I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 23

"You talk too much, Fourth Mizukage." Uchiha Obito immediately grew displeased, pinning him to the Three-Tails' head with a glance and leaving him unable to move. "Don't mention that person in front of me."

Yagura Karatachi lay sprawled across the Three-Tails' head without a shred of dignity, his heart filled with shock.

So it wasn't that guy?

Where did the Uchiha Clan get so many monsters?

Unfortunately, he could not even speak in the mental world now.

Before losing consciousness, Yagura Karatachi heard the other man say one more thing.

"From today onward, you are a pawn too."

Acting for One's Purpose

"Mizukage-sama, I am not questioning your policies, but this may cause irreversible and severe damage to the village."

In the Mizukage's office, an elderly man was attempting to persuade Yagura Karatachi.

"Besides, wasn't it you who led the reform of this policy? If you do this, wouldn't that child's sacrifice have been in vain?"

The old man was Genji, a man who had lived from the era of the First Mizukage to the present day—a living fossil of the Mist Hidden Village.

The current Mist Hidden Village could hardly be called well-off.

The Land of Water, isolated amid the ocean, had never had particularly close ties with the continent. Its people were accustomed to living on their own little patch of land. Though isolated, the Land of Water was not lacking in resources, so there had been no major problems.

In its early days, the Mist Hidden Village had been better off than most ninja villages.

The ninja within the Land of Water's original territory rarely became involved in the wars on the continent, keeping the intensity of warfare under control. As a result, it retained more small and mid-sized ninja clans than other regions.

When the Mist Hidden Village was founded, it became known for its numerous secret techniques and bloodline limits, while the scale of its ninja forces also ranked among the best.

But beginning with the Second Mizukage, the situation began to change.

This warlike leader had done fairly well at first. He established the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and once led the Mist Hidden Village into flourishing prosperity—until news of Senju Hashirama's death reached the Land of Water.

The Second Mizukage died on the battlefield of the First Shinobi World War. The Third Mizukage who succeeded him was far worse than his former boss. The most ridiculed thing about him was the "Blood Mist Village" policy he created.

Genji could never understand how that man had seemed perfectly normal before becoming Mizukage, only to become abnormal in every possible way after taking the position.

During the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Mizukage's two-pronged strategy to severely weaken Leaf Village ended in utter defeat. His governing team and the Mist Hidden Village's elite forces suffered an unprecedented, devastating blow.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, tasked with drawing enemy fire, were nearly wiped out. The operation in the rear to release the Tailed Beasts and destroy Leaf Village also failed because the target sacrificed herself. The Mist Hidden Village was utterly defeated, its strength falling to the lowest point in its history and leaving it at the bottom among the Five Great Villages.

The Third Mizukage also swallowed the bitter fruit he had planted. The "Blood Mist Village" policy had filled the Mist Hidden Village with radical terrorists, and the Third Mizukage promptly abdicated in disgrace.

If he had not stepped down, he would have become the first leader in Mist Hidden Village history to be hacked to death by his own people.

Under those circumstances, Yagura Karatachi, who enjoyed the deep support of the Mist Hidden Village's younger generation, naturally took office. Upon assuming power, he immediately enacted active reforms to make up for the losses the Third Mizukage had inflicted upon the village as quickly as possible. He signed a ceasefire agreement with Leaf Village, revived the Mist Hidden Village's economy and construction efforts, and sealed the Three-Tails inside himself, becoming its new jinchuriki.

Under his rule, the Mist Hidden Village's terrible circumstances had eased.

Genji never imagined that Yagura Karatachi would halt the reforms to the "Blood Mist Village" policy—or rather, enforce the Blood Mist Village policy even more thoroughly.

But the matter was not yet beyond remedy, because Yagura Karatachi had not announced the policy outright. He had first consulted Genji, an elder, and they had been discussing it for more than a month.

It absolutely could not be restarted.

The Mist Hidden Village had been ravaged badly enough under the Third Mizukage. Fortunately, it had not yet suffered structural damage, but it truly could not endure any more devastation.

Unfortunately, he did not know that the person before him was no longer the Yagura Karatachi he knew. Only an empty shell remained.

"I understand. I will consider it again," Yagura Karatachi said expressionlessly.

"Please do give it careful consideration." Genji knew it was time for him to leave. Deeply worried, he departed the office as usual.

After Genji left, Yagura Karatachi continued processing the documents on his desk. Once he had finished handling everything, he left the office and returned to his residence.

The office was guarded by the Mist Ninja's ANBU, but the residence was not.

Because everyone believed that no one in this world could attack a Kage in a Kage's own residence and still escape unscathed.

Unfortunately, such people really did exist—and there was more than one.

After returning to his residence, Yagura Karatachi sat in a chair. In an instant, it was as though all the spirit had drained out of him.

Uchiha Obito's figure emerged behind him and walked around to stand before him. Their gazes met.

Uchiha Obito received all of Yagura Karatachi's memories from today's work.

"That old fossil is really stubborn." Uchiha Obito withdrew his ocular technique.

"How about controlling him too?" Zetsu poked his head out of the wall. "An old man like that would be easy."

"Controlling one Mizukage is enough. That old man is merely a representative. These Mist Ninja need to accept it willingly," Uchiha Obito said.

How could he possibly have the time to control a whole crowd of people?

Though he wished from the bottom of his heart that everyone in this village would die, Uchiha Obito had not forgotten his original purpose.

His goal was to use the Mist Hidden Village's resources to quickly cultivate useful pawns.

He had not come merely to vent his anger, even though he hated the Mist Hidden Village to the bone and wished for its complete ruin.

Besides, the Mist Hidden Village higher-ups represented by Genji opposed the Third Mizukage's original "Blood Mist Village" policy not out of compassion, but because they could see no benefit in it.

"In that case, Yagura Karatachi already had plans for the next generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Let him proceed according to his original ideas for now," Zetsu suggested. "Only one member of the previous Seven Ninja Swordsmen remains. How do you plan to deal with him? Will you make use of him?"

"No. That guy has spent years carrying out secret missions for this village. He is deeply calculating, and given enough time, he may ruin my plans." Uchiha Obito came up with a good idea. "I have a decent plan. Send him to the Leaf Village."

It would not be easy to let Genji and the others see the benefits of reinstating the original policies, and there was not enough time for that anyway. But making them see the consequences of not reinstating them would be much easier.

All they had to do was provoke the Leaf Village. Having just been thoroughly beaten by the Leaf Village, the Hidden Mist was especially sensitive toward it now.

As long as they created an established fact, the Hidden Mist—already short on ninja forces—would have no choice but to continue its bloody elite policy, however unwilling it might be, in order to rely on an elite ninja force to resist external invasion.

That way, Uchiha Obito would achieve his goal as well.

With the Hidden Mist divided and falling apart, the talents it had painstakingly cultivated would inevitably be filled with world-weary resentment, ripe for his picking.

"Go to the Leaf Village? Should we give Uchiha Shingen a heads-up first?"

"No need. He must have already told the higher-ups in his clan about me. At the end of the day, he can never become one of us. That guy is very content with his life in the Leaf Village," Uchiha Obito said. "I'll take Fuguki Suikazan there and stir things up. It'll also be a good chance to say hello to Danzo and give him a push."

By the third quarter of the new year in the Leaf Village, Uchiha Mikoto finally stopped running around with her swollen belly.

She was about to give birth.

At the Leaf Village Hospital, Uchiha Fugaku and his son, Uchiha Itachi, waited anxiously outside the delivery room.

Other members of the Uchiha clan were there as well.

Uchiha Fugaku, as clan head, was fairly well respected within the clan. Now that his child was about to be born, the clan members naturally hoped that both mother and child would be safe.

Uchiha Shingen had been dragged over as well.

It had been over a month since he had once again clarified his path, and his attempts had been highly successful.

He could now proudly declare that he was no longer a man with no answer to the Tailed Beasts.

Hard work paid off. His efforts over so many years had not been in vain, and Uchiha Shingen could finally set his mind completely at ease, no longer worrying about the Night of Clan Extermination ever happening.

Now, looking at the nervous father and son, he truly could not imagine the scene that would take place roughly eight years later.

The human heart was impossible to predict. If he could not stop Uchiha Fugaku from losing his mind, then eight years from now, he could only stop Uchiha Itachi.

"They're out! They're out!" someone suddenly shouted in delight.

Everyone rose to their feet.

Uchiha Fugaku nervously watched the medical ninja emerge from the delivery room.

He had not even noticed that he had activated his Sharingan from being too nervous.

The medical ninja, specially transferred from the Medical Department to assist with the delivery, was startled badly. Looking at the Uchiha clan head before him with his Sharingan activated, he hurriedly thought back and realized that he had not yet begun building suspense like he usually did.

It seemed he could not build suspense this time, or he might end up lying on the floor.

"Please calm down, Clan Head Fugaku," he said hurriedly. "Mother and child are both safe. It's a boy!"

"That's wonderful! Thank you!" Uchiha Fugaku believed he was very calm at the moment, perfectly maintaining the composed air expected of a clan head. He continued staring at the medical ninja with his Sharingan. "May I go in and see my wife now?"

The medical ninja said, "Yes, of course you may. But could the other family members perhaps remain outside?"

If so many people rushed in at once and something happened, he felt the entire Medical Department would not be able to bear the consequences.

Seeing the odd expression on the medical ninja's face, Uchiha Itachi could not help glancing at his father.

So Father had been so nervous that he had left his Sharingan on.

"Father." He poked Uchiha Fugaku. "You scared the doctor."

Uchiha Fugaku finally realized what had happened. No wonder something had felt off—he had been seeing chakra.

He deactivated his Sharingan and sincerely apologized.

Only then did the medical ninja breathe a sigh of relief before leading the father and son inside.

The remaining Uchiha, their task complete, prepared to disperse and head home.

"Shisui, aren't you leaving?" Uchiha Shingen, who was about to leave, saw Uchiha Shisui still standing at the entrance and reminded him, "The clan head will probably be inside for quite a while."

"It's fine. I'll wait. I might be able to lend a hand if they need help."

"Alright, then I'll head back first. Come find me if anything comes up."

Uchiha Shingen did not press him and turned to leave.

After leaving the hospital, he decided to stroll through the shopping district and buy something to eat. He was getting a little hungry.

When Uchiha Shingen was young, the Leaf Village did not yet have Ichiraku Ramen. But during the Third Shinobi World War, the ramen shop had appeared.

At the time, the Police Force had even investigated it, eventually confirming that the middle-aged man named Teuchi was indeed an ordinary civilian.

Still, his ramen genuinely tasted good. More importantly, it was much more affordable than the ramen shops that had originally existed in the Leaf Village, so his business quickly took off.

By now, Uchiha Shingen had become a regular customer too.

When he arrived at Ichiraku Ramen and stepped inside, he saw the owner, now in his early thirties, serving customers.

"Oh! Isn't this Master Shingen?" Teuchi greeted him happily.

"Boss, don't call me Master." Uchiha Shingen rubbed his hands together. "The usual. Start me off with a bowl."

"Coming right up. Please wait."

"Much obliged."

Uchiha Shingen found a seat, picked up a menu, and was about to see if there were any new dishes when someone sat down beside him.

Judging by the airflow, the newcomer carried an unusually heavy burden on her person.

"So you come to places like this too? I thought you only went to fancy restaurants."

Uchiha Shingen turned to look. It was a blonde girl, with a capital B in busty.

"Who are you?" She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her.

"You've got some nerve. Weren't you the one who brought me to Leaf Village?" The blonde girl's expression management was rather poor.

Huh? Had that happened?

Uchiha Shingen thought back carefully, then enlightenment dawned on him because of her bust.

"Oh, it's you. Um, Tyson?"

"It's Pantaia!"

"Right, right, that's what I meant." Uchiha Shingen handed her the menu. "Looks like you've been doing pretty well. Here, order whatever you want. It's on me."

"Hmph..." Pantaia took the menu, then shoved it back into the holder on the table. "No need. I already ordered."

Then the two of them stared at each other without saying a word.

Until Uchiha Shingen's gaze unconsciously began to drift downward. Her dress was split rather boldly, and as a sculptor, professional habit made him start pondering the cultural differences between Leaf Village and Cloud Village.

"Say, are you really this free?" Pantaia had no choice but to start the conversation herself. "I've joined the training division under your ANBU. I've still heard some things, though—things related to your Uchiha clan. Want to hear them?"

"How do I listen?" Uchiha Shingen asked out of habit. "Do I press up against you to listen directly?"

Pantaia didn't get it at first, until she followed Uchiha Shingen's gaze downward.