Outside Konoha, in a secluded cave.
Dim candlelight cast flickering shadows across the walls.
The air was damp and cold. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and the steady drip of water echoed through the cavern.
Uchiha Obito stood deep inside the cave and slammed his fist into the wall in fury.
Boom! Rock shattered, sending fragments flying through a cloud of dust.
"Damn Hyuga Tianyi! He ruined another opportunity! Why does he sabotage every chance I get?"
His voice echoed through the cave, seething with anger he could not contain.
"When did he figure it out?!"
He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He had thought his plan was flawless.
He would use the Mizukage, whom he controlled through genjutsu, to publicly expose the Leaf Village's "crime" of collecting tailed beasts while all Five Kage were gathered.
It would stir the other four Kage's suspicion and hostility toward the Leaf Village. He had assumed the Leaf Village would never detect anything wrong with the Mizukage.
Even if they did, they would never attack him outright in front of everyone.
Why had the Leaf Village been so certain?
Detecting the Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu control required activating the Byakugan, watching the Mizukage, and identifying abnormalities in his chakra fluctuations.
Most importantly, he had never imagined that the Leaf Village would dare strike openly.
What if they had been wrong? Attacking another village's Kage was a declaration of war, a direct trigger for the Fourth Shinobi World War.
And this time, it would have been a war to the bitter end, drawing in the entire Ninja World.
Of the four Kage, Tsuchikage Ōnoki had the best chance of escaping.
Yet the Leaf Village had acted anyway, swiftly, cleanly, and without leaving a single opening.
Breaking the genjutsu controlling the Mizukage had