Death of the Fourth Mizukage

In Episode 42, Fei Yun quietly passed this information on to Yakushi Kabuto. After all, Orochimaru was nowhere to be found.

Orochimaru was just as busy as Fei Yun. Not only did he have to command the shadows, but he also frequently had to switch identities to deliver orders to Sand Village and disguise himself as a servant to observe and assess his precious vessel, Uchiha Sasuke.

Even Fei Yun had to admire him. Orochimaru truly was a master of time management.

Fei Yun had originally planned to kill Sasuke, but Orochimaru adamantly refused, saying he wanted Sasuke left for him and that he would soon take everything from him.

Fei Yun was in no rush. In any case, Uchiha Sasuke would not be allowed to live past thirteen. That was the final deadline he had given Orochimaru.

With Fei Yun pressuring him, Orochimaru would no longer wait for Sasuke to mature slowly and willingly defect to him. After this battle, he would probably abduct his beloved flesh-and-blood vessel.

Sigh, everyone was busy!

Watching Yakushi Kabuto's departing back, Fei Yun sighed. He had just asked him to send people to help capture targets, but he had been refused. Kabuto said they simply could not spare any manpower.

But Fei Yun did not care. When the time came, he could simply send out more clones to capture members of the four great families and execute them publicly one by one.

Inside a dango shop in Konoha, Fei Yun sat within. Through a gap in the curtain, he stared fixedly at a blond boy strolling past outside.

That was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki.

Fei Yun forcefully suppressed the urge to seize Naruto and continued eating the tri-color dango in his hand. It was not that he did not want the other half of the Nine-Tails, but his powerful perception had detected quite a few experts nearby. They were likely Anbu stationed throughout the village. As expected, the Nine-Tails was under constant surveillance.

Besides that, he sensed Kakashi casually reading a book not far from Naruto. Konoha was clearly extremely vigilant during this special period. If he attacked Naruto now, he would surely draw every Konoha expert over, exposing the plan ahead of schedule.

And even if he captured Naruto, removing the seal and releasing and controlling the Nine-Tails would take time.

Konoha would never give me that time. Reinforcements would come one after another.

Consider yourself lucky. Who told me to be softhearted?

Fei Yun sighed inwardly. He had no grudge against Naruto anyway, though Naruto's father was another matter. If Orochimaru could refrain from touching him, was proud Uchiha Feiyun really less magnanimous than Orochimaru?

Of course, Fei Yun also did not want to disrupt his primary mission of dealing with the four great families.

While Konoha's Chūnin Exams were in full swing, an unknown major event occurred in the ninja world.

Within Mist Village in the Land of Water, Yagura, freed from the genjutsu controlling him, fell into a frenzy. The Three-Tails within him was still under genjutsu, but Yagura had no mind to dispel it. Numerous Mist Village elites watched him from around the room.

Yagura stared blankly at his hands, repeatedly muttering, "What have I done?"

"What have I done?"

"Ah?"

"What?"

Yagura's voice was so hoarse it barely sounded like his own. More than a decade of memories flooded into his mind like a tide, every frame edged like a blade that sliced at his nerves.

Blood. So much blood.

The blood of children slaughtering one another in graduation examinations.

The blood shed when Bloodline Limit clans were hunted down.

The blood of ninja executed for daring to question the Mizukage's policies.

Yagura's hands began to tremble, his knuckles turning white.

He lowered his head and looked at the hands that had once formed countless hand seals. Now, all he saw were an executioner's palms stained with blood.

"Ah, this isn't me. This wasn't what I wanted."

His murmuring was interrupted by a violent headache as fragments of memory continued to piece themselves together.

That man in the spiral mask had stood before him, his crimson Sharingan slowly spinning in his right eye.

Behind every exchange of glances, every policy discussion, and every cruel command issued, those eyes had been controlling him.

"Brother... your brother... mm, speak!"

"Mm... ah, ptooey!"

Yagura staggered to his feet. The Mizukage's conical hat slipped from his head and rolled across the ground several times.

He lunged toward the mirror on the wall and stared desperately into his own eyes. There had once been resolve and determination there. Now there was only endless terror and regret.

Yagura's trembling fingers touched the mirror, as though he needed to confirm that the haggard man reflected inside truly was himself.

Ao stood nearby, the veins around his right eye bulging.

It was precisely the power of the Byakugan that had allowed him to detect and dispel the genjutsu affecting the Mizukage.

"Fourth Mizukage-sama, you have finally awakened." Ao's voice carried a trace of barely perceptible wariness.

"But... my convictions..."

Yagura's voice was utterly broken.

"New policies?"

"Hm?"

Ao's expression grew grave. He carefully took a step forward, one hand resting on his ninja tool pouch.

"Not long ago, we discovered evidence that you had been controlled by genjutsu. The entire Mist Village high command has been secretly investigating for months."

"You... everything you did during your years in office was not done of your own will."

"Not of my own will?"

Yagura suddenly let out a shrill laugh, which quickly turned into choking sobs.

"They were indeed my hands. The orders were signed with my name. The policies were announced through my chakra. I killed those people."

The memories became clearer and clearer. He remembered the red-haired little girl from the Terumi clan turning back to look at him while being hunted. He remembered the baffled look in Hozuki Mangetsu's eyes before his death. He remembered the cries of children who should have been the village's future, forced to kill their companions in graduation exams. Yagura's knees smashed heavily into the ground. Grabbing his hair, he released an inhuman howl.

"An entire village, bound in chains..."

Ao quickly stepped forward but stopped two paces away from Yagura.

"Fourth Mizukage-sama, now is not the time for self-blame. The mastermind may still be nearby."

"We need you!"

"Need me for what?"

Yagura raised his head, tears winding down the wrinkles of his face.

"To be a puppet? A failure incapable of even controlling his own will?"

Thunder rumbled above Mist Village. Yagura swayed to his feet. Through the curtain of rain, he could see the outline of Mist Village—the village he had sworn to protect, now covered in wounds because of him.

Countless talented experts had either died or defected, and who knew how many ninja clans had been exterminated.

Mist Village had likely become the weakest ninja village among the five great nations.

Yagura suddenly calmed down, his voice so soft it was nearly inaudible.

"Tell me the truth. Over these years, how many people died because of me?"

Ao was silent for a moment. "It cannot be precisely counted, but at least a thousand."

Nearby, Mei Terumi led more than a dozen jōnin. Though she said nothing, her gaze was unusually cold.

Yagura closed his eyes.

Over a thousand lives. Over a thousand families. He had once thought he was leading Mist Village toward strength, but in reality, he had been personally destroying its foundations.

"Fourth Mizukage-sama, please pull yourself together. The village needs a true leader now!"

"No," Yagura interrupted. "What it needs is not me. It needs reckoning."

He looked down at his hands. "I need to answer for my sins!"

Ao suddenly realized something and rushed forward.

"Fourth Mizukage-sama, don't—" But it was already too late.

Yagura's hands rapidly formed seals. The chakra of the Three-Tails jinchūriki within him began to boil, and an enormous sphere of water appeared from nothingness, enveloping his entire body.

This was a high-level Water Release only a perfect jinchūriki could use.

Water Prison Technique. This technique was not only unbreakable, but could also drain the life force of the one trapped inside.

"Fourth Mizukage-sama!" Ao slammed his fist against the surface of the water sphere but could not penetrate it. "Release the jutsu! This is not your fault!"

Within the water sphere, Yagura slowly shook his head. His lips moved, and the voice transmitted through the water was blurred and distant.

"Apologize to the village for me. Tell them Yagura was guilty of unforgivable sins."

Ao frantically formed seals, attempting to break the jutsu, but the water prison fused with the Three-Tails' power was indestructible. He could only watch helplessly as Yagura stopped struggling within the sphere, as those once-sharp eyes gradually lost focus.

At the final moment, a faint smile of relief actually appeared at the corner of Yagura's mouth.

Before his consciousness sank into darkness, what he saw was not the Sharingan, but the scene from many years ago when he had first become Mizukage, standing in the sunlight and promising the villagers that he would protect Mist Village.

The water sphere exploded with a bang, and Yagura's body slowly collapsed.

Ao caught him, feeling life drain from the small, frail body.

"Forgive me." Those were the last words Yagura left behind.

Mist Village.

The rain poured down in torrents, as though all of Mist Village was weeping for its Mizukage—or perhaps celebrating for the countless wronged souls who had died.

On a mountain near Mist Village, Zetsu snorted coldly and slowly sank into the ground.

In a forest far from Mist Village, Zetsu's figure appeared again. White Zetsu spoke softly.

"Hey, such a huge matter... shouldn't we tell Obito?"

Black Zetsu suppressed his anger, his voice low. "Tell that useless fool? What good would that do?"

"Uh, don't say that. He's a good boy, isn't he? Haven't you always liked him?"

Black Zetsu spoke in a low voice. "Madara-sama entrusted everything to him, but what has he been doing?"

"How many years has it been? He has not captured a single Tailed Beast. He only knows how to stir up trouble in Konoha and Mist Village. He says it is to weaken their strength for the plan, but isn't it really just to avenge that girl and vent the hatred in his heart?"

Sensing Black Zetsu's rage, White Zetsu cautiously continued, "The plan is still progressing normally. He is building up strength, and Obito really has weakened the two great nations."

"Hmph!"

Black Zetsu snorted. "He lost to the Fourth Hokage in Konoha and nearly exposed his identity. Now he has suffered another crushing defeat in Mist Village. Damn it!"

"I really don't know whether Madara-sama was right or wrong to choose such a useless fool."

Black Zetsu wailed inwardly.

It had been nearly fifteen years since Madara entrusted everything to them.

Fifteen years, and the plan had made no progress at all. Yet Obito was still constantly causing trouble, nearly getting himself killed several times. Even his guidance of Nagato's growth had been a complete mess.

Nagato was now focused entirely on making money and building up his forces, while placing the capture of Tailed Beasts last on his priorities.

If Madara knew the man he had chosen was this useless, would he be so furious that he kicked his coffin apart and personally entered the fray?

"Isn't this good? Mist Village is basically crippled now. Its talents have dwindled by seventy or eighty percent, and even the Mizukage is dead—"

"No!" Black Zetsu grew angrier as he spoke, then roared, "The Mizukage is dead! Do you know what that means?"

"Huh?"

"Answer me! Doesn't it mean Mist Village is even weaker now?"

Black Zetsu wanted nothing more than to tear White Zetsu off his body and beat him.

"It means the plan has to be delayed by several more years! The Three-Tails died along with its jinchūriki. Before the Three-Tails revives, Akatsuki can do nothing. Useless fool! He is simply an utterly useless fool!"

Black Zetsu's teeth itched with hatred, yet he still had no choice but to return and assist that useless fool.

Still, Nagato was not bad. He had nearly finished preparing Akatsuki's combat strength and funds. They should be able to begin acting soon and advance Madara-sama's plan.

Thinking of that, Black Zetsu's mood improved somewhat.

"Let's go!"

"Then who are we going to find?"

"No one. Continue gathering intelligence on jinchūriki. He will sense what happened in Mist Village himself."

"Good grief, gathering intelligence again. You're going to work us to death."