In the Mizukage Building, Yagura was in his office reviewing dots. The soft rustle of papers filled the otherwise silent room as his eyes sed each page.

  Everything appeared normal.

  Standing silently beside him, as the head of ANBU, was Obito.

  This role was ve for maintaining his genjutsu-induced deep hypnosis on the Fourth Mizukage at all times.

  The bes of wearing a mask every day were being clearer to Obito.

  Not showing his face meant he could impersonate ahout the need for ninjutsu.

  Now his proficy with genjutsu had bee sed nature, almost imperceptible, like water soaking into the earth.

  The knowledge imparted by Madara and Bck Zetsu was being absorbed and digested at an incredible speed.

  If he met Masashi again now, he felt certain that the other wouldn't stand a ce against his curresu mastery.

  Unless Masashi, like him, had some god-tier mentor like Madara giving him special training.

  This time, he would defiurn things arouifully.

  Obito didly know what Masashi nning, but he was certain that Masashi wouldn't abandon the Uchiha 's matters. He would definitely e to Kiri to cause trouble after knowing what he to.

  Killing Masashi? Holy, he hadn't even thought about that.

  Putting personal grudges aside, their retionship was a strange mix of enemies-not-enemies and friends-not-friends. Killing each other hadn't bee necessary.

  To be ho, he had just wao punch Masashi for a long time.

  Suddenly, an ANBU appeared silently in the Mizukage's office.

  "Mizukage-sama, the White Ghost attehe Hōzuki 's ba night."

  "Uood," Yagura said. "Don't expose yourselves, stay on standby."

  The ANBU vanished, and the office returo silence.

  "What do you think, Tobi?" Yagura asked Obito.

  In his memory, Tobi was his most loyal subordinate.

  The Bloody Mist policy was something Yagura was forced to tinue due to the vilge's circumstances—even intensify.

  "The great s led by the Hōzuki still refuse to repent. They io resist to the end. For the future of the vilge, they must be eliminated," Obito replied.

  "I know they're a tumor." Yagura sighed.

  It wasn't difficult to wipe out the major s represented by the Hōzuki , but that also meant Kiri would lose maes a teiques.

  And such a loss would be irrepceable.

  This would t Kiri as the weakest among the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

  Of course, there were bes. Without those great s, oner ninjas would have upward mobility and the vilge wouldn't o rely on the Bloody Mist poliaintain its fighting power at the lower levels.

  Before being Mizukage, he hadn't fully uood it. Only after stepping into this role did he realize why the Third Mizukage had implemehe Bloody Mist polid what abolishing it would truly mean.

  "I o think more about this… I must carefully sider this matter…" Yagura didn't want to act against people from his own vilge, but he kime was running out. He decided to give them one more ce.

  Obito watched the se with satisfa. Who could say this is genjutsu? Even Shisui isn't as effective as this.

  This was the power he now wielded!

  Masashi, just you wait! The current me is nothing like before!

  Knock, knock.

  A knog sound echoed through the office, breaking the moment.

  "e in," Yagura said.

  The door opened, and a man walked in.

  "It's Ao, huh? You've been w hard tely. Sit down and talk." Yagura gestured to the sofa in his office.

  "Thank you for your , Mizukage-sama. Actually, the elder…" Ao hesitated as he looked at Yagura.

  The sudden rumors spreading in the vilge had deeply ed him, which was why he had e.

  But using the Byakugan to check the Mizukage would be areme act of disrespect, akin to drawing a sword on him. He hesitated to go that far.

  Once he did it, there would be n back.

  "I know." Yagura interrupted Ao's words. "So, I also want to have a proper talk with you… Tobi, step out. Don't let anyone disturb us."

  "Yes, Mizukage-sama." Obito dispyed the loyalty expected of a subordi that moment.

  Without a word, he disappeared.

  Yagura stood up, making Ao slightly nervous.

  Back when he became Mizukage under everyone's hopeful gaze, his exceptional leadership and shared political ideals were one reason, but the decisive factor was his strength.

  He had defeated every foe in Kiri.

  Yagura was the third shinobi, after Hashirama and Madara, to perfectly trol a tailed aeast.

  Perfect jinchūriki and perfect trol of tailed beast power were slightly different cepts.

  The former referred to a state of perfect coexisteh the tailed aeast, where the beast not only didn't hihe jinchūriki's abilities but actively assisted them. This wasn't a retionship of tainer and sealed being—it was a bond of true rades.

  The tter meant that regardless of whether the tailed beast was willing, its power could be used however the user desired. It was a master-pet retionship.

  Yagura possessed both, making him the stro jinchūriki of his era.

  It was rumored that the deceased Eight-Tails jinchūriki from Kumo also had this ability, but it was only a rumor.

  After all, that jinchūriki had already been killed by the White Ghost. Who knew when the Eight-Tails would revive?

  "Ao." Yagura sat on the sofa opposite, meeting his gaze. That look was one Ao knew very well.

  Ohat look had vinced him Kiri had hope.

  "Mizukage-sama, you truly haven't ged!"

  "There's no one else here. Just call me Yagura, like before, Ao." Yagura smiled bitterly. "You've probably cursed me a thousand times in your mind, haven't you?"

  "Fourth… no, Yagura, what happened? After you became Mizukage, what did you see? There are rumors spreading that you're being trolled by a genjutsu!"

  "Genjutsu, huh…" Yagura ughed bitterly. "Even rumors like that are spreading? Maybe I really am under genjutsu. After all, I 't believe I've dohese things myself."

  "Don't joke around, Yagura!"

  Finding that his former rade was still the same person, he didn't believe the rumors and realized how malicious they were.

  "If you keep pushing like this, there will be rebellion!"

  "The rebellion will be led by the great s, with the Hōzuki at the forefront, Ao," Yagura said, shaking his head. "Let me show you something."

  He walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a stack of dots.

  "Take a look at this."

  Ao immediately noticed the "Top Secret" stamp on the cover.

  "Yagura, my positio really suit this..." Ao hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed. After all, he had initially po use his Byakugan when he came here.

  He wasn't wrong though. While he was a trusted fidant of the elders, his official rank was merely that of a standard jonin, with no other titles or authority.

  Acc to ws personally enacted by the Seizukage that were still in effect, he wasn't allowed to view suents.

  "At this point, why does that even matter?" Yagura shoved the dots into Ao's hands. "In a little while, these dots won't matter anymore."

  Ao stopped resisting, sat back down on the sofa, and began reading carefully. The more he read, the grimmer his expression became.

  "This is... too eous..."

  The stack of dots tained nothing but the dark secrets of the major ninja s in Kiri. Words that could start a war within their own walls.

  It wasn't unon for ninjas to have skeletons in their closets, but what these dots revealed showed that the major s in Kiri had pletely lost all sense of restraint or reverence.

  They treated the vilge like their personal farm, h resources, monopolizing opportunities for adva, and exploiting oner ninjas to areme degree.

  This all traced back to the era of the Seizukage.

  That Mizukage, who loved war, had stirred up plenty of flict during his tenure, and the injas had taken advantage of the chaos to accumute immense credit and influence.

  However, while the Seizukage himself hailed from a major , he never cared about status wheing talent. He embodied the principle of "I have plenty of jutsu, let's see if you have the skill to earn them."

  While injas certainly beed, this was also the era when oner ninjas began to rise in number and prominence.

  By the time of the Third Mizukage, however, things ged. The Third's rise to power was rushed, and he cked the strength and prestige of his predecessor.

  As a result, he had to rely on the major s, which rapidly grew in porivatized key vilge institutions. This destroyed the core principle of retive fairhat underpinned Kiri's ninja system.

  Faced with this reality, oner ninjas in the vilge began to give up.

  After all, no matter how hard they worked, they wouldn't get a sira .

  So why bother?

  The Third Mizukage couldn't reform the s, so he decided to pressure them by ging the oner ninjas instead. This led to the infamous Bloody Mist policy.

  Over time, this policy deeply harmed the is of the s. By the time of the Third Great Ninja War, the number of oner ninjas had fallen to less than half of what it was during the Seizukage's era. Without enough oner ninjas, casualty rates for injas skyrocketed during the war.

  It didn't matter how many resources they trolled if there were no people left to fight.

  At the same time, the rese of oner ninjas toward the s only grew strohe divide deepened, and during the war, oner ninjas had even beguating to help rades in danger if they were from the s.

  Oher hand, injas, used to their privileged treatment, looked down on everyoside their s—oner ninjas included—sidering them crude, ignorant, and greedy inferiors by nature.

  From both perspectives, the other side was irredeemable.

  They lived in the same vilge, yet viewed each other as sworn enemies.

  The Bloody Mist policy had failed to produce the result the Third Mizukage wanted. But it couldn't be stopped either.

  If it were ehe quality of oner ninjas would plummet immediately.

  Thus, after the devastating loss ihird Great Ninja War, he khat the situation he had created would ultimately spell his downfall.

  So, he resigned.

  He certainly didn't want to bee the first Mizukage ter a civil war while still in office. That would be far worse than being purged.

  Ao gripped the dots tightly, shocked by the unspeakable as of the injas.

  The records detailed, how the injas had used their family privileges to seize resources, exploit oner ninjas, and suppress the lower ranks without the slightest restraint or morality.

  "Hikari was assigo the guesthouse?" Ao was stunned when he saw this line.

  "Just one example of many," Yagura said softly, watg his rea. "Keep reading."

  The guesthouse was inally meant for hosting fn dignitaries and symbolized Kiri's dignity. Over time, however, it had turned into a private club for the major s and had bee a pce of debauchery.

  Ao khat much, but he had no idea that many of the women there were the retives of "criminals."

  Regardless of the circumstances surrounding those so-called criminals, how could they involve i family members? These were people from their own vilge!

  And now, even members of the retly wiped-out Yuki had beehere.

  "This is madness..." Uo read any further, Ao closed the file. His hand trembled slightly. "It's plete madness..."

  "Not reading anymore?" Yagura asked, though his tone suggested he already khe answer.

  "No..." Ao hahe dots back to Yagura. "Do the elders know about this?"

  "Maybe they do, maybe they don't." Yagura tossed the dots onto the desk. "These people have been very discreet. These files were gathered starting from the Third Mizukage's era, and this is all we've mao collect."

  "All we've mao collect..." Ao felt a fire burning in his heart.

  If that fire were released, he wasn't sure what he might do. But he knew what would happen if the vilgers and oner ninjas saw this and unleashed their rage.

  At that point, no one would care about major inor s. No one would care whether every was guilty or not.

  If you were from a , you would have to die.

  The bloodshed would sweep through Kiri and soon engulf the entire Land of Water.

  "Ao, what do you think would happen if I abolished the Bloody Mist policy right now?"

  The answer was so obvious it didn't o be spoken. Seeing Ao remain silent, Yagura smiled faintly.

  "You came to see me for a reason, didn't you?"

  "...The rumors," Ao said after a pause. "The elders asked me to tell you that it's the Hōzuki behind them."

  "I know. And then?"

  "And then..."

  And then I was going to surprise you with my Byakugan—how could he say that now?

  Ao felt bitter.

  Not only was Yagura pletely unsurprised, but even if he were, Ao could no longer justify using his Byakugan.

  After all, Yagura himself wasn't the problem!

  Even if he had been under genjutsu trol, his as so far clearly showed that whoever was trolling him was someohin Kiri who had had enough of the s and wao destroy them to rebuild the vilge.

  At this rate, either the oner ninjas would disappear pletely, or the injas would all die out.

  Knoock.

  The office door was knocked again.

  Yagura frowned.

  "What is it?"

  "I'm sorry, Mizukage-sama. Konoha's envoys are here—they've been waiting downstairs for a long time."

  "Is it the White Ghost or Teleporter?"

  "Both of them, Mizukage-sama."

  "I see. I'll e right away. Take them to the cil chamber."

  After issuing his instrus, Yagura looked at Ao.

  "Ao, do you want to e with me?"

  "Yagura, I..."

  "Never mind. Stay here for now. Don't leave until I'm back. We'll talk more then."