirigakure's secret techniques and archives, then used his powerful Water Release to destroy the village!
Those traitors simply didn't understand how much he had done for Kirigakure!
Even if the Bloody Mist had failed, hadn't his intentions been good?
Why couldn't they understand him?!
In the grip of extreme emotion, the Third Mizukage cast aside the dignity of a "Kage" and invented a justification for himself: he had been betrayed, so his descent into darkness was only natural.
Taking Genji, Suikazan Fuguki, and a small number of Kiri shinobi with him, he began pillaging his way across the Land of Water, degenerating into the leader of a roaming band of marauders.
If the Land of Water's Daimyō Residence hadn't still had some shinobi guards, and if the Third Mizukage hadn't feared getting bogged down fighting them and potentially running into the advancing Hiruzen...
He would have simply killed the Daimyō outright!
That way, the Land of Water could descend into complete chaos and become a buffer zone in the most literal, physical sense.
In truth, however, there was no need to kill the Daimyō. The situation had already completely collapsed after the Third Mizukage destroyed the village.
All the emotions the Kiri shinobi had kept bottled up under relentless pressure finally erupted. With no one left to lead them, the village splintered into group after group, rampaging throughout the Land of Water. Kirigakure, once one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, fractured into one wandering shinobi organization after another...
"Hello..."
"Gengetsu-san, this is Hi-kun..."
"Tobirama-sama is busy right now. He'll get back to you later. For now, just proceed according to the original plan..."
After Gengetsu called several times, Hi-kun finally took over the communication network and answered him.
In truth, Madara was busy enjoying a highlight reel of Hiruzen wearing his armor and reminiscing about his youth, so he had no time to bother with Gengetsu.
"What exactly am I supposed to do according to the original plan? Attack Sarutobi Hiruzen?"
Gengetsu was about to lose it.
"Aren't you his sensei? Tobirama-sama, I'm begging you! Stop screwing with me and Kirigakure! Starting this war was all Kiritori's fault. I'll go kill him right now!"
"See, there you go again, always talking about killing people..."
Hi-kun breezily brushed the matter aside.
"Tobirama-sama has other things to deal with. If you don't have any plans for the moment, then rest where you are and wait for further instructions..."
"No..."
"I'm an Impure World Reincarnation with a puppet body!"
Gengetsu erupted into curses. "What the hell do I need to rest for?!"
But the communication network had already disconnected. No one was paying him any attention anymore...
"What the hell does Senju Tobirama mean by this?"
Gengetsu clutched his forehead and turned to Mū beside him.
"I don't get it. Kirigakure is already this much of a disaster. Why doesn't Konoha just send troops over and take control by force? What possible benefit is there in having me ambush Sarutobi Hiruzen now?"
Mū fell deep into thought, his gaze flickering.
He felt as though he had vaguely grasped something, but he wasn't certain...
"So even you go quiet when someone asks you a question you can't answer, huh?"
Gengetsu desperately wanted to find Hiruzen right now and lay everything on the table.
But his body was under someone else's control. As long as he didn't act against Madara's wishes, he could still move freely. The moment he entertained any contrary intentions, however, his body would immediately shut down.
"I'll give you this—that whole moral decline thing you were talking about really was right!"
"Kiritori has already turned into a complete pile of mud..."
Gengetsu grabbed Mū by the shoulders with such force that he nearly tore the seams of his bandages apart.
"Say something! You know so damn much, so give me an idea already!"
Mū stared at him speechlessly.
Have you forgotten that the two of us are mortal enemies?
I'm a Tsuchikage, and you want me to come up with ideas to help Kirigakure?
"That's right! You bastard, you're the one who egged me on into letting Kiritori escape back then... If you hadn't put up that massive Earth-Style Wall, how could Sarutobi Hiruzen have failed to kill him?!"
Gengetsu glared at Mū and roared, "I'll kill you!"
"Do you need me to repeat what you yourself just said?"
Mū rolled his eyes. "You and I are both Impure World Reincarnations with puppet bodies. If you think you can do it, then go ahead..."
Gengetsu took a deep breath. He felt as though he were turning into his own Steaming Danger Tyranny...
He was about to explode!
That deadpan look of Mū's made him practically a miniature Tobirama. He was infuriating beyond belief...
"Just you wait!"
"You think Senju Tobirama is going to spare Iwagakure? If you won't help me, then when the time comes, I'll make sure your village has a damn good time!" Gengetsu said through gritted teeth, his expression vicious.
"You dare?"
"Why wouldn't I? Take it up with Senju Tobirama!"
The two pressed their foreheads against each other, spittle flying everywhere.
Only after a long while did they each let out a cold snort and pull apart.
"Kiritori's plan is to turn all of Kirigakure—and even the entire Land of Water—into a quagmire worse than anything from the Warring States Period, reducing the whole country to scorched earth until it loses all strategic value."
"Konoha is at war with the other three Great Shinobi Villages, so the pressure on its fronts is bound to be immense. Faced with that tradeoff, Sarutobi Hiruzen will have no choice but to withdraw and shore up his defenses..."
"That, in turn, gives Kiritori a chance to survive. With his Water Release, if he goes into hiding, it'll be extremely difficult to find him without an organized force. Even Sarutobi Hiruzen would have trouble doing it..."
Mū had no other choice, so he began analyzing the situation for Gengetsu.
This lunatic meant what he said. Back then, when he'd said he would blow himself up along with Mū, he'd actually done it.
If Tobirama set his sights on Iwagakure, Mū was certain of one thing.
Gengetsu would absolutely be the first to raise his hand and charge forward, unleashing Steaming Danger Tyranny over and over into Iwagakure's battle formations...
He had precedent for that sort of thing.
But in Mū's eyes, Gengetsu was at least a man who wouldn't go back on his word.
If Mū helped him analyze things now, then if Tobirama really did send him against Iwa shinobi in the future, perhaps he would go a little easier on them...
"So there's no point in killing Kiritori now. The Hokage won't want a ruined land like this. Governing it would be far too difficult."
"Just like how you and I used to seize ready-made spoils from the other hidden villages, there's an enormous gulf between taking territory and actually occupying and annexing it. The manpower cost is extremely high."
Mū's gaze grew deep.
"Kiritori may have gone mad, but he's ruthless enough. He hasn't just driven civilians from their homes. He's also killed plenty of officials and nobles along the way, throwing every region into chaos..."
"Konoha is fighting on all sides, and the relationship between shinobi and nobles has always been ambiguous. There's no way they'll be able to spare the manpower to patiently govern the shattered Land of Water..."
Gengetsu's heart ached as he listened.
"So you're saying Kirigakure... no, the entire Land of Water is going to regress into the chaos of the Warring States Period? And that bastard Kiritori gets to become a rat hiding in the gutter, with no one able to do anything about him?"
"I'm afraid so..." Mū nodded gravely.
Even though he was an enemy of Kirigakure and Gengetsu, seeing the country descend into such chaos still left Mū deeply uncomfortable.
Part of it came from what little humanitarian concern he had, while another part came from the certainty that Iwagakure was also among Tobirama's targets.
Such ruthless methods sent a chill down Mū's spine...
With only a slight push, he had reduced Kirigakure to scorched earth in a state even worse than during the Warring States Period. And Konoha hadn't even taken on any bad reputation for it. To anyone looking in from the outside, it was simply the Third Mizukage who had gone insane...
So this was the First Darkness of the Shinobi!
Gengetsu's face darkened, his mood unbearably heavy.
"I have to do whatever I can for Kirigakure and the Land of Water!"
"Forget it. If your identity gets exposed, you don't want to see what else Senju Tobirama might do, do you? Don't assume things have already hit rock bottom. He's got plenty of methods and energy left..."
Mū sighed.
Gengetsu seemed to lose all strength, his eyes dimming. "Kirigakure... How did it end up like this?!"
But more than ten days later...
Gengetsu and Mū, who were still lingering around Kirigakure, were stunned to discover that Hiruzen hadn't withdrawn his forces at all!
Not only that, he had even brought in large numbers of nobles and huge quantities of food!
After encountering civilians who had been coerced by Kiritori, Hiruzen realized that this was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years: the Mizukage had voluntarily abandoned his own legitimacy...
Power never leaves a vacuum. It is simply replaced.
This was his best opportunity to step in.
Even though governing the half-scorched Land of Water would be relatively difficult, by the standards of the shinobi world, it wasn't that serious a problem.
Infrastructure could be rebuilt extremely quickly in the shinobi world. As long as order and production could be restored rapidly, it wouldn't take long before Kirigakure and the Land of Water were thriving with life once again...
Moreover, the Land of Water had another special characteristic: it had remained almost completely isolated from the outside world for many years. Once it opened up and began interacting with the outside world, creating a cycle of commerce and trade, raising living standards would be quite easy.
There would be no need for massive amounts of material aid. They only had to get through the initial difficulties. After that, the Land of Water would provide Hiruzen with large quantities of resources scarce in the Land of Fire and Konoha.
It was worth his attention.
...
A certain town in the Land of Water.
The Ancor Vantian was slowly descending from the sky.
Over the past few days, the Ancor Vantian and the aerial squads had made so many trips back and forth between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire that no one could even keep count anymore.
However, with the Zero-Tails serving as the power source, at least until the energy stored within the Box of Ultimate Bliss and the Zero-Tails itself was exhausted, there was still no need for Konoha shinobi to expend their own chakra.
This time, the passengers being transported over were bureaucrats from the Land of Fire who normally had little to do.
Most of them were second sons or sons of concubines from the various great noble families.
Under the system designed by Hiruzen and the Land of Fire's Daimyō, the performance records of Land of Fire bureaucrats were strictly tied to their access to Sage Region Pills and Konoha's advanced medical care, as well as their quotas for "Sage Region cosmetics."
With enormous profits and their health at stake, coupled with their tremendous confidence in and consensus regarding Konoha's technology, the Land of Fire's bureaucrats worked themselves to the bone, unwilling to lose the quotas they already had.
As a result, the nobles and their legitimate heirs generally threw themselves into their work with tremendous enthusiasm, because anyone who lacked ability would immediately be kicked aside.
Even lower-level bureaucrats worked extremely hard thanks to the specially designed channels for advancement.
Consequently, many ambitious and capable nobles found themselves with nowhere to put their talents to use...
After Hiruzen communicated with the Daimyō, his worthy sworn brother immediately declared that he would fully support his elder brother's work.
He even showered Sarutobi Hiruzen's military might with an astonishing variety of awestruck praise...
Kujō Gen—the Land of Fire's Daimyō—was entirely sincere about it.
After spending so much time working with Hiruzen, he could tell at a glance that his elder brother intended to take the Land of Water!
This was a massive undertaking meant to turn the Land of Water into part of the Land of Fire from the very foundations, solving the problem at its roots...
Kujō Gen himself had never imagined that merely cooperating with Hiruzen would put him on the path to becoming a Daimyō recorded in the history books, renowned for expanding his country's territory!
Hiruzen smiled as he watched the Land of Fire's young officials emerge from the Ancor Vantian.
At a glance, these young men were clearly ambitious and full of drive. They wanted to build careers of their own in the Land of Water, which was precisely why they had sought out a different path and a new arena in which to compete...
The young officials formed a line. Led by a high-ranking noble, they seemed to have rehearsed beforehand. They were surprisingly organized, almost like shinobi, and quickly arranged themselves into neat ranks.
The man at their head strode forward.
"Reporting to the Shōgun! The Land of Fire Kirigakure Governance Task Force is fully assembled! Please give us your orders!"
In the Land of Fire, the nobles had now grown more accustomed to addressing Sarutobi Hiruzen as "Shōgun" rather than Hokage.
It made them feel closer to him.
"Very good!"
Hiruzen nodded. "You'll receive the detailed guidelines shortly..."
"I'll emphasize only two things. You must quickly organize the Land of Water's civilian resources and manpower, restore basic order as soon as possible, and maintain a friendly attitude toward the civilians who cooperate with us."
"Young men, I can see the ambition in your eyes. I like it."
"The Land of Water will be an entirely new platform. Here, you'll have every opportunity to put your talents and abilities to use. I will regard your accomplishments here as extremely important achievements."
Hiruzen's words left the young officials' faces slightly flushed with excitement.
This was exactly what they wanted!
In the Land of Fire, no matter how capable they were, there simply weren't enough opportunities for them to fully display their abilities.
At that moment...
Tenzō arrived with a large group of people in tow.
They were officials from the Land of Water and the Daimyō Residence.
Over this period, after Tenzō and Hizashi had gained a basic understanding of public sentiment in the Land of Water, they had secretly taken the initiative to contact the Land of Water's Daimyō.
Every sign indicated that during the Bloody Mist era, the Land of Water's Daimyō and nobles had likewise lived in a state of extreme fear, terrified of and deeply dissatisfied with the Third Mizukage.
Fear that shinobi violence might become uncontrolled had always been the central problem underlying the distorted relationship between the hidden villages and their countries.
Once the Third Mizukage became a marauder who burned, killed, and looted wherever he went, those fears were magnified to their absolute limit.
So much so that when the Land of Water's Daimyō learned that Hiruzen had landed in the country, he had already resigned himself to closing his eyes and waiting for death.
Konoha really was somewhat different from the other hidden villages in the minds of the nobles.
But the Third Mizukage had been the one to betray them and tear up the treaty first. Even if Hiruzen brought his shinobi through and looted the Land of Water all over again, no one would have had any grounds to complain.
Yet, much to the Land of Water Daimyō's surprise, the message Tenzō brought was one of cooperation!
And once Tenzō revealed Hiruzen's noble title as "Shōgun of the Land of Fire," then secretly took the Land of Water's Daimyō on a trip to the Land of Fire's capital to meet Kujō Gen for private discussions...
The Land of Water's Daimyō finally understood!
When he entered the Land of Fire's capital, the Daimyō of the Land of Water was dismayed to discover that he practically felt like some country bumpkin from the backwoods, finding everything he saw novel and astonishing...
How had they developed this much?
The familiar and friendly way Tenzō interacted with the Land of Fire's senior officials startled the Land of Water's Daimyō even further.
It was completely different from the intense mutual suspicion that prevailed in Kirigakure. One glance was enough to tell that the two sides had extremely close relations.
With all these factors piling up...
An idea arose in the Land of Water's Daimyō's mind that even he found shocking!
The Third Mizukage's defeat and downfall were actually a great thing...
If the Bloody Mist had been allowed to continue, both the Land of Water and Kirigakure would have plunged into a terrifying abyss from which they could never escape. In that case, it was better for everything to explode early—tear it all down so something new could be built!
Sarutobi Hiruzen was unlike any shinobi he had ever known, including the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama.
No—calling him a shinobi wasn't even appropriate...
He deserved to be honored as a pillar holding up the entire nation!
"Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama..."
The Land of Water's Daimyō hurried over at a jog and, right in front of the assembled officials from the Land of Fire, immediately tried to drop into a full dogeza.
Hiruzen's thoughts stirred. He caught him before he could kneel and gestured for him to simply say what he had come to say.
"The Land of Water never had any intention of going to war with the Land of Fire! It was all that bastard Third Mizukage forcing it through! The Land of Fire and the Land of Water had already established a peace treaty, but Kiritori insisted on acting unilaterally and committed one outrage after another that enraged both heaven and man!"
The Land of Water's Daimyō spoke through tears.
"He repeatedly threatened me with force, threatened officials at every level and the people, seized taxes, grain, and mineral resources, and wrecked the country's economy and order beyond recognition. Anyone who tried to advise him was killed..."
"I tried many times to seek help from the outside world, but he actually used the Land of Water's geography and its closed-border policies to create the Bloody Mist, making sure no one could even get a message out!"
"It's truly wonderful that you've come!"
The Land of Water's Daimyō spoke from the bottom of his heart.
Along the way, he had also seen several towns that Hiruzen had already brought back under control.
Prosperity was naturally impossible—it hadn't been long enough for that—but basic order had already been restored.
The people had begun doing whatever work they were capable of, and the smiles on their faces were far brighter than they had ever been during the Bloody Mist.
The shinobi from Konoha were simply too benevolent...
As long as the people worked, they were given food and clothing.
They didn't mutter about the Bloody Mist or loyalty to the Mizukage before beating and killing people for amusement...
Their standards were so high they hardly seemed like traditional shinobi at all!
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