At the moment the Third Mizukage died, something within Kirigakure changed.
After Yagura finished complaining about Coral Palm, he fired a signal flare into the air, lighting up the nation that was already engulfed in war.
Across the land, many of the Third Mizukage's subordinates were still fiercely resisting, except for a portion that had surrendered.
But it was all useless.
Because the great clans, the Kaguya, the Hozuki, even the Hoshigaki, had already made their move.
At the beginning of the coup, these families hid behind the ordinary shinobi, using those lower-ranked ninjas as expendable pawns to fight and die for them.
But once the Mizukage was dead, they immediately joined the battlefield to divide up the spoils of victory.
What had once been a fairly balanced battle turned completely one-sided with the addition of the bloodline limit users.
And just then, from the shadows, appeared Genji, who, apart from having launched one massive Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique earlier, had been silent the whole time.
He leaned on his cane and slowly stepped forward into the light, to the place where the Third Mizukage had fallen, where Yagura, Mangetsu, Mei Terumi, and a group from Akatsuki now stood. His trembling figure made it hard to believe this was the mastermind behind everything.
Kakashi's heart sank as he looked at the man. Tobi had told him earlier that Genji was essentially Kirigakure's version of Konoha's Danzo.
But unlike Danzo, Genji was far more skilled at hiding himself. Everything that happened had his hand behind it, and yet in every incident, he appeared invisible.
Thus, Genji was always the winner.
Genji looked briefly at the other Akatsuki members before approaching Tobi. Slowly, he said, "We've fulfilled our agreement. The Third Mizukage is dead. I wonder, what else do you intend to do?"
Tobi, seeing this, didn't waste words. He took out a hundred chakra converters from the Kamui space.
"This is the business I intended to conduct with the Mizukage. Can you, Genji, handle it fully on his behalf?"
Genji looked at the machines, his eyes flickering, "Chakra converters, is it?"
"From the reactions of the major ninja villages, this machine seems to be one of Akatsuki's ways of making money, they all bought it grudgingly, holding their noses."
"But what's interesting is, everyone who's used these machines goes completely silent afterward. Not a single complaint. That's… quite suspicious."
Genji stopped there and didn't elaborate further. Instead, he gestured to one of his subordinates, who handed him a Mizukage hat with the character "Four" on it. He passed it to Yagura.
"Yagura, you are now the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure. Major decisions should be made by you."
Yagura gave a bitter smile. Genji had already said this much, if he pretended not to understand, it would only make him look foolish.
He didn't hesitate further. Taking the hat, he placed it on his head and turned to Tobi, "I'll take your machines. Now, tell me, how much?"
Tobi thought for a moment, then replied, "Originally, I wanted to give you a discount, say, fifty million ryo for a hundred units. But then I thought, you're one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Selling it to you that cheap would make it look like I'm disrespecting the other three."
"So let's make it the same as Konoha, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure, ten billion ryo for one hundred units."
Yagura froze, a few dark lines appearing over his head, finally understanding the depth of Tobi's outrageous personality.
He said speechlessly, "The price increased twentyfold just like that? Why? Mr. Tobi, aren't we friends?"
Tobi immediately raised a hand in a "stop" gesture, "No, don't. I was going to say I'm friends with Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchuriki too. So if I'm not overcharging you, that's already me being merciful."
Hearing this, Yagura could only give a bitter laugh. Clearly, getting a discount was impossible.
He sighed and said miserably, "Mr. Tobi, you've seen the state Kirigakure is in. We truly can't raise that much money. Even if we ransacked every villager's home, it wouldn't be enough."
Tobi said, "Who told you to rob the villagers' homes?"
Then he raised his hand and pointed in a direction, "Yagura, remember where we went not long ago? We robbed those people. Don't say ten billion, even a hundred billion, you could get it easily."
"The only question is… do you dare?"
The bitterness on Yagura's face deepened, "Mr. Tobi, so that's your idea, you want me to rob the daimyo? You're trying to get me killed! You're really going to force me to do that?"
Tobi laughed lightly, "That's right. I'm forcing you. So what? Do you dare or not?"
Yagura's eyes narrowed like a cunning fox, "Since that's Mr. Tobi's wish, and since I've already received such immense favor from you, it seems I have no choice but to obey."
Tobi spread his hands, "In this matter, I'll allow you to shift the blame. You can take the chakra converters now and start using them, but the money must be ready later."
"To prevent any accidents, I'll need to assign someone to keep an eye on you."
Yagura hesitated, "And who might that be?"
Tobi turned his gaze to a figure standing not far from Yagura, Hozuki Mangetsu, who had been quietly trying to minimize his presence the whole time.
Tobi extended a hand toward him, his tone laced with persuasion, "Hozuki Mangetsu, are you interested in joining Akatsuki? You'll serve as Akatsuki's ambassador to Kirigakure."
Mangetsu froze, opening his mouth slightly to reveal his sharp, pointed teeth, "Why me?"
Tobi replied, "Why even ask? Because you're a genius, of course. Akatsuki loves gathering geniuses from all over the world. Otherwise, why do you think our name means Dawn of a New Era?"
Mangetsu didn't deny it but suddenly looked toward Kakashi, who was standing beside Mei Terumi, "I'm not the only genius here. Why invite me and not him?"
Tobi chuckled softly, "You mean Kakashi? I didn't invite him because his so-called genius is mostly hype. Deep down, he's just a useless piece of trash."
"Let me tell you a secret, Konoha loves boasting about itself. The things they hype up, strongest clan, strongest genius, strongest Hokage, all of it is so exaggerated it couldn't be wetter."
The people around them instantly showed looks of distaste.
Especially Kakashi, his dead-fish eyes rolled over and over. Obito had just insulted him, and by extension, insulted all of Konoha, in front of outsiders, no less.
This debt… well, maybe he couldn't settle it himself, but he could definitely tell Rin.
Meanwhile, Mei Terumi was also angry, standing up for Kakashi, "Who says everything Konoha boasts about is hollow? The Yellow Flash, the Black Fang, the Legendary Sannin, the White Fang, which of them was ever weak?"
Tobi turned to her with a smirk, "Then tell me, little beauty, which of those were bragged about by Konoha itself? The praise from outsiders and the self-boasting from within Konoha, don't you see the difference?"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 40 advance chapter through P@treon.