(Imp.: I am happy to announce that I have finally finished this novel, and it is now complete on Patreon. I know many of you may have lost interest during the hiatus. I stopped uploading for a long time because, despite promising myself I would finish, I struggled to write for a while.
I picked it up again about 10–20 days later, but I hesitated to upload here on Webnovel out of fear that I might lose interest again and stop updating. Thankfully, I persisted! The final chapter was released on Patreon today.
Starting today, I will be uploading one chapter daily here. There are exactly 42 chapters remaining, with the story concluding at Chapter 265. You can now read with confidence knowing the story is finished.)
Chojuro, watching the scene unfold, instantly reached for the hilt of his massive sword, his expression hardening. The faint rasp of steel echoed through the tense air as his fingers tightened around the bandaged weapon. Naruto, standing beside Inoiki, instinctively flared his chakra—blue energy shimmering faintly around him—as his anger matched his comrade's. No one insults Konoha and gets away with it, he thought grimly.
Before the tension could erupt, Mei rose abruptly from her chair. Her expression was sharp, eyes narrowing in disbelief and fury. "What did you just say?" she demanded. "Our Kirigakure was controlled by one of the Akatsuki? What do you mean by that?"
Though clearly offended by Ao's current state, Mei's question carried genuine confusion. The mystery of Yagura's sudden tyranny—how one of their most promising leaders had turned the Hidden Mist into a nightmare—had long haunted her.
Even Ao, his lone eye straining beneath Inoiki's psychokinetic pressure, forced his gaze upward. Despite the crushing weight, that single eye burned with the same unspoken question that gripped the entire room.
Inoiki slowly eased his invisible grip, the crushing pressure of his psychokinesis dissipating like mist in the wind. Ao, freed from its weight, gasped sharply and stumbled forward, his hand instinctively pressing against the floor for support. Sweat drenched his face, his breathing ragged as he struggled to regain composure.
Inoiki's expression didn't change; his voice remained calm and measured as he looked toward the Mizukage. "Although what he did was merely to test my strength before you," he said, tone cold but steady, "he chose to provoke us—by insulting Konoha—just to gauge how far he could push me. That's why I'm leaving him alive and unharmed." His gaze flicked briefly toward Ao, the air between them still charged with unspoken dominance. "Otherwise, at the very least, I would have taken back the Byakugan—which, as you know, is the rightful property of the Hyuga clan."
A faint shiver rippled through the room at his words. Ao's hand instinctively moved toward his covered eye, his jaw tightening. Even Chojuro, standing nearby, felt a cold bead of sweat trail down his neck.
Inoiki did not directly address the question Mei had asked earlier. But she caught the meaning behind his silence. Straightening her posture, Mei exhaled softly and said, "We are sorry. We wanted to test your strength. We wanted to see whether your reputation was exaggerated—or if it truly reflected your abilities."
Her tone was firm yet respectful, her gaze steady on him. "And now we can say, without any doubt, that your image as one of the strongest in the world does you no injustice."
For a moment, her eyes softened, though the weight of leadership still lingered in her expression. She had seen power before—had stood beside and against many formidable shinobi—but what she'd just witnessed from Inoiki was something else entirely. To suppress one of Kirigakure's elite Jonin effortlessly, and with a mere thought... that was the kind of strength few in the world could claim.
"But," Mei continued, her tone growing serious once more, "what you said earlier—about our Kirigakure being controlled by one of the Akatsuki—I would like to know more about that." Her voice carried a sharp, earnest edge now. "What exactly do you know, Inoiki? That question demands an answer, not only from me as Mizukage, but from every shinobi of Kirigakure."
The room fell silent again, the mist outside thickening against the windows as if the village itself awaited his next words.
Inoiki's gaze settled firmly on Mei, his tone composed but heavy with the weight of revelation. "There is one person within the Akatsuki," he began, "who claims to be Madara Uchiha."
At the mention of that name, even the air in the room seemed to tighten. The faint sound of distant wind brushing against the windows filled the silence as Mei's expression hardened slightly, her eyes narrowing with disbelief.
Inoiki continued, his voice steady and deliberate. "Although we in Konoha highly doubt that Madara Uchiha could still be alive—after all, no man can survive for this long. More importantly, the records are clear: he was defeated and killed by the First Hokage himself. So it's nearly impossible for him to have survived." He paused briefly, then added, "But according to our investigation, the one who claims to be Madara was, in fact, the one controlling your Fourth Mizukage—Yagura."
The words dropped like a stone into still water.
"He was the one who turned your village into what was later called the Bloody Mist," Inoiki continued. "He orchestrated the slaughter of Kekkei Genkai users, twisted Yagura's will, and pushed your village into chaos. When we learned this, even we couldn't understand why someone of Madara's supposed caliber—or whoever hides behind that mask—would go to such lengths just to destroy Kirigakure."
He folded his arms, his eyes narrowing slightly as his voice took on a measured edge. "The only answer that makes sense is that he wanted to weaken you—just as he wanted to weaken us. Both Konoha and Kirigakure have suffered his interference."
He glanced briefly toward Naruto before continuing. "If you recall the Nine-Tails tragedy that happened years ago, you'll remember that the beast was controlled by someone wielding the Sharingan. It wasn't rumor—it was witnessed by many in entire village. The Nine-Tails was not acting of its own will that night. It was being manipulated by someone with dojutsu strong enough to control it."
Inoiki's expression darkened slightly, his voice dropping lower. "Only Madara Uchiha—or someone of the Uchiha bloodline hiding in the shadows—could possess such an ability. So we remain conflicted. Whether Madara himself truly lives, or whether another Uchiha has taken up his name and hatred, we cannot say for sure. But we in Konoha believe it is likely the latter—someone else from the Uchiha clan, holding a deep vendetta not only against Konoha, but against the world itself. Someone who intends to use the tailed beasts as tools to fulfill that purpose."
For a long moment, no one spoke.
The office was silent except for the soft hum of chakra flickering in the air. Mei stood frozen behind her desk, her red hair gently stirring in the faint draft. Ao's single visible eye widened in disbelief, while Chojuro's hand trembled slightly on the hilt of his sword.
The realization struck them all at once—the horrifying truth that their Fourth Mizukage had not fallen to madness, but to manipulation. Their village's years of blood and sorrow had been the result of a shadow's will.
Their beloved Kirigakure had not destroyed itself… it had been controlled.
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