"Honestly… that was one very, very long dream."
Lying flat on the ground with his hair scattered around him, the Third Mizukage slowly opened the eyes he had always kept narrowed. He stared up at the night sky, where the crimson fire clouds had yet to fully disperse, and spoke slowly in a somewhat rusty voice.
"If you're awake, then get up and face reality, Lord Third."
Rei Kaguya looked down at the Third Mizukage, whose entire bearing had aged greatly after being freed from the genjutsu, and said without the slightest courtesy,
"Although I don't know when exactly you were placed under genjutsu control, the fact that you, as Kirigakure's strongest shinobi, were manipulated by an enemy without putting up any resistance is already enough reason for you to be held accountable and judged."
"I know."
The Third Mizukage struggled to sit up. As he tidied his Mizukage robes, which had been left in complete disarray by smoke, fire, and dust, he sighed from the heart.
"I never expected that the one to save me from that seemingly endless Sharingan genjutsu would be a child of the Kaguya clan, a clan almost completely isolated from genjutsu… Truly, the ways of the world are unpredictable."
"Sharingan!? Genjutsu!?"
The Third Mizukage's words caused the Kirigakure shinobi present to cry out in shock.
Based on the Third Mizukage's extremely abnormal performance during the battle, they had already gradually begun to believe Rei Kaguya's claims. But when the Third Mizukage himself personally admitted it was true, the shinobi who had basically all grown up under his rule still felt a complicated surge of emotion in their hearts.
If Lord Third had been leading Kirigakure to this point while under the control of a Sharingan genjutsu, then what exactly were the ideals we learned under his teachings?
What was the will we inherited?
What were the sacrifices we made?
"Sharingan… is it?"
Unlike the surrounding Kirigakure shinobi, who had all fallen silent from the impact of that truth, Rei Kaguya, who already knew the answer, put on a thoughtful expression. Then he used the Summoning Jutsu to summon the large snake restraining Shisui Uchiha to his side and asked the Third Mizukage, who was still sighing,
"Lord Third, you said your mind was controlled by a Sharingan genjutsu, correct?"
"Ah, yes. No matter what, I could never forget those blood-red eyes hidden in the darkness. In an instant, they made me lose all ability to resist…"
At this point, the Third Mizukage's tone suddenly became filled with gritted hatred.
Even though he knew there was an enormous gap between his strength and the Uchiha who had controlled him, that did not stop him from feeling sincere anger and shame when speaking of the person who had manipulated him like a puppet for over ten years.
"W-Wait!? Someone used Sharingan genjutsu to control the Mizukage!? That's actually true!? This isn't a joke!?"
Shisui Uchiha's eyes widened.
Originally, he had thought this was just a lie Rei Kaguya had fabricated to deny the legitimacy of the Third Mizukage's rule.
But now, the Third Mizukage himself, the very person being accused, had publicly admitted that it was true.
The situation had changed so quickly that Shisui even had the illusion that he might have been placed under genjutsu himself.
"Of course it's true."
Rei Kaguya stroked the head of the large snake that was currying favor with him and said coldly,
"If not for this matter, the reason I would have used to attack Lord Third would have been that he refused all advice, acted against reason, and pushed the village toward a cliff for his own selfish desires."
"How ambitious, Rei Kaguya…"
The Third Mizukage shook his head and sighed with deep emotion.
"You are only fifteen this year, yes? If I remember correctly, in the year I was placed under Sharingan genjutsu, you had not even been born yet… The younger generation is truly formidable. Truly formidable."
"Tch. You were controlled by genjutsu for more than fifteen years? Isn't that more than half of your entire time in office?"
Rei Kaguya raised an eyebrow, then turned to Shisui Uchiha, whose face was full of disbelief, and asked seemingly casually,
"Hey, Uchiha brat. Although you're famous on the battlefield as Shisui of the Body Flicker, your talent in genjutsu seems pretty good too, right? Tell me, if someone wanted to control a Kage-level powerhouse with Sharingan genjutsu for more than fifteen years, what level of strength would they need?"
In an instant, the gazes of hundreds of Kirigakure shinobi gathered on Shisui Uchiha because of Rei Kaguya's words.
"I don't know."
Shisui Uchiha snapped out of his daze. First, he shrank back slightly under the almost tangible killing intent in the eyes of the Kirigakure shinobi. Then he looked at Rei Kaguya with a complicated gaze and said in confusion,
"I originally thought that if one possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, which is a step beyond the three-tomoe Sharingan, perhaps it might be possible to do such a thing…"
"But even Lord Fugaku, who has the Mangekyo Sharingan, didn't seem to have much ability to resist you. If someone wanted to silently control the Kage of a village with genjutsu for so many years, the difference in strength between them would have to be at least as great as the difference between you and Lord Fugaku."
"But if even the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu can't do it, then what kind of power would be necessary…"
"Mangekyo Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan…"
The Third Mizukage listened to that term, and a look mixed with realization and confusion appeared on his aged face.
"Now that you mention it, those Sharingan eyes truly did not look like ordinary Sharingan… But a power above even the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
"Do you have a clue, Lord Third?"
Faced with Rei Kaguya's question, the Third Mizukage fell silent for a while, then nodded with a heavy expression.
"If we are speaking of an Uchiha who possessed power above even the Mangekyo Sharingan, I can only think of one name… The legend who stood at the peak of the entire Warring States era together with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and founded Konohagakure. Madara Uchiha."
"But Madara already died in the battle against Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End…"
When the Third Mizukage mentioned his ancestor, Shisui Uchiha could not help speaking up to remind him,
"How could someone who is already dead come back to life and interfere with the world again?"
"Hmph. For that question, you should ask Konoha's Second Hokage."
The Third Mizukage's face darkened, and his tone turned unfriendly.
"When the First Shinobi World War broke out and Konoha was besieged by various nations, he specifically developed a jutsu capable of reviving the dead, the Impure World Reincarnation. He even secretly threatened the Kage of each village, saying that if the war situation became extremely unfavorable for Konoha, he might consider reviving his dead elder brother, Hashirama Senju, and letting him resolve the disputes between Konoha and the other nations…"
"Pfft."
Rei Kaguya failed to control his expression and laughed in an extremely wicked manner.
As expected of the shameless and flexible Second Hokage.
You really had something, Tobirama…
"H-How could…"
Shisui Uchiha was stunned speechless by this information.
Only after a long while did he stammer in a helpless attempt to explain,
"B-But Lord Second has also been dead for a very long time, hasn't he?"
"He may be dead, but the forbidden techniques he created were properly passed down… For example, the Flying Thunder God Technique that Minato Namikaze specializes in. Wasn't that created by the Second Hokage?"
Rei Kaguya joined the topic at just the right time. After giving an example that left no room for rebuttal, he said lightly,
"Perhaps that Impure World Reincarnation was also recorded by him and passed down to someone among Konoha's higher-ups as a trump card to reverse the situation in a moment of crisis. Then that person used it on Kirigakure."
Shisui Uchiha fell silent.
This topic was already beyond what a nine-year-old child like him could answer.
Even if he was the pride of the Uchiha clan, even if he was a precocious genius praised at a young age for possessing a way of thinking like a Hokage, the huge gap in experience left him able only to respond to such sharp questioning with silence.
Seeing that Shisui Uchiha had completely fallen silent, Rei Kaguya temporarily let this child, who was alone in the enemy camp, off the hook. Then he turned to look at the Third Mizukage.
"As for exactly who controlled you with Sharingan genjutsu, Lord Third, we can leave that topic for when we negotiate with Konoha… So you should understand what you need to do next, right, Lord Third?"
"Naturally."
The Third Mizukage sighed, turned around, and walked toward the Kirigakure shinobi gathered around them.
"I will submit an application to the Daimyo of the Land of Water to resign from the position of Third Mizukage. I will also submit your name to the Daimyo as the sole candidate for the Fourth Mizukage… Finally, I will use the identity of the Third Mizukage one last time, announce the end of the war with Konoha, and head to the Land of Fire for the final negotiations with Konoha."
"Thank you for making such a sensible decision, Lord Third."
Rei Kaguya bowed slightly toward the Third Mizukage's back and thanked him in a calm voice.
"In any case, I am already destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame. No matter how I struggle, I have no chance of turning things around. Since things have already come to this, even if I bear a little more guilt and shame, my reputation cannot possibly become any worse."
"The future is yours now, Fourth."
The Third Mizukage's self-mocking words scattered in the wind.
Along with them, his spirit, his will, and his desire to live all entered a clearly visible countdown.
Rei Kaguya raised his head and looked at the brilliant starry sky, a sight rarely seen by the residents of Kirigakure, no longer hidden by mist.
The positions of the stars and moon showed that a new day had already arrived.
The final day of Konoha Year 48, together with the Third Mizukage, who was dragging his dying body toward the Mizukage Building, and the Bloody Mist policy he had carried out, had become the past.
And the first day of Konoha Year 49 would be recorded forever in the history of Kirigakure and the entire shinobi world as the beginning of Kirigakure's entry into a brand-new era.