The door of the Mizukage Building creaked open, and a figure emerged from the darkness, their steps like those of a marionette.
"Yagura Karatachi! You finally decided to show yourself."
"Hand over the person who murdered our Kagura clan ninjas!"
Seeing several smaller clans gathered behind him, totaling nearly a hundred people, the Kagura clan leader's confidence surged. He stepped forward, stopping ten meters from Yagura Karatachi, and declared,
"Mizukage-sama, I'll call you Mizukage-sama one last time. The era of the Land of Water has changed, and you have been eliminated. My Kagura clan will soon rule the Hidden Mist Village!"
"If you abdicate now, I might still show you some respect!"
Yagura Karatachi, controlled by Obito, replied coldly, "Is that so? To make me abdicate, did you ask him first?"
"Who?"
The Kagura clan leader didn't understand Yagura Karatachi's meaning, assuming he was just being arrogant. He scoffed, "Look behind me, then look behind you. Your actions have left you isolated!"
Yagura Karatachi looked up at the barrier set up around them. If the barrier was already in place, how would his people arrive?
But it was fine; digging one's own grave was also a beautiful thing.
"The one behind him… is me!"
The Kagura clan leader saw a black-robed figure wearing a spiral mask emerge from the shadows behind Yagura Karatachi. He instinctively gripped his bone blade and asked sternly, "Who are you?"
Obito tilted his head, pointing at Yagura Karatachi, "I am the one behind your Mizukage-sama."
"Tch!"
"You think just because you're wearing that..."
*Crack!*
Before a Kagura clansman could finish his sentence, his head vanished, leaving behind a headless corpse and a splash of blood that doused the Kagura clan leader.
Obito's eyes had already transformed into Mangekyo patterns, his voice like the cold of the ninth netherworld,
"Are you ready to die?!"
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Yu glanced back in the direction of the Mizukage Building, a smile playing on his lips. He shook his head, "Some people really walk right into the line of fire. How pitiful!"
"Lin Yu, what did you say? What line of fire?"
Miyoko's red lips parted slightly as she exhaled softly, holding a skewer of spicy fish balls. A faint blush, brought on by the spice, colored her fair cheeks.
Why did the people of the Land of Water like spice so much? Was this how they tried to remove the fishy smell?
"Nothing, I was saying that bird legs are much smaller than chicken legs!"
"What are chicken legs?"
Lin Yu sighed helplessly. Miyoko was always so inquisitive about food. He simply replied, "They're like chicken drumsticks."
"Oh!"
Miyoko nodded. She decided that upon returning to Konoha, she would thoroughly research this "chicken leg" delicacy. If it made Lin Yu remember it so fondly, she was determined to learn how to make it!
"Lin Yu, did something happen in the Hidden Mist Village? I feel like the atmosphere around us is a bit strange."
Miyoko cast a glance at the surrounding commercial street. There were very few pedestrians, and many shops had signs indicating they were closed for business. It was noon, which was highly unusual.
"Perhaps it's some festival in their village. We won't be staying long anyway, so no need to worry about it."
Miyoko nodded and said to Kurenai, who was sitting beside her, "Kurenai, eat slowly."
"Mmmph! So delicious!"
Kurenai held a giant octopus, larger than her face, and gnawed on it with gusto. Even though her small mouth was red from the spice, she continued to take bite after bite, her little face smeared with sauce.
"Eat slowly, no one's going to snatch it from you."
"It's too delicious! This is so much better than the octopus in our village!"
Kurenai shouted to the shop owner, who was preparing to close, "Owner, two more orders to go!"
Normally, the octopus owner would have been delighted, but he had just received word that something big was about to happen in the Hidden Mist Village.
Many small clans were gathering and heading towards the Mizukage Building, while the major clans remained silent. It was clear that trouble was brewing in the Hidden Mist Village!
In such situations, closing shop early and going home to sleep was the wisest course of action. If one were to get caught in some unknown ninjutsu, it would be terribly unlucky.
"Three guests, I advise you to leave as soon as possible. Something big is about to happen in the village."
Lin Yu smiled at the owner, "It's alright, boss. It won't affect your business, don't worry!"
The octopus owner became anxious. Was he concerned about business? He was concerned about his own life!
He wasn't like some Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku in Konoha; he was just an ordinary civilian who could collapse with a single touch.
"Alright, boss, two more octopus orders to go. We'll leave after we finish these."
"You guys... sigh!"
Lin Yu took a tissue and wiped the sauce from Miyoko's lips, saying, "There's nothing much to see in the Hidden Mist Village. How about we visit some of the other islands in the Land of Water later?"
Miyoko instinctively glanced at Kurenai. Seeing that she was still devouring the octopus, she shyly replied, "I... I'm fine with anything."
"What about you, Kurenai?"
Kurenai stuck out her little tongue, licked her lips, and said excitedly, "I want to go catch octopuses! And then grill them!"
"Then let's go see what the hot springs in the Land of Water are like!"
Kurenai: ...Are there octopuses in the hot springs?
...
In a town somewhere in the Land of Fire, a shop with a "Gambling" plaque was crowded with people, all there to see the "fat sheep"!
"Place your bets, open! One, two, three, six. Small!"
"Damn it! Lost again, Tsunade! Didn't you say you were the God of Gamblers?"
Tsunade, clad in her green battle robe, looked at the dice in the cup with unwillingness. She didn't believe it!
She had bet on "big" forty times in a row, and it had rolled "small" forty times in a row. This was clearly cheating!
How could anyone be this unlucky!
Kushina patted her small purse with heartache, her eyes turning red. She pinched Tsunade hard and said fiercely, "You old hag, didn't you say you'd win me double the money? Now you've lost nearly a hundred million ryo! You pay me back my hard-earned money!"
"Th-that much already?"
Tsunade felt a little embarrassed and slapped her thigh. An idea flashed through her mind, "I've thought of a way!"
"You do this, this, and this, and it's guaranteed to work!"
Kushina hesitated, but after looking at her wallet, which was half its original size, her face gradually became resolute. This time, she would definitely win!
"Place your bets, place your bets."
"I bet on small!" Tsunade threw ten thousand ryo in chips onto the table. The surrounding gamblers immediately placed their chips on "big," thinking that betting against the big fat sheep was a sure win!
"Place your bets, it's about to open!"
"Wait a moment, I bet ten million ryo on big!" Kushina pushed all the chips in front of her forward, her plump face filled with determination.
This time, she would definitely win!
"Open! Six, six, six. Triple six kills all!"
Game over!
It turned out there wasn't just one fat sheep, but two! This was the collective thought of the gamblers around them.
Tsunade and Kushina exchanged glances, suddenly feeling a sense of camaraderie.
Then, they were on the verge of tears. Two unlucky souls, how could they ever win it back!