The black market has special means of delivering messages.
In less than half a day, the four great ninja villages excluding Konoha all knew about the five hundred million bounty appearing in the black market.
These great nations naturally were not short of that one million.
They all bought the intel to read. Goodness.
You wouldn't know until you read it, once you do, you'd be shocked. The amount of information in the intel was astonishing.
The Uchiha clan and Konoha were about to clash head-on.
And it looked like Konoha had pushed the Uchiha too hard.
Now, the Uchiha were going after Konoha with a mutually destructive mindset.
Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure each dispatched their own intelligence teams.
Rushing toward Konoha.
As for Kirigakure, it was too far, and things were relatively chaotic over there, so intel was slightly delayed.
By the time Mizukage Yagura received the message, it was already the next day.
After he regained clarity, he issued a closed-border policy for the Land of Water, completely locking down Kirigakure.
First, he truthfully informed everyone of his situation being under genjutsu control.
And declared that as long as someone could achieve good political performance, he would abdicate and hand over power.
Afterward, Yagura, facing the talent-dried-up Kirigakure, announced a pardon and recall of the missing-nin who had defected from the village.
But the situation in Kirigakure had long since rotted beyond repair, and Yagura's credibility had already dropped to the lowest point.
No one believed him.
Financially, Kirigakure also had a massive deficit.
Yagura's mental stress was enormous, almost reaching the limit.
And at that moment, the black market news arrived.
"Five hundred million?", Yagura, after hearing Ao's report, was stunned.
He carefully looked over the intel released by Uchiha Itachi.
Only then did Yagura realize the situation in Konoha had reached such a degree.
"Mizukage-sama, should we…?", As a high-ranking member of Kirigakure, Ao was very clear about the village's financial deficit.
Obito, controlling Yagura from Kirigakure onwards, had ravaged the entire Land of Water.
Currently, their finances were entirely in the red. If not for occasional support from the Daimyo's residence, things would be even worse for Kirigakure.
If they could get five hundred million, their financial pressure would be greatly relieved.
After all, when it came to assassinations, Kirigakure was professional.
Yagura pondered for a long time, then said, "I'll go personally!"
Ao was also shocked, "Mizukage-sama, how can that be? If something happens to you?"
Yagura slowly exhaled, "I was under control before. I should've been dead already."
"I shouldn't still be alive. If I can contribute a little more to Kirigakure, then so be it if I die."
Ao had already noticed earlier that after breaking free from control, Yagura's overwhelming guilt had caused him to develop a strong self-destructive tendency.
With the Mizukage having this mindset, Ao had mentally prepared himself.
But he still advised, "Mizukage-sama, you're a Jinchuriki. If anything unexpected…"
Yagura seemed to have known Ao would say this.
He sighed, "Kirigakure is already in dire straits. We can only take a desperate gamble."
"I'm not going to complete that mission. I'm going to attack Konoha."
Ao thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "Mizukage-sama, you want to trigger a war?"
The Mizukage replied, "Exactly. If Konoha is strong, I'll help the Uchiha. If the Uchiha are strong, I'll help Konoha."
"As long as they fight, they'll consume their living strength."
"If they end up destroying each other, then Konoha's power will be heavily damaged."
"By then, there'll be more eyes on the Land of Fire."
"Kirigakure will have the chance to recuperate."
It must be said that Yagura's move was indeed a risky one, but it was really effective.
Once Konoha and the Uchiha start fighting, no matter the outcome, Konoha's strength would take a big hit. The Land of Fire was a juicy piece of meat, there was no one who wouldn't want to take a bite.
Shisui had also been dragged in for this reason back then.
Kirigakure was isolated overseas. As long as all sea routes were blocked, with a closed-border policy in place, no matter how fierce the fighting outside, it would be hard to affect them.
He pointed to his own heart, "This time I'm prepared. If I'm captured, you all will blow me up."
The Three-Tails of Kirigakure had one trait, it always revived in a specific location after death.
In the past, even when Rin had been stuffed with the Three-Tails and pierced through the heart by Kakashi's Chidori, the Three-Tails revived at the side of Lake Kiri.
Even the last time before that, and the time before that, the Three-Tails had all revived beside Lake Kiri.
Kirigakure was not afraid of the Jinchuriki dying, they were only afraid of it being captured.
So, after once being controlled, a tag had already been placed on Yagura's chest.
It was an explosive tag that could be remotely detonated.
Enough to instantly blow Yagura's heart to bits.
Simple and brutal.
But the simpler something is, the higher the fault tolerance required.
If Yagura died instantly, the Three-Tails would not fall into another village's hands.
"Utataka is still in the village. Let Harusame properly guide him. Don't proceed with that separation experiment on him yet."
"Wait a few years until the technology matures."
"If anything happens to me, let Terumi Mei take over as the Fifth Mizukage."
While writing his will on the public letter in his hand, the Mizukage gave instructions to Ao.
Seeing that the Mizukage had already arranged everything, Ao also didn't say more.
Though his Byakugan was useful, Ao couldn't follow the Mizukage.
He and Yagura had a huge strength gap. The Byakugan was convenient, but in a war, he would be the perfect weak point.
If Yagura was cautious and aimed to escape, there should be no problem.
And this Byakugan of his would be needed to confirm whether the returning Yagura was under genjutsu again.
So he absolutely could not leave the village.
"Mizukage-sama, who do you plan to bring along?", Ao asked.
The Mizukage slung his weapon on his back and said, "People from the village aren't suitable. But there's someone who once tried to assassinate me, I can go ask him."
———
[Amegakure]
The current members of Akatsuki included Biwa Juzo, Hoshigaki Kisame, Sasori, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Pain, Konan, and Kakuzu's disposable teammate.
At this stage, Akatsuki had just taken out Hanzo the Salamander.
They were accumulating funds and manpower in preparation for a major future operation.
However, Obito, who had been leeching off Kirigakure, brought bad news.
Yagura had broken free from control.
The Mizukage who had long supplied them with large sums of money was gone.
Obito, claiming to be Uchiha Madara, had also returned from Konoha empty-handed.
This made Pain and Konan even more suspicious of Obito's identity.
They were already waiting for follow-up developments between Konoha and the Uchiha, so they paid close attention to the intel there.
They hadn't expected Itachi to strike first, defecting after taking down several ANBU.
Though Itachi had betrayed the village, he likely hadn't betrayed the clan.
Because after leaving the village, Itachi wasn't alone, there were other clan members following him.
Once Uchiha Itachi released the mission, Akatsuki over here exploded as well.
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