"Lord Mizukage."
Mei stepped out of the crowd, her face steady and unshaken, her resolve unwavering.
"Terumi Mei Mei, I had high hopes for you,"
Yagura said with a tinge of regret. "Barring surprises, after my death you would have been the next Mizukage."
Ordinary genjutsu control makes the victim look like a puppet on strings.
But the Mangekyō Sharingan is different—it preserves the target's usual demeanor to the greatest extent.
From the outside, you can hardly tell anything's wrong.
"Lord Mizukage, are those words truly your own will—or the will of the one behind you?"
Mei asked coolly.
"What are you talking about?"
Yagura's tone was even. "I'm the Mizukage—who would have the ability to control me?"
"If you truly are the Mizukage, then in these years—what have you done for Kirigakure?"
Mei paused, then said, "Ao used the Byakugan to check. The chakra flowing through you is abnormal."
The surrounding Mist ninja hesitated, unsure what to believe.
But facts spoke louder than words—
Kirigakure had indeed grown weaker and weaker.
"Sweet talk can't hide the fact that you've betrayed us today."
Yagura's expression went cold and he barked, "Seize Terumi Mei and the others. There will be a rich reward!"
He knew that if he kept talking, people would waver. Better to cut the knot cleanly.
The killing began.
Mei drew a deep breath.
Tonight, blood would flow like rivers.
The already frail Mist would suffer even more afterward.
But it was a necessary sacrifice.
Mei's eyes went hard and she charged Yagura.
The fight was tougher than she'd imagined.
It was her first time facing a jinchūriki.
On Obito's orders, Yagura entered partial Tailed Beast Mode straightaway.
Blood-red chakra blasted outward, extending and extending—
In an instant, Yagura turned into a three-tailed humanoid monster.
Before Mei could say anything, the others scattered.
Ao and Genji included.
By strength, they were far beneath Mei.
Better to deal with the other shinobi first, then come back and find a way to handle the Three-Tails.
Yagura flickered and slapped a hand toward Mei.
Water splashed.
A water clone.
Mei reappeared not far away, heart in her throat.
The speed of a partial beast transformation was terrifying.
Water Style: Water Formation Pillar!
Mei puffed out a stream of water.
In an instant it became a water meteor crashing down from the sky.
Yagura didn't dodge—he punched it apart.
The water sphere burst, but didn't vanish. It surged back, engulfing him.
Smoke billowed.
Mei felt no joy, because a vast, immeasurable power was brewing inside.
"Roar!"
A three-tailed beast—tortoise-like, yet vastly larger—appeared.
The Three-Tails, Isobu!
One of the tailed beasts that had once struck great fear into shinobi history.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!
Mei showed no fear. With a blur of hand signs, a water dragon coalesced in midair and roared forward.
Its presence and power put ordinary jutsu to shame.
Yagura swung his three tails and smacked the dragon's head aside.
As the head shattered, the body still forced Isobu back a pace.
Natsume nodded.
Worthy indeed of being the Terumi Mei who could blast back Uchiha Madara's Susanoo with a Water Dragon Bullet.
Facing a tailed beast, she wasn't the least bit cowed.
But Isobu's defense was monstrous.
And with Mei's current chakra reserves, at this rate she absolutely couldn't last.
She was young, after all—
Not yet at the desperate-to-marry stage.
Natsume considered, and by now the situation was clear.
If Obito didn't take the field, there was a sliver of a chance.
Because Ao was already preparing to dispel the genjutsu on Yagura.
He did it in the original story, too.
But only if Obito wasn't nearby—or was willing to give up the Three-Tails.
He hadn't left now.
Natsume narrowed his eyes, stopped sandbagging, and flashed in front of the Mist Anbu.
Sage Art: Water Style: Water Whip!
Ten water-formed whips cracked out, binding all the shinobi nearby with startling speed.
"So strong!"
Genji couldn't help marveling at the astonishing sight.
Holding one enemy in place for a moment isn't hard.
But tying down ten at once is a technical feat.
And no matter how they struggled, they couldn't break free.
A monster, truly—
To bring a simple Water Whip to this level.
Natsume shifted his shoulder, slipped past a long blade, and with a casual flick wrapped the attacker in a ring of water chains.
He walked as he worked, tossing loop after loop.
Wherever he went, Mist shinobi toppled, trussed up like game birds.
Mei caught her breath, noticed this, and a touch of gratitude softened her pale face.
Given his strength, he could have slaughtered them easily.
But he hadn't—he was capturing them one by one.
Clearly, he meant to help Kirigakure preserve its strength.
Mei shook off the stray feeling and stared hard at Yagura.
If this dragged on, she would lose.
Her only hope now was Ao.
As long as the genjutsu was dispelled, everything could still be salvaged.
Just then, Isobu-in-Yagura opened its maw.
A compact, rapidly spinning black chakra sphere appeared.
Its terrifying aura spread in all directions.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Mei's face changed.
The Mizukage Building stood at the heart of Kirigakure, its most populated area.
Using a Tailed Beast Bomb here—well, the consequences were obvious.
Even the Guard and Anbu went slack-faced with shock.
They hadn't seen one before, but they'd heard of it.
A forbidden technique of such massive scale—everyone present except Yagura might die.
In that moment, they believed what Mei had said.
But it was already too late.
Sage Art: Water Style: Water Severing Wave!
A hyper-pressurized, needle-straight water jet lanced from Natsume's mouth and hit the not-yet-formed Tailed Beast Bomb dead-on.
Before their horrified eyes, it sliced the sphere clean in two.
The next instant—detonation; a shockwave dozens of meters across rippled outward.
Sage Art: Water Style: Water Formation Wall!
Natsume appeared in front of Mei. From the ground up, sage-chakra-infused water spiraled skyward, wrapping almost everyone up inside.
But the nearby buildings—including the Mizukage Building—vanished in an instant, turned to dust.
Mei stared at his back, her heartbeat inexplicably quickening.
The rest stood stunned, hardly believing they were alive.
"Lord Mizukage, are you insane?!"
"He doesn't deserve to be Mizukage! He almost destroyed the whole village!"
"Lady Mei was right—he's absolutely under someone's control!"
"We can't keep killing each other!"
No speeches were needed. Once they took in the devastation around them, the Guard and the Anbu lost the will to resist.
All the buildings had become ruins; dust rolled in vast clouds, who knew how far.
They owed their lives to Natsume, who had destroyed the Tailed Beast Bomb in time—otherwise, the casualties would have been far worse.
In the original story, the Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb could blast away several mountains.
If it had fully detonated here, Kirigakure would likely be done for.
At that thought, Mei and the others were all shaken with lingering fear.
Their eyes on Natsume grew even more grateful.
In moments, enemies became allies; every Mist shinobi surrounded Isobu-turned-Yagura.
Though, faced with such a behemoth, most of their jutsu were useless—
Especially against Isobu, famed for defense.
After the failed Tailed Beast Bomb, Yagura made no move, merely stood and waited.
"Who's there?"
Mei narrowed her eyes at the figure dropping from the sky to stand on Isobu's head—Uchiha Obito.
He wore a black long coat and a tiger-striped mask, only his right eye exposed.
He hadn't joined Akatsuki yet, so there was no black cloak with red clouds.
"You're the one controlling the Mizukage?"
Mei's face sank as she asked.
It was too obvious.
No one could stand on Isobu's head without being attacked—
Unless he was the controller.
"I am."
Obito admitted without hesitation.
The shocking answer rattled the shinobi present.
"You've got to be kidding!"
"I thought I was loyally carrying out the Mizukage's orders—turns out it was some outsider!"
"Damn bastard! What were my two teammates' sacrifices for?!"
"All those bloodline-limit clans and shinobi who died all these years—how tragic!"
In an instant, everyone was furious.
"Hahahahaha!"
Listening to the uproar, Obito burst out laughing.
Natsume raised an eyebrow.
There it was—the classic Naruto set piece:
The Uchiha's maniacal-laughter show.
"Bastard!"
Even someone as well-mannered as Mei was incensed by his arrogance.
But she didn't lose her head.
After a deep breath, she ground out, "Who are you? Why target Kirigakure like this?"
Obito stopped laughing, but didn't answer her question.
His gaze swept across the shinobi present, finally settling on Mei and Natsume.
They had shone the brightest just now.
But to him, they were nothing to fear.
"Not enough!"
Obito clutched his chest and roared, "Your pain right now is far from enough!"
Mei heard the marrow-deep hatred and knew there was no talking. She was about to order an attack when Natsume took her hand.
"I'll tie him up. You stall the Mizukage and let Ao break the genjutsu."
"But—"
Mei had just opened her mouth when Obito cut her off.
Several massive thorn-trees tore up from underground and swelled at terrifying speed.
The nearest unfortunates were snared and instantly turned to hedgehogs, skewered to the trunks.
Blood rained down.
"Wood Release?!"
Mei's voice shook.
Genji and Ao were rattled too.
Wood Release reappearing in the shinobi world after so many years was shocking as it was—
Let alone in their enemy.
"Everyone fall back. He's mine!"
Natsume's hands flashed through seals.
Sage Art: Water Style: Water Severing Wave!
The water-knife from his mouth sheared through the giant trees.
Obito's eye tightened.
That jutsu had already drawn his attention earlier—but he'd thought the Tailed Beast Bomb simply hadn't solidified and was therefore fragile.
Now he knew the real reason.
The water blade was too sharp.
But so what.
Taking advantage of the dust kicked up by the trees, Obito vanished and reappeared behind Natsume in an instant, striking with a palm.
Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique!
Wooden spikes, sharp as blades, burst from his right arm and bloomed at blinding speed.
Obito could already see Natsume torn to pieces.
"Watch out!"
Mei's heart lurched and she shouted.
Too fast!
She hadn't noticed at all how Obito appeared behind them.
But then Natsume burst into droplets.
A water clone.
Obito's grin froze; he instantly turned intangible.
Natsume's spinning, water-edged right fist whistled through empty air.
"How did you dodge that?"
A hint of disbelief flashed in the Mangekyō Sharingan peeking through Obito's mask.
Kamui is the ultimate first-sight killer.
Any shinobi who didn't understand it would likely die or be maimed.
Someone who could completely evade it on the first encounter was rare.
His question was only natural.
"Nothing much. I know a thing or two about the Sharingan."
Natsume's voice was perfectly calm.
"Sharingan? So you are from Konoha. Are you trying to start another war?"
Hearing this, Mei's face changed and she shot him a question.
Though this Sharingan looked odd, its cold aura was unmistakable.
"Don't you dare bring up Konoha!"
Obito roared, spitting out a massive fireball.
With various boosts, the Great Fireball Technique looked like an S-rank jutsu, terrifying in might.
"Mei."
Natsume flashed through signs.
Sage Art: Water Style: Water Formation Wall!
A massive water wall rose to block the fireball.
Water and fire collided with a boom, throwing up a tremendous cloud of steam.
Mei understood Natsume's intent and immediately spun and lunged for Yagura.
The first priority was to dispel the genjutsu.
Once the Three-Tails joined them, defeating the masked man would not be impossible.
Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique!
Obito punched the Water Formation Wall, but instead of punching through, he hung there, deadlocked.
He frowned.
Why was this Water Style so absurdly strong?
Where had Natsume come from?
Obito retreated a few steps. In that case, he would use the Mangekyō to drag him into the other space.
Once there, no matter how strong he was, Obito would control the field.
With that in mind, he formed seals under cover of the steam.
Earth Style: Hiding in Rock Technique!
He melted into the ground and disappeared.
Natsume stood in place, looking around, pretending to search for him.
The next instant—
Obito grabbed his ankles.
The Mangekyō spun madly.
Invisible ripples of space bloomed.
Cruel triumph flashed in Obito's eye.
But suddenly Natsume slammed down a fist.
Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique!
Anything you can do, I can do too.
Razor-sharp wooden spikes punched clean through Obito.
Blood fountained.
"Aaaaagh!"
A scream tore out of him.
If not for the Hashirama cells, Obito might have died instantly and been unable to flee.
Intangibility surged again.
Natsume had no chance for a second strike.