"Don't get the wrong idea. We're just… changing Yagura's clothes."
Yorin told Mei calmly: "You know how it is—when announcing something big, you've got to look formal.
"So when I puppeteer Yagura to announce the dissolution of Kirigakure, he needs to be in a suit and tie. That's all."
Mei: "…Really?"
Yorin: "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
Mei: "…Oh. I thought you'd been dating that nun every day, drifting toward a priest kink."
Yorin: "Absolutely not."
Mei: "Oh? Then what about them?"
Yorin: "They may be my brothers, but Shisui and Kakashi are free men. Their kinks are none of my business."
Kakashi & Shisui: "…"
Listening to this exchange, the two felt like they'd suffered a workplace injury. When they heard Yorin was "shooting a film," they'd foolishly come to help.
But he never said it was that kind of film. If they'd known, they'd have stayed away.
In short, under Mei's scrutinizing gaze, Shisui and Kakashi finished dressing Yagura. Yorin even wondered if he should slap a "map-head" bald cap on him for a better Gorbachev cosplay—but decided against it. No one in the shinobi world would get the joke anyway.
Yagura was still under Sharingan hypnosis.
Obito might be dead, but no matter—he still had Yorin-nii.
Under Uchiha Yorin's control, Yagura, heavy-hearted, faced the camera and said:
"Dear compatriots:
In light of developments since the founding of Kirigakure, I hereby cease my activities as Fourth Mizukage…"
…[rest omitted]…
With the cat cameraman and cat gaffer handling lights and framing, Yagura delivered a string of lines that boiled down to:
"I hereby announce: Kirigakure is dissolved."
Even as a Kiri rogue, Mei couldn't help tearing up at the words.
A single sentence rose in her heart:
"An era has ended."
…
"Good work, everyone. Go buy yourselves some fancy cat food."
The shoot wrapped without a hitch. Afterward, Yagura lay back on the bed to cosplay a corpse. He was in terrible shape; being alive was a miracle. For a long while yet, his only role would be houseplant. Compared to death, that was already good news.
…
The cat lighting and camera crew pocketed their allowance, chirped "Hooray," ran through reverse-summoning, and blinked home for dinner.
"Keep this tape safe. We'll use it when we move on Kiri."
Yorin told Kakashi. He nodded and sealed it carefully. Shisui, curious, asked, "Not like before… um, that time?"
He meant Mei's video. After filming, Yorin had copied ten million tapes and made sure the whole world saw that hopeful message.
But with the subject standing right there, the mood wasn't ideal. So Shisui only hinted at it, not wanting Mei to melt him with a splash of Boil Release.
Yorin: "No, no, no. This time the plan's different—sneak into the village, don't fire the gun—you get me?"
"I get you." Shisui didn't know why Yorin put on that strange accent, but he understood.
The world stood with five great nations locked in a wary standoff.
Konoha would move against Kiri and try to swallow it whole. If they failed, fine—but if they succeeded, could the other three villages swallow that?
They would blood-oath an alliance at top speed, form an anti-Konoha coalition, and waaagh their way to Konoha's gates—demanding Kiri's release.
Then Kiri would erupt with restorationist rebels, and Konoha would sprout Third Hokage restorationists—inside and out working together—boom goes the village.
So Yorin's "sneak in soft, no gunshots" tactic was correct—and viable.
Kiri sits isolated at sea; contact with other villages is limited. After Blood Mist, even more so.
That's why, in the original timeline, when Akatsuki began acting, many thought it was Kiri's plot. It took Mei speaking at the Five Kage Summit to get everyone off Kiri's back.
In such circumstances, Yorin's Norman Conquest—silently taking the whole village, then swapping the birds in the nest, borrowing eggs to hatch a chick, borrowing corpses to return a soul—had a very high chance of success.
There was still a hole, though—Zetsu.
If Yorin were Zetsu, seeing Konoha grow so strong, he'd do everything to weaken it—so taking the Nine-Tails later would be easier.
This has been Black Zetsu's strategy since the dawn of the shinobi village era.
He pits the five great villages against each other, weakening them all. All to prepare for harvesting the nine Tailed Beasts.
An overly strong Konoha doesn't fit Zetsu's interests.
But an overly strong Uchiha… that's another matter.
Uchiha Yorin decided to find that guy and have a real talk. Plug the biggest hole in the Norman plan.
Uchiha Yorin: "So where is he…? Mm, Kannabi Bridge, right? The beginning of it all. I remember our great Clan Head, Madara-sama, had a secret base there—heh-heh-heh-heh."
Smiling to himself, Yorin made up his mind.
Happily decided.
Of course, on the eve of the Kiri expedition, he couldn't leave Konoha for long. Luckily, Kannabi Bridge wasn't far. At his current pace, he could run a dozen round trips a day.
"I hope you don't disappoint me, good boy. You don't want your mother refined into a pill and eaten, do you?"
Black Zetsu: "I don't. But the question is… why should I trust you? And how do you know so much? What are you?!"
He stared at Yorin in shock—waves churning in his heart.
…
Yorin's chakra-sensing wasn't bad, and his upgraded three-tomoe was sharp at finding things. At the ruins of Kannabi Bridge, he quickly located Madara's old hideout—and Black Zetsu.
Seeing Yorin, Zetsu jolted and prepared to bolt.
One sentence pinned him in place:
"You don't want to resurrect your mother?"
Black Zetsu: "What do you want—what are you?!"
And so the conversation began.
Looking at the confident man in front of him, brimming with scheming, Black Zetsu couldn't help thinking how absurd it was.
For millennia, he'd always been the one manipulating Uchiha.
Now the wheel had turned—and an Uchiha was manipulating him.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!
Also, get 50% off your first month on every membership tier this December! Take advantage of this offer and join. Thank you!