Most of what was on the flyers was nonsense, but the explosive core of the news was true—after all, the Mizukage being controlled was a fact.
For Zabuza to return to Kirigakure and hand out such flyers was undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a blade, a move courting death—but at this point he could only trust Gusion, trust the perfect opportunity Gusion had created for him.
The two of them had a special way to stay in contact; just half an hour ago, Gusion told him he could enter Kirigakure and begin the plan.
Gusion assured him that during this window, none of Kirigakure's high-end combat power—Mizukage included—would be returning to the village.
And since Zabuza hadn't been gone from the Mist for too long, he still had a fair amount of prestige. In Kirigakure's dungeon there was still a batch of ninjas imprisoned—those who had rebelled with him back then—among them not a few elite jōnin.
All he needed to do was slip into the village, scatter the flyers, tell the villagers the truth, then free the faction that belonged to him from the dungeon, and he'd be able to seize control of Kirigakure's situation in short order.
Of course, those elders who stood with Terumi Mei would definitely jump out to denounce him.
Even if they knew he, too, had the village at heart, they would still try to exclude him. Why? Because their political stance had already changed.
In the early years, everyone in Kirigakure wanted the Mizukage's brutal rule to end; those elders might even have favored Zabuza back then. But now they had thrown in with Terumi Mei. They were just waiting for the Fourth Mizukage to abdicate, and then they would push Terumi Mei to the top.
That way, they would still able to maintain their lofty status in the Mist.
Which meant Zabuza, as a rogue ninja, naturally wouldn't be their first choice.
Zabuza, however, didn't care what those elders thought. As long as he controlled public opinion and won people's hearts, and had a batch of powerful ninjas at his back who would follow him, those elders' words would be no better than a fart—meaningless.
Sure enough, after he scattered flyers throughout the village, Kirigakure plunged into chaos. People in every street and alley were discussing the matter.
It had to be said: the Mizukage's faction had made a fatal mistake—namely, they hadn't told the villagers the truth about Yagura being controlled.
From the Mizukage faction's point of view, this was understandable. Yagura was the Mizukage; if word got out that he'd been controlled, it would be a humiliation. The Mizukage of the Land of Water—one of the Five Great Nations—being controlled by an outsider's genjutsu? How could that be tolerable?
For the nation's and village's face, they wouldn't let this get out; they certainly wouldn't let the ordinary ninjas in the village know.
From Yagura's personal perspective, he might have had a desire to atone and wanted to make the truth public, but the people around him would stop him, urging him to preserve the village's and the nation's dignity.
And Yagura would soon go along with that decision, because he wanted revenge against the Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara. In that case, the Mizukage's position and identity were still useful to him for the time being, which meant he also couldn't reveal the truth about being controlled.
Thus the matter was kept hidden—until today, when Zabuza exposed it.
The same matter, if announced by the Mizukage's faction would provoke a completely different reaction than having it revealed by Zabuza in this fashion.
In the former case, villagers would be angry, but they would also feel an extra measure of understanding and sympathy for the Mizukage.
In the latter, the villagers would feel nothing but anger and disappointment. They would think Yagura, for the sake of appearances, wasn't even willing to apologize for what he had done over the years.
In an instant, the villagers' anger cut them off completely from the Mizukage's faction. And how would they see Zabuza, this rogue ninja?
He was both the man who had once defied tyranny, stood up for the villagers, and rose up to correct the Mizukage's mistakes—and the hero who, even today, had not forgotten the peril of his homeland, braving the huge risk of his rogue-ninja status to return and tell the people the truth!
In just half an hour, the wind shifted in Kirigakure. The Mizukage and his people would never have imagined that while they were away, their home was being stolen.
Zabuza freed his old comrades from the dungeon—those who had revolted with him back then. When they met, aside from being moved, there were few pleasantries; they immediately began efficiently moving to seize control of Kirigakure.
It was clear Zabuza truly had high prestige in their hearts—and they were willing to trust him.
Bear in mind: none of them knew what the situation was outside. To an ordinary perspective, the Mizukage had only stepped out for a while.
If they broke out now and made a move with Zabuza, they were putting their heads on the block. Even if the Mizukage was no longer controlled, afterward he wouldn't lock them up again—he would execute them all.
Curiously—or rather, cleverly—Zabuza never told the villagers he'd returned to start a revolution or overthrow the Mizukage's rule.
From start to finish, he only said he was there to tell everyone the truth. The ninjas who followed him were only responsible for dealing with the people the elders' faction sent to try to control the flow of information.
In this way, Zabuza's image in the eyes of the people became even more solid and reliable—definitely not some rebel.
This, too, was part of Zabuza's plan—or rather, something he had agreed upon with Gusion.
Because if Zabuza openly rebelled, many would still refuse to accept it, and it would give people grounds to attack him.
So Zabuza planned to cooperate with Lord Calamity and put on a great show.
…
Amid earth-shaking roars, swathes of the wet woodlands collapsed as a mountain-sized monster barreled at Gusion. Its rock-hard body could not be stopped even by lightning.
Gusion had just used Mazuko to block a tail slash from Yagura when he saw Yagura—now transformed to the size of the real Three-Tails—gather a pitch-black sphere in his mouth.
In a flash, dark-red lightning crawled over Gusion's body, stimulating his cells and boosting his speed further. He side-stepped like a bolt of lightning, evading the Tailed Beast Ball's blast.
Boom—
The Tailed Beast Ball landed near Kirigakure. The ground swayed as a mountain-sized mushroom cloud rose, sending the villagers in the distance into a panic.
In this state, Yagura still retained reason and tactical acumen, but his fighting style had clearly become more impulsive and ferocious.
That Tailed Beast Ball—if it had strayed a bit and missed Gusion—would have hit Kirigakure directly and erased the ninja village.
The Tailed Beast Ball is the key that allows a tailed beast to serve as a weapon of last resort; not everyone can take it head-on and live. Within the blast radius, none of Kirigakure's villagers would have survived.
Seeing this, Terumi Mei's fair face beaded with sweat. Forcing herself to focus, she unleashed Lava Release, trying to ambush Gusion from the flank.
She didn't know if Gusion was doing it intentionally or not, but throughout the fight he had been moving in the direction of Kirigakure. If they kept fighting in that direction—
Even leaving Gusion aside, Fourth Mizukage Yagura, in his tailed-beast form with a colossal body, could make a mistake and cause casualties in the Mist.
"Big guys really are a pain."
After dodging the Tailed Beast Ball, Gusion rolled his sore wrist. Wrestling with a giant like Yagura, even with Ryuō coating, he'd be outmuscled—the size difference was just too great.
With that thought, he drew a finger across Mazuko's edge. A crystalline bead of blood appeared. "Summoning Technique!"
With a bang, white mist billowed, and a looming giant emerged amid the damp woods.
"You finally remembered your lord and master. That old hag of a White Snake was nagging me to death."
The gigantic Garaga shook its head, scattering the mist, and groused.
It glanced at Yagura. "Isn't that Isobu? Long time no see."
"This is bad… Our intel never said Calamity had a summoning beast this huge!"
Terumi Mei craned her neck to look up at Garaga, panic in her eyes. If this giant snake and Yagura both charged into Kirigakure, wouldn't the village be wiped off the map?!
Giant summons had always been weapons of war, mainly because ordinary ninjas simply couldn't handle them. With the advantage of their massive size, just a few rolls across the battlefield would cause severe casualties.
Sensing the colossal chakra in this snake, Terumi Mei's heart pounded. This was on par with the One-Tail, wasn't it?
Boom—!
Garaga wasn't summoned to chat. It quickly grasped the situation. Seeing the Three-Tails rushing at it, it charged straight in to meet it.
Two gargantuan monsters crashed together, the visual impact overwhelming.
Standing atop Garaga's head, Gusion couldn't help but sigh—Summoning really burned chakra. If not to cooperate with Zabuza's play, he would never be fighting the Mizukage in such a drawn-out way.
Thinking so, he immediately began slashing from Garaga's crown, siphoning chakra by cutting into the Three-Tails to refill his reserves.
Garaga was worthy of a millennia-old serpent. Isobu was a round, chubby giant turtle; as a long, serpentine creature, Garaga would lose in a straight collision. So after a single exchange, it immediately switched tactics, wrapping itself around the Three-Tails in a constricting coil.
In an instant, the two titans tangled together, rolling through the wet forest.
If the Three-Tails were wild, Garaga might just be able to handle it alone.
Unfortunately, the Three-Tails was under the control of Yagura, the Mizukage—who could use ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Isobu Great Waterfall!"
A low voice rumbled from Isobu's mouth. In a flash, an enormous torrent surged skyward, swelling violently. It almost tore Garaga apart.
The impact knocked them apart. They rolled across the ground repeatedly, bursting out of the damp forest and only stopping a kilometer from Kirigakure.
"Mizukage-sama, we have to pull the battle back!"
Terumi Mei shouted, but now it was even harder for her to intervene. Yagura had entered his ultimate Three-Tails form; he was simply too big. Her techniques could easily cause friendly fire.
She couldn't risk failing to hit the lightning-fast Gusion and instead melting Isobu's excellent armor. That would be aiding the enemy.
"I know. Black Tech—use that move! I won't let him harm the village!"
The Mizukage's voice was resolute. His sense of duty outstripped his anger. He realized that if they kept fighting like this, Kirigakure itself would be in danger.
"The original plan…"
Black Tech stopped mid-sentence. What plan? If Gusion destroyed Kirigakure, he'd be left with nothing.
Without hesitation, he Body-Flickered behind Yagura, took out an epic-grade, max-rated enhancement scroll, and applied it to the Mizukage.
At the same time, he pulled out a short-range teleportation scroll and enveloped himself and Yagura.
In the next instant, Yagura's colossal form warped and reappeared before Kirigakure, blocking Gusion and Garaga's path.
Feeling the Mizukage's aura surge again, battle-lust kindled in Gusion's eyes. "So there were still some tricks. Looks like destroying the Mist won't be that easy."
They were very close to Kirigakure now, and Gusion stood atop Garaga's head, so everyone inside the village could see him.
He deliberately raised his voice so the people in the Mist could hear as well, further shocking and enraging the Mizukage's group.
"As the Mizukage, I will never let you hurt my village!"
Yagura's voice came through Isobu, carrying a resolve to die if needed.
The people of Kirigakure had been through one upheaval after another that day. Having just learned the truth about the Mizukage being controlled, they were now facing an Akatsuki raid to destroy the village. Their emotions were all over the place.
Their eyes on the Mizukage were complicated, but sensing the resolve in his words gave them a different kind of reassurance.
"Nice eyes."
Gusion praised as he met the Mizukage's gaze. "This is your strongest state, isn't it?"