The core area of the Yuki clan territory had mostly been reduced to ruins, littered with mangled corpses.
Many Kaguya clansmen and Yuki ninjas lay entangled in death, having killed each other in such brutal ways that their bodies were hardly recognizable.
Looking at the hellish scene before him, the Third Mizukage, backed by his elite ANBU, instantly took control of the situation.
Only a few Kaguya clansmen were still barely standing, but most were riddled with wounds, their bone blades and armor shattered.
Kento Kaguya looked back at the late-arriving Third Mizukage. A bizarre smile appeared on his face—mocking, yet tinged with relief.
"Third! The Yuki clan went too far. The Kaguya will not tolerate such humiliation!"
With that final roar, under the stunned gaze of the Mizukage, Kento violently drove a bone spike into his own chest.
The light in his eyes faded rapidly. His body swayed but stubbornly refused to fall, even though his life force was completely extinguished.
Seeing this, the remaining Kaguya survivors followed suit. Even those too weak to produce bone spikes drew their kunai and resolutely pierced their own hearts.
They had exacted their revenge on the Yuki in the most tragic way possible and put a bloody period on their actions and their clan's history.
Looking at the devastation of the Yuki clan and the mountains of corpses, the Third Mizukage's face was so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
In this single conflict, the Yuki clan had suffered catastrophic losses to their elite forces. Their bloodline foundation had been nearly wiped out.
"Clean up the scene. Treat the wounded. And investigate thoroughly! I want to know exactly what drove these lunatics into madness again!"
The Third Mizukage was baffled. An armed coup was a capital offense in any village.
He had shown mercy by only executing the ringleader and sparing the many clansmen who followed Naoto Kaguya. Even the subsequent punitive policies shouldn't have been enough to push the Kaguya clan into this level of insanity.
There had to be a reason he hadn't detected.
---
The chaos and investigation lasted until the next morning. Clues were quickly gathered.
Mist ANBU found the tattered, blood-stained map and letter on Kento Kaguya's body.
The handwriting was messy, and the paper was the most common type found in the Mist, making it impossible to trace.
Following the analysis of the letter, the investigation of the Yuki clan grounds yielded a breakthrough.
In the abandoned house marked on the map, they found signs of a fierce struggle. The walls and floor were scarred with marks consistent with Dead Bone Pulse resistance. More critically, the Mist ANBU found the body of the Kaguya ninja Night had redeemed. By now, he was confirmed dead, likely collateral damage from the fighting.
However, the frostbite marks on his body and internal organs were glaringly obvious. The "truth" seemed to be out.
The Third Mizukage frowned deeply as he reviewed the summarized clues.
All signs and physical evidence pointed to the Yuki clan secretly imprisoning and torturing a Kaguya ninja who had gone missing earlier.
Someone had then leaked this information to Kento Kaguya, triggering the clan's extreme retaliation.
Several surviving Yuki elders were trembling, crying out their innocence.
"The Yuki clan would never do such a thing! Please investigate clearly, Lord Mizukage!"
"This is clearly a setup! That house has been abandoned for years; why would we imprison someone there?"
But even they couldn't explain why the man was found inside their territory, or why his body bore the marks of Ice Release torture. They were defenseless against the evidence.
It was too coincidental.
The Third Mizukage's sharp eyes swept over the "irrefutable evidence" presented by his subordinates. The suspicion in his heart didn't dissipate; it grew heavier.
It felt like an invisible hand was plucking the Kaguya clan's sensitive nerves with surgical precision. From the initial "Yuki spies" to this secret prison scene.
The method was flawless. But it was precisely this flawlessness that made the Mizukage doubt it.
He was almost certain someone was exploiting the Kaguya clan's paranoia and madness to incite conflict between them and the Yuki.
With just a rough map and a letter, they had severely damaged—perhaps even erased—the two great bloodline clans of the Mist.
The Yuki clan had suffered heavy losses, their elite ranks decimated. The Kaguya clan's core force had been wiped out overnight; the remaining elderly, women, children, and Genin were no longer a threat.
Who could it be?
But the priority now was to stabilize the village. The rest could be dealt with slowly.
The Third Mizukage took a deep breath and made his decision.
"Although the Yuki clan is a victim in this incident, your negligence in managing your territory indirectly led to this tragedy. From today, the Yuki clan will cooperate with an ANBU review and undergo internal restructuring."
He paused, his tone turning colder. "All surviving Kaguya members are to be thrown into prison under strict guard."
This order effectively ended the Kaguya clan's glory and future in the Mist without a shred of mercy.
The punishment seemed balanced on the surface, but the Mizukage secretly ordered the ANBU to continue digging into the origin of the anonymous letter and the mastermind behind it.
---
Meanwhile, Night was still moving silently amidst the chaos.
After putting so much effort into planning this, now was the time to harvest the fruits.
Because the investigation wasn't over, the bodies of the fallen ninjas were taken back to the Mizukage building instead of being returned to their clans.
This gave Night a chance to fish in troubled waters.
Relying on the Mind's Eye of the Kagura's keen chakra sensing, he trailed a squad transporting "physical evidence" and corpses from a distance.
Although the defense in the core area of the Mizukage building was tight, the frequent traffic of transport teams inevitably created gaps.
Sensing that the body of the "vegetative" Kaguya ninja—now confirmed dead—had been moved inside a sensory-blocking barrier, Night knew his long-awaited opportunity had arrived.
Swish.
Triggering the Flying Raijin seal he had placed on the body earlier, Night successfully infiltrated deep into the Mizukage building.
This place was likely underground. As a village that had absorbed a lot of the Uzumaki clan's legacy, the room was protected by layers of seals and barriers.
Night found himself in what looked like a morgue. A large number of fallen ninjas were laid out on wooden tables. The scene was gruesome.
However, facing this sight, the corners of Night's mouth twitched upward uncontrollably. If anyone saw him now, they would think he was a psychopath.
"Pawn."
> [Scan complete. Discovering pawnable items:]
> [Ding! Kaguya Clansman Corpse (Intact) x13... Valuation: 80 Points/Body]
> [Ding! Kaguya Clansman Corpse (Damaged) x37... Valuation: 40 Points/Body]
> [Ding! Yuki Clansman Corpse (Intact) x17... Valuation: 50 Points/Body]
> [Ding! Yuki Clansman Corpse (Damaged) x21... Valuation: 25 Points/Body]