The next moment, Yuhi Kurenai's voice came from outside the tent. "Yasushi, are you back?"
Aragaki Yasushi hurried out of the tent and saw Yuhi Kurenai standing at the entrance, her eyes filled with concern.
"Kurenai, what's wrong?" Aragaki Yasushi asked, his voice unconsciously softening.
Yuhi Kurenai glanced away and said quietly, "It's nothing. I just heard you went on a dangerous mission, and I was worried..."
Before she could finish, a ninja from the Uchiha Clan strode over and bowed respectfully. "Lord Aragaki, Lord Yashiro has summoned the camp's jonin for a meeting. Please come with me."
Aragaki Yasushi raised an eyebrow, wondering what this was about.
Could it have something to do with the intelligence Yoiichi Kumade had brought back?
But as he looked at the Uchiha ninja, he felt like he'd seen him somewhere before. Then he thought about it.
Oh, right. This was the one who'd come to summon him to meet Uchiha Yashiro last time.
Well, would you look at that? It hadn't even been that long, and he was already calling him Lord Aragaki.
Hadn't he been so arrogant before?
It seemed he'd heard about Yasushi's promotion to jonin.
Who knew the Uchiha Clan's ninjas could be so good at reading the room?
Perhaps Yasushi's strength had won him over.
Aragaki Yasushi turned to Yuhi Kurenai and smiled. "Kurenai, sorry, I'll have to excuse myself for a while."
Yuhi Kurenai quickly shook her head, a tender smile on her face. "It's fine. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. Go on, you've got things to do."
Aragaki Yasushi nodded, then turned and headed for Uchiha Yashiro's tent.
Could there be another mission?
Could he earn enough points to draw another Master Ball?
When he entered the tent, Aragaki Yasushi glanced around.
Almost all the camp's jonin had arrived, except those out on missions or too badly injured to get up.
Even though the Mist Battlefield wasn't considered important, the tent was nearly full.
A few chunin were standing inside as well.
One familiar figure among them was Uchiha Shisui.
Aragaki Yasushi raised an eyebrow.
Shisui had made quite a name for himself on the battlefield and fought in plenty of tough battles.
Even so, he still hadn't been promoted to jonin. He remained a chunin.
After all, becoming a jonin was a real hassle. There were a lot of procedures and strict requirements. Even during wartime, few were promoted by special exception.
What's more, Shisui was from the Uchiha Clan, a clan the village already viewed with extra suspicion. The village would be even more cautious about promoting him to jonin and wouldn't agree lightly.
Still, with Shisui's reputation and accomplishments, he'd probably be promoted to jonin soon after the war ended.
When Shisui saw Aragaki Yasushi enter, he smiled warmly and gave him a slight nod in greeting.
Aragaki Yasushi politely nodded back, then casually found an empty seat and sat down.
After all, he was a proper jonin now. He had every right to sit.
He glanced at Shisui, who stood behind Uchiha Yashiro.
As for the chunin, they were lucky enough to be allowed into the tent for the meeting.
And they wanted to sit down, too?
As if. They could stand there like everyone else.
A few more minutes passed, and all the jonin who were supposed to attend had arrived. The tent fell silent in an instant, and even their breathing seemed to quiet.
Uchiha Yashiro cleared his throat, then turned to Yoiichi Kumade, who stood ramrod straight beside him. "Tell everyone in detail about the intelligence you gathered in Kirigakure."
Aragaki Yasushi understood.
As expected, the meeting was about this. It had everything to do with the intelligence Yoiichi Kumade had brought back.
Curiosity stirred in him.
In the original story, Yoiichi Kumade had been killed by Zabuza long ago. This part of the story had never happened.
So what kind of intelligence had the kid brought back?
Could it be some explosive secret, the kind that could change the course of the war?
Yoiichi Kumade took a deep breath and began speaking under the gaze of all the jonin, looking a little nervous.
"I infiltrated Kirigakure this time and investigated the situation inside the village. There are conflicts everywhere. It's a complete mess."
"The current Third Mizukage was originally raised to succeed as the Second Mizukage. But for some reason, before the First died, he didn't choose him as his successor. Instead, he chose Hozuki Gengetsu of the Hozuki Clan to become the Second Mizukage."
"The Third Mizukage was only responsible for forming the Mist Anbu and held a little real power."
"During the First Shinobi World War, the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage killed each other, and the Third Mizukage seized the position of Mizukage while he had the chance."
"To suppress his opponents, the Third Mizukage began purging the Hozuki Clan. That stirred up a hornet's nest. Many ninja clans in Kirigakure were unhappy, so the Third Mizukage began persecuting Kekkei Genkai users even more ruthlessly."
"In the past, he was barely able to keep things under control and maintain his rule with the help of the Mist Anbu and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
"But more and more ninja and members of the clans in Kirigakure grew dissatisfied with him. Even within the Anbu, plenty of people were secretly making trouble."
"Especially the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza. He killed all the students in his class by himself and forced Kirigakure to reform. That made the conflict even worse."
"The Third Mizukage's rule has long been on the verge of collapse. With no other choice, he could only start a war to divert the conflict and try to hold on to power."
"But..."
At that, Yoiichi Kumade paused and looked at Aragaki Yasushi. "After Jonin Aragaki and Jonin Might joined forces to take down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kirigakure lost its advantage in the war completely and fell into an absolutely hopeless position."
"The Third Mizukage's power collapsed all at once. He could no longer hold on to his rule, and everyone turned against him."
"I took the opportunity to secretly contact several ninja clans in Kirigakure and reached a preliminary understanding with them."
"As long as Konoha helps Kirigakure end the Third Mizukage's Bloody Mist rule, they'll immediately cease hostilities, pay reparations, and form an alliance with our village."
The tent erupted into commotion, and the jonin began talking among themselves.
Sitting in his seat, Aragaki Yasushi listened to the whole report and mused to himself.
So that was what it was all about.
He knew the Bloody Mist Policy in Kirigakure hadn't started when Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage.
That rotten policy had existed for a long time. Obito had merely inherited the mess and continued it.
But Aragaki Yasushi hadn't expected there to be this whole other story behind it.
Wasn't the Third Mizukage just like that old Danzo?
The only difference was that he'd actually managed to take power, rather than ending up with nothing more than a 5.5th Hokage experience card.
But because his claim to the position lacked legitimacy, he could only suppress opposition in the village with bloodshed, and that was how the Bloody Mist Village came to be.
Thinking about it, perhaps the Fourth Mizukage in the original story had opposed the Bloody Mist Policy before Obito took control of him?
Before you continue