"…So it was a dream."
The Third Mizukage lay on his back, hair disheveled, slowly opening eyes that had always been half-lidded.
He stared up at the night sky where the red glow of fire-clouds still hadn't fully faded, and spoke with stiff, unfamiliar clarity.
"A long… long dream."
"Then get up and face reality," Ren said, looking down at him without the slightest softness.
"I don't know when you were placed under genjutsu. But the fact that you—Kirigakure's strongest—were controlled without resistance is reason enough to be held accountable and judged."
"I know," the Third Mizukage said, voice hoarse.
He struggled into a sitting position, straightening the Mizukage robe now dirtied with soot and dust, and let out a breath filled with bitter wonder.
"To think the one who freed me from that endless Sharingan dream… would be a Kaguya child—someone practically immune to genjutsu."
He smiled faintly, helpless.
"How strange the world is."
"Sharingan?! Genjutsu?!"
The shinobi gathered around erupted in shocked cries.
They had already started to believe Ren's accusation because of the Third's abnormal actions—
But hearing the Third confess it himself…
For those who had grown up under his rule, the impact was crushing.
If the Third had led Kirigakure into this state while controlled by Sharingan…
Then what did their teachings mean?
What did their inherited ideals mean?
What did their sacrifices mean?
"Sharingan… huh?"
Unlike the shinobi drowning in shock, Ren—who already knew the likely answer—put on a thoughtful expression and summoned the serpent binding Shisui, pulling the boy closer as a prop.
Then Ren turned back to the Third.
"Third, you said you were controlled by Sharingan genjutsu, right?"
"Yes," the Third said, hatred and humiliation twisting his face. "I'll never forget those blood-red eyes in the dark—the moment I saw them, my resistance vanished."
He spat the words like poison.
"I can't forget the one who treated me like a puppet for more than a decade."
Ren's gaze flicked toward Shisui.
"Hey, Uchiha brat. You're famous as 'Shisui the Body Flicker,' but your genjutsu skill isn't bad either, right?"
Ren's voice stayed casual—too casual.
"Tell me. To control a Kage-level shinobi with Sharingan genjutsu for fifteen years… what kind of strength would that require?"
In an instant, hundreds of Kirigakure shinobi turned their eyes toward Shisui.
The killing intent in those stares was almost physical.
Shisui's face went pale.
"I… I don't know," he forced out, voice tangled with confusion.
"At first, I thought… if someone had the Mangekyo Sharingan, maybe they could do something like that."
His gaze trembled as it drifted toward Ren.
"But even Fugaku-sama—with Mangekyo—had almost no resistance against you. To silently control a village's Mizukage for years… the difference in power would have to be at least as vast as the gap between you and Fugaku-sama."
Shisui's hands clenched.
"If even Mangekyo can't do it… then what kind of power could…?"
"Mangekyo, Mangekyo…" The Third murmured, expression tightening with realization and dread. "Then that eye… it really wasn't a normal Sharingan."
He looked up, voice heavy.
"But power beyond the Mangekyo…"
Ren's tone sharpened.
"You have a lead, Third?"
The Third Mizukage went silent for a long moment—then nodded, face grim.
"There's only one name I can think of."
His voice dropped like a stone.
"An Uchiha who stood at the peak of the Warring States alongside the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. The co-founder of Konoha."
He breathed the name like a curse.
"Uchiha Madara."
"But Madara is dead," Shisui blurted, unable to hold it back. "He died at the Valley of the End against Senju Hashirama. How could a dead man return to interfere with the world?"
"Hmph." The Third's eyes turned cold. "Then ask your Second Hokage."
Shisui stiffened.
"When the First Shinobi World War broke out and Konoha was besieged, he developed a technique to revive the dead—Edo Tensei."
The Third's voice was rough with resentment.
"He even secretly threatened the other villages' Kage—saying that if the war turned too unfavorable for Konoha, he might revive his dead brother Hashirama to 'resolve' the conflict."
"Pfft."
Ren laughed—brief, utterly shameless.
Even now, that damned Second Hokage's "flexible pragmatism" was impressive in its own disgusting way.
Shisui looked like he'd been struck by lightning.
"But… but the Second Hokage has been dead for a long time too!"
"People die," Ren said lightly, "but their forbidden techniques can be passed down."
Ren's gaze turned calm and sharp.
"Minato's Flying Thunder God—wasn't that created by the Second Hokage? Who's to say Edo Tensei wasn't recorded as well and inherited by someone among Konoha's higher-ups as a trump card?"
Ren's voice thinned into something colder.
"Then it gets used on Kirigakure."
Shisui fell silent.
This was beyond him.
Beyond any nine-year-old—no matter how early he'd matured.
Ren let Shisui sink into that silence and turned back to the Third Mizukage.
"The question of who exactly controlled you—leave it for the peace talks with Konoha."
Ren's eyes narrowed.
"Now, what comes next… you understand, don't you, Third?"
"Of course," the Third said, exhaling.
He stood and walked toward the gathered shinobi.
"I will submit my resignation to the Land of Water's daimyo. I will nominate you as the sole candidate for Fourth Mizukage."
His voice carried exhausted finality.
"And I will use what remains of the Third Mizukage's authority to declare the war with Konoha ended… and go to the Land of Fire for the final negotiations."
Ren dipped his head, perfectly composed.
"Thank you for making the sensible choice, Third."
The Third let out a small, bitter laugh.
"I'm already destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame. Struggling won't change it. If my crimes and humiliation increase a little more… my reputation can't get any worse."
He looked at Ren.
His gaze held a strange emptiness.
"The future is yours, Fourth."
Those words drifted away into the wind—
And with them went his spirit, his will, his desire to keep living—like a candle entering visible countdown.
Ren lifted his eyes to the sky.
For Kirigakure, a clear sky without fog was rare.
The stars were brilliant.
The moon's position—along with the stars—confirmed it.
A new day had begun.
The final day of Konoha Year 48 ended with the Third Mizukage and the Bloody Mist era dragging their broken bodies into the past.
And the first day of Konoha Year 49—
would be recorded forever as the beginning of Kirigakure's new age.
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