Yagura was dead in the end.
The Medical Division had tried to save him for a while, and the Sealing Corps had examined him as well. In the end, they all reached the same conclusion.
He could not be saved.
Kirishima Jin's ambush had already left him gravely wounded. After the Three-Tails escaped, it was a testament to his formidable vitality that he had not died immediately.
Mei Terumi stood outside the door and nodded after hearing the medical ninja's report.
Ao stood beside her without saying a word.
Their feelings toward Yagura were complicated.
Yagura could not be absolved of responsibility for what Hidden Mist Village had become over the years.
But now they knew that he had been controlled all along.
They could not bring themselves to hate him, nor could they bring themselves to mourn him.
In the end, all that remained was an indescribable exhaustion.
Genji arrived soon afterward.
He glanced at Yagura in the ward, then turned to the Sealing Corps nearby.
"Where is the Three-Tails?"
The members of the Sealing Corps hurriedly lowered their heads.
"It has been temporarily suppressed, but..."
"But what?"
"It's too weak now."
Genji did not press the matter.
He turned to Mei Terumi.
Mei Terumi understood what he meant.
News of the Three-Tails could not get out.
Mei Terumi said, "Tell the public that the Fourth Mizukage died in an assassination, and that the Three-Tails has entered its rebirth period."
Genji nodded.
"I'll leave this to you."
That night, the Sealing Corps brought the much smaller Three-Tails into the sealing chamber.
That place had not been used for many years.
When the stone doors opened, a thick scent of dust wafted out.
The tiny Three-Tails lay atop the sealing platform, its head tucked into its shell, completely motionless.
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