Inside the Mist Village council chamber, the remaining shinobi of Kirigakure finally began to understand the truth.
So it was true—the Fourth Mizukage had been under someone's control all along, and it was that black-robed, white-masked intruder who had broken the genjutsu.
Shame and fury spread through the room.
They had all been used as tools, made to turn their blades against their own people.
Every heart weighed heavy with guilt—why hadn't anyone noticed something was wrong sooner?
The atmosphere thickened with remorse and disbelief.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, finally sighed.
"This disaster that befell the village... it's my fault alone,"
he said quietly, his tone filled with regret.
"I will take full responsibility for everything that has happened."
"It was my negligence that allowed myself to fall under illusionary control."
"Therefore, I hereby resign as Fourth Mizukage. Elder Genji will serve as acting leader until a new Mizukage is chosen to guide Kirigakure back onto the right path."
Elder Genji (元师) sighed deeply. His eyes were clouded with age.
He too bore guilt—for failing to see that their Mizukage had been enslaved by a genjutsu for so long.
"As the Fourth says," the old man spoke gravely. "For now, he shall step down."
"Our next task is to determine who that masked man in black truly was—the one who controlled the Mizukage."
He turned to Yagura.
"Do you know his identity?"
Yagura slowly shook his head.
He didn't.
The man had worn a mask—three figures had confronted him that day, but two of them possessed terrifying power. Beeefore he could react, he'd been subdued and even the Three-Tails sealed within him had fallen under the same genjutsu.
Still, Yagura remembered the eyes.
Those eyes that had cast the illusion upon him—he could never forget them.
"I do not know who he was," Yagura said firmly, "but I know the eyes he used—they were Sharingan."
The entire chamber froze.
The Mist shinobi's faces turned grim.
They had fought the Uchiha Clan before—during the Third Great Ninja War—and they had not forgotten the fearsome power of their Fire Release and Genjutsu.
Even with Water Style as a natural counter, the Mist had barely held their own.
What unsettled them most now was that the Uchiha seemed to be rising again—regaining their lost glory.
Rumors had already reached even Kirigakure of a terrifying new genius among them—Uchiha Ryosuke.
A man who had shaken the ninja world, a single warrior who could stand against entire villages.
One shinobi hesitated, then spoke:
"Could it be that Uchiha prodigy—Ryosuke? The one who supposedly awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Maybe he was the one who controlled both the Mizukage and the Three-Tails with his illusion!"
The others murmured. It almost made sense.
After all, the Mangekyō Sharingan was said to wield godlike power—its illusions capable of bending even bijū to one's will.
Even Uchiha Madara, the man who rivaled the "God of Shinobi" Hashirama Senju, had possessed those same eyes.
This new Uchiha prodigy seemed to be walking that same terrifying path—someone who might one day equal Madara himself.
The Mist shinobi fell silent.
Even if they now knew who had done it… would they dare to seek revenge?
No. Against someone that powerful—revenge would be suicide.
Beeut Yagura shook his head, deep in thought.
"It may not have been Uchiha Ryosuke," he said.
"That boy has only risen to fame in recent years… yet I have been under genjutsu for far longer than that."
"When I was first controlled, Ryosuke would have still been a child."
Elder Genji nodded in agreement.
"That's true. It couldn't have been him. Beeut if someone of that caliber ever turned against Kirigakure… it would spell disaster for the entire village."
He sighed again. There were only ever two shinobi known to stand against entire nations alone—Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
Their strength transcended the boundaries of reason, their battles reshaping the very landscape.
Even the legendary Third Raikage, who had once held off ten thousand enemy shinobi alone, was no equal to those two.
And in his heart, Elder Genji was already suspecting who the true culprit was.
"Perhaps," he said gravely, "the one who controlled the Mizukage is the same person who controlled the Nine-Tails during its attack on Konoha."
"If he could subdue the Nine-Tails with his Sharingan, then controlling the Three-Tails would be nothing to him."
The other shinobi murmured in agreement.
That explanation fit perfectly.
After all, the reports from Konoha had long since cleared the Uchiha Clan of blame for the Nine-Tails' rampage.
So this mysterious enemy couldn't be an Uchiha at all.
He was something else entirely—a manipulator hiding behind a mask.
"So it's him again," one of the Mist shinobi muttered angrily. "The same fiend who brought chaos to Konoha now turned his eyes on us…"
Beeut no one knew who hid behind that orange mask. The information from Konoha was scarce, and his identity remained shrouded in darkness.
Elder Genji turned back to Yagura.
"And what of the other man—the one in the black cloak and white mask? The one who freed you?"
Yagura shook his head again.
"I don't know either. When the illusion was broken, I was already unconscious."
Elder Genji sighed.
"So even the savior's identity remains unknown…?"
Still, it didn't matter for now. Whoever he was, he had saved the village—not destroyed it. For that, the Mist owed him gratitude.
Now was the time to rebuild—not to question miracles.
Meanwhile, Ryosuke had not used the space-time ability of his right Mangekyō eye. Instead, he quickened his pace, retracing his steps all the way back to the port where he'd first arrived.
There, waiting on the docks, were Zabuza Momochi and Haku.
The moment Zabuza saw the man in black with the white mask, his heart skipped.
"How did it go?" he asked eagerly.
"Did you manage to free the Fourth Mizukage from the genjutsu?"
Ryosuke gave a slight nod.
"Naturally."
He reached into his system's storage space and withdrew a sealed crystal bottle—within it, the Three-Tails, looking like a giant turtle, lay subdued and silent.
The beast opened one massive eye, glaring warily at Ryosuke. It didn't thrash this time; it had already tried that earlier, only to realize the seal was unbreakable.
Zabuza stared into the bottle, awe filling his eyes.
There was no mistake—that was the Three-Tails.
That meant this masked man had truly freed Yagura.
Without hesitation, Zabuza dropped to one knee.
"Lord God-King," he said solemnly, his voice filled with conviction,
"from this day forward, I will serve your organization with absolute loyalty."
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