The Elder's Deduction The Mizukage Was Being Controlled
The fragile balance Kirigakure had struggled to maintain for years shattered in a single instant.
Because of one reckless spark within the Kaguya Clan, the powder keg ignited.
Elder Genji slammed his staff against the stone, fury burning in his aged eyes. For decades he had endured the brutality of the Blood Mist era, watching hatred ferment like poison beneath the surface. Now that poison had erupted.
Since the implementation of the Blood Mist policy, resentment had accumulated to the brink of irreparable collapse. Even if this confrontation were suppressed today, another would inevitably follow.
War could not be avoided.
At best they could reduce the casualties.
The battlefield descended into chaos. Steel clashed. Water Release techniques roared. Killing intent saturated the air like a choking mist.
Before long, corpses littered the ground. Blood seeped into the earth of Kirigakure.
And still no one stopped.
Mei Terumī's Helplessness
Mei Terumī stood frozen for a moment.
Someone alive a breath ago lay lifeless the next.
Worse she knew both the fallen and the killer.
Her chest tightened. She possessed both Lava Release and Boil Release, yet neither could mend a village tearing itself apart.
High above, atop the Mizukage Building, a solitary black-cloaked figure watched in silence.
Detached.
Cold.
Calculating.
It was Uchiha Obito.
The agitators who provoked Yagura Karatachi had been arranged by him. Carefully placed sparks in a field of dry tinder.
As expected, both factions had clashed.
This war was no accident.
It was orchestration.
Obito's lone visible eye reflected neither regret nor hesitation. This was the village where Rin had died. If it crumbled into ruin, so be it.
"No one walks away untouched," he murmured.
He signaled several White Zetsu clones to infiltrate the battlefield, disguising themselves among the Kaguya clan. Their target: Elder Genji's group.
If the elders remained neutral, the flames might weaken.
So he would drag them into the inferno.
The Assault on the Elders
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Water Release: Water Chaos Wave!"
Ninjutsu collided like thunderclaps.
Under Obito's subtle manipulation, stray attacks began targeting the elders' position with unnatural frequency.
Mei stepped forward.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
Molten chakra dissolved incoming Water Release projectiles before they could reach the group. Steam hissed violently.
No one was injured.
But this was deliberate.
The attacks did not cease.
Mangetsu Hōzuki's expression darkened. As a member of the Hōzuki clan, his liquefaction technique allowed his body to disperse into water at will, yet even he felt suffocated by the situation.
"Elder Genji," Mangetsu growled, "how long are we supposed to endure this?"
"Wait," the elder replied calmly.
Mei had asked the same question multiple times.
Each answer was the same.
Wait.
For what?
Ao Returns
"He's here."
Elder Genji's eyes snapped open.
A figure sprinted toward them through the chaos.
It was Ao.
His clothes were torn. His breathing ragged. But his visible eye burned with urgency the transplanted Byakugan from the Hyūga clan pulsing faintly with chakra.
He knelt.
"Elder Genji… I have confirmed it."
"Speak."
Ao inhaled sharply.
"The Fourth Mizukage… is under genjutsu."
Silence fell like a blade.
The Suspicion
Elder Genji had harbored doubts for months.
After an encounter months prior involving Uchiha Itachi and the former Seven Ninja Swordsman Biwa Jūzō, Yagura had returned injured.
Soon after, his temperament shifted drastically.
The Blood Mist policies intensified.
Executions increased.
Clan purges escalated.
And most telling
Yagura began avoiding Ao.
Why avoid the Byakugan?
The Byakugan can perceive chakra flow, network disruptions, and external interference.
Genji's suspicion grew.
To test it, he sent Ao alone on missions.
Assassination attempts followed.
Repeatedly.
Someone wanted Ao silenced.
That alone proved conspiracy.
Yet accusing a sitting Mizukage without proof was treason.
So Genji prepared a final gamble.
Ao disguised himself with the Transformation Technique and concealed his chakra presence. The moment Yagura appeared publicly, Ao activated the Byakugan.
He observed the Mizukage's chakra network directly.
And what he saw confirmed the impossible.
The Truth Revealed
Ao's voice trembled.
"I observed his chakra flow multiple times. It is not natural. There is foreign chakra embedded deep within his cerebral network binding his will."
Shock rippled through the group.
"But he's a perfect jinchūriki!" someone protested.
Indeed.
Yagura was the jinchūriki of Isobu, the Three-Tails.
A perfect jinchūriki should be immune to ordinary genjutsu due to the bijū's interference.
Which meant
This was no ordinary genjutsu.
Elder Genji's voice lowered.
"Only one power in the shinobi world could achieve this."
He closed his eyes briefly.
He remembered the man who once subdued nations alone.
Uchiha Madara.
Those eyes beyond the ordinary Sharingan.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan," Genji said gravely.
Gasps followed.
"The only Uchiha known to have encountered the Mizukage recently… is Uchiha Itachi."
His conclusion settled like iron.
"If Itachi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan… he could suppress even a perfect jinchūriki."
Fear spread rapidly.
If the Mizukage could be controlled
What hope did they have?
Obito's Silent Satisfaction
High above, Obito listened from afar.
A faint, humorless smile curved beneath his mask.
They were close.
But wrong.
It was not Itachi.
It was him.
Through the Mangekyō Sharingan's supreme genjutsu, he had bent Yagura's will and shaped Kirigakure into a crucible of blood.
Yet misdirection worked in his favor.
Let them fear Itachi.
Despair was more useful than truth.
Below, uncertainty gnawed at the Mist shinobi.
If they faced their own Mizukage
If behind him stood the legendary power of the Mangekyō
Could they even win?
Some felt their resolve waver.
Surrender whispered temptingly at the edge of thought.
But surrender would not save them.
The war had already begun.
And unseen by all
A translucent interface flickered briefly before Saint Roselith Seraphina's eyes, its sigil shaped like a radiant six-winged crest the mark of the Seraphina lineage.
[ Advisory: Intervention Window Approaching ]
The glow vanished instantly.
Seraphina's expression did not change.
But her gaze sharpened.
The true enemy was closer than any of them realized.
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