Ch218. Carrot and stick

Yagura slowly opened his eyes and instantly groaned as he felt the weight of the world press on his beaten body. Or at least, he supposed he was quite trashed from all the pain his brain was registering when he tried to move.

'What the heck happened?' He sluggishly thought, fighting through his increasing headache while his eyes tried to adjust from their sleepy state. Suddenly, his mind stilled as he realized, 'I am... free? The genjutsu was lifted!?' His body instantly sprang up into a sitting position only to jerk in pain a second later, causing Yagura to whimper in even more pain.

"Easy there." An amused voice coming from behind him said before continuing, "Don't make any sudden movements. Your body has many cracked bones and torn muscles. Thankfully, your organs are fine and nothing important is broken but still, from the amount of damage you will be bedridden for some days yet despite being a jinchuuriki. Then again, you did eat a point-blank bijuudama before being zapped by such an enormous amount of lightning it would vaporize you if I didn't pull you out of there in time." An aristocratic-looking blond-haired man said as he finally entered Yagura's sight.

Yagura stared incredulously at the man, so sure he never ever met him that it even temporarily overpowered his guilt at having to watch his genjutsu-ed self order all those atrocities and wreaking havoc in his own country.

"Who?" He rasped.

Rei grinned and sat on a chair near the bed Yagura was placed on and handed him a glass of water. "Name's Rei. I am something like Ringo's boss." He shrugged at casually admitting that Kirigakure was now under his rule by proxy, causing Yagura to do a spit-take. "As you can probably tell, I nicked you before Ringo's attack could completely disintegrate you to smithereens. As for why..." Rei meaningfully paused, enjoying the questioning and wary look on Yagura's face before he grandiosely stood up, spread his arms wide, and exclaimed, "I deemed it beneficial to steal yet another jinchuuriki!"

'What am I? Some kind of toy?' Yagura mentally deadpanned. 'Wait... did he say... another?' His expression turned into an incredulous one.

Before he could continue that train of thoughts, however, Rei chuckled and sat down, continuing speaking in a mirthful manner, "That said... you don't really have much of a choice."

Yagura's back stiffened... and then the man went completely slack as if all tension suddenly left him while his body fell back onto the bed in resignation. His instincts alongside everything ingrained in him by the brutal training Kirigakure put him through were screaming at him to return the threat, to not just quietly take it, to... fight. And yet, his mind was far too exhausted to put up any pretense or participate in a meaningless power-play. After all, if he really discounted his feelings and all that searing self-pity... he really didn't have much of a choice, did he?

"What exactly do you want from me?" Yagura spoke in a resigned tone. "I won't aid you in harming Kirigakure. If that's your goal then you are at the wrong address."

"Funny... From where I stand you were doing a good job of exactly that yourself before we decided to intervene." Rei replied with a chuckle, causing Yagura to grit his teeth. "Don't even try to play a tough guy, Yagura. You are smarter than that. You are the first Mizukage who caused a civil war in his hidden village. And despite it being nipped in a bud, you will be remembered for as long as Kirigakure will exist. You," Rei smugly pointed at him, "are the bad guy."

Every sentence caused Yagura to visibly recoil and despite that, he stayed silent. Everything Rei was telling him was the truth. Both of them knew there was no way to claim being put under the influence of Sharingan. Firstly, the Uchiha clan and Konoha would be quite angry because of that... which would most likely mean Kirigakure would deny any such claim, and secondly, there was no way to prove it now that the Sharingan genjutsu was lifted. This was one of these situations where his rumored strength was playing against him. After all, how could somebody strong enough to become a Mizukage before even reaching eighteen fall for a Sharingan genjutsu? Especially a jinchuuriki who has a bijuu in him? A bijuu that would normally destroy any attempt at mind-control? Heck, even he had no answer for that!

Rei indungingly watched Yagura's expressions change at a fast pace while thinking, 'Poor sod, not even knowing about Mangekyou Sharingan. No wonder he was caught off guard by it.'

"Heh..." Yagura snorted, "Then tell me, what do you want? I am screwed either way." He stubbornly stared at the ceiling. Honestly, he just got out of months of being manipulated by genjutsu and now he had to deal with this shit...

"Technically, you are not screwed. You are simply presumed dead." Rei pointed out, enjoying Yagura's eyes narrow in irritation. "As such, your affiliation with Kirigakure is effectively over. Can't brand a dead man traitor, after all. Do you see what I want from you now?"

"No..." Yagura whispered, realizing why exactly he was having this conversation. "I am not betra-"

"Ah, stuff it." Rei interrupted, "Kirigakure is as good as mine anyway. Yes, I will let the clan heads run it because it is honestly a bother. Yes, I will make sure it is improved and many reforms are passed for the betterment of the village and its forces but I sure as hell don't really care about the village itself so it won't be the best it could. Yes, I am planning to get it up to par with Kumogakure at the very least but then again, that's for my own benefit. And lastly, I can also make a life for everybody in the village infinitely more difficult through Ringo. Let me tell you, any goodwill or sentiment she could have felt for her own village is now drier than the deserts in the Land of Wind." Rei watched Yagura's body subtly reacting to his words and was pleased that he had his undivided attention now. "So... do make this easier for both of us and let's make a deal. You will swear allegiance to me and my village. Naturally, it will be enforced through seals put on your heart. You must understand my reluctance in trusting you without these seals... Mr. Fourth Mizukage." Rei added mockingly. "In return, I will let you keep tabs on Kirigakure and compose reforms you think are needed for the village to improve. You will have a direct hand at making Kirigakure better. Plus, it's not like the loyalty seals have only disadvantages or you lose your free will. I want a capable ninja, not a slave. The seals will prevent you ever again from being manipulated via genjutsu. They will also adjust your bijuu seal and make it infinitely more comfortable for Sanbi which should completely calm him down considering his lazy nature. There are more benefits but, well, they are not really important right now." Rei shrugged and fell silent, letting Yagura digest what he just told him.

Yagura wasn't a novice in coercion and negotiations. He half-expected to be tortured when he declined so having the situation so blatantly shoved into his face was a bit disgruntling but still... 'When he put it that way...' Yagura bitterly thought. 'He was quite literal when he said I don't really have a choice, wasn't he?' Yagura realized. Damned if do, damned if don't. 'Oh, how I regret not becoming a baker rather than a shinobi!' He wistfully reminisced.

The sales pitch was extremely tempting for him in the current situation. He was a criminal on top of being legally dead. Showing his face would simply earn himself a quick addition to the Bingo Book with a high reward whilst causing more problems for Kirigakure as Ringo will either be forced to hunt him down AND present his severed head, or worse, a new civil war would be caused because of that. After all, if the deed propelling Ringo to the seat of the Fifth Mizukage turned out to be fake... yeah, Yagura decided then and there he would rather wear a mask his entire life.

If Ringo or Rei deemed Kirigakure 'not worth the effort', well, let's just say Yagura didn't really want to see how many fools would attempt fighting against Ringo and get slaughtered for it. Considering the average intelligence level of clan heads, the damage to the village would probably be irreparable.

Hence, stick.

On the other hand, Rei was offering him a chance to do the sole thing why he even became a Mizukage. He was offering him a chance to fulfill his dream. A chance to reform Kirigakure according to his wishes. Admittedly, it was not much but in his situation? It was more than he could ask for. And if he did a good job... maybe, just maybe he could alleviate at least some fraction of the guilt he felt inside for what his manipulated self caused.

Hence, carrot.

"Fine." Yagura answered after being quiet for half an hour of considering his options. "I will join you."

Rei smirked, 'All according to the plan. I did promise Ao to improve Kirigakure and I would loathe putting such a task on the shoulders of one of my girls or, god forbid, my own. Nope, getting some poor sod to do it for me is the best option, isn't it? Doesn't hurt that Yagkura would see it as if I was doing him a favor either, right?'