Preparations

By the time Neji woke from a thoroughly satisfying sleep, it was nearly midnight.

Fortunately, this was a fairly large city in the Land of Water, and quite a few shops remained open even at midnight. After grabbing something to eat, Neji left the city and headed toward Kirigakure.

Kirigakure had yet to lift its lockdown. Every ninja in the village remained on edge, focused on guarding against the mysterious Masked Man who might appear at any moment.

Meanwhile, Kirigakure's leaders were holding a meeting at a secret location in the village.

Everyone present was a senior figure in Kirigakure, including Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, Genji, Mei Terumi, Ao, and other members of the village's inner circle.

Karatachi Yagura sat listlessly in a chair. He looked utterly defeated, as though all his vitality had drained away.

In the spacious conference room, the highly respected Genji sat at the head of the table, with Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, Mei Terumi, and the others seated in order on either side of him.

"Mizukage, you bear the primary responsibility for what happened in Kirigakure! All of this resulted from your carelessness back then!" Genji rebuked him coldly.

Karatachi Yagura had already explained the entire sequence of events. Back then, after discovering that an enemy had entered Kirigakure, he had carelessly gone to intercept him alone, only to fall under the Sharingan's genjutsu.

That was what had brought back the Bloody Mist, which had already been brought to an end.

"Genji, I understand. Once I've explained everything, I'll step down to atone for my actions," Karatachi Yagura said weakly.

"Hmph!" Genji snorted. "If you weren't the Three-Tails' perfect jinchūriki and reasonably powerful yourself, what you did during your tenure would be enough to warrant ordering you to commit seppuku!"

Karatachi Yagura remained dejected and said