"No! Lord Fourth, you can't do this!"
Ao was shocked when he heard this and immediately refused.
"Do it, quickly!"
Yagura struggled to suppress the Tailed Beast Chakra inside him, unable to speak further. He could only shout.
The Three-Tails' Chakra grew more restless, and Yagura felt he could barely hold on.
Three seconds!
Only three seconds left!
At this moment, Mei Terumi made a quick move and appeared in front of Yagura, a kunai in her hand, which she drove straight into his heart.
Killing didn't require any fancy ninjutsu—a simple kunai was enough.
In fact, a sharp weapon was faster than any jutsu.
Compared to fire-style ninjutsu that looks impressive but often fails to kill, a kunai was far more reliable.
A strike to the heart—aside from some monsters, no one could survive that.
Yagura's struggle ceased.
He looked at Mei Terumi, who was just an arm's length away, with a look of relief in his eyes.
"Mei Terumi, thank you. I leave the village in your hands from now on..."
With those words, Yagura quietly fell, a slight smile at the corner of his lips.
At this moment, he was freed.
He died quickly—too quickly to give any information about Obito.
And the vast Chakra of the Three-Tails also dissipated at this moment.
Looking at Yagura's lifeless body, Mei Terumi's eyes held a hint of sorrow.
What had Kirigakure been doing all these years?
Nothing but internal strife, it seemed.
And now they had even lost the Three-Tails.
If war broke out with another village, what could Kirigakure do now?
They might not even be able to defeat Sunagakure, the weakest of the villages.
Of course, they still had an advantage.
As long as they didn't leave the Land of Water, they were safe.
The Land of Water was surrounded by water and mist—an innate barrier. None of the other four great ninja villages would dare attack without absolute certainty.
"Lord Yagura! Lord Yagura!"
Ao held Yagura's body, his face full of grief.
But he also knew that there had been no other way to resolve the village's crisis.
"The chaos in Kirigakure must end."
Mei Terumi held the blood-stained kunai firmly, her eyes full of determination.
Now, she needed to take on Yagura's resolve as well and reorganize Kirigakure.
"This isn't the time for grief. Someone used genjutsu to control Yagura again, leading to this tragedy. That person must not have gotten far. Ao, use your Byakugan to find that person!"
Hearing this, Ao temporarily restrained his sorrow, forced himself to stay alert, and said, "Yes, Lady Mei!"
Activating his Byakugan again, he began to search for the source of the genjutsu Chakra.
"Everyone else, don't stand idle! Search the village! The intruder must have left some clues behind. We need to find them! Even if it's just knowing their gender or age."
"Yes!"
Under Mei Terumi's orders, everyone sprang into action.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for Kirigakure.
While the village was in chaos, Kimimaro and the others had already left Kirigakure and regrouped outside the village.
"I never expected to come all this way just to watch a drama," Kimimaro said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, yeah. Who would've thought the Fourth Mizukage would suddenly lose control? But the power of the Three-Tails was really something. Deidara-senpai, Kimimaro-senpai, it's terrifying to think you'll be dealing with creatures like that in the future," Tobi said, flailing his arms dramatically.
"With the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki dead, capturing the Three-Tails will have to wait until it revives. But finding the place of revival won't be easy. Tobi, that's your intel team's job now," Kimimaro said, looking at Tobi.
"Kimimaro-senpai, don't worry. Our intel team excels at this, especially Zetsu-senpai. His ability to gather information is unbeatable."
"Good."
Kimimaro then turned to Deidara, who had been silent and deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"
At that, Deidara burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Kimimaro, I've figured it out! I've figured it out!"
"Figured what out?"
Kimimaro was puzzled.
"A new form of art, of course! The Tailed Beast Bomb is truly amazing, fitting for a Jinchuriki's signature move. I have a new idea now—I'll call it C5! Tailed Beast Clay Cannon!"
Deidara was thrilled.
Kimimaro silently offered condolences to Sasuke.
The enhanced Deidara was already tough enough, and now he'd created a new move inspired by the Tailed Beast Bomb. If Sasuke had to face him again...
"Deidara-senpai is such a genius! Developing a new jutsu even now!" Tobi exaggeratedly praised him, making Deidara quite pleased.
"Hahaha, it's nothing special. Thanks to you for bringing us here, Tobi, or I wouldn't have witnessed such an amazing display of explosive art."
"Deidara-senpai, you're too kind! It's what I should do."
Seeing the two of them enjoying their conversation, completely forgetting where they were, Kimimaro had no choice but to interrupt.
"I think we should leave here as soon as possible. The Mist Shinobi are currently grieving. If they find us, it'll be a real problem."
Deidara and Tobi immediately became serious.
"You're right, let's go quickly. I wonder how the Fourth Mizukage lost control—could it be that the sealing technique of Kirigakure was too weak?" Deidara mused.
Tobi, of course, feigned ignorance.
Kimimaro knew the truth but said nothing.
The three, each with different thoughts, moved on. Deidara was clueless, while the other two had much on their minds.
"Deidara-senpai, forget it for now. The three of us together are too conspicuous. We should split up. We'll regroup at the port of the Land of Water in a day," Tobi suggested.
"Alright."
Deidara had no objections.
If alone, he could use his Earth Dragon Hiding Technique—very convenient.
Kimimaro pondered briefly but didn't reject the suggestion.
He felt that Obito must have something to do, hence separating them on purpose.
"Then let the escape race begin! Run!"
Tobi shouted, taking off at full speed.
The way he ran was purely for comedic effect.
"Sometimes I really doubt Tobi's professionalism. I'd love to see what kind of silly face hides behind that ridiculous mask," Deidara muttered, shaking his head before looking at Kimimaro.
"Brother, I'm off. See you tomorrow."
With that, he vanished underground using his technique.
"The Akatsuki members are really each unique in their own way."
Kimimaro looked back at Kirigakure, his Byakugan revealing that the Mist Shinobi were now fully mobilized.
"Kirigakure…"
He had a thoughtful expression before transforming into someone else and sprinting into the distance.
(End of this chapter)