Chapter 237: Back Road
Based on Mei Terumi and her group's attitude, although Kakashi and the others found the situation unbelievable, they still led the Mist delegation into the Konoha camp. They were placed in the central area, under constant watch by several senior ninja.
The news of Kirigakure's arrival was immediately relayed to Jiraiya and Tsunade, who were attending a strategy meeting.
Without delay, Jiraiya and another senior member halted the session, citing classified matters, and returned to the Konoha camp.
When they arrived, Mei Terumi and her group—who had until then been silent about their purpose—finally began to explain.
"The Hidden Mist Village... no longer exists."
In the temporary command tent, all of Konoha's high-ranking personnel for this mission gathered—including Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Mei Terumi's first sentence, delivered in a calm and serious tone, caused a heavy frown to appear on the faces of Jiraiya and the others.
"In truth, our Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had been under the control of the Akatsuki's leadership for several years."
"The Akatsuki used him like a puppet, issuing strange and unreasonable orders that completely changed the policies of the Hidden Mist—attacking Konoha, closing national borders, even secretly embedding Akatsuki operatives within our ranks."
"We discovered the manipulation about two years ago. After Akatsuki's exposure during the Rain Village incident, they slipped up. That's when we realized the truth… but by then, it was already too late."
She turned her gaze to Naruto, her expression cold.
"Perhaps because Rain was destroyed, Akatsuki relocated their base to Kirigakure."
"Though they didn't have many spies in the village, they used other means to control the Mizukage. It went beyond illusion—they began winning over supporters within the village."
"When we tried to publicly expose the truth, we found Yagura had regained self-awareness. He declared openly that the Akatsuki was founded by him, and claimed he would lead Kirigakure and the Land of Water to become the strongest nation."
...
Akatsuki's interference triggered a civil war in the Hidden Mist, dividing it into two factions: the Mizukage's camp, led by Yagura, and the Elders' camp, led by the village's oldest master.
When the truth surfaced, conflict erupted.
Backed by Akatsuki, the Mizukage's forces secured an easy victory. The defeated faction, with no choice but to flee, scattered across the Land of Water, trying to regroup while evading pursuit.
Since it was an internal affair, they never sought help from external forces—hoping to avoid "inviting the wolf in."
But in doing so, they missed key developments.
"You've seen our numbers—only a few dozen."
Mei Terumi's voice remained expressionless.
"As the losing side, even with the Master on our side, few were willing to leave the village."
"We could only gather those with actual combat experience. The rest stayed behind, hidden in Kirigakure, waiting to coordinate with us when the time comes."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Our focus on regaining power blinded us to the world outside."
"To prevent foreign nations from seizing the opportunity to invade, the Land of Water concealed the situation, sealing off all outbound ports."
"No civilians left, and we, obsessed with reclaiming our home, didn't leave either. As a result… everything stayed locked inside the Land of Water. We had no idea about Akatsuki's true goal—or that they were gathering the tailed beasts."
"If it weren't for comrades who remained inside and risked their lives to get a message to us, we wouldn't even know about the Five Kage Summit to discuss attacking the Akatsuki."
Soon, she finished explaining the entire situation to the Konoha shinobi in the tent.
However…
Jiraiya, still doubtful, asked, "Then why come to Konoha first? Shouldn't you have gone to the Iron Country, joined the summit as allies, and shared all of this there?"
"Because entering the summit requires time-consuming procedures for verification."
Mei Terumi fixed her eyes on him.
"And we possess a critical piece of intelligence."
She glanced briefly at Naruto.
"Along with the summit's announcement, our agents passed along something else."
"Akatsuki's leadership suspects that, since their goals are exposed, the Five Great Nations may bring their Jinchūriki to the summit for protection."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And from the looks of it, their guess was right. The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is here."
Naruto's frown deepened.
"I assume other nations wouldn't leave their Jinchūriki at home either—which explains the unusually large shinobi army surrounding this summit."
Though they hadn't engaged with other nations directly, the Mist scouts had surveyed troop movements to avoid confusion.
Rough estimates suggested 30,000 to 40,000 ninja had gathered here. And most of them were no ordinary fighters—each had at least Chunin-level capability.
As Mei Terumi spoke, unease began spreading in the room.
"Akatsuki isn't just going after the tailed beasts anymore—they plan to target one of the summit factions. We don't know which, but..."
She exhaled slowly.
"Realistically, the most likely target is Konoha."
"As much as I hate to admit it, the strongest of the Five Great Nations is the Land of Fire."
"If Akatsuki were to destroy Konoha while most of its elite shinobi are away, the resistance they'd face later would be drastically reduced."
The moment her words ended, the atmosphere in the tent shifted instantly.
Murderous intent flooded the air.
Though Konoha's main combat force had gathered here for a direct assault on Akatsuki, their loved ones—families, comrades, students—remained in the village.
The heavy pressure broke past the tent walls, spreading like a wave, making both the Mist and Konoha shinobi outside tense with caution.
Still, no one moved. No attacks were launched. They simply watched each other warily, waiting.
After a long silence, Jiraiya finally spoke again, his tone calm but firm.
"Why tell us this?"
"This information doesn't benefit Kirigakure, does it?"
Mei Terumi didn't answer immediately.
Jiraiya took a deep breath.
"If you'd kept this secret, we'd still have followed you to Hidden Mist to fight Akatsuki."
"And when Akatsuki is crushed and eliminated from the game… it will be back to just the five of us."
"It's not exactly in Kirigakure's favor for us to maintain our military strength and territory, is it? So tell me—how am I supposed to believe the intel you've provided isn't just a ploy to distract us from Akatsuki?"
Jiraiya's gaze was sharp. Since taking office as the Fifth Hokage, he'd seen too many half-truths, misleading reports, and outright lies.
Even when it came to matters of national interest, those below him could still conceal the truth. So, he had no intention of trusting this information outright. Not without understanding the motive behind it.
Why would a nation they were openly hostile with suddenly offer help?
"It has to benefit us too," Mei Terumi said bluntly. "That's the only reason we're telling you this directly."
She didn't mince words.
"Back then, some of our Hidden Mist ninjas were sent to invade Konoha under Akatsuki's manipulation. They were nothing more than pawns, thrown into the fire and abandoned."
"Although they were defeated, many of them remain captive in Konoha. In exchange for this intel, shouldn't you release them unconditionally? If the information is accurate, we're allies now, aren't we?"
"Is that all you want?"
Jiraiya stared into her eyes, trying to read the truth beneath her calm expression.
"It's up to you whether you believe me or not," Mei replied firmly. "But according to our intelligence, Akatsuki will act within the week."
"We've traveled without rest to bring this warning to you, to do Konoha a favor. If you choose not to accept it, that's your decision."
"And those Mist-nin still in your custody? If Akatsuki truly attacks Konoha, I don't want them caught in the crossfire. They've already been betrayed once. I intend to bring them home."
With that, she fell silent. Everything that needed to be said had been said.
No one else around them spoke. The silence stretched until Jiraiya finally broke it.
"I understand. If your intel proves true, I'll release the captives from the Hidden Mist."
After the previous invasion, a large number of Mist-nin had been captured alive.
Originally, Konoha had intended to demand heavy compensation from the Land of Water to retrieve them. But the Water Country had closed its borders and shown no concern for the captives. As a result, they were left in Konoha—prisoners of war turned into forced labor.
Executing them outright had been considered a waste.
Instead, they were used to atone for their crimes—contributing to Konoha's manpower shortage, especially during reconstruction efforts. Years of hard labor followed.
While they could never truly repay the lives lost during the invasion, their work had long since covered the financial and material damages.
Releasing them now would not be a loss.
Without delay, Jiraiya used a special summoning communication technique to send a high-speed message across nations to Konoha. He explained the situation clearly and issued orders.
He contacted Maruboshi Kosuke, the acting Hokage in his absence, and instructed him to begin immediate preparations for defense and evacuation.
In Konoha,
After receiving Jiraiya's message, Kosuke didn't waste time on bureaucracy. He swiftly ordered an evacuation, discreetly relocating civilians to nearby villages and hiding them among the populace.
No matter how ruthless Akatsuki might be, even they wouldn't target innocent civilians indiscriminately.
Jiraiya had deliberately placed Kosuke in charge, instead of leaving things to the village's former advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. He knew their rigidity would only get in the way.
Kosuke, though still technically a Genin, had more than enough merits, experience, and battlefield honors to justify the role. Even the elders couldn't object. In fact, all three of them had studied under the same generation of masters—they were, in a sense, cut from the same cloth.
Back in the Land of Iron, after a series of formalities, the Five Kage Conference reconvened.
The once-vacant Mizukage seat was now taken by a striking woman in the ceremonial hat—Mei Terumi. Standing behind her were two figures: the elderly Genji, so old he lacked teeth, and Ao, whose face was half-hidden by an eyepatch.
"This is the situation," Mei announced. "We can now confirm that Akatsuki's core members are concentrated in the Hidden Mist Village. Even the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi—the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki—is in their hands."
Jiraiya's expression turned grave as he addressed the others. "We're not just facing Akatsuki's members now. We're also dealing with surviving Rain-nin and... Kirigakure shinobi under their control."
"Hold on a moment."
Before Jiraiya could continue, the Fifth Raikage, Darui, cut in.
He turned to Mei with a piercing look. "Godaime Mizukage, you said this intel came from your informants who risked their lives to get word out. So… does that mean Akatsuki already knows their base has been compromised?"
"Yes," Mei said without hesitation.
She shifted her gaze to the others. "Which is why we must act immediately."
"The distance from the Land of Iron to the Land of Water is significant. Even if we mobilize a massive force, it will still take nearly a month to reach them."
"Unless Akatsuki abandons everything and flees, they won't have enough time to evacuate fully."
After a short pause, her eyes swept across the room, voice steely.
"The Hidden Mist Village has made our stance clear. When the offensive begins, anyone in our village who hasn't pledged loyalty to us—will be treated as an enemy."
"Don't expect mercy. Don't expect betrayal of the alliance. Our bonds were broken the moment they chose not to trust us."
Her words were ice cold. She wasn't thinking about Kirigakure's standing in the ninja world after the war. That didn't matter anymore.
In truth, Mei and her aides had already accepted the cost.
Ever since Akatsuki infiltrated their village and used them as pawns, they had been in decline.
Over the years, chaos had swallowed the Hidden Mist. Bloodline clans were wiped out. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been forced into rebellion. Their foundations had crumbled.
From that moment on, the village had lost its former strength and prestige.
And now, with war coming, it would become the battlefield's heart.
They all knew—this place they had called home for generations… was no longer theirs to protect.
They had no choice but to abandon it.
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