From Kirigakure, a diplomatic vessel approached across the misty seas, carrying a delegation led by Karatachi Yagura, the young shinobi trusted by the village who had recently become the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails.
In the original timeline, Yagura was said to have fallen under Madara's manipulation, becoming the infamous "Blood Mist" Mizukage. But in truth, the story ran deeper and far more intricate than the fragments passed down through the Anime.
At this point in history, Yagura was not yet the Mizukage. His original dream had been simple and sincere to one day lead Kirigakure and protect it from the constant internal strife among its bloodline clans. However, the sudden and suspicious death of the Third Mizukage at the onset of the Third Shinobi War had left a power vacuum in the village. The instability, combined with Yagura's youth and lack of political support, made him vulnerable to external influence.
It was in this period of confusion that Madara Uchiha's unseen hand moved once again. Though long thought dead by the ninja world, Madara had already reached the peak of the Super-Shadow realm, his mastery of chakra and illusion so profound that even before awakening the Rinnegan, he could impose his will upon others with terrifying precision. He had agents scattered across the shinobi world, many of them disguised White Zetsu infiltrators who carried out his will in secret. While Madara rarely intervened directly in Kirigakure's affairs, he kept a watchful eye through these hidden operatives, waiting for the right opportunity.
That opportunity came after the incident involving Rin Nohara caused by Madara. At that time, Madara briefly seized control of the young Mizukage Yagura forcefully, using his immense soul power and genjutsu mastery to force the boy into causing the tragedy of Nohara Rin. Madara had already used the tailed beast as a tool once before, sealing it into Rin to manipulate Obito and provoke a chain of tragedy. When Rin's death released the Three-Tails, Madara's preparations ensured that it would next fall into the hands of someone he could tether to his illusory web.
By binding Yagura to the Three-Tails, which was under Madara's genjutsu, Madara accomplished his future goals. First, he ensured that Kirigakure's shadow level Mizukage would remain psychologically unstable, locked in constant inner mental conflict between his own will and the controlled beast's malice. Most importantly this could be done through the common origin between the tailed beasts, the Ten-Tails, and the Otsutsuki lineage, the true origin of the Sharingan Madara's illusion on the Three-Tails would persist even after his physical death, though weakened, unlike on Yagura a shadow level ninja. He could no longer directly control Yagura after his death, but his residual genjutsu on the tailed beast itself would linger, subtly influencing its 3-tails for years to come and allowing others with Mangekyo to use it to control 3-tails easily.
This manipulation set the stage for the tragedy that followed. When Yagura finally sought power to stabilize his authority and suppress the civil wars among Kirigakure's bloodline clans, and became Jinchurikki. The mental strain of housing the Three-Tails under that influence slowly corroded his mind, leaving him more susceptible to the next inheritor of Madara's will, Uchiha Obito, which was Madara's ultimate goal.
For Obito, who was just a Chunin, still young and far weaker than Madara had been, such manipulation was nearly impossible under ordinary circumstances. A Mangekyo Sharingan could influence or paralyze an enemy's mind, but to directly dominate a shadow-level ninja, especially one of Yagura's caliber, was far beyond its limits. Especially with one eye, Obito lacked the soul strength and chakra quality to control a Shadow-level ninja outright with unlimited recovering pupil power, even if he later became such a ninja fully this wasnt a reality.
However, because Yagura's psyche was already entangled with the Three-Tails' instability caused by Madara's lingering illusion, Obito did not need to subjugate him completely. He merely had to guide the conflict already raging within Yagura's heart by enforcing Madra's remnant illusion. Under that subtle reinforcement, Yagura the Fourth Mizukage would be in a weaker metal state and would be controlled by the crazy Uchiha Obito seeking revenge on Kirigakure, ushering in the grim era of the "Blood Mist," where Kirigakure drowned itself in paranoia and internal slaughter.
This, too, revealed a deeper truth about the limits of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Despite its fearsome reputation, it was not omnipotent. The anime's depictions often exaggerated its potency, but history and battle told a different story.
Even someone as skilled as Uchiha Itachi could only incapacitate Kakashi for a day using Mangekyo's exclusive illusion ability, a gap consistent with their difference in level, from Jonin to Shadow-tier. In contrast, Orochimaru, a fellow Shadow-level ninja, fell instantly to Itachi's gaze not because the Sharingan was overwhelmingly stronger, but because his soul had been eroded and his spirit unbalanced at that moment, due to practicing forbidden jutsu.
If Obito, possessing only one Mangekyō and still developing his strength, could have truly controlled a tailed beast and a Shadow-level ninja directly, then the balance of power during the Warring States era would have been far different. In that case, the legendary Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, would have surely fallen before Izuna Uchiha long before Madara lost to Hashirama.
Thus, the manipulation of Yagura was not an act of sheer ocular power; it was the result of layered schemes, psychological conditioning, and the remnant curse of Madara's genjutsu on the Three-Tails. A perfect example of how the unseen hand of the former Uchiha patriarch continued to shape the world long after his own death.