Chapter 380: A Roar of Grief and Fury

Chapter 380: Chapter 380: A Roar of Grief and Fury

Seeing figures identical to themselves charging straight at them, Kisame and Renge’s expressions changed.

As elite jōnin of Kirigakure, both of them knew exactly what this was—the Fourth Mizukage’s signature ninjutsu, the Water Mirror Technique.

Anyone reflected in the water mirror would be copied, creating a Water Mirror Clone whose abilities—even the power behind its attacks—were almost identical to the original.

Bang...

A muffled impact echoed through the narrow passageway.

Kisame and Renge were each knocked backward by their own Water Mirror Clones, landing on the ground in a rather sorry state.

The Fourth Mizukage roared furiously, "You’re shinobi of Kirigakure! Have you no sense of shame?!"

While trapped within the genjutsu, the Fourth Mizukage had witnessed everything—the scene where Obito had won over Kisame and the other two with just a few words.

He was furious at their betrayal, but even more shocked that the three of them had defected to Akatsuki so readily.

Renge sneered disdainfully. "There’s nothing about a village like this worth clinging to!"

Ryū remained silent.

Standing before the real Fourth Mizukage, he couldn’t help but feel at least somewhat ashamed.

Kisame, however, said calmly, "As the Mizukage, you yourself were reduced to someone else’s puppet. What right do you have to lecture us?"

The Fourth Mizukage flew into a rage from humiliation.

"Then, in the name of the village, I’ll execute you traitors myself!"

With that, the Fourth Mizukage lunged forward...

...

Above ground.

Ao stared solemnly at the Mizukage Building in the distance. Through his Byakugan, he observed the fierce battle raging around it.

A moment later, Ao withdrew his gaze and said to Mei Terumi beside him, "The fighting is still going on, but judging from the situation, the rebels have the upper hand!"

Zabuza had gained the advantage by striking first, and with Obito deliberately weakening the defenses around the Mizukage Building, the Kirigakure ANBU loyal to the Fourth Mizukage had suffered devastating casualties under Zabuza’s surprise attack.

Mei Terumi’s expression darkened. She then turned toward an elderly man leaning on a cane beside her and asked, "Elder, are we still not going to act?"

The old man shook his head and said calmly, "There’s no rush."

Ao also advised her from the side, "That’s right. If we don’t use this opportunity to force the Fourth Mizukage to show himself, we’ll have no way of determining his true condition!"

Mei Terumi sighed helplessly.

She knew perfectly well that this was indeed an excellent opportunity to confirm the Fourth Mizukage’s true condition.

But everyone killing each other out there was a shinobi of Kirigakure.

Whether it was the rebels or the Kirigakure ANBU loyal to the Fourth Mizukage, they were all part of Kirigakure’s strength.

No matter how deep Kirigakure’s foundations were, even the village couldn’t withstand this kind of endless internal bloodletting many more times.

Seeing through Mei Terumi’s thoughts, the elder said, "Old men like us aren’t much use anymore. Kirigakure’s future rests entirely on your shoulders. You must learn to think about problems the way a Mizukage would—and you must also learn to wield the iron fist that a Mizukage must possess!"

The Kirigakure elders who had originally supported the Fourth Mizukage had already placed their bets on Mei Terumi. In fact, Zabuza’s rebellion this time had only been allowed to happen because the Kirigakure elders had deliberately turned a blind eye to it.

Mei Terumi turned toward a Kirigakure ANBU standing nearby and asked, "Have you finished investigating those suspicious individuals who infiltrated the village?"

The Kirigakure ANBU bowed respectfully to Mei Terumi, seemingly already treating her as the Mizukage, and replied, "Among the suspicious individuals who infiltrated the village, we’ve confirmed shinobi from Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Takigakure, and Kusagakure."

"What!?"

A flash of anger crossed Mei Terumi’s beautiful face. "Even Takigakure and Kusagakure dare openly send people to infiltrate our Kirigakure now?"

The Kirigakure ANBU said helplessly, "My apologies. This is a failure on the part of our ANBU!"

Ao, however, asked in confusion, "What about Konoha?"

The Kirigakure ANBU shook his head. "So far, we haven’t discovered any infiltrators from Konoha. The agents we’ve planted in Konoha haven’t sent back any related intelligence either."

...

Elsewhere, inside a residence from which the Mizukage Building could be observed from afar.

Itachi stood quietly by the window, watching the chaos engulfing Kirigakure outside.

Yet his face carried a composure utterly mismatched with his age, as though none of the turmoil outside could stir even the slightest ripple in his heart.

After a while, Itachi stepped away from the window.

He had already discreetly positioned several ninja crows around the residence, so there was no need for him to constantly keep watch outside.

"What is Kagami-senpai doing right now?

"When will En-senpai contact me?"

After several questions flashed through his mind, Itachi shook his head and thought to himself, "Maybe I’m still too weak. That’s why the senpais didn’t assign me an actual mission and instead had me stay here as backup."

"Caw..."

Just then, the sudden cry of a crow came from outside the window!

...

Outside the Mizukage Building.

"Hahaha..."

With Samehada resting over his shoulder, Zabuza laughed loudly as he kicked open the main doors of the Mizukage Building.

This coup had gone far more smoothly than he had expected.

The Kirigakure ANBU loyal to the Fourth Mizukage had been utterly unable to put up a fight, while the forces belonging to the village elders’ faction had yet to show themselves.

Everything was progressing in the best possible direction.

Staring into the pitch-black interior of the Mizukage Building before him, Zabuza could almost see the Mizukage’s seat beckoning to him.

Full of confidence and ambition, he brandished Samehada and ordered the subordinates gathered around him, "Whoever kills the Fourth gets a seat as a Council Elder!"

With great rewards came brave men!

Faced with the prospect of obtaining the lofty position of Council Elder, the Kirigakure shinobi surrounding Zabuza looked as though they’d been injected with adrenaline. Roaring at the tops of their lungs, they charged into the Mizukage Building.

Boom...

At that very moment, a deafening explosion erupted from inside the building.

Immediately afterward, a powerful shockwave surged out of the Mizukage Building amid billowing clouds of smoke and dust.

Forget the Kirigakure shinobi who had just charged inside—even Zabuza, who was standing at the entrance, was blasted off his feet by the shockwave!

After being hurled far into the distance and crashing to the ground, Zabuza hurriedly scrambled back to his feet.

Ignoring his subordinates sprawled all around him, he steadied himself and stared intently at the Mizukage Building, now engulfed in thick, billowing smoke.

Just then, three figures shot out from within the smoke.

They were none other than Kisame, Ryū, and Renge, who had been fighting the Fourth Mizukage in the underground palace earlier.

But at this moment, all three looked rather battered.

Renge of the Kaguya Clan was in particularly bad shape. Half of his body was covered in coral-like crystals. Had he not used a membrane of bone created through his Shikotsumyaku to isolate himself from the continuously spreading coral growths, those crystals would probably have swallowed his entire body by now.

"Peh..."

Kisame spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his gaze fixed on the entrance of the smoke-filled Mizukage Building.

Ryū, meanwhile, gritted his teeth and pulled half a broken sword blade from his shoulder. Panting heavily, he too stared toward the entrance.

All three completely ignored Zabuza standing nearby.

That left Zabuza—who had thought himself the protagonist of tonight’s events—utterly confused.

"What’s going on?"

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, a figure slowly emerged from the entrance of the Mizukage Building through the rolling smoke.

"This..."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes.

Only then did he realize that the figure was none other than the Fourth Mizukage, cloaked in a Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak and already transformed into his Tailed Beast state.

"ROAR...!"

The moment he stepped out of the Mizukage Building, the transformed Fourth Mizukage unleashed a roar filled with grief, humiliation, and fury.

The anguished roar thundered across the entirety of Kirigakure...