Chapter – 404 Beyond Humiliating

"Sigh… I guess we will have to focus on further increasing our strengths…" – Tsukihi.

Itachi nodded, for the first time since awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, Itachi has started to feel that he needs to further increase his strength if they want to stop the Akatsuki. Because the organization is becoming more and more of a threat to the stability of the Shinobi World than one can imagine.

"Anywa-… Cough-cough…" – When Tsukihi was again about to speak something, she suddenly coughed out blood and collapsed on the floor.

Itachi was surprised and immediately helped her, "Tsukihi-san, it doesn't seem that you are in good condition…"

With the help of Itachi, she somehow managed to stand up, and said, "Don't worry Itachi-kun, it's just Chakra exhaustion, after some time of rest I will be alright. Anyway, we should hide until the situation in Kirigakure calms down… after that, we will decide on the course of action to take from here on."

Itachi nodded, and after sealing Hiramekarei in a storage scroll, he along with Tsukihi left the roof of the house.

A few minutes later both of them arrived at an empty house in Kirigakure, here Tsukihi sat on a chair and took some rest, and while doing so, she can't help but think, 'Guess I overdid it, huh?' as she started to observe the movements going on in Kirigakure.

"It's really pitiful that one of the five great shinobi villages has reached such a point." – Tsukihi can't help but mutter, as she observed the state of the village.

"Perhaps this would have been the same situation of Konoha should Uchiha Clan started the Coup d'état…" Itachi can't help but mutter with some sadness in his tone.

Tsukihi was silent upon hearing Itachi's words. If the Uchiha Clan had started a Coup d'état, then that would have been the start of the fourth great Shinobi War, the biggest and most destructive war ever seen.

Tsukihi said with a mild smile, "But that situation would not arise to that point so, there is no reason to worry."

Itachi nodded.

After this short conversation, Tsukihi focused her attention back outside.

The village has obviously become a mess and a large part of the village population has been evacuated to shelter, but this does not mean that all the villagers have been evacuated.

Those who did not trust the village authorities or those who did not have the opportunity to escape to the shelter rushed outside the village their families with the hopes of escaping the influence of the ongoing Civil War.

The leader and initiator of the civil war may have fled the scene, but the dissatisfaction, fear, anger, sadness, grief, and other emotions buried in the hearts of the populace is not so easy to resolve.

The ambitious and traitorous are still fighting fiercely against the loyal ones, then there are those from the other villages who are taking the advantage of internal strife and causing damage to the village, and causing further chaos.

Of course, Tsukihi does not know that many of them are transformed Zetsu Clones who are breeding further conflicts in order to cause as much damage to the village as possible, thus her thoughts.

But anyway, 'Should I kill Yagura or should I not?' – was the thought on her mind at this moment.

To be honest, this kind of chaos is really convenient for her to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage to complete the mission, but from the information given to her by Itachi, it is pretty obvious that Karatachi Yagura has regained himself, and is no longer a puppet in Obito's hands.

While Tsukihi was busy considering several things, Itachi noticed that her hair was in a mess because of being untidy, so he took out a hairband from one of his pockets and handed it over to her, "Tsukihi san here…"

Tsukihi thought that it was the scroll of Hiramekarei that Itachi was giving her, but when she saw that it was a hair band she was surprised, and asked, "Do you even carry such a thing as a spare?"

Itachi nodded, "Hmm, don't you carry one yourself? Your hair is quite long, won't they get in the way of a fight if they are left untied?"

Tsukihi was speechless, "I have never thought about it… tied or untied, it's not that big of a problem."

Anyway, while Tsukihi tidied her hair, Itachi also passed her the scroll of Hiramekarei then said, "Anyway, what are we going to do now Tsukihi-san?"

Tsukihi asked after a bit of silence, "Have you prepared what Kuroto-sama asked you to?"

Itachi nodded, "Hmm."

Tsukihi nodded, "Alright, the situation may have changed but our goal is still the same, we will still be doing what we came here for, only a few things will change."

Itachi said, "Alright, in that case, I will make the preparations."

…

While Tsukihi and Itachi were discussing their further course of action, Mizukage and several shinobi under his command who were chasing after Kisame, Takashi, and Mageta were forced to return to the village because the situation in the village was becoming more and more unstable.

Eliminating the traitors is certainly very important, but stabilizing the situation in the village is more important for Yagura.

Not to mention, Kisame, Takashi, and Mageta when combined together are a force to be reckoned with, so defeating them will take a lot of time, and there is no telling what will be the state of the village by then, as such, Yagura; as the Mizukage had no choice but to delay his revenge on the Akatsuki and focus his attention on the village for now.

It took a few hours, but with the joint efforts of the Mizukage, several elders, and many elite Kiri shinobi, the traitors partaking in the civil war were either died or managed to flee, so overall, the situation in Kirigakure was stabilized.

The casualty count was in thousands, and this casualty count not only included Kiri shinobi but even the common folks who couldn't escape in time. The death toll is so high, that the streets of Kirigakure were piled with corpses, walls covered in blood and a heavy stench of death lingered in the village.

Even nature cried for such a high death toll, at some point, while the conflict was still going on, the rain started to befall the village and it continued until every last corpse wasn't buried.

When the rain eventually came to an end, it washed away all the blood on the streets of Kirigakure, both literally and perhaps even metaphorically... or maybe not.

Not long after, the rain clouds cleared, the soft light of the rising sun appeared on the Horizon.

The light of this morning sun gave a new breath of life to the village that has always been hidden in the bloody mist.

Yondaime Mizukage, who had been busy all night with various things did not have any time to rest or enjoy this rare morning sun.

He directly convened a high-level meeting in the destroyed Mizukage Building.

All the elders and the elites who were part of the meeting were a bit nervous about what's about to come, after all, the fear of the Yondaime Mizukage is still evident in the hearts of all, and nobody here knows the exact purpose of the meeting, this is also the reason why despite being a gathering of all the high-level shinobi of Kirigakure, nobody had the courage to even whisper a word.

Seeing everyone's silence, and looking at the fearful expression on the faces of all, Yagura sighed, 'Of course, what else can I expect after what I had put them through?'

Since no one had the courage to speak, so Yagura had to break the silence, after all, his reason for convening this meeting is already decided, so he stood up in his position, and addressed to all the people present, without beating around the bush, Yagura directly revealed the fact that for over a year now he has been under the control of Akatsuki Organization, and it was only yesterday night, he managed to break free.

The sudden reveal of the news caused an uproar in the room, nobody could believe their ears, and they had to listen to it thrice to believe that what they heard was indeed not wrong, Yondaime Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura became a puppet in the hands of Akatsuki Organization?

When everyone realized the gravity of this information, a silence dawned upon the room, everyone was so shocked that they didn't know how to respond.

Without a doubt, Karatachi Yagura is not only the strongest Shinobi in the current Kirigakure, but he is also the Jinchuriki of Sanbi; and not just any Jinchuriki, but a perfect Jinchuriki. Someone who has complete control over the Bijuu sealed inside him, and such a shinobi became nothing more than a puppet! If this is not ridiculous then what is?

Even if everyone had expected something to be wrong with the Mizukage for a while now, but when they hear the fact that Mizukage was being controlled by Akatsuki, it does shock them to their very core.

After the shock, there was anger, anger not only at Akatsuki for controlling the Mizukage but even at the Mizukage for becoming a puppet! However, can Mizukage really be blamed?

If it had been before, maybe they could have blamed him, and his lack of ability, but now? How can they?

It was only a few days ago when the news of the defeat of tri-alliance at the hands of Akatsuki in the Summit War resounded throughout the entire shinobi world, and in that battle, the Yondaime Kazekage inexplicably went missing. There has been no news of Kazekage since then.

From this news, everyone knows that the Akatsuki Organization is not just any run-of-the-mill Organization, their strength is more than enough to suppress the combined strength of at least two great shinobi villages at the same time.

And when people know and understand the real feats and true strength of Akatsuki. It is not very difficult for them to accept the fact that Mizukage became a puppet in the hands of Akatsuki, this also explains why he suddenly become so different a year ago after the second Gokage Summit, and suddenly sent an elite shinobi squad to Amegakure in support of Akatsuki.

When all was said and done, every detail about Akatsuki Yagura knew; however minuscule it may have been was revealed to everyone, an awkward atmosphere dawned in the meeting room.

Everyone knew that even if Yondaime Mizukage is not be blamed for the losses their village suffered in the past year, but it is also understood that he can not remain the Mizukage any longer for all the losses the village suffered because of 'him'. After all, someone has to take the blame for everything, and it has to be Mizukage because his leadership brought such chaos to the village.

But can anyone here ask the Mizukage to abdicate? Or does anyone here have the guts to dethrone him?

No, because that would be incredibly foolish. The current of Kirigakure has withered to its weakest point, hardly any high-level combat personnel are left in the village, and at this time, if they were to condemn Yagura or force him to abdicate, then that would be tantamount to self-harm, yet, Yagura can't remain the Mizukage any longer for what his leadership brought to the village.

'Such a dilemma, in such a situation, if Yagura-sama were to willingly abdicate…' – was a momentary thought in the mind of someone.

Yagura also realizes this, he need not be reminded, while everyone was troubled as to what they should do from here on out, Yagura got up and bowed to everyone, "Please forgive me for what my leadership brought to the village. Once the matter of the Civil War is completely settled, I shall take the blame of everything, and abdicate from the position of Mizukage."

Hearing that Mizukage is willing to abdicate, the elders breathed a sigh of relief, this is undoubtedly the best solution, the blame will be taken by Yagura himself, so the next Mizukage can begin anew, and Yagura can still work as a Kirigakure shinobi.

After a few more things were discussed and settled, and the meeting was concluded, Yagura led Terumi Mei, Ao, as well as the remaining elites and other senior officials of the village to the underground floors of the Mizukage Building.

The reason was obvious…

They have to see what exactly happened on the underground floors yesterday night while the civil war was going on.

And looking at the scene before them, whether it was Mei, or Ao, the elders, the elites, or even the Mizukage himself, everyone was taken aback.

One of the Jonin crouched down and while tracing his hands on the metal sticking on the ground, he muttered, "I can be certain that this sword was a Meito, for it to have melted."

Another Jonin looked at Mei and questioned, "The metal used in Meito is extremely resistant to high temperatures… was it melted using Yoton?"

Mei shook her head, and said with a serious expression, "No, Yoton can melt things, but its working principle lies in corrosion and dissolution, so it couldn't have been done through Yoton, the way this sword and all the rest of the swords have melted shows that they have been heated to their melting point."

Ao looked at the entire floor with his Byakugan, and said with a solemn expression, "It has to be fire, but no ordinary fire can do such damage…"

"But who could use such a fire that is capable of melting such high grate metals?" – questioned another shinobi.

Mei asked Ao, "Are there any chakra signatures left that we can give us any clue?"

Ao shook his head, "No… however much I try to see, there are no chakra signs left here…"

At this time Yagura said, "I can feel the breath of the man who controlled me, and he most likely fought against someone here, so probably that person."

Mei hurriedly asked, "Who?"

Yagura shook his head, "I do not know, but I can be certain that it wasn't anyone from the village. As for the result, it is pretty much clear given the fact that I regained consciousness."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces were gloomier.

Two outsiders fought in the most secret and the core part of the village, the place which hosts records of almost all the secrets of their village, yet no one in the village was aware of it? This is beyond humiliating for them.

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