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Pat*eon : Belamy20
Pat*eon : ilham20
A copy of the Ninja World Big Events Weekly landed in Yagura's hands.
"Kirigakure's shamelessness knows no bounds!"
"During the battlefield reparations, they hid explosive tags inside Elder Genshi and turned him into a suicide puppet. Hundreds of Sunagakure's elite shinobi were wounded or killed. They broke every rule of the ninja world. Their crime is unforgivable."
"They've sunk below the lowest moral standard."
"Sunagakure will pursue this matter to the very end. We will not let it go."
"We urge every other ninja village to be extremely cautious when dealing with Kirigakure. Stay vigilant—extremely vigilant!"
"Kirigakure is a disgrace to the entire ninja world!"
This issue's headline was different from the last few. Before, the paper just reported facts. This time it went straight for the throat—screaming curses at the Mist.
Yagura's face turned an ugly shade of red.
He hadn't expected Sunagakure's counterattack to hit this fast or this hard. With how popular the Weekly had become, half the ninja world would see this headline. Sand was basically cursing out the Mist in front of everyone.
"Too crude!"
"Way too crude!"
Yagura's voice shook with rage. "Printing something this vulgar in a newspaper? Is this what a hidden village does? Rasa… you've disappointed me. I never thought you'd stoop this low."
The public attack didn't just insult the Mist—it wrecked their reputation. Who could trust a village that sabotaged a peace deal with hidden explosives? Trust in Kirigakure dropped to rock bottom overnight.
"Kirigakure is disgusting."
"They already signed the ceasefire and still pulled this shit? What else are they willing to do?"
"Who in their right mind would give them a mission now? They'd probably kill the client and rob them afterward."
Building trust took years. Destroying it took one headline.
Yagura could already feel the drop in mission requests—even from the Land of Water. Some clients were hiring regular civilians instead of Mist ninja just to be safe.
"This can't continue."
"We have to fix this. But someone has to take the blame. It can't be the Mist itself… so it has to be Elder Genshi."
Yagura made his decision.
A public announcement went out from Kirigakure almost immediately. They threw every ounce of blame onto Genshi and wiped their own hands clean.
"Regarding the Genshi incident, Kirigakure offers our deepest apologies to Sunagakure. No one in the village knew of his plan. Elder Genshi acted entirely on his own and bears full responsibility."
"We express our sincere sympathy for Sunagakure's losses and will provide appropriate compensation."
"Kirigakure is also a victim in this matter."
"We hope Sunagakure will return our remaining captives. They are innocent."
"We wish to hold new talks with Sunagakure."
After the announcement, some people wondered if Genshi had been angry about being offered up as a surrender term and had tried to take revenge on both villages at once. Others understood why Yagura threw him under the bus—Sunagakure had demanded it, and the Mist had no choice if they wanted peace.
But the real blame quickly shifted to the Third Mizukage.
Why had the Mist lost the war? The Third's fault.
Why had the Seven Ninja Swordsmen failed? The Third's fault.
Who was the first to suggest demanding enemy shinobi as surrender terms? The Third.
Who was ultimately responsible for Genshi's death? The Third.
"Probably the worst Third Kage among all five villages."
"The Third Hokage earned the title Professor, mastered every jutsu, trained the Sannin, and led Konoha to victory over the Sand."
"The Third Tsuchikage wielded Dust Release, led Iwa to beat Kumo, killed the Third Raikage, and walked away in one piece."
"The Third Raikage had the strongest spear and strongest shield. He fought thousands of Iwa ninja alone and died on his feet—respect."
"The Third Kazekage was the strongest before Rasa and raised the Fourth Kazekage into an even better leader."
"Only the Third Mizukage? Couldn't do a single thing right. Under his rule the Mist grew weaker and weaker and lost half its best shinobi to defection."
Even inside Kirigakure, a wave of criticism against the Third Mizukage swept through the village.
"If it weren't for the Third, the Takechi clan wouldn't have rebelled, Fuguki wouldn't have defected, the Hozuki clan wouldn't be in decline, and we probably wouldn't have lost the war."
"The Third was completely incompetent."
People even started questioning the Blood Mist policy he had pushed.
"Does turning children into killers really produce good shinobi? Sacrificing so many just to create one strong genius… will that genius even stay loyal to the village?"
The anti-Blood-Mist faction seized the moment and attacked hard.
Rasa heard the news and raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't expect this to backfire on the Mist so nicely."
He had never thought much of the Blood Mist policy. Competition could bring out potential, sure—but when it went too far, it just became cruelty.
Rasa sent his reply.
"If you want to talk, fine. Come to the Land of Wind."
He was far more interested in what the Mist would do next—specifically their planned revenge against Konoha. According to the timeline he'd heard, that operation was only days away.
Rasa glanced at the points counter on his system panel.
"After the Mist makes their move… I should hit three thousand points."