"No one knows what the Hidden Mist was thinking," Koharu said quietly, "but the facts are clear. It was their Anbu who did it."
Minato stayed silent for a long moment, then asked, "What does the Hokage want to do?"
"Hiruzen hasn't made a final decision yet. He only ordered the reinforcements we sent to the Mist to pull back to the village first."
Koharu paused, her voice softening. "Minato… I'm sorry for your loss. Kakashi will be fine. Go see Kushina. She's been worried sick about you."
Minato gave a small nod and walked out of the medical ward.
Two of his students were dead.
One had died on the battlefield while he was away supporting the Mist.
The other had been murdered by Mist ninjas themselves.
The pain sat heavy in his chest like a stone.
---
Hidden Mist Village – Mizukage Building.
The Third Mizukage sat behind his desk, his expression finally relaxed for the first time in weeks.
They had successfully beaten back the Takechi clan's second rebellion and rushed elite reinforcements to the front lines. Both problems were handled. He let out a long breath of relief.
"With the new reinforcements and our alliance with the Leaf, holding off Sunagakure shouldn't be a problem anymore."
A small smile finally crossed his face.
"The worst is behind us. This could be the turning point. From here on, the village will only get stronger."
Right then, two intelligence ninjas burst through the door.
"Mizukage-sama!"
The Third Mizukage's heart sank the moment he saw their grim faces. Bad news.
"What is it?"
"Mizukage-sama… the front lines report that Sunagakure has launched an all-out assault. Our forces are being overwhelmed. The casualties are catastrophic."
The Third Mizukage frowned. "What? We have Leaf reinforcements there, and our own support squads should have arrived by now."
"Mizukage-sama… the Leaf ninjas have all withdrawn."
The Third Mizukage shot to his feet.
"Are you certain?"
"Without a doubt."
His face turned deathly pale, then darkened with pure fury.
"Konoha!"
He spat the word through gritted teeth.
"They went too far! We formed an alliance, we gave them benefits, and at the most critical moment they betray us and sell us out!"
"Utterly shameless!"
"This full-scale Sand attack was probably coordinated with the Leaf from the start!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became. His chest tightened until he could barely breathe.
"Why? Why did it come to this?"
He had worked so hard—both inside the village and on the battlefield. He had given everything.
The Hidden Mist had been in such a strong position. If they had taken Sunagakure, he was certain the village would have risen into the top three powers in the ninja world.
And then everything collapsed overnight.
"Rasa! It's all because that brat became Kazekage!"
"I refuse to accept this… I did everything right as Mizukage, and this is how it ends?"
"Heaven is so unfair!"
His rage and despair peaked at the same time.
"Pfft—!"
A massive spray of blood erupted from his mouth, splattering across the desk and onto the two intelligence ninjas.
Before they could even wipe it off, the Third Mizukage's body swayed and collapsed backward.
Bang!
He slammed heavily into his chair.
The old wounds from the first Takechi rebellion had never fully healed. He had fought again before recovering. Now the devastating frontline report was the final blow.
His body began convulsing violently. Blood kept pouring from his mouth, pooling thickly on the floor.
A horrified shout rang out.
"Mizukage-sama is dying!"
"Someone get help!"
"Medical ninja! Hurry!"
Medical ninjas rushed in under Anbu escort, but it was already too late. The Third Mizukage was old and his body simply couldn't take any more.
By the time they reached him, he had drawn his final breath.
The lead medical ninja slowly shook his head under the shocked stares of everyone present.
"Mizukage-sama… has passed away."
A wave of grief swept through the room.
The village's top brass gathered immediately at the Mizukage Building.
After a brief moment of silence for the Third, they faced the next urgent crisis: who would become the Fourth Mizukage?
The Hidden Mist could not be left without a leader right now. Even when the Third Kazekage had simply gone missing, the other villages had smelled blood in the water and pounced on Sunagakure. The current situation for the Mist was far worse.
One elder sighed. "If only the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were still here… we could have chosen one of them as acting Mizukage at least."
"Right now there's simply no one else qualified."
No one had expected the war to destroy the Seven Ninja Swordsmen so completely—one had defected, five were dead, and only Jinpachi Munashi remained. Even he wasn't suitable, and he was stuck at the front lines anyway.
The high-ranking officials looked at one another. They all knew who the only realistic choice was.
Yagura Karatachi.
The only problem was that Yagura was currently at the front.
"In this emergency, we have no choice. We'll appoint him now and hold the official ceremony when he returns."
"Agreed."
---
At the front lines, Yagura received the news of the Third Mizukage's death before the village's final decision even reached him. An Anbu operative had rushed the message ahead.
Yagura's face turned ashen.
He let out a long, heavy sigh.
"The Hidden Mist… has lost."
He looked at the ninja in front of him.
"Prepare the white flags. We only have one option left."
"Surrender to Sunagakure."
"We have no other path."