Ever since the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were chosen, the Mizukage focused all his energy on them, personally training them by his side.
The war caused some losses, and targeting Shimotsuki Kōmei caused more losses. With continuous losses, the number of Ninja the Mizukage could mobilize became fewer and fewer.
Yagura remained loyal to the Mizukage, obeying his every command. The Mizukage trusted Yagura even more.
Time flew by, and unknowingly, it was the 30th year of Konoha.
The trajectory of fate did not show significant changes: Minato Namikaze, Uzumaki Kushina, and Yakushi Nonou were born, and a certain fish began to show his potential in the rain.
The Hidden Mist Village's bloody policies were still in effect, and the number of graduating Ninja decreased each year. The villagers' dissatisfaction with him grew.
Shimotsuki Kōmei's business was still booming, and his actions of freely using Hidden Mist Village Ninja continued.
Next year, the Uzumaki Clan will be annihilated, and the Uzumaki Clan will be scattered, hiding in various corners of the Ninja World.
If Shimotsuki Kōmei wants to profit from this opportunity, he must completely control the Hidden Mist Village to have room for maneuver.
He infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village and entered Yagura's home.
"Yagura, you've done well. You've sent back a lot of useful intelligence every year. You've worked hard," Shimotsuki Kōmei said, looking at Yagura and nodding in satisfaction.
"It's no hardship; it's what I should do. Lord Shimotsuki, if you secretly enter the Hidden Mist Village and get injured, I would be to blame even if I died ten thousand times!"
Yagura knelt on one knee before Shimotsuki Kōmei, speaking seriously and solemnly.
Shimotsuki Kōmei found a seat and carefully observed Yagura; his strength had improved significantly, infinitely close to Kage-level, just needing a bit more time to mature.
"Alright, no need to be so serious. I have few rivals in the Ninja World right now. Has anything big happened in the Hidden Mist Village recently?"
Yagura still kept his head down, recalling for a moment.
"Nothing major. The Mizukage has handed over some affairs to me, and he's taken the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to Cultivate on a deserted island."
"Good," Shimotsuki Kōmei was overjoyed upon hearing this. The Mizukage had sent him a pillow when he was sleepy. "Yagura, I demand that you use your authority to divide the Hidden Mist Village and intensify the conflict between the Mizukage and them."
"Knock, knock, knock," suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Shimotsuki Kōmei raised his hand and pointed outside the door, signaling Yagura to go and see.
A moment later, voices were heard outside the door.
"Lord Yagura, the latest batch of missions has been issued. Lord Mizukage requests that you assign them as soon as possible."
"Alright, you go back first. I'll be there shortly."
A few minutes later, Yagura confirmed that the Hidden Mist Village Anbu had left, then turned and re-entered the house.
"Since you have matters to attend to, I'll keep it brief," Shimotsuki Kōmei placed two items on the table.
"Intensifying the conflict is only the first step; your becoming the Mizukage is the ultimate goal. Hurry and become stronger."
Yagura looked at the items on the table and said firmly, "Don't worry, I guarantee the mission will be completed."
Shimotsuki Kōmei stood up and walked over to Yagura, lightly patting his shoulder, "I believe in you."
Shimotsuki Kōmei left Yagura ten Chakra Pills and a Bloodline Limit activation pill. Yagura possessed both Wind and Water attributes, so he could activate Ice Release.
Yagura returned to the Mizukage Building, looking at the missions issued by the Hidden Mist Village villagers in his hand, thinking about what to do with them.
The next day, he assigned high-risk, low-reward missions to Ninja from prominent families. He assigned high-reward, low-risk missions to civilian Ninja.
This move earned Yagura a great deal of goodwill from the common people.
The major Ninja clans were not surprised. Yagura was a staunch supporter of the Mizukage. After the Hozuki Clan's defection, the Mizukage had increasingly targeted Ninja families. Yagura's actions must have been at the instruction of that scoundrel Mizukage.
"Sigh! Another messenger mission, and the reward is so high, how boring! I really want to take on an intelligence-gathering mission."
"It's a shame Lord Mizukage favors your Family. He keeps giving these missions to you, and to you. Doesn't that make you want to laugh?"
Civilians who received good missions constantly flaunted them to the Ninja clans, with all sorts of sarcastic remarks, causing the latter's resentment to continuously increase.
When the resentment accumulated to a certain extent, the time was right. Yagura changed the Village's defenses and adjusted personnel positions.
The Ninja clans were responsible for investigating spies and guarding the Hidden Mist Village gates, while civilian Ninja formed a security team to maintain order.
The Ninja clans, who had long disliked the civilian Ninja, began to retaliate.
"Stop, submit to a search. I suspect you are a spy from another Village." A Ninja from a major clan stepped forward to block a civilian who had completed a mission and was preparing to return to the Village.
"I was out on a mission; how could I be a spy? Open the gate and let me in!"
The Ninja from the major clan roughly dragged the civilian into the interrogation room.
"Who knows if you used a Transformation Jutsu? Stop talking nonsense, take off your clothes quickly; we need to search you."
"You… you are simply being unreasonable and deliberately retaliating!"
It was easy for civilians to leave the Village to perform missions, but returning after completing a mission was quite difficult, as they had to endure various humiliating interrogations.
The security team, composed of civilians, ignored the Ninja families' businesses, letting them be troubled.
The Mizukage, who had always targeted Ninja families, felt that Yagura's arrangements were correct.
One evening a month later, a civilian's son, passing by the Taketori Clan territory after school, was knocked unconscious by Yagura and hidden away.
The parents, who had not waited for their child to come home, reported it to the security team. After investigation, the child was last seen near the Taketori Clan.
The security team requested to search the Taketori Clan territory. Not to mention whether Family secrets would be leaked, those madmen of the Taketori Clan, with their walnut-sized brains, flatly refused.
A physical conflict erupted between the two sides, without the use of Ninjutsu, purely a fistfight.
The two sides brought their dispute to the Mizukage's office. The Mizukage was entirely preoccupied with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and expressed considerable impatience when bothered by such a minor matter.
"Taketori Rei, did your clan kidnap that child? Let them search and prove your innocence."
"Lord Mizukage, that is the territory where my Taketori Clan lives. How can outsiders be allowed to enter freely?" Taketori Rei said with a look of resistance.
The Mizukage's eyes were filled with disdain, and he said carelessly, "What's wrong with clan territory? Why can't it be searched? Unless you have unspeakable secrets."
The two sides began a tug-of-war, neither willing to yield. Eventually, the child woke up and returned home on his own, and the farce finally ended.
"You can't even handle such a small matter, a bunch of good-for-nothings! Don't bother me with such things again!"
He, the Third Mizukage, was a man destined for great things; how could he be held back by trivial matters?
The conflict in the Hidden Mist Village escalated to another stage, evolving into a cold standoff, with less and less communication between civilians and Ninja families.
The children at the Ninja Academy were divided into two distinct factions, as if a compass had drawn a line between them.
The Hidden Mist Village mission teams had to be reorganized; teams originally composed of civilians and Ninja families could no longer continue to perform missions.
The Mizukage was still busy with his Leeches and his Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Having long faded from the villagers' sight and doing nothing, the Mizukage became dispensable.
More and more Hidden Mist Village Ninja were dissatisfied with the Mizukage's actions. From the Village of the Bloody Mist to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the Mizukage gradually lost the hearts of the people.
The increasingly oppressive and sharply conflicting Hidden Mist Village was like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
Shimotsuki Kōmei mischievously held a match and lit the fuse.