Three days.
It had only been three days.
In that short time, Mei Terumi had personally executed nearly a thousand Mist loyalists. It was a period filled with sleepless nights and nightmares, her only other task being to persuade the rest of her village to surrender.
After the war ended, many Mist ninjas naturally refused to simply surrender, especially after hearing that their village would be completely abolished. They gathered their forces and launched a rebellion against Mei.
Originally, they tried to contact Zabuza Momochi, but the man they had pinned their hopes on was busy doing the same thing: ruthlessly eliminating any of his own subordinates who resisted the merger of the Mist and Konoha villages.
Mei wished she could have just died at the hands of the rebels. But Yamato, the captain of the Hokage's personal guard, was watching her every move, forcing her to make an impossible choice: sacrifice the thousand rebels to save the tens of thousands of ninjas and civilians who remained.
The entire Mist Village had only three days.
Naruto Uzumaki had already obtained the roster and intelligence of all Mist ninjas, including the rogue ones. He had already sent for the Yamanaka clan to come to the Land of Water. Once they arrived, they would check every ninja, one by one. If any of them still held thoughts of resistance, Naruto would not hesitate to use his full power.
In a desperate bid, Mei had proposed that she become his personal Hokage guard ninja after this was over, in exchange for a more lenient condition. Naruto had agreed, but the alternative was terrifying in its own right.
The Law of Decimation.
After three days, if even one more Mist ninja resisted, then one person out of every ten would be killed. This applied to everyone—ninjas, academy students, and civilians alike. This grim regulation would be enforced for sixty years.
Even if a Mist ninja defected years after joining Konoha, the Law of Decimation would still be carried out. Only after three generations had fully integrated into Konoha would the law be abolished. There was a sliver of hope, however: depending on their performance, they might be shown grace and the regulation could be repealed early.
To ensure Konoha's smooth takeover, Mei had no choice but to act first. She sent her ANBU to round up the ninjas most dissatisfied with Konoha and had them all killed. Next, she dealt with the Mist ninjas known for their violent tendencies, using genjutsu and memory probes to identify those who refused to surrender. They were executed immediately.
Konoha's young Hokage was pushing too hard, leaving the Mist's leaders with no time and no other options.
Mei Terumi was on the verge of collapse. The Fifth Mizukage, who had hastily taken office amidst a civil war, now huddled in a corner, her knees hugged to her chest, her face streaked with tears.
Chojuro knelt beside her, his voice low as he delivered his report. "Lady Mizukage… Lord Genji has committed suicide."
"..."
Mei buried her head in her arms and sobbed.
Genji was a village elder who had supported Mei's rise to Mizukage. The eighty-six-year-old man had been there since the very founding of the Mist Village, but today, his life had come to an end. As someone who had helped build the Mist from the ground up, how could he possibly give up his identity to join Konoha?
Yet, he understood Mei's actions. He knew that back when the God of Shinobi and the Asura of the Ninja World joined hands to establish Konoha, the First Hokage could have easily unified the ninja world. He chose not to. If he had attacked the other villages then, the world might have been unified long ago. Thinking about it that way, it seemed the Mist Village had simply been lucky to exist for a few extra decades.
Chojuro took a scroll from his robes and handed it to Mei. "Lady Mizukage," he said softly, "Lord Genji's last words were in approval of our methods…"
"...I understand. You may leave," came Mei's muffled reply.
Chojuro bit his lip. He hesitated, then finally spoke. "Lady Mizukage, are we really…"
"You'd better not be entertaining any other ideas."
From a dark corner, a voice interrupted Chojuro. Yamato stepped out from the shadows. He had been assigned by Naruto to monitor Mei's every move and had witnessed her break down time and time again. He felt a flicker of pity for her, but his loyalty was to Konoha. The Mist Village was about to disappear, and its ninjas would be absorbed into Konoha. That was already settled.
During this time, Tobirama Senju had ordered the Root members to collect all of the Mist Village's ninjutsu and forbidden jutsu. Some were transported back to Konoha; the rest were burned.
Yamato looked at Chojuro and offered a soft warning. "Tomorrow, Lord Hokage's people will arrive to take over. If you don't want to put Lady Mei and the entire village in a dangerous position, it's best you don't say certain things…"
"...Thank you." Chojuro lowered his head and turned to leave.
Though he should have been filled with hatred for the Konoha ninja, Yamato's presence had actually eased some of Mei's burden. For example, a man like Chojuro, deeply loyal to the Mist but even more loyal to Mei, was willing to follow her in surrender. A ninja like him should have been reported by Yamato, or even executed on the spot. But Yamato had done neither.
Compared to the methods used in the Mist Village, the tactics used against the rebel army were truly cruel. Yamanaka Fu of Root felt no psychological burden killing a few rebel ninjas, especially with Tobirama Senju backing him.
On the first day, Fu announced the immediate implementation of the Law of Decimation, ordering the rebels to expose the waverers among them. One person out of every ten had to be turned over.
On the second day, Fu announced the implementation of the Law of Decimation again.
On the third day, Fu implemented the Law of Decimation once more.
This was because Tobirama had mentioned that there were too many surrendering ninjas. Konoha simply didn't need that many; they would become a burden. A war of unification could not be completed so simply. Bloodshed is the victor's anthem sung to the vanquished.
Even though Fu had killed nearly a third of the rebels, a result of Zabuza and Haku pleading with Tobirama and Naruto several times, almost one person in every squad had died. It was said that Fu initially wanted to kill seventy-five percent of them, meaning each squad would have had to hand over one resistor every single day.
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Three days passed quickly. The reinforcements from Konoha arrived. Almost the entire Yamanaka clan was there; even Ino had been sent. She seemed to be in a good mood about the trip, even greeting the young Hokage with a cheerful, "Hey, Naruto…"
"Ino!" Her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, stopped her. He turned to Naruto and said, "Lord Hokage, is our mission to check their memories?"
Naruto looked at the clan members Inoichi had brought and waved his hand. "Yes. You are responsible for checking their memories and digging out all intelligence from the Mist ninjas…"
"Lord Hokage!" Mei Terumi stepped forward. "Even if all our remaining ninjas are willing to join Konoha, their feelings toward the Leaf…"
"Don't worry," Naruto said with a reassuring smile. "I can understand their feelings. That's why I agreed to the Second Hokage's proposal of the Law of Decimation, to force them to achieve loyalty through their actions."
"Phew… that's good," Mei breathed, a small weight lifting from her shoulders.
However, the Yamanaka's inspection had just begun when a Mist ANBU suddenly resisted, lunging at Ino, who was in charge of checking him.
Slash!
In a flash, Chojuro was beside the ANBU, slitting his throat in a single motion. Blood splattered across Ino's face, leaving the young girl stunned. Chojuro, however, paid it no mind and immediately knelt before the Hokage. "Lord Hokage, this is just an ANBU habit…"
"It's fine." Naruto shook his head and slowly closed his eyes.
Just as Chojuro thought the matter was over, he saw Torune Aburame walk up.
"Since you are all joining Konoha, you must hand over all the intelligence in your minds. The Yamanaka clan will not look at your superfluous memories…" Torune scanned the crowd, slowly pulling off his gloves. "Mr. Chojuro," he said in a low voice, "you still remember Lord Hokage's orders, right?"
"...Do we start now?" Chojuro's voice was bitter. "Can we wait until the Yamanaka clan's inspection is over before we divide…"
"The Yamanaka are a large clan, and their work is very difficult. If we do this first, we can lighten their workload," Torune said, his face calm. "Alright, Mr. Chojuro. Lord Hokage has been merciful enough. You can go and ask now which ninjas are willing to step forward and sacrifice themselves."
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Bonus:
Yamanaka Fu: Lord Danzo…
Lord Danzo: What is it? Miss your old boss?
Yamanaka Fu: No, I just think you're a waste, Lord Danzo…
Lord Danzo: …You little…
Yamanaka Fu: We killed over a thousand people today.
Lord Danzo: Did Teacher have you slaughter the city?
Yamanaka Fu: No, we just destroyed the Mist Village. Thought we'd burn some paper money to let you know…
Lord Danzo: You wait, I'm coming over to see right now!
Yamanaka Fu: ???
Lord Danzo: Hiruzen is coming too!
Yamanaka Fu: ???
Uchiha Itachi: It is I who am coming…