Hiruzen persuaded me to die

"It seems there's no suspense left in the outcome."

On the far edge of a shattered island, Terumi Mei gazed at the distant battlefield, her lips curling in a bitter sigh.

The First Hokage, wrapped in grotesque white flesh, had summoned a towering wooden Buddha more than 300 meters tall—once thought to be an unstoppable force.

But it had just been obliterated.

Wiped away by the Thousand-Armed Buddha summoned by Hyuga Naraku, Konoha's Fifth Hokage.

"The God of Shinobi… actually lost."

Mangetsu Hōzuki muttered in disbelief.

He couldn't imagine the extent of the First Hokage's power, but he trusted the judgment of the Second Mizukage—a man who once called Hashirama Senju a "god."

And now…

That same god had been defeated.

By a single man.

By Naraku.

Not by a village. Not by a great alliance.

Just him.

On the shoreline, Kisame Hoshigaki stood frozen, watching the aftermath with dread swelling in his chest.

He wanted to curse aloud.

That so-called "Uchiha Madara"... can he even be trusted?!

All that talk about the Eye of the Moon Project... the dream of infinite peace...

But if you can't even defeat the Fifth Hokage, what peace are you talking about?!

And worse—if Madara lost control of the Fourth Mizukage...

Then Yagura, once free, would absolutely hunt down the traitor who helped enslave him.

Which meant Kisame.

Just thinking about it made his scalp go numb.

"Kisame," Mei's voice cut in, sharp as a kunai, "you said earlier that the Fourth Mizukage would personally deal with Konoha's Hokage. Did Yagura himself tell you that?"

Kisame paused.

That look in her eyes—calm, but deadly.

"…That's what Lord Yagura told me himself. But I don't know whether he was under control at the time."

"Is that so?" Mei narrowed her gaze. "Then I'll ask you to stay here and explain it to Lord Yagura personally... when he returns."

Her eyes flicked toward the battlefield, where the Three-Tails, now free of control, lay atop a smashed ridge, panting and dazed.

The war was already over.

Kirigakure wasn't even outnumbered, yet they were hopelessly outmatched.

Konoha had two thousand shinobi. Kirigakure had about the same.

But even if they had triple that number—what did it matter?

Naraku alone could wipe them all out.

When something as massive as the Three-Tails was being flung around like a sack of rice... what was the point of resistance?

Even worse...

They weren't even fighting for their own cause.

They'd been manipulated.

Yagura had been a puppet.

And if Kisame had known about that...

"No problem," Kisame said with a forced smile. "I'll explain everything to Lord Mizukage—"

Splash!

Before he could finish, he vanished into the sea, fleeing at high speed.

Explain your ass! I need to get out of here!

Once Yagura was free, he'd tear him apart!

"Trying to escape?" Mei's lips twitched upward in a cold smile.

She'd been prepared.

Her hands blurred through seals—

"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Technique!"

A torrent of acidic lava surged across the water, hissing and bubbling, the very mist sizzling with poison.

"Damn it!" Kisame growled, unsheathing Samehada.

The great blade came alive, drinking up the Lava Chakra, neutralizing the worst of it.

But that brief delay was all it took.

Two Mist Shinobi leapt in—Ao and Mangetsu—blocking his escape.

"Kisame, you bastard! You betrayed Lord Mizukage!"

Kisame grimaced, surrounded by dozens of shinobi.

It was true.

He'd only joined this mysterious "Uchiha Madara" a few days ago.

Took over Mist's Anbu under false loyalty.

And now, the whole Eye of the Moon Project was collapsing.

He was cornered.

"Don't get me wrong," he muttered. "I said I'd explain it to Yagura."

"Then why the hell are you running?!" Ao shouted.

Everyone around now believed it—Kisame had been working for the man who manipulated the Mizukage.

And with Yagura regaining control, he had only one instinct left:

Survive.

Just as the Mist Shinobi moved in—

A swirl of distorted space bloomed behind Kisame.

A hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't resist. I'll get you out."

The voice was distorted, deeper than usual—clearly masked. But Kisame recognized it.

Uchiha Obito, still masquerading as Madara.

Obito hadn't intervened during Hiruzen's downfall.

Even when Hiruzen begged for help, Obito stayed hidden.

Naraku had been too close.

Even Izanagi might not have saved him in time.

But Kisame… Kisame was still useful.

Akatsuki needed manpower.

Kisame could be salvaged.

Just as they began to vanish—

Clink!

A kunai flew through the air, spinning toward Kisame.

Kisame turned, frowning. "What's that?"

There was an unusual symbol engraved on the handle.

A strange eye-like seal.

Obito's eyes widened. "No—Flying Thunder God Kunai?!"

And just like that—

Boom!

Naraku appeared in a flash of lightning beside the kunai, pheasant sword already drawn.

The blade gleamed.

Slice!

It cleaved diagonally through Obito's shoulder.

Too fast to react. Too close to Kamui's edge.

Obito barely had time to activate Izanagi—

And even then, only his head and torso disappeared into the swirling space.

His lower body dropped to the earth, twitching.

Naraku landed silently, eyes cold.

"So you finally showed yourself."

He'd sensed the space-time fluctuation when Obito attempted the rescue.

He'd been waiting for it.

Disappointed when Obito ignored Hiruzen.

But when Kisame tried to flee—Obito had to intervene.

He threw the kunai on instinct.

It almost worked.

Almost.

"You've almost surpassed even me," Tobirama muttered, stepping beside Naraku.

"That was Flying Thunder God Slash—applied perfectly."

From behind, Hashirama arrived next. "Looks like Konoha doesn't need our protection anymore."

Tobirama walked toward the severed corpse that was now fading into dust.

His eyes narrowed.

"Izanagi... It's the one who controlled the Three-Tails."

"Was it really Madara?" Hashirama asked. "Impossible. He wouldn't be this… fragile."

Tobirama shook his head. "If that was Madara, Hyuga Naraku wouldn't have nearly killed him with a single blow."

A silence hung in the air.

Whoever that masked man was—

He was not the legendary Uchiha Madara.

Just someone hiding behind the name.

And now...

He was running out of places to hide.

To Be Continued…