Yagura Karatachi's most powerful trump card had been broken just like that.
The bizarre result left him unable to believe what he was seeing.
Uchiha Madara's suggestion had damaged the Fourth Mizukage's self-control while amplifying his emotions. As a result, what should originally have been nothing more than surprise now left him standing frozen in place, completely dumbfounded.
Yagura Karatachi's strange reaction was so unnatural that Ying, once one of his trusted subordinates, finally confirmed that something truly was wrong with the Fourth Mizukage.
Over the past two months, he had used all kinds of evidence to infer the same conclusion, repeatedly verifying Lord Yoru's claim.
Yet deep in his heart, a final trace of hope had remained.
Perhaps it wasn't the Fourth Mizukage's fault.
Perhaps the people around him were deceiving him.
The probability was small, but it was still possible...
However, when Yagura Karatachi appeared before him and displayed such abnormal sluggishness, Ying could no longer find any excuse to convince himself.
He released a deep sigh.
With a light push from his feet, he instantly vanished from where he stood.
Lord Yoru had given him a new body, taught him senjutsu, and granted him the opportunity to save his clan.
He should naturally risk his life for Lord Yoru.
Besides, as a dead man, he couldn't truly lose his life anyway.
What was there to hesitate about?
Boom!
Amid the explosive roar, Ying slammed into Yagura Karatachi and sent him flying high into the air, knocking him back into the white steam.
Ying immediately pursued him inside.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, was an extremely powerful Kage-level ninja.
He possessed exceptional skill in both taijutsu and ninjutsu. Aside from being slightly weaker in genjutsu, he had almost no shortcomings.
Although Ying's strength had increased to a certain extent, most of that improvement was concentrated in large-scale senjutsu.
In a one-on-one battle, he was still no match for Yagura Karatachi.
Therefore, he chose to fight within the range of Uchiha Yoru's ninjutsu, an area completely covered by the fireball bombardment.
Within that region, his indestructible Edo Tensei body could gain the greatest possible advantage.
Ying's sudden assault dragged Yagura Karatachi into the area covered by the fireballs.
That left the remaining Kirigakure ninja for Uchiha Yoru to handle.
Of the nearly one hundred Kirigakure ninja, only a little more than sixty managed to break through the wall of white mist.
More importantly, they had lost all organization, and none of the ninja around them were familiar teammates.
When Kirigakure ninja found themselves surrounded by unfamiliar ninja from the same village, their wariness toward one another reached its peak.
It even surpassed their vigilance toward Uchiha Yoru.
Several Kirigakure ninja were holding kunai, and fresh blood was still dripping from the sharpened weapons.
Clearly, during their escape from the fireball-covered area, they had attacked their own companions.
The number of Kirigakure ninja who had died from attacks by their fellow villagers was probably not small.
Such a disorganized rabble was truly simple to deal with.
Uchiha Yoru used the Body Flicker Technique and suddenly appeared in the middle of the Kirigakure ninja.
However, by then, he had already completed a Transformation Technique and disguised himself as one of them.
Without the slightest hesitation, Uchiha Yoru swung the kunai in his hand and stabbed the Kirigakure ninja before him.
At the same time, he loudly accused the others first.
"That bastard used the Transformation Technique and mixed in among us!"
"Don't hesitate! If you hesitate, you'll be killed!"
"Kill!"
Uchiha Yoru's three sentences voiced the thoughts buried in the hearts of the Kirigakure ninja.
They awakened the greatest fear hidden deep within them—the constant threat from behind that had followed them throughout their growth.
The Kirigakure ninja selected to pursue the Yuki Clan were elites chosen by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
They were also the failed candidates who had come closest to success.
But more than that, they were unfortunate victims who had suffered countless betrayals and attacks from behind.
Uchiha Yoru had merely copied White Zetsu's disguise tactic.
The disguise itself was only a basic Transformation Technique riddled with flaws that couldn't withstand the slightest scrutiny.
Had this occurred during the Fourth Shinobi World War in history, it probably wouldn't have deceived even a single ninja.
But even the crudest tactic could produce astonishing results when used against the most suitable targets.
The moment the disorganized Kirigakure ninja realized that someone might stab them in the back, they immediately forgot everything else.
They drew all kinds of weapons and began attacking madly.
As long as someone wasn't themselves, anything that moved became a target.
If they couldn't distinguish the true enemy from the false one, then they would kill everyone except themselves.
Only then could they preserve their own lives.
Uchiha Yoru remained mixed among the Kirigakure ninja.
From the moment he triggered the chaotic battle until its conclusion, he fought continuously and, without question, became the final victor.
More than sixty Kirigakure ninja died in the internal slaughter.
Yet Uchiha Yoru personally killed only six of them—not even one-tenth of the total.
The sudden large-scale deaths of the Kirigakure ninja alerted Yagura Karatachi.
Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively abandoned the battle and retreated at maximum speed in the direction from which he had come.
His reaction was so fast that Uchiha Yoru was caught off guard.
By the time Uchiha Yoru dispersed the burning clouds that filled the sky and cleared away the battlefield mist, Yagura Karatachi had already completely disappeared into the distance.
As he abandoned the pursuit, the karmic thread connecting him to Uchiha Yoru also became thinner.
Once the karmic thread grew sufficiently fine, Uchiha Yoru could no longer perceive Yagura Karatachi's location.
Gradually, he could no longer even distinguish who stood at the other end.
The thread completely disappeared among the countless other karmic connections.
Uchiha Yoru suddenly felt his mind become perfectly clear.
It was as though a veil covering the world had been lifted, causing all his senses to become sharper.
His intuition told him that the Human Tribulation directed against him had already passed.
Uchiha Yoru couldn't help doubting it.
"That felt far too easy."
"Although the prelude to the battle lasted several hours, only four minutes passed from the beginning of the battle until the Fourth Mizukage retreated..."
"This was too simple."
"How could it possibly have been so easy?"
Several more minutes passed before the scattered Edo Tensei matter on the battlefield finally gathered together again and formed a complete Ying.
Uchiha Yoru asked, "Ying, I remember that you were also an elite jōnin."
"With the enhancements from the body I specially created for you, you should have reached the level of a Kage-class ninja."
"How did you lose so miserably?"
Ying shook his head.
"I believed that within the area covered by the fireballs, my Edo Tensei body would possess the greater advantage."
"But... he hid his strength extremely well."
Uchiha Yoru shook his head.
"Perhaps Yagura Karatachi didn't hide his strength."
"Perhaps he became stronger."
"The Yagura Karatachi I encountered today felt extremely strange."
"He was completely different from when I met him during the previous war."
"His reactions in battle were faster and more precise, but whenever something unexpected occurred, he became abnormally sluggish."
Ying stood up and frowned as he recalled the events.
"You're right."
"When I used senjutsu to freeze the sea, the Fourth Mizukage took at least ten seconds to react."
"By the time he gave the order to charge, the entire sea had already frozen into an ice plain."
"When his Water Mirror Technique failed, he also froze noticeably, although for a shorter time."
Finally, Ying recalled the battle in which his body had been shattered and shook his head.
"But when I fought him directly, every one of his movements was absolutely precise."
"His reaction speed was unbelievably fast."
"Even though I possessed an immortal body, and even though he still had to defend against the fireballs, I was beaten so badly that I couldn't fight back at all."
"Before you reminded me, I always believed that he had hidden his strength in the past."
"But now, it appears that Yagura Karatachi truly became more powerful."
Uchiha Yoru nodded.
"Within situations personally under his control, Yagura Karatachi behaves almost perfectly."
"But when something unexpected happens, he performs terribly."
"It feels very much like artificial intelligence."
Hearing the final term, Ying couldn't help asking, "What is artificial intelligence?"
Uchiha Yoru shook his head.
"That isn't important."
"What matters is that he personally came to conduct this pursuit."
"That decision is so absurdly wrong that it possesses no rationality whatsoever."
Ying suddenly thought of something.
He clapped his hands together.
"I understand!"
"It's the scope of the decision!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yoru also understood.
It was the size of the decision-making scope—especially the number of variables involved—that determined Yagura Karatachi's performance.
During a battle between two people, all the variables remained directly before Yagura Karatachi.
Even in the most disadvantageous combat environment, he still completely overwhelmed Ying.
When an unexpected development occurred within an operation, the number of variables increased greatly.
Faced with the sudden appearance of the frozen plain, Yagura Karatachi was unable to make a decision for a long time.
And when deciding his own course of action, the variables included everything related to Kirigakure and the Land of Water.
Under such circumstances, Yagura Karatachi made the most outrageous possible decision.
Exterminating the Yuki Clan was normal.
However, after the Yuki Clan survivors escaped Kirigakure, Yagura Karatachi actually abandoned everything in the village, led more than a hundred ninja on a two-month pursuit, and crossed more than ten thousand li to hunt down a group of missing-nin.
That was completely contrary to the responsibilities of a Mizukage.
His behavior displayed an obsession with achieving his objective no matter the cost.
Yet after being intercepted by Uchiha Yoru and Ying, and after nearly all his subordinates were killed, he still possessed a chance of winning.
Despite that, he didn't consider continuing the battle and instead retreated immediately.
Yagura Karatachi's behavior was extraordinarily mechanical.
As long as one mission remained incomplete, he was unable to switch to a higher-priority objective.
His obsession was inhuman.
But once the conditions for completing the mission disappeared, he didn't consider the current circumstances at all.
He directly abandoned the mission and retreated.
His decisiveness was equally inhuman.
Ying said hatefully, "If even I can see this, how could the Kaguya and Hōzuki clans fail to notice?"
Uchiha Yoru smiled.
"How could they possibly fail to notice?"
"But Yagura Karatachi's decisions align perfectly with their interests."
"They're probably only pretending not to see anything."
"Interests?"
"What interests?"
"Kirigakure is being destroyed. What could they possibly gain?"
As the clan head of the Yuki Clan, Ying couldn't understand Uchiha Yoru's words.
His coldly beautiful face was filled with confusion.
Uchiha Yoru explained, "You are a clan head capable of considering Kirigakure's overall situation."
"But the newly appointed clan heads of those other two clans are not."
"Look at the ninja who came this time."
"They should all have been fairly capable Kirigakure ninja."
"Yet there wasn't a single ninja from any clan among them, nor even one ninja who possessed a kekkei genkai."
"They were undoubtedly all civilian ninja."
"The Fourth Mizukage lost his mind and led civilian ninja into a desperate battle against the Yuki Clan, while the Hōzuki and Kaguya clans merely offered some assistance."
"They didn't need to endure any major losses."
"At the same time, by consuming the Yuki Clan's remains, they could compensate for the losses they suffered during two disastrous wars."
"Why wouldn't they be pleased?"
"Driven by such enormous benefits, what does it matter if the Fourth Mizukage behaves somewhat abnormally?"
"Isn't that an overwhelmingly fortunate development for them?"
After hearing Uchiha Yoru's deduction, Ying became so furious that his hair stood on end.
His flowing long hair rose strand by strand like black silk fluttering in the wind.
But soon, his black hair fell again.
His entire body deflated, and he became noticeably more dispirited.
He sighed.
"I'm already dead."
"The Yuki Clan is no longer part of Kirigakure either."
"If they wish to destroy themselves, they can do as they please."
"It's no longer something I can control."
Uchiha Yoru said with satisfaction, "Very good."
He raised his head and looked toward the frozen plain that had yet to thaw.
Smiling, he said, "Thanks to the Fourth Mizukage's abnormal behavior, my Human Tribulation passed extremely easily."
"What incredible lu—lu... fuck!"
Uchiha Yoru's smile froze across the lower half of his face.
Yet his eyes and brows on the upper half were filled with shock and incomprehension.
His entire expression became extraordinarily strange.
Maintaining that bizarre look, he stared blankly toward the frozen plain.
Ying was startled by Uchiha Yoru's reaction.
After carefully looking around and finding nothing, he asked, "Lord Zhurong, what problem have you discovered?"
"Did Yagura Karatachi return with Kirigakure's main army?"
A long while later, Uchiha Yoru released a deep sigh.
He muttered, "Cause and effect cycle endlessly. Retribution never fails."
"So this is where heaven was waiting for me."
"Damn it."
He turned toward Ying.
"Leave now."
"Go find the children of the Yuki Clan."
Ying frowned.
"Lord Zhurong, if there is some difficulty that cannot easily be resolved, allow this dead man who cannot die to bear it."
"I cannot die anyway."
Uchiha Yoru smiled helplessly and bared his teeth.
"No."
"I no longer dare allow you to participate."
"In the battle just now, I took a shortcut."
"To conserve my own strength, I borrowed natural energy from the underwater volcano."
"Now the retribution has arrived."
"After being disturbed by me, that underwater volcano is about to erupt..."
"This is my Earth Tribulation."
"Although your Ice Release is powerful enough to freeze the sea, it is far too weak compared to a volcano."
Uchiha Yoru extended his tongue and licked his dry lips.
Then he continued, "More importantly, you are a dead man awakened by the Impure World Reincarnation."
"Your very existence interferes with the laws of life and death."
"Who knows whether this retribution arriving so quickly is connected to the fact that I just allowed you to participate in the battle?"
He smiled bitterly.
"I cannot guarantee that allowing you to participate in the Earth Tribulation won't further increase the difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation."
Ying couldn't help asking in confusion, "Lord Zhurong, you possess the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"We can simply leave."
"No matter how powerful that underwater volcano is, could it truly harm you from a hundred kilometers away?"
The bitterness on Uchiha Yoru's face became even more obvious.
He said helplessly, "Of course I know that I can teleport."
"Therefore, if the Earth Tribulation wishes to threaten me, it certainly won't be through a simple earthquake or volcanic eruption."
"It will activate at a moment when I cannot accept the losses or cannot bear to abandon something."
"For example, Konoha."
"Or the island where the Tiger Unit is stationed."
"The most dangerous possibility would be the barrier lake in the Land of Rivers."
"These are all special places where I cannot afford to endure losses."
"They would force me to respond with everything I have."
Uchiha Yoru looked at the dumbfounded Ying and said faintly, "Even the oasis that your clan's children are currently approaching is a possibility."
Ying felt his mind spinning.
He couldn't help asking, "My lord, what exactly is this tribulation you speak of?"
"How can it lock onto you so precisely and activate at such a disgusting moment?"
Uchiha Yoru explained, "I am a cultivator walking the Immortal Dao."
"What I pursue is not simply overwhelming strength."
"I seek the elevation of my level of existence, ultimately achieving longevity and enduring life."
"My Immortal Dao undoubtedly defies heaven and earth."
"Naturally, it provokes a response from the world itself."
"Perhaps the world wishes to destroy me."
"Perhaps it wishes to test me."
"In any case, at crucial moments, my existence triggers fluctuations in fate and energy, forming what is called a tribulation."
"The word 'tribulation' carries meanings such as coercion, restraint, seizure, and extortion."
"At the same time, it also means disaster, calamity, and trial."
"It is quite fitting."
Ying only half understood, but he still felt that it sounded extremely profound.
He raised his thumb.
"My lord is truly learned."
Uchiha Yoru's face beneath the mask reddened.
Being praised directly for plagiarizing the words of others was somehow even more embarrassing than being exposed while deceiving someone.
Unexpectedly, after lowering his thumb, Ying looked at Uchiha Yoru suspiciously.
"What reason prevents you from leaving this place now?"
"Konoha isn't here."
"Nor is there anyone here connected to your interests."
"My children are also several hundred kilometers away."
Uchiha Yoru answered, "The River Capital is here."
"But that city has nothing to do with you, does it?"
"The city has nothing to do with me."
"But the volcano does."
"I caused this volcanic eruption."
"If the people in that city die in the volcanic disaster, their deaths will become sins from which I cannot separate myself."
Ying said disdainfully, "My lord, back in the Eastern Sea, you killed several thousand Kirigakure ninja as easily as chopping vegetables."
"I never saw you feel guilty then."
"Why can't you let this go now?"
"First, I was still weak back then and didn't possess anything close to my present abilities."
"Second, those Kirigakure ninja entered the battlefield fully armed and intending to kill."
"They were enemies who wished to eliminate me, and I killed them in return."
"No matter how many armed enemies I personally kill, I can remain indifferent."
"But if innocent civilians die because of me, my conscience cannot accept it."
"I understand."
Ying no longer tried to persuade him.
A leader who possessed principles that couldn't be violated was far better than a bastard with no bottom line.
He lowered his head.
"I wish you success."
"I will wait for you at the Rōran oasis."
At that moment, faint rumbling came from the frozen plain.
As a wave spread across the ice, layer upon layer of ice explosions appeared behind it.
The ice powder blasted upward and advanced like a wall, resembling the creeping artillery barrages of the First World War as it moved toward the beach.
Seeing this, Uchiha Yoru waved toward Ying.
"Go."
"The seismic wave is about to arrive."
"Don't allow yourself to become involved any further."
Ying respectfully bowed once more before disappearing from where he stood.
Uchiha Yoru turned his head and looked to either side.
He snorted coldly.
"The quality of Konoha's ninja has declined badly."
"They were actually beaten here by Sunagakure ninja who were even farther away."
He then raised his foot and lightly stepped forward.
With a single step, he crossed over the advancing barrage of ice explosions and landed upon the devastated frozen plain.
Then he began walking toward the River Capital.
This time, he no longer conserved his strength.
Natural energy and chakra continuously poured from his body and combined outside him, forming senjutsu chakra of the greatest possible power.
He began preparing an enormously powerful Sage Art.
His power projected outward, forming gigantic golden patterns across the frozen plain.
They resembled an enormous sealing formation that slowly rotated around Uchiha Yoru.
Illuminated by the golden light, Uchiha Yoru appeared as majestic as a god or Buddha.
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