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Yagura, who was nearly fully transformed into his Tailed Beast state, swung his massive tail toward Obito with a furious roar.
Yet the tail passed straight through Obito's body as if he were nothing more than a ghost, crashing heavily into the ground instead.
BOOM!!!
The deafening impact was accompanied by Yagura's agonized scream, the two sounds intertwining in the chaos.
Seizing the opportunity, Obito thrust a black iron rod straight into Yagura's shoulder.
The moment the rod pierced his flesh, Yagura—still on the verge of completing his transformation—was stunned to feel the Tailed Beast chakra within him rapidly dissipating.
Thud!
Before he could react, another iron rod stabbed into his other shoulder.
The dark red chakra cloaking his body, along with the armored shell forming over his skin, began to vanish at an alarming rate.
As the Tailed Beast's power faded, Yagura realized with horror that even his own chakra circulation was being disrupted.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One after another, the rods impaled him, pinning him mercilessly to the ground. Obito's single visible eye burned with hatred as he snarled:
"Why? Why would you do this? The war between Konoha and Kirigakure is over! So why did you capture Rin? Why implant a Tailed Beast inside her?!"
At this moment, Obito was no longer a shinobi—he was an avenger, consumed by wrath. Muttering to himself, he continued driving the black rods into Yagura's body, rendering him completely immobile.
These rods were no ordinary weapons. They were creations of the Rinnegan, forged from Yin-Yang chakra. The ones Obito wielded had been provided by Nagato.
Against a Tailed Beast, they were far more effective than Obito's half-baked Wood Release.
With just a few of these rods, Yagura—who had been moments away from fully transforming—was now helplessly pinned, unable to move or even circulate his chakra properly.
Despite his immense strength, Yagura was utterly powerless against the prepared forces of the Akatsuki.
"This was easier than expected."
The Deva Path of Pain cast a dispassionate glance at Obito, who was nearly lost to his rage. He made no move to stop Obito from venting his hatred on Yagura.
As long as Yagura wasn't killed, it didn't matter.
The rest was none of his concern.
Nailed to the ground with no means of fighting back, Yagura could only let out helpless cries of pain. His body was riddled with holes from the rods, blood pooling beneath him in a grisly puddle.
Though his wounds looked horrific, Obito had deliberately avoided vital points. No matter how much Yagura screamed or how severe his injuries appeared, none of them were life-threatening.
Yagura was a crucial piece in the Akatsuki's plan to destabilize the shinobi world.
Obito, despite his thirst for vengeance, would not recklessly kill him.
Moreover, he had an agreement with Nagato—and Nagato would never allow Yagura to die here.
---
Meanwhile, in Konoha…
BANG!!!
The office door was flung open as Shizune rushed inside, slamming her hands on the desk in urgency.
"Lord Advisor! The Hokage has received critical intelligence regarding the Akatsuki! She requests your immediate presence in her office!"
"Easy, Shizune. I'm on my way."
Standing up, Kazuki gave her shoulder a reassuring pat before heading toward the Hokage's office. Shizune hurried after him.
"Where did the intel come from?" Kazuki asked curiously. "After years of silence, has the Akatsuki finally made their move?"
For years, Kazuki had been waiting for signs of retaliation from the Akatsuki, yet they had remained eerily quiet—until now.
"Kirigakure."
"That confirms it, then."
The door to the Hokage's office was already open. Kazuki stepped inside, with Shizune quietly closing it behind them.
Tsunade sat at her desk, frowning as she scrutinized a scroll sent from Kirigakure. Hearing the door shut, she looked up and tossed the scroll to Kazuki.
"Take a look. The Akatsuki have begun their retaliation against Kirigakure."
Unfurling the scroll, Kazuki's eyes quickly scanned its contents before widening slightly.
"Impressive. I didn't expect the Akatsuki to be so bold—infiltrating Kirigakure directly to carry out sabotage and assassinations. And Yagura was severely injured while pursuing them? This report has inconsistencies."
After finishing the scroll, Kazuki rolled it back up and placed it on Tsunade's desk.
"You think the intel is falsified?" Tsunade frowned. "Kirigakure wouldn't dare send fabricated reports to deceive us. Doing so would risk alienating not just Konoha, but also Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. Yagura isn't that foolish."
"Yagura himself isn't foolish, but the problem is…"
'Is he even the same Yagura anymore?'
Kazuki had serious doubts.
Given Obito's vengeful nature and the Akatsuki's Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, they wouldn't just attack Kirigakure, nearly kill Yagura, and then leave it at that.
'That made no sense.'
It was far more likely that Yagura had already been reduced to a puppet, just like the Third Mizukage before him.
Tapping the desk with a finger, Kazuki warned Tsunade:
"Yagura is a perfect Jinchūriki. His strength is formidable. Two Akatsuki members—Kakuzu and Sasori—wouldn't be enough to severely injure him. There must have been others involved, yet the scroll makes no mention of this."
"So you're saying the report is true, but critical details were omitted?"
"But why would Kirigakure do that?" Tsunade mused. "If they wanted to hide the truth, they could've simply kept it secret. Why go through the trouble of warning us while deliberately concealing parts of the story?"
She couldn't understand why Kirigakure—or Yagura—would act so irrationally.
"What if Yagura has been compromised?"
Kazuki spread his hands, voicing his suspicion:
"If Yagura is already under the Akatsuki's control, then hiding parts of the report makes perfect sense."
"You can't be serious?!"
Tsunade shot to her feet, while Shizune gasped in shock.
Was the Akatsuki really this brazen?
Controlling the Mizukage himself—what were they planning?
"It's just speculation."
Kazuki sighed.
"This is merely my personal theory. Don't go spreading it around, or it could cause major diplomatic fallout. Without concrete evidence, accusing another village's Kage of being a puppet would destroy the fragile alliance between Konoha and Kirigakure."
Though it was only a guess, Kazuki believed the likelihood was over 90%.
The fact that Yagura had been critically injured suggested the Akatsuki had deployed significant force—possibly even the Six Paths of Pain.
With such overwhelming power, capturing Yagura wouldn't have been difficult.
And if they had him, why wouldn't they control him?
In the original timeline, the Akatsuki had seized the opportunity to manipulate Yagura after he was weakened by Amaterasu.
Obito, driven by vengeance, wouldn't pass up this chance—and neither would the Akatsuki as a whole.
Without the burden of Amegakure holding them back, the Akatsuki could afford to be far more ruthless.