Becomes a Rebel Ninja After Annihilating the Hyuga Clan
Chapter 128

This was destined to be a night the entire Hidden Mist Village would remember for all eternity.

Wherever the Six-Tails, Saiken, went, its acidic liquid corroded everything in its path, leaving nothing but devastation. The rampaging Tailed Beast revealed its terrifying power, which stood in stark contrast to its usual gentle and sluggish appearance. With the defection of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and Mei Terumi turning traitor, the village found itself woefully lacking in high-level combat power, rendering it helpless against Saiken, now fully unleashed through the body of Utakata.

The acidic liquid covering Saiken served as both a deadly weapon and a formidable defense. Even the Hidden Mist Village, renowned for its weapon-forging techniques, found no way to break through the thick acidic barrier that surrounded the beast.

Fuguki Suikazan stood frozen alongside the other Mist ninjas, watching as the Tailed Beast Bomb grew larger in Saiken’s mouth, its size and intensity becoming more and more overwhelming. The ground trembled violently beneath them, and before they knew it, many had instinctively backed away a significant distance.

Saiken’s Tailed Beast Bomb was aimed directly at the bustling center of the Hidden Mist Village.

In that densely populated area stood the Mizukage Tower, the political heart of the village. There was also the Ninja Academy, the Ninja Hospital, and countless other public and private institutions, all essential to the functioning of the village. More importantly, due to the suddenness of the attack, the evacuation of both people and vital resources from the area had not yet been completed. Genji, the current leader of the village, remained inside the Mizukage Tower, refusing to leave.

It wasn’t due to a failure of his security team; Genji himself had refused to evacuate before the people of the village were safe. As he put it: “If I stand here, I can still inspire the people. If I leave, the heart of the Mist Village will be lost. Besides, I’m just an old man. I’ve lived long enough; death no longer holds any fear for me.”

The Mist Village was already on the verge of collapse. The previous Mizukage, Yagura, had been captured and disappeared. Mei Terumi, once a candidate for Mizukage, had been captured and defected to the enemy. The next chosen Mizukage, Utakata, had transformed into Saiken and become the village’s greatest threat.

The only thing holding the village together was the presence of Genji, the elderly leader now standing alone in the Mizukage Tower, with the weight of the village’s fate resting on his frail shoulders.

Aoki Shinko, bound as a suspected spy, struggled to speak as she foresaw the devastation the Tailed Beast Bomb would bring. Tears welled up in her eyes as she kicked desperately against the ground, screaming, “Stop it—please!”

But the faces of the Mist ninjas around her were filled with sorrow.

Stop it? How?

With no powerful allies left, and the sealing techniques requiring time they didn’t have, how could they possibly stop it?

The overwhelming power of the Tailed Beast shattered the dense fog that had long surrounded the village. The clouds were blown away, revealing a bright moon and a sky full of stars, making this night sky over the Mist Village the clearest it had ever been. Yet, no one paid any attention to the beauty of the scene.

All eyes were locked on the enormous black and purple orb — the Tailed Beast Bomb — in Saiken’s mouth.

“Lord Genji!!” Inside the Mizukage Tower, Genji’s lifelong attendant Genjo cried out in anguish.

“Genjo, you should leave,” Genji said softly. Though his eyes were failing, and he could only see a blur of colors in the distance, his long life had given him the experience to understand what was happening from the vibrations alone.

“Come with me, Lord Genji!!” Genjo fell to his knees, pleading through his tears.

“I can’t leave,” Genji shook his head. “I’ve figured it out by now. That man doesn’t want to kill me directly. He’s using this method to avoid staining his reputation. No matter where I run, I’ll die.”

He sighed, “Rather than bringing disaster elsewhere, I’d rather die right here.”

“Who is trying to kill you, Lord Genji?!” Genjo asked, his face wet with tears.

Genji didn’t answer. Genjo was intelligent but not perceptive enough to see the truth. He still believed this incident with the Six-Tails was some kind of revenge orchestrated by the Yuki Clan.

But Genji had unraveled the truth.

The involvement of the Yuki Clan’s ninja was perfectly timed. The rebellion of the Taketori Clan was skillfully orchestrated. And now, with Saiken’s rampage aimed to take his life, even if Utakata survived, he would be forever hated by the people of the Mist Village, ensuring no threat to the ongoing reforms.

At that point, Mei Terumi, with her deep roots in the village, would undoubtedly be welcomed back with open arms.

Such conclusions didn’t need to be spelled out for Genjo; the truth would be of no benefit to him. For Genji, the battle was lost the moment Utakata transformed into Saiken.

“I never thought Harusame would…”

So many regrets. In the end, all that remained was a long sigh.

Genjo finally left, though reluctantly. He hadn’t planned on leaving, but Genji had entrusted him with a final mission, carrying the old man’s last wishes. Genjo had no choice but to go.

Now alone, Genji stood by the window, leaning on his cane. Squinting hard, he could just make out the shape of the fully formed Tailed Beast Bomb in the distance.

He stood there calmly, awaiting his death, as he reflected on the series of events that had led to this moment. He couldn’t help but admire the intricate planning and ruthlessness of the Ninja God.

The wind howled past his face, and Genji allowed himself a small smile.

“If you had this resolve back when you divided the Tailed Beasts among the Great Nations, the ninja world might never have fallen into such chaos. Now, trying to correct that mistake will cost you a hundred times what it would have back then.”

Even though he was about to die because of Hashirama’s plan, even though the Mist Village was on the verge of total destruction, Genji held no resentment toward the Ninja God. As a contemporary of Hashirama, he had seen the man’s kindness and passion firsthand. And now, even though Hashirama’s methods had grown harsher and more brutal, Genji still understood and respected his ideals.

To end the chaos of the ninja world, revolution was the only path forward.

Whether it was the “peace through understanding and love” that Hashirama preached decades ago or the “peace through war” that he now pursued, Genji could still respect the vision.

This conflict was simply a matter of differing perspectives: Hashirama sought peace for the entire world, while Genji sought to preserve the order of the Hidden Mist.

Despite being the leader of the conservative faction in the village, Genji was not blind to the necessity of reform. He was one of the most perceptive leaders in the entire ninja world when it came to understanding the changes Hashirama was pushing.

Even so, as he reflected on the series of events, Genji couldn’t help but feel a sense of confusion. He had noticed a contradiction in Hashirama’s actions.

“If he wanted to preserve his moral image by not killing me directly… why did he capture Yagura so openly in the first place?”

It was true that Yagura’s disappearance had allowed Hashirama to use Mei Terumi as a tool to influence the village’s future, but compared to the careful and intricate plotting that followed, the direct abduction seemed unusually heavy-handed.

“With all his power, he could have easily subdued Yagura without revealing his identity.”

“…It seems he’s concerned about something.”

Before Genji could unravel the mystery, a fierce gust of wind snapped him back to reality. He raised his head once more, and now, the Tailed Beast Bomb was right in front of him, close enough that he could see it clearly.

The Tailed Beast Bomb launched from Saiken’s mouth, tearing through the air with such force that everything in its path was instantly destroyed. The enormous black and purple sphere radiated unstoppable power, and as it neared the Mizukage Tower, its outer shell began to crack like an egg, bright light seeping from the fractures.

Based on its trajectory, the bomb would crash through the Mizukage Tower before exploding, reducing the entire central district to rubble.

The Mist ninjas surrounding Saiken, trying to restrain the beast, watched in horror as the Tailed Beast Bomb was launched.

Far away, Genjo, carrying Genji’s final orders, wept uncontrollably as he witnessed the bomb strike the Mizukage Tower.

At the western gate, where the Taketori Clan and the Mist Village’s ninja clans had been locked in battle, both sides stopped fighting and turned their wide eyes toward the massive explosion.

In the forests outside the village, over a hundred rogue Mist ninjas rose to their feet. Raiga Kurosuki looked on in confusion, while the boy beside him, Ranmaru, stared in terror.

Mei Terumi and Zabuza exchanged

glances. Mei’s eyes carried a sadness, and in Zabuza’s, there was a hint of disbelief.

They quickly looked away from each other, neither saying a word.

In the temporary camp of the Mist Village, Haku, who had instigated the chaos, now wore the mask of a Mist Anbu and blended in with the terrified crowd, helping tend to the wounded. As the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded, the cries of the injured suddenly fell silent.

The light from the explosion pierced through everything, shining onto the faces of everyone drawn to the scene for their own reasons. In that moment, as the bomb detonated, it was as if all the color had drained from their expressions.

The Tailed Beast Bomb shattered the walls of the Mizukage Tower and finally stopped right before Genji.

The brilliant light bathed everything around him in white.

The temperature began to rise sharply. Just as it reached a point where it could still be described as “warm,” Genji smiled faintly.

“Byakuren… it seems I’ve kept you waiting…”

He closed his eyes and stretched out his hands. For a moment, it was as if he could feel his old friend Byakuren placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, old man.”

The voice was raspy, not Byakuren’s at all.

A shadow loomed over him. Genji opened his eyes, squinting against the harsh light, barely able to make out a masked figure standing before him.

The red-and-black eyes of the Sharingan were unmistakable.

“Sharingan…”

He muttered softly.

“Not yet, old man. I have questions for you,” the man said coldly, his cloak billowing in the wind. The holes in his mask began to emit a powerful suction.

“Who are you?”

“Madara Uchiha.”

As the vortex pulled him in, Genji’s expression shifted from shock to a faint realization.

At last, his final question was answered.

So that’s it.

So, you were the one he was concerned about…

“Genji is dead,” a voice rang out.

“I saw it,” Ryuzen Hozuki muttered.

“With the outcome settled, it’s time for us to make our decision.”

“There’s no decision to be made. We’re not deciding anything; we’ve already been decided for,” Ryuzen shook his head as he scattered feed into the fishpond. “We’re being played.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“With so many dead, how could anyone be happy?” Ryuzen shot a disdainful glance at the ninja clan leader beside him.

“More people died under Yagura’s tyranny,” the man replied coolly. “Besides, it wasn’t our clansmen who died.”

“You’re right,” Ryuzen said, nodding.

“I’m going to see Mei Terumi. It’s time for them to make their move. If they don’t, it’ll be our turn to suffer.” The clan leader glanced at Ryuzen. “Coming?”

“You go ahead. You don’t need me,” Ryuzen replied, shaking his head.

After the man left, Ryuzen’s attendant couldn’t hold back anymore. He stepped forward and whispered, “Lord Ryuzen, we still haven’t heard from Kenji…”

“He hasn’t sent up the signal flare yet. What are you so anxious about?” Ryuzen frowned, and the attendant quickly backed off.

Though Kenji was still battling the Taketori Clan’s forces, Ryuzen had clearly made up his mind, and in this situation, there was nothing more his attendant could say.

Ryuzen silently fed the fish for a while longer. Finally, he tossed the remaining feed into the pond, watching the fish frantically scramble for food. Without looking at them, he pulled a photograph from his pocket.

It was an image of Yagura, shackled and imprisoned over the Genbu Marsh.

On the back of the photo, words had been written in a special ink.

Ryuzen quietly read the two lines over and over:

“We are not rebuilding the Hidden Mist.”

“We are rebuilding the Land of Water…”

“Not rebuilding the Hidden Mist…”

“But rebuilding the Land of Water…”

“Rebuilding the Land of Water…”

Ryuzen gazed toward the distant ruins created by the Tailed Beast Bomb and murmured under his breath.

“Is this really how you plan to rebuild the Land of Water?”

Genji is dead.

Do they not care about Genji’s ties to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Water? Or do they simply not know?

And what about the bond between the ninja clans and the Hidden Mist?

Do they care?

As if peering into a terrifying part of the Yoko Organization, Ryuzen lowered his eyes, suddenly filled with doubt.