How to Survive as an Uchiha

117 – The Day the Mist Turned Red

On Yagura's shoulders, boiling chakra bubbled up like foam.

Normally, human chakra was invisible and gentle, not displaying such phenomena.

This was tailed beast chakra.

As a perfect jinch?riki, someone who had full control over a tailed beast's power, he was demonstrating this unique trait.

The violent tailed beast chakra partially manifested on his shoulder, enveloping Obito's hand resting there.

In an instant, the hand was mangled, flesh and blood indistinguishable.

"You!?" His chakra surged, and he withdrew his hand.

The next moment, the tail-like chakra burst forth from Yagura's back, sweeping across the area where Obito stood.

The conference table was sliced apart as if it were made of tofu.

Cries of alarm and shouts erupted in the council chamber.

Shocked, everyone stood up instinctively, their chakra flaring and splintering chairs into pieces. Wooden shards flew everywhere, accompanied by a deafening cacophony that seemed to shake the entire hall into chaos.

This action of Yagura's completely caught the clans off guard.

Ketsuki stared at the suddenly aggressive Mizukage, both shocked and furious. His first thought was—Are these two fighting amongst themselves?

Though he had spread rumors, deep down, he didn't believe someone as strong as Yagura could truly be controlled by genjutsu.

But such a blemish was necessary to pressure him into stepping down.

Ketsuki wasn't the only one who thought this way. However, the immediate priority was avoiding the fallout.

After his initial strike, Yagura had already drawn the hook-staff from his back, his chakra surging through the weapon to create a terrifyingly powerful force.

Ignoring the other ninjas seated behind Obito, Yagura swung his staff.

Boom!!!

The chakra emanating from the staff transformed into claw-like shapes, piercing through Obito's body and annihilating everything in its path.

It finally tore through the wall, its momentum blasting the entire wall—along with part of the outer wall—into oblivion.

With the wall gone, the pure, clear sky outside the Mizukage Building was now fully visible to everyone.

The thick, humid wind blew into the room, snapping many back to their senses with its familiar chill.

In front of Masashi and Shisui, a chakra barrier rose to block the flying debris and tailed beast chakra.

The two of them were the only ones still seated in their chairs amidst the wreckage.

However, the table before them—and the two copies of agreements atop it—had long since been obliterated by Yagura's strength, becoming nothing more than floating particles in the air.

"Mizukage-sama! What are you doing?!" The assembled ninja clans were both furious and horrified.

Just moments ago, Yagura's attack not only destroyed the wall in front of him, but also obliterated several ninjas in the room.

Literally obliterated—blood and flesh still lingered in the air.

"Of course, I am purging rebels. Today, Kiri will be reborn," Yagura said coldly, looking at the clans. "For the sake of the village, I ask you all to die."

"Yagura, are you insane?" Ketsuki exclaimed in disbelief. "Do you want to destroy the village?"

We just wanted you to step down, okay? Sure, those nouveau riche like the Yuki clan ca go, but the rest of us here were among the founding clans of the village!

"That's exactly your problem," Yagura replied with a regretful shake of his head. "Even at death's door, you think you are the village? The H?zuki clan is tiny. All of you combined—are there even ten thousand of you?"

The perpetually baby-faced yet formidable Mizukage sighed. "If you don't die, the village has no future…"

Having said this, he turned his gaze back to Obito.

"Tobi, you've worked hard during this time."

Yagura smiled kindly, as he always did.

Obito glanced at Yagura, then at Masashi and Shisui, who were still calmly seated.

"When did they break your genjutsu?" Obito's right hand had already regenerated.

That side of his body, infused with White Zetsu's cells, didn't bleed the same way normal humans did.

Yagura noticed this as well.

"Tobi, it seems you have more secrets than I imagined."

"Answer my question."

Obito sneered, "With your strength, there's no way you could've broken my genjutsu."

Every eye in the council chamber turned toward Yagura.

So, Yagura had been under genjutsu control?

And from the sound of it, it was the White Ghost and the Teleporter who freed him?

I even let you have Hikari, and you play me like this? Ketsuki felt a wave of fury rise within him.

---

Masashi and Shisui exchanged awkward glances.

Does this guy even know how bad his genjutsu really is? And look at him, he seems so proud of himself…

"Enough," Shisui said, standing abruptly. "Surrender now, criminal!"

This conversation couldn't continue any longer.

If the truth came out, it wouldn't just embarrass Obito—it'd humiliate the Uchiha as a whole!

Masashi, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered, keeping his eyes locked on Obito.

"Shisui, I'm speaking with Yagura. Stand aside; I'll deal with you shortly," Obito said.

In reality, however, his attention was entirely on Shisui.

It was obvious that Shisui was the one who had broken Yagura's genjutsu.

In other words, Shisui was the only real threat to him here.

He was already prepared to make his move—everything he had done so far was just to lull Shisui into a false sense of security.

This guy couldn't sit still anymore, trying to stop him from continuing the conversation with the Mizukage.

Once again, Obito felt the thrill of victory.

Under his mask, a smirk formed.

The joy of intellectual dominance was exhilarating.

He planned to trap Shisui with Kamui, kill the Kiri ninjas here, re-control the Mizukage, and defeat Masashi with genjutsu to make him sing "All My Ducklings."

Oh! Even the White Zetsu cells in his body trembled with excitement!

However, just as he was about to act, Yagura spoke.

"Tobi, you're as persistent as ever. Actually, I broke free of your genjutsu the last time you modified its structure. By my count, I was under your control for…twenty days? Let's just round it to a month."

The White Zetsu cells trembled even more violently.

Even Obito's own cells began to shake.

Stop moving, cells! You're going to make it look like I'm upset!

"Liar!" Obito roared. "Are you trying to provoke me?! My technique isn't something trash like you could break!"

Seeing his reaction, Masashi nearly pulled a bag of peanuts out of his sealing scroll.

That expression! This is it! This is exactly what I wanted to see!

"No, I didn't figure it out," Yagura said, his expression strangely earnest. "I simply broke free. Tobi, your technique really didn't need improvement. Why did you even change it?"

The ninjas in the chamber—all of them, whether they belonged to the clans, the faction loyal to the previous Mizukage, or Yagura's own people—were now staring at Obito with expressions that seemed to ask, Yeah, why did you do that?

"Tobi…" Yagura said, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "Do you know how much effort Isobu and I went through to hide this from you? It was harder than breaking your original genjutsu."

Thinking about how Obito had diligently helped him during this time, even approving documents with reasonable competence, he couldn't bring himself to be too harsh.

So he offered some genuine advice.

"Your previous genjutsu was strong enough. Really, don't recklessly modify your jutsu and make it worse."

"Hahahahaha!"

Suddenly, Obito burst out into maniacal laughter.

Yagura stood still, silently watching him.

The other Kiri ninjas, however, were startled.

Especially the clan ninjas among them—they kept glancing nervously toward the wall-less side of the room.

From this height...

Jumping down shouldn't kill a ninja.

Still, none of them dared to act immediately. They knew that since Yagura had made his move, the outside was undoubtedly surrounded by a foolproof trap. They wouldn't leap unless it was absolutely the last resort.

Obito's laughter subsided, though his voice still carried a gritted edge. "So my genjutsu isn't good enough for you, huh? Fine, I'll show you the original version!"

"Do you think that's possible?" Shisui suddenly appeared beside Yagura, his Mangeky? Sharingan active. "This is your last warning—surrender!"

Masashi also stood up.

That was enough. He'd seen what he needed to. It was time to work.

Noticing Masashi's movement, Obito didn't waste any more time. He acted immediately.

But his target wasn't Yagura—it was Shisui.

The power of his genjutsu surged through his single Sharingan, aimed directly at Yagura.

This wasn't a modified version. It was the original, pure technique taught to him by Madara, designed specifically to counter perfect jinch?riki.

Shisui stepped in front of Yagura, meeting Obito's gaze head-on.

The two unleashed their equally powerful ocular powers, which collided and erupted into each other's minds.

The advantage of such precision targeting was that when it hit, the impact doubled in power.

The downside? If the target wasn't compatible, the effect would be diminished.

Shisui fully activated his Mangeky? Sharingan, countering Obito's incoming genjutsu power.

Just as he finished dispelling it, he felt Obito's hand rest on his shoulder.

Everything in his vision warped. Even with his mastery of the Body Flicker, he couldn't escape this space-warping ninjutsu. Realizing resistance was futile, Shisui chose not to attempt using any more ninjutsu, allowing Obito to successfully pull him into the Kamui dimension.

When his vision returned to normal, Shisui found himself in a space filled with floating cubic structures.

Just as Masashi had described.

Shisui calmly sat down cross-legged, waiting patiently.

Everything in front of him affirmed his belief: Masashi's plan was flawless.

Meanwhile, back in the outside world, Masashi had already stepped in to take over Shisui's role.

Having subdued Shisui so easily, Obito felt a surge of confidence returning to him.

Once again, he broke into hearty laughter, though this time it sounded more assured.

"It's come to this, huh? I guess there's no other choice. You all can just die."

With that, he spun on his heel and suddenly charged toward the clansmen.

"Tobi! What the hell are you doing!?"

"Dammit! Kill him!"

The clansmen completely lost it.

Yagura wanted them dead, and now Obito was attacking them too.

What was the meaning of this?

Masashi, who had initially planned to act, paused again. After some thought, he stepped aside.

Let Kiri handle their own infighting. As a Konoha ninja, he couldn't casually interfere—that wouldn't be right.

Both the elder faction and the Mizukage faction were dumbfounded.

Yagura, too, joined the battle. No, rather, he joined in the massacre of the clansmen.

Moments ago, these two major figures had been on the verge of clashing. Now, they had turned around and were ruthlessly slaughtering the clansmen of Kiri.

The onlookers couldn't help but marvel.

How could these clansmen possibly have such terrible interpersonal relationships? If they didn't die today, would there even be justice left in the world?

However, this was an excellent opportunity. If they didn't kick them while they were down, they wouldn't be Kiri ninjas.

"Let's start by eliminating the rebels," Genji declared.

He didn't name specific clans, but everyone present understood his meaning.

Thus, aside from Ao, who stayed behind with a group to guard Genji, the rest of the elder faction took up their weapons and charged toward the clansmen.

The Mizukage faction wasn't far behind.

In an instant, the council chamber became a perfect storm where only the clansmen were on the receiving end of violence.

Of course, the clansmen weren't going to sit there and wait for death. They used whatever they had, and chaos erupted as the different factions clashed.

At first, everyone worried about collateral damage and refrained from using ninjutsu. But after just a few breaths, no one cared anymore.

Not using ninjutsu was foolish.

They didn't hold back, and neither did Obito, who had no allies here.

He unleashed Wood Release, attacking indiscriminately.

Outside the Mizukage Building, the Kiri army—who had surrounded the building so tightly that not even water could seep through—once again watched as the building's walls were breached.

If the first time had just knocked down a wall, this time was downright excessive.

Was the entire building about to collapse?

The Kiri ninjas collectively cursed their parents for not giving them longer legs as they sprinted away from the building at full speed.

From one side of the building, massive and grotesque thorny trees erupted, tearing down walls as they writhed. Large chunks of wall, along with human bodies and various debris, tumbled down like dumplings into the streets below.

Who wouldn't run from that?

Boom—!!!

A series of deafening crashes echoed behind them as heavy debris slammed into the ground, sending tremors rippling through the ground beneath their feet.

Finally, the tremors subsided. When they turned back, they gasped.

The Mizukage Building would need repairs this year—no, they might as well build a new one!

Half of the building's outer wall was gone, with a mountain of rubble piled up at its base.

The grotesque thorny trees completely filled the now-exposed side of the building.

The Kiri ninjas stared at the scene in stunned silence.

"Is that… Wood Release?" one of them muttered weakly, as if mourning.

"What's Wood Release?" a newer, civilian-born ninja asked, still unfamiliar with many things.

"It's a Konoha technique. And an incredibly powerful one!"

"Hey! Isn't it strange for such a technique to show up here?"

"Shut up, you idiot! There are two Konoha ninjas in there. Did you forget about the White Ghost?"

"Ah! So this is the White Ghost's technique!"

At the mention of the White Ghost, the entire Kiri army seemed to freeze. They fell silent as if someone had pressed a pause button.

After a while, seeing that the commotion inside had subsided, they cautiously moved back toward the Mizukage Building.

"Stop!" someone suddenly barked.

A group of Kiri ANBU appeared before them, raising their hands to signal them to halt.

"Orders from the Mizukage: the traitors in the building will be dealt with personally by the Mizukage and Genji. All others are to head to the clans' district and ensure no one escapes!"

The Kiri ninjas were stunned but quickly delighted.

Great!

They'd much rather fight their own village's clans than face the White Ghost in combat.

The thought of capturing some of the clan women, soft and fair-skinned, to take home as wives made them ecstatic.

Unfortunately, their joy didn't last long. The ANBU had more to say.

"If any of the traitorous clan ninjas resist, eliminate them all. However, those who surrender, as well as civilians, must not be harmed. Above all, do not harm or violate any women."

At this, the ANBU's voice turned icy.

"Otherwise, wherever you're from, prepare to lose a limb as an apology."

Damn! That harsh!? The Kiri ninjas gasped, harder than when they'd seen the destruction of the Mizukage Building.

"Other units have received the same orders. Now go!"

The ANBU waved them off, eager for them to leave.

He didn't want these troops hanging around. The psychos inside the building could burst out at any moment.

The Bloody Mist policy did have its minor benefits—obedience to orders had become second nature for the Kiri army.

Without hesitation, they dispersed like a flood.

Once outside the Mizukage Building's perimeter, they turned toward the clan district.

Meanwhile, the ANBU outside the building returned their gaze to the wrecked building.

They were dying to know what was happening inside…