Crisis in the Mist

Kirigakure.

Located on an isolated island in the Land of Water.

Separated from the continent by thousands of miles of ocean, it is rarely disturbed by the outside world.

The few wars that have occurred were all initiated by the Kirigakure ninja themselves.

The primary reason for this is that since the village's founding, the internal conflicts between the various ninja clans have been extremely sharp, making them difficult to reconcile through normal communication.

The only way to shift these tensions was to declare war on the outside world.

This relieved internal pressure and allowed for a few years of peaceful existence.

But as the period of peace lengthened, the internal conflicts became increasingly prominent.

At this time.

A handsome young man returned from Konoha seeking revenge, simply because he mistakenly believed his teacher had failed to protect his student, and thus sought to retaliate against his teacher.

From this, it is evident that this young man's mental state was likely not very stable.

With nothing else to do, he set his sights on the ninja village that had killed the person he loved most.

This young man was Obito Uchiha.

Carrying the will of Uchiha Madara, Obito Uchiha once again manipulated the Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tails within him to launch a plan aimed at the decline of Kirigakure.

First.

Through the groundwork Madara had left in Kirigakure, Obito Uchiha began his plan to weaken the village.

He continued Uchiha Madara's Bloody Mist Village examination.

Through behind-the-scenes manipulation, he wiped out the vast majority of Kekkei Genkai ninja, leaving only a few commoners with decent talent to survive.

He increased the proportion of commoner ninja.

After taking over, Obito Uchiha quickly placed these commoner geniuses left behind by Uchiha Madara into key positions throughout the village.

In terms of consolidating power alone.

Obito did a much better job than Sarutobi Hiruzen.

At least with him causing such chaos, Kirigakure did not suffer any major upheavals.

It was not until Obito turned his attention to the Akatsuki and neglected his control over Amegakure that the Fourth Mizukage regained consciousness; upon discovering the many wrongs he had committed, he suffered a mental breakdown and chose to take his own life.

Only then did Mei Terumi find an opening to collude with high-ranking officials and overthrow the Fourth Mizukage's rule.

Otherwise, if Obito had remained in Kirigakure to firmly control the Fourth Mizukage, Mei Terumi would have had no chance of turning the tide.

The moment she had even the slightest thought of doing so, she would have been targeted and eliminated.

Obito's methods were simple and highly efficient.

After completing the unification of internal power, he immediately launched his operations.

He first targeted small ninja clans for suppression and targeted elimination.

The benefits gained from destroying these clans were distributed among other ninja or clans without Kekkei Genkai.

This bolstered his own authority and significantly elevated the status of the Fourth Mizukage.

At the same time, he propagated the theory that "Kekkei Genkai are a calamity," branding Kekkei Genkai ninja as heretics and forcing the village to reach a unified will.

This created fear and hatred toward Kekkei Genkai ninja.

He implemented public discrimination and revoked their rights as villagers.

He also stripped them of their status as ninja.

He branded these clans as enemies.

Through high-handed, authoritarian pressure, he ensured that only his voice could be heard within the village.

Thereby, he gained the support of the village.

Following a series of preliminary actions to suppress the ninja clans.

Obito had already consolidated all power in Kirigakure into the hands of the Mizukage, with his direct Anbu subordinates being his loyal followers.

Key personnel in every institution of the village had been replaced with commoner ninja, excluding all those with Kekkei Genkai from the center of power.

This caused these ninja clans to grow wary of the village.

This wariness deepened day by day, eventually evolving into betrayal.

This gave Obito Uchiha the pretext he needed to suppress the rebellion.

Just like that.

Over a dozen ninja clans completely vanished from the history of Kirigakure within a few years.

At this moment.

Inside the Mizukage Building.

The Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura leaned on a cane, flipping through a scroll in his hands.

Obito stood behind him, accompanied by Zetsu, who was dressed like a pitcher plant; the two stood on either side of the Fourth Mizukage like guardians.

"Let the Yuki Clan be the next target."

"This clan holds an unusual status in Kirigakure. Let's have the Kaguya Clan take action this time; those guys have likely been unable to stand the Yuki Clan's arrogant ways for a long time."

Obito rubbed his hair, a flash of impatience crossing his face beneath the mask. He looked at Karatachi Yagura with his single Sharingan and gave him a light slap on the head.

It was this Mizukage, who looked like a mere child, who had used a scheme to kill Rin.

He wanted to see the Kirigakure that this Mizukage valued so much fall into complete ruin, to make him understand the pain of losing a loved one.

After staying in Kirigakure for so long, he felt sticky all over, and it was quite uncomfortable.

Having lived inland for so long, he was not used to life on an island.

The humid environment gave one a sense of dampness.

It seemed that only blood could soothe the itch on his body.

"The Kaguya Clan has already been arranged. They are in position and can move against the Yuki Clan at any time."

"As for the Akatsuki, Nagato has already unified the Land of Rain. He will start moving before long, and once things are finished, you will need to head over there."

Black Zetsu instructed.

They had orchestrated the death of Yahiko, and over the past three years, Nagato had finally turned completely to darkness, killing Hanzo the Salamander and taking control of the entire Amegakure.

Right now, Obito was still immersed in this game of house.

It had been delayed for too long.

If he had invested more energy into the Land of Rain, he wouldn't have had to wait until now for Nagato to consolidate the power of the entire Amegakure.

This had caused the Akatsuki's expansion plan to drag on until now.

"So slow! I thought he would be able to handle that old man Hanzo before the Nine-Tails Incident. I didn't expect it to take nearly a year to achieve this goal."

"The original Akatsuki had too few people, especially in terms of high-end combat power; they were far behind the major ninja villages."

"Next, have Nagato absorb fresh blood as soon as possible."

Obito said in a hollow tone.

Nagato's slow pace made him feel very bored during this time, leaving him to play around in Kirigakure, watching the bloody slaughters of the Bloody Mist Village to pass the time.

The beast-like examinations were quite an entertaining experience to watch.

Especially crushing the genius Kirigakure ninja who performed well in the Bloody Mist Village examinations with his own hands.

It gave him a sense of pleasure in destruction.

"I understand."

White Zetsu replied, relaying this suggestion to Nagato through a clone.

"Obito, shouldn't we also plant some of our own people into the Akatsuki?"

Black Zetsu spoke up to remind him.

"Otherwise, it won't be conducive to our control over the Akatsuki."

Obito nodded thoughtfully after hearing this.

"Do you have any candidates?"

"Not long ago, a riot occurred in Konoha. Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, defected and became a wanted S-rank missing-nin. He might be able to become one of our people."

White Zetsu said immediately.

"Orochimaru defected?"

Obito said in surprise.

"That is a major blow to Konoha! If I were to go there now, do you think I could snatch the Nine-Tails?"

He looked at Black Zetsu, lightly pinching the corner of his robe, his eyes hesitant.

"It's difficult. Not to mention that Konoha has certainly strengthened its guard over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, even if you got your hands on the Nine-Tails at this stage, it would only expose your whereabouts and alert Nagato."

Black Zetsu pondered for a moment before answering. There was no expression on his pitch-black face, but his heart tightened suddenly.

He was worried that Obito's reckless behavior would affect his subsequent plans.

In fact.

Black Zetsu had also noticed that Obito's personality had been somewhat gloomy during this period. If it weren't for the influence of the free-spirited personality of the White Zetsu within him, he might have been planning to slaughter the entire village of Kirigakure by now.

Instead of playing games like the Bloody Mist Village.

After killing the Fourth Hokage and his wife with his own hands, he still refused to let it go!

"I see, then forget it! Orochimaru has decent strength; he is indeed a candidate worth considering."

"White Zetsu, if you detect Orochimaru's trail, tell me immediately."

Obito let go of his robe, his entire body relaxing once again.

"By the way, there is another Uchiha clansman who defected with Orochimaru named Uchiha Ao. He is currently within the borders of the Land of Water, less than a hundred miles away from Kirigakure."

Upon hearing this instruction, White Zetsu suddenly remembered something and spoke again.

When he heard the name Uchiha Ao, Obito's previously calm body suddenly shuddered.

The image of a snot-nosed little brat subconsciously surfaced in his mind.