"No matter who the opponent is, shinobi of Kumogakure will never surrender!"
After saying those words, Mabui's beautiful face hardened. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to climb to her feet, clearly intending to stand and continue speaking.
Unfortunately for her—
Uchiha Ren had no intention of giving her the chance.
"Die."
With that cold command, Ren casually flicked his hand.
A black kunai shot forward like lightning.
Pshht!
The blade tore straight through Mabui's body.
"Y–you…"
Looking down at the bloody hole in her chest, Mabui's pupils shrank violently.
She opened her mouth, trying to say something—but no words came out.
Instead, she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
Regret filled her eyes.
One wrong step could lead to eternal regret.
Kumogakure's plan had failed completely.
She could already imagine how furious the Fourth Raikage, A, would be when he heard this news.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Because she was dying.
Thud!
Her body collapsed onto the ground.
Mabui was dead beyond doubt.
Silence.
Utter silence.
Watching Mabui die instantly, the Kumogakure shinobi kneeling and sprawled across the ground forced bitter smiles onto their faces.
Their hearts were filled with humiliation and helplessness.
As Kumo shinobi, they had never suffered such humiliation.
Yet now—
facing the terrifying Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren—
they could only kneel in submission.
"…Why go that far?"
Yugito trembled slightly as she looked at Mabui's corpse.
She silently sighed and closed her eyes.
If the green hills remained, there would still be firewood.
As long as one lived, there was always another chance.
But once dead—
there was nothing left.
"W-we surrender…"
"Fifth Hokage… we admit defeat."
"We surrender!"
A few seconds later, the Kumogakure shinobi lying on the ground finally spoke weakly.
"That's it?"
Hearing their surrender, the Takigakure shinobi led by Shibuki revealed mocking smiles.
They had thought the Kumo shinobi would fight to the end.
But in the end—
even Kumogakure shinobi followed the universal rule:
everyone submits when the situation is hopeless.
"A wise choice."
Ren simply smiled faintly.
With a thought, the Truth-Seeking Orb in his palm quietly dissipated.
He had already achieved the effect he wanted.
Next, Konoha's shinobi would handle the aftermath.
As for Kumogakure's reaction—
Ren wasn't concerned at all.
To be blunt, with Konoha's current strength, Kumogakure was no longer worth worrying about.
Even if the Fourth Raikage learned what had happened—
the only thing he could do was rage helplessly.
Unless he wanted to wage a direct war against Konoha.
The next day—
A piece of news spread across the shinobi world at incredible speed after being publicly announced by Konoha.
The already turbulent shinobi world was thrown into even greater chaos.
The message contained one central point:
Kumogakure had secretly colluded with Takigakure traitors.
Their goal was to invade Takigakure and seize the Hero Water and the Seven-Tails jinchūriki.
But their plan had been discovered by the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren.
With overwhelming force, Ren suppressed the Two-Tails jinchūriki Yugito and the Seven-Tails jinchūriki Fū.
He also killed the Kumogakure high-ranking official Mabui.
The invading Kumo shinobi were forced to kneel and surrender.
Out of gratitude, Takigakure's young leader Shibuki publicly announced the village's submission to Konoha.
Boom!
The news shocked the entire shinobi world.
Countless shinobi revealed expressions of disbelief.
No one had expected Konoha to make such a huge move again.
The Fifth Hokage had suppressed two jinchūriki and killed a Kumogakure executive.
It was practically a public humiliation of Kumogakure.
But what shocked many analysts even more—
was something else.
After suppressing the Two-Tails and Seven-Tails—
and considering the Three-Tails, Five-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails—
Konoha now effectively controlled six Tailed Beasts.
And with Takigakure now having submitted to Konoha—
Konoha's overall strength had reached a terrifying level.
The balance of power across the shinobi world shifted once again.
Naturally—
countless eyes turned toward Kumogakure.
Everyone wanted to know how the Fourth Raikage, A, would respond.
After all—
his village's jinchūriki had been suppressed,
and a high-ranking officer had been killed.
But to everyone's surprise—
Kumogakure remained completely silent.
No response.
No retaliation.
It was as if they had swallowed the humiliation.
The shinobi world was left disappointed.
Inside Kumogakure.
Raikage Office.
BOOM!
Without warning, a terrifying surge of Lightning Release chakra erupted.
The entire village trembled.
"Sigh… this is too much…"
"Kumogakure really has it rough this time…"
"The Raikage's chakra is out of control again."
"That's the eighteenth time today…"
Sensing the violent lightning chakra, countless Kumo shinobi could only sigh helplessly.
What else could they say?
The failed operation at Takigakure had dealt Kumogakure a devastating blow.
Not only had the village's reputation been ruined—
the Fourth Raikage himself had suffered such a heavy psychological shock
that he was on the verge of a breakdown.
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