"I am Karatachi Yagura."
The eighty thousand members of the Allied Shinobi Forces all turned toward the stage.
Karatachi Yagura stood before a microphone, his boyish stature leaving him a little too short to reach it.
He adjusted it so that it pointed toward him.
"I am the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, the person in the Hidden Mist Village who hates the Mizukage most."
The grounds fell completely silent.
Karatachi Yagura swept his gaze over the crowd in the plaza.
"The First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Shinobi World War.
Our actions caused shinobi to despise and hate one another.
Under that crushing pressure, I was born in the Bloody Mist Village, in an era when we survived by killing our own."
At the mention of the Bloody Mist Village, everyone's expressions shifted subtly.
Everyone knew just how insane that policy had been.
"With no other choice, I became the Mizukage, and with no other choice, I became the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
The pain and sorrow of having no control over my own life surrounded me constantly, making me hate the other shinobi villages.
I thought I would perpetuate the Bloody Mist Village.
But someone helped me.
Despite belonging to different villages, despite being enemies... we actually came to help one another."
Xuanhui smiled faintly as he looked at Karatachi Yagura.
"He told me.
We share the same pain. Only through mutual understanding and acceptance can shinobi have a future.
With his help, we brought an end to the Bloody Mist Village, and the Hidden Mist Village gradually grew and prospered."
The shinobi looked moved.
Karatachi Yagura was speaking from the heart, too. Once his true feelings began pouring out, they were not easily stopped.
"Now, the shinobi world faces an enormous crisis! The enemy intends