Before deciding to release the Three-Tails and bring destruction to Kirigakure, Asahi had already calculated all possible consequences.
Once the Three-Tails ravaged Kirigakure, their military strength would be heavily weakened. With their forces diverted toward rebuilding and handling internal chaos, Kirigakure would have no choice but to withdraw from the Third Great Ninja War. In Asahi's eyes, that alone ensured Konoha's inevitable victory.
But he wasn't naïve.
Releasing a tailed beast inside another nation's village was nothing short of an international scandal. Should the truth come to light, Senmei Asahi's name would be synonymous with cruelty and bloodlust across the shinobi world. Konoha's enemies would capitalize on that narrative, using his actions to paint the entire village in the darkest light.
That couldn't happen.
Someone had to bear the full weight of the blame—and that person was Senmei Asahi.
So long as he carried the burden of the villainy, Konoha could wash its hands of the incident and maintain its reputation. With the current balance of power, Konoha wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of Kirigakure's downfall. The political theater could play out so long as the right scapegoat was in place.
Konoha would remain "righteous". Only Asahi would be cruel.
As a prodigy rising through the Hokage line, and someone who had connections with Shimura Danzo, Asahi understood the unspoken rule: so long as he protected Konoha's image, the village would protect him in turn.
Still, Asahi wasn't doing this for nothing.
After today's battle, he planned to return to the village with Nohara Rin in tow and present his version of the truth to the Third Hokage. The "truth" being this: Kirigakure had intended to seal the Three-Tails inside Rin's body and send her back to Konoha as a living weapon. Once she re-entered Konoha, they would unleash the Three-Tails to destroy the village from within. However, Asahi—by pure chance—had discovered the plan and, enraged by their cruelty, released the Three-Tails early, right in the middle of their own village.
To bolster that narrative, Asahi would point out that no ordinary shinobi could ever get close to a Jinchūriki. If he had managed to do so, it could only mean that Kirigakure had deliberately transported the Jinchūriki outside the village, confirming that they were in the middle of executing a plot.
There was truth in this claim. But in the world of propaganda, truth alone wasn't enough. It had to come first. It had to be loud. It needed to be supported by solid evidence. Without it, the other villages would unite in blaming Konoha out of convenience or fear.
Asahi had no choice but to become the villain Konoha needed.
If he succeeded, Konoha would gain not just military superiority but also political advantage. In exchange, he'd earn their trust. A shinobi who protects the name of the village even at the cost of his own reputation was an asset, not a liability.
And as for reputation… Asahi never cared.
Even if the world branded him a monster, this mission would catapult his name across the continent. With such exploits under his belt, and with Konoha now victorious, the higher-ups wouldn't dare act against him publicly—not after what he'd done for them.
That was why he hadn't fled right after releasing the Three-Tails. He stayed behind, cutting down Kiri-nin, taking on all the hatred and anger Kirigakure could muster.
After punching one Kiri-nin through a stone wall, Asahi leapt back, putting distance between himself and the group of seven elite shinobi in front of him—including Terumi Mei.
He wasn't foolish enough to engage them head-on. If he tried, he'd be dead in moments. But this wasn't a samurai duel. He was a shinobi—and a shinobi lives to complete the mission, not die for honor. Hit, fade, escape. That was the ninja way.
Compared to the calculated back-and-forth around him, the battle between the Three-Tails and Kirigakure was sheer devastation.
*Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!*
The Three-Tails roared with primal rage.
Unlike the short-tempered Nine-Tails, the Three-Tails had always been relatively docile. Had the Kirigakure shinobi not continued their relentless attacks, Asahi believed the beast might have slinked off to find a deep lake to hide in.
But every creature has a limit. Years sealed away in darkness, only to be greeted by a hail of ninjutsu the moment it was freed—the Three-Tails snapped.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Jets of high-pressure water exploded from the Three-Tails' mouth, gouging craters into the streets and smashing buildings like paper. Kiri-nin were thrown through walls or vaporized entirely by the concentrated blasts. And then came the dreaded Tailed Beast Ball, which leveled entire sections of the village in a single shot.
"You monster!" Mei roared, fury overtaking her composure. Her hands flew through hand seals as she activated her Kekkei Genkai.
A torrent of acidic mist rushed forward— Vapour Style ∙ Solid Fog Jutsu.
But before it could touch him, Asahi vanished with a flash—Flying Thunder God Technique.
He reappeared several meters away and shouted, "Instead of wasting energy on me, why don't you focus on the Three-Tails? It's doing more damage than I ever could!"
"Is that all you can do? Run and hide?" Mei spat, glaring.
"Would a coward release a tailed beast inside an enemy village?" he shot back.
"You…"
Though his taunts masked it, Asahi was troubled.
How had they identified him so quickly? Judging from the look in their eyes, the seven in front of him already knew he was the culprit.
There shouldn't have been any clues.
Unless… someone among them recognized the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki.
He glanced toward the captain of the Kirigakure unit and called out, "You know the Jinchūriki, don't you? That's how you tracked me."
The captain frowned. "What are you implying?"
"You knew your village was going to seal the Three-Tails into a Konoha girl and send her back as a weapon. But now that I've turned that plan on you, you want to play dumb?"
The man's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"So you deny it." Asahi muttered, voice cold. "Then you leave me no choice."
The captain gave a single order. "Kill him. Don't let him keep spreading lies."
The seven elite Kiri-nin charged.
But as they closed in, Asahi vanished again with Flying Thunder God Technique, reappearing atop the Three-Tails itself. The surrounding Kiri-nin looked up in shock.
"There's someone on the Three-Tails!"
"He's wearing a Konoha flak jacket!"
"Konoha released the Three-Tails!"
"Get him!"
Just as planned.
Standing tall, Qianming looked down at the chaos, his voice booming.
"Having fun down there?"
A shorter ninja with moss-green hair glared at him. "Is this Konoha's plan?!"
"Are you the Fourth Mizukage? You all wanted to release the Three-Tails in Konoha, didn't you?" Asahi called. "But Konoha's too far. You'd never see it burn. So I brought the fireworks here—to your front door!"
He pointed at the burning village below.
"Don't blame me. Blame your superiors. I just gave you a taste of your own medicine."
The response was immediate.
A barrage of Water-style techniques flew through the air, heading straight for him.
He vanished.
Reappearing on a distant hill outside the village, Asahi finally let his breath out.
"It's done. Now… how do I explain this to the Third Hokage?"
*****
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