Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"So, Lord Mizukage, you've abandoned your guests in Konoha and come all the way here just to ask for a cup of tea?" Yuan Shi asked again, seeing that Lord Mizukage was sitting still.

"Master, did you leave any clues about what happened at the port?"

Yagura, the tachibana manga artist, raised his eyelids and asked a question.

Regarding the port attack, if at the beginning he thought it was another assassination attempt against him, then Meguro's attack on Uchiha Munegen made him realize that this was not a simple assassination or coup, and that he himself was probably just a decoy, while Uchiha Munegen was probably the real target.

"Lord Mizukage, please rest assured, all the masterminds behind the port attack have been arrested in the village. You can go to the prison to interrogate them at any time." Yuan Shi calmly responded to Yagura's questioning, sitting there like an exceptionally short old tree with its roots deeply embedded in the ground, unafraid of wind and rain.

"As long as there are no problems! The village can't afford any more losses."

Yagura sighed softly, not pressing the matter further. He believed that since Master Yuan had said so, he shouldn't be able to give Uchiha Muneaki any opening to continue extorting the village. Changing his tone, he asked, "Then, Master Yuan, in your opinion, what attitude should we adopt when communicating with Konoha?"

Yuan Shi's eyelids twitched slightly as he looked at Yagura Karatachi sitting opposite him with great surprise. "Lord Mizukage, this is a problem you need to consider. I am merely someone whose body is half buried in the ground..."

"This is no joke."

Yagura put down his teacup, straightened his back, sat up straight, and said solemnly, "I have made the past situation clear enough in my letter. I have lost my freedom since five years ago. Please do not look at me with the eyes of the past. Of course, I know that it is difficult for you to say this, but Master, I have no time!"

"There's no time left?"

Yuan Shi opened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion. Did this time refer to the time he spent as the Water Shadow? Or was it some other time?

"I probably won't live much longer," Yagura Karatachi said frankly. "I was manipulated by that damned one-eyed manipulator for five years. Although I've broken free of his control now, my mind is riddled with holes. I can clearly feel my mental energy constantly draining away. I have at most a year left. If I fight with others and deplete my mental energy in between, that number will be shortened even further."

Short-term illusion manipulation will not cause much harm.

However, the fact that his mind was forcibly controlled by an unusual and powerful eye force for more than five years left irreversible damage to Yagura's mental world. Unless he finds a medical ninja of Tsunade's caliber, there might be some way to save him.

However, there is only one Tsunade in the ninja world.

Furthermore, Yagura Karatachi also lacked the will to survive.

He wouldn't actively seek death to escape responsibility, but he also didn't want to prolong his life to endure more pain and humiliation. If it weren't for the guilt in his heart that supported him to do something for the village in the last moments of his life, he probably would have died when he broke free from Obito Uchiha's control.

"Master, I am sincerely asking for your advice on how to deal with Konoha. I am destined to leave my successor with an extremely difficult mess to clean up, but I still hope to do my best to clean it up, even if it's just a little bit." Yagura Karatachi spoke in a low voice, but one could clearly feel the sincerity in his words.

Yuan Shi bowed his head and remained silent for more than ten seconds before slowly raising his head to look at Yagura Karatachi and said, "Before Uchiha Munen dies, do not antagonize Konoha, and do not plot against Konoha. That is my opinion."

"Then I can rest assured."

Yagura, a man of great relief, breathed a sigh of relief. "Master, I will do my best to deal with Konoha, but... I'll leave the future of the village to you!"

[Chapter 133 The Selection of the Fifth Mizukage]

"Is there really no way to help your body?"

Genji hesitated for less than a second before truthfully stating his thoughts: even though he was no longer the Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, as a Jinchūriki who could fully control the power of the Three-Tails, was still a valuable asset to Kirigakure.

"The medical ninjas have all examined me, and the village's medical technology is not capable of solving my problem."

As Yagura spoke, he picked up his cup again, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"Master, there's no need to worry about me anymore. Death is not frightening to me; on the contrary, it should be a relief. Rather than wasting time on such meaningless actions, why not make the most of my last moments? The selection of the Fifth Mizukage can now be officially put on the agenda."

On the aged face of the master, only wrinkles could be seen. The old man, who had seen many life and death, did not show much emotion. Starting with the first Mizukage, Byakuren, he had seen three Mizukage go. Adding Yagura Karatachi would not be a problem. It was just a pity that the fourth Mizukage's fighting power was wasted.

to be frank,

If we exclude Yagura Karatachi, Kirigakure currently lacks a top-tier fighter who can command the respect of the vast majority of Kirigakure ninja.

Even though the master was already considering abolishing the old practice in Kirigakure that only the strongest were qualified to serve as Mizukage, ninjas ultimately reigned supreme based on strength, and the weak were not qualified to bear the title of 'Kage'. As of now, there were only a handful of candidates for the Fifth Mizukage.

At present, the most valued characters by Master are Mei Terumi and Mangetsu Hozuki.

these two,

In Yuan Shi's view, he was the most promising candidate to succeed the Fifth Mizukage among the nearly ten thousand ninjas in the village.

However, Mei Terumi is a woman, and so far no female 'Kage' has appeared in the Five Great Ninja Villages. Master Genji is worried that pushing Mei Terumi to the position will provoke unprecedented fierce resistance. Kirigakure is really unable to withstand any more twists and turns and turmoil.

If Hozuki were to have a full moon...

That kid is just like the Second Mizukage, both in terms of talent and temperament!

The Second Mizukage, a war-crazed maniac, died alongside the Second Tsuchikage while fighting with Iwa ninja for spoils obtained from Konoha. At that time, the still-intact Genji was almost driven mad with anger. To sacrifice his own Mizukage for so many spoils was an extremely bad deal.

Therefore, he was very worried that Hozuki Mangetsu would be another Hozuki Gengetsu.

"The Fifth Hokage?" Genji pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly, still unable to make a decision. He turned his gaze back to Yagura and asked, "Lord Mizukage, who do you think is more suitable to be your successor?"

"Mei Terumi".

Yagura Karatachi bluntly revealed his preferred candidate.

"Isn't that kid from the Hozuki family good enough?"

“Full moon?” Yagura Karatachi shook his head. “The Hozuki family’s kid and I are not qualified leaders. People like us are more suited to charging into battle on the front lines, rather than sitting in the Mizukage’s chair and giving orders. We’ll only make things worse if we sit in this position.”

The Yuan Master nodded.

This is exactly what he is worried about.

"Compared to Hozuki Mangetsu, Kisame, Ringo Ameyuri, and Momochi Zabuza, Mei Terumi's leadership skills are the most outstanding." Yagura Karatachi didn't hold back his praise for Mei Terumi.

"I will carefully consider the matter of the Fifth Hokage. There is another matter, Lord Mizukage. Before you returned, the village had already completed the replacement of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki. However, this generation's Six-Tails Jinchuriki... cannot currently control the power of the Six-Tails well. If you have time, I hope you can go and take a look." Having temporarily put aside the issue of the Fifth Mizukage, Genshi brought up another matter.

Upon hearing this news, Yagura was visibly stunned. "Shimo-senpai... is already dead?"

Before Master Yuan could speak, he continued, "I understand. I will go and see this new kind when I have time. If possible, I will do my best to help him master the power of the Six-Tails... Since we're on the topic of tailed beasts, there's something I need to explain about the Three-Tails beforehand."

"I plan to release the Three-Tailed Beast back into the wild when I am about to die."

Yagura, in a calm tone, uttered something that was hard to calm down.

"why?"

Master Yuan sat there calmly, as immovable as a rock.

Having lived for so many years, what kind of storms hadn't he seen? The old man who had emerged from those raging waves had long since developed a strong heart. Yagura's words only made him wonder why such an important fighting force as the Tailed Beasts would be abandoned. It wasn't enough to make him lose his composure.

“I have lost control of the Three-Tails.” Yagura Karatachi answered Genji’s question with equal calmness. “Although the Three-Tails is still sealed inside my body, Uchiha Sogen should be able to forcibly control the Three-Tails to fight at any time. This control relationship may not be able to be broken until Uchiha Sogen dies.”

There is no point in training a new Three-Tails Jinchuriki before this happens.

Even without being told, Master Yuan understands this.

as predicted,

After listening to what Yagura Karatachi had to say,

Master Yuan fell into an even longer silence.

Even the Three-Tails has been stolen. Could this Uchiha Munen really be the second Uchiha Madara? But is there a second Senju Hashirama in the ninja world now?

The answer is no. Looking around, there are quite a few strong ninjas in the ninja world now, but no one can compare to the First Hokage. Yuan Shi knows what this means. It means that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Konoha will emerge from its slump and once again stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

"Lord Mizukage, I've remembered everything you said." Master Yuan nodded slightly, letting out a sigh full of helplessness, and muttered, "It seems I need to get Ao to remove that Byakugan as soon as possible."

"Master, let's call it a day for now! I still have to deal with the ninjas of Konoha."

Yagura Karatachi roughly estimated the time in his mind, stood up and bid farewell to Genji. Although he had entrusted Mei Terumi to be in charge of receiving the Konoha delegation, he still felt that he should go and see for himself.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The quiet and deserted Hidden Mist Village did not undergo much change due to the arrival of the Leaf Village ninjas. For a village that once had a total population of over 200,000, even though the population has been reduced considerably, the arrival of more than 100 people in Hidden Mist Village was like a drop of water merging into a pond, without causing any ripples.

The villagers of Kirigakure, under the oppressive rule, have accumulated a series of life experiences, such as restraining their curiosity, not talking too much, not meddling in other people's business, not trying to reason with the ninjas, and avoiding the ANBU when they see them. There are many other things to learn!

Even the arrival of Konoha ninjas did not attract the attention of Kirigakure villagers; the air here was filled with indifference.

The building complex in the northwest corner of Kirigakure Village

This place became a temporary base for the Konoha ninja.

At this moment, on the top floor of the tallest building in the complex, Zongxian was listening attentively to his subordinates' report in the spacious reception room.

"...That's roughly the situation! The situation in Kirigakure is terrible. The fact that it hasn't collapsed only means that the Kirigakure's military strength hasn't decayed yet. Right now, the Kirigakure are completely maintaining the village's existence by relying on violence, so that it won't be swept into that...that...Clan Chief, what's that saying again?"

Uchiha Akitarou scratched his head, racking his brains to recall the words he wanted to say.

"Sweeped into the dustbin of history?"

“That’s right! That’s it! Sweep it into the dustbin of history.” Uchiha Akitarou clapped his hands excitedly. “I heard you say that once before, clan leader, and I thought it was so cool. Today I finally have the chance to say it out loud.”

Did I ever say such a thing?

Zongxian recalled that he did indeed say that when he formed his own group in the clan, he not only used force to subdue these arrogant clansmen, but also used all sorts of random motivational speeches to educate them. It's hard to say how effective it was, but in the end, Zongxian achieved his goal.

"So it seems the situation in Mist Ninja is really not optimistic."

Zongxian pondered for a moment. If that was the case, then the bleeding and decimation of the Mist Ninja could be slowed down a bit. Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs was the most foolish thing to do. Completely destroying the Mist Ninja would only bring Zongxian a little more insignificant reputation, and for Konoha, a Water Country in chaos would not bring much benefit either.

War and chaos certainly mean a large number of mission orders will be generated.

But the prerequisite is that the ninjas of Konoha can benefit from this order.

How many people from the Land of Water could cross this vast ocean and travel thousands of miles to Konoha to accept a mission? Very few, almost none.

Destroying Kirigakure would only benefit the ninja clans of the Land of Water who hadn't joined Kirigakure, as well as the wandering ninjas drawn by the scent of blood. These people, after a bloody struggle reminiscent of breeding poison, might just establish a new Kirigakure...

Therefore,

In order to ascertain the true situation of Kirigakure as much as possible, and thus determine the extent of this bloodletting and bleeding,

After Mei Terumi left, Sogen immediately sent Akita Uchiha out. With the help of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan and the Yamanaka clan, Akita perfectly evaded the Kirigakure ANBU who were monitoring them. Akita used Sharingan genjutsu to gather a lot of information in the village before returning and reporting the information he had found to Sogen.

Zongxian patted his head to bring his wandering thoughts back, waved to Akitarou sitting on the opposite sofa, and said, "Akirou, you've worked hard. Go and rest! The information you brought back is very useful."

"Yes, clan chief."

Uchiha Akitarou left excitedly.

Even though he knew that the information he brought back was something that could be obtained anywhere, and that the clan leader's words were probably just polite words, he was still very happy. There were so many Jonin in the clan, and not everyone had the opportunity to be praised by the clan leader, even if it was just a polite remark.

The reception room returned to silence. Zongxian sat on the sofa, continuing to ponder how to replenish Konoha's losses by drawing blood from the Mist Ninja as much as possible without letting them collapse. However, his thoughts did not last long, as the arrival of a new guest interrupted his train of thought.

[Chapter 134: The Ninjas Who Have Been Engaged for Nearly a Thousand Years]

The visiting guest was the Fourth Mizukage, the nominal supreme leader of Kirigakure.

Yagura, who had just sat down, didn't rush to say anything. After looking around, he saw the chessboard and chess set in the cabinet. His eyes lit up and he took them without asking. He set up the chess set on the coffee table in the middle of the sofa. The skillful movements made Sogen's eyes roll slightly upward.

Can Gomoku (Five in a Row) become addictive?