Chapter 95: Monkey Idles, Flipping Seas

With most of their preparations completed, Mei gathered the highest-ranking members of the resistance around a diorama depicting Kirigakure and its surroundings. Wu was also sitting in on the meeting, but he stood off to the side and simply observed as the spirited redhead explained the plan and did her best to fire everyone up.

Since killing Yagura outright would lead to the Three-Tailed Demon Turtle dissipating and resurrecting elsewhere, Plan A was to infiltrate Kiri, detain the Mizukage before he could transform, undo the Jutsu controlling him, and seal the Three-Tails inside a new host. To that end, an androgynous youth named Yuki Haku had been chosen as the next vessel of the Three-Tails. The boy had a calm, gentle disposition and a powerful manifestation of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

If Plan A failed, Wu was to do everything in his power to drive Yagura out of Kiri before or after he transformed. After that, he would give the young Mizukage and his pet turtle the Shukaku treatment until their Chakra had been depleted. Then, identical to Plan A, Yagura would have the Jutsu on his mind undone, and the Three-Tails within him transferred.

Since there was no chance of Plan B failing without Divine Intervention, Plan C was simply the resistance withdrawing their forces and living to fight another day. If everything ‘did’ go to plan, Mei would convene what remained of the Kiri Council and force them to nominate her as the next Mizukage. Anyone that refused would immediately be incarcerated and tried for the crimes they had helped Yagura perpetrate.

Immediately following the mission briefing, which had taken place in an underground bunker not that far from Kiri itself, Wu, accompanied by Mei, Ao, Zabuza, a young, shark-toothed boy named Chojuro, and the masked Haku, infiltrated the Village Hidden in the Mist using its sewer system. Wu had already removed all of the seals and paper talismans that would have alerted Kiri to their presence, so they were able to slip through a lot easier than anything in the resistance group had anticipated.

Sharing this sentiment, Zabuza, a tall, reasonably muscular man with ashen skin, short spiky black hair, sharp brown eyes, a perpetual scowl, and bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, remarked, “This is too easy. Something isn’t right…”

With Zabuza staring directly at him, seemingly uncaring that Wu was the reason he had been able to regenerate his arm, the latter lazily replied, “I had three weeks to set the stage while you lot organized yourselves. Now, stay focused. This is Mei’s big day. I’d rather you not complicate things by throwing around undue suspicions.”

Coming to Wu’s defense, Mei added, “Wu-kun initially proposed flying into Kiri and pulling the Mizukage out by his hair. Ao and I were the ones who came up with the idea of infiltrating and trying to settle things without the need for a large-scale battle. Please choose your words more carefully in the future, Momochi-dono.”

Though he furrowed his already furrowed brows slightly, Zabuza didn’t hesitate to respond with a curt, “Understood.” He was still suspicious of Wu, but, considering Kiri had a tradition of having its Academy students slaughter one another, only allowing the survivors to graduate, a lack of trust was to be expected…

Before ascending into Kiri through a maintenance hatch, everyone donned raincoats and clothing that was common in the village. The only exception to this was Wu, who promptly shrank down and made himself comfortable atop Mei’s head. He would only take action if Plan A failed, so while the group followed the path he had laid out for them, he just kicked back and relaxed.

Fortunately for Mei and her cohorts, Yagura only deviated from his routine when he was compelled to. He also didn’t keep any bodyguards stationed around him, purportedly because he was the ‘strongest’ within the village. In reality, this was likely to make it easier for whoever was controlling him to come and go as they pleased, but, in this particular instance, it worked to the resistance’s favor.

After Zabuza slit the neck of a very unfortunate clerk, the group made their way into the underground chamber where Yagura spent most of his time. The interior housed a large pool nearly a kilometer across and 100m deep. Yagura sat at the very center of this chamber, sitting atop the water in a lotus position as he pretended to meditate.

As the Three-Tails was a Tailed Beast who specialized in Water Release, the peculiar chamber made Yagura nearly impossible to assassinate as there was only a single entrance and the terrain was unequivocally in his favor. The moment someone he wasn’t anticipating appeared, he simply needed to transform into the Three-Tailed Demon Turtle, and even most Kage wouldn’t be able to harm him.

Using his Byakugan, the still middle-aged Ao was able to confirm that Yagura was, in fact, within his chamber. More importantly, he could see the flow of Chakra through Yagura’s brain and body, proving once and for all that the Mizukage was under someone else’s influence.

After hearing what Ao had to say, Mei questioned, “How confident are you in being able to undo the Genjutsu?”

Without any hesitation, Ao replied, “So long as I can get my palm on his head, I can break the Genjutsu without issue. There is only one problem. Because of how long he’s been under its influence, the Mizukage’s brain functions have deteriorated with time. He will either fall into an unwaking coma or suffer brain death the moment the Genjutsu is removed. In the worst-case scenario, we may not be able to transfer and seal the Three-Tails…”

Injecting himself into the conversation, Wu grew to the size of an action figure as he said, “I’ll step in if that happens. If it’s just a few hours, I can keep him alive without issue.”

“Right…”

Ignoring the sense of incongruency that he felt when seeing Wu sitting atop Mei’s head, Ao transitioned into saying, “Then our objective is clear. We will blitz the Mizukage and attempt to do the Genjutsu placed upon him. If we fail, Lady Terumi will suppress him with her Corrosion Release. So long as we can contain it to the underground, there should be no need for Wu-dono to take action…”

As none of the higher-ups within the resistance wanted Wu seizing credit for the Mizukage’s defeat, Ao and the rest were determined to complete the mission before the situation exacerbated beyond their control. It was impossible to deny that his assistance had gotten them this far, but now that they were only a few hundred meters away from their target, they felt compelled to end things themselves. After all, they had been fighting this battle for more than fifteen years. They couldn’t just permit someone else to settle things on their behalf…

With their plan of attack decided, Zabuza used his Hiding in Mist Jutsu to begin filling Yagura’s chamber with Chakra-obscuring vapor. The ashen-haired Jinchuriki quickly noticed the abnormality, but instead of trying to transform immediately, he rose to his feet and questioned, “Who dares to intrude upon my chamber?” in a cold, emotionless voice.

As she was familiar with the original Yagura, Mei emerged from the mist with her characteristically alluring smile, asserting, “It’s been a long time, Yagura-dono…”

Though there were none of the tell-tale signs of recognition in Yagura’s expression, the youthful-looking Jinchuriki replied, “Terumi Mei, daughter of Terumi Saizo, leader of the resistance forces. For the crimes of treason, orchestrating a rebellion that promoted civil war, and staging a coup, the heads of you and your cohorts shall be placed on pikes and affixed to the gates of Kiri.”

Punctuating his machine-like words, Yagura brandished a large metallic club with uneven hooks and a green flower on one end. Even without the Three-Tails’ power, he was considered the most powerful Shinobi in the Mist Village. Thus, unless he deemed the situation disadvantageous, he would not transform. Not immediately.

Forming a half-ram seal with his free hand, Yagura repelled the mist that was trying to encroach and surround him. At the same time, Mei began a series of slow, almost insultingly relaxed hand signs as she mused, “I’ve always wanted to see whether or not Mizukage-sama was strong enough to endure my dual Kekkei Genkai…”

With Yagura charging toward her, Mei unhesitantly exhaled a tremendous volume of lava from her mouth, controlling it to form a wave that crashed toward the unflinching Kage.

Swinging his hooked club, Yagura manipulated the water around him to create a pressurized blade to counteract the wave of magma. When the two met, a steam explosion rippled through the area, feeding the mist in the surroundings. With another swing of his hooked club, however, Yagura was able to condense the surrounding moisture into a whip-like blade that sliced toward Mei’s waist at supersonic speeds.

With the same casual finesse she used to form her hand signs, Mei waved her hand toward the fearsome whip, dispersing the pressurize water in an instant. In the same motion, she repurposed the water, producing dozens of needle-like senbon before gesturing toward Yagura, accelerating them faster than the untrained eye could follow.

Spinning his club at high speeds, Yagura shattered each of the needle-like projectiles before stomping his foot on the water as if it was a hard, elastic surface. The motion caused a large ripple to spread through the water, rapidly increasing in size until the entire reservoir was undulating, making it difficult to stand stably as the difference between the crests and troughs was more than 10m.

Feeling a little annoyed, Mei produced another casual set of hand signs before inhaling so deeply that her chest expanded to the point it looked like her dress was about to burst open. Then, without waiting for a proper line of sight, she exhaled an almost laser-like beam of compressed lava, cutting through the waves and producing so much heat and vapor that the massive chamber immediately became like a steam room.

Though Mei’s Lava Release was extremely Chakra-intensive and gave Yagura more ‘ammunition’ to use against her, it also aided her allies as Zabuza’s Hiding in Mist Jutsu quickly spread to the surrounding steam. Haku was also able to condense the surrounding vapor into incredibly durable constructs formed from ice, ‘surprising’ Yagura as a spherical dome of mirrors abruptly formed around him.

Exhibiting no signs of fear or panic, Yagura flatly remarked, “You have a member of the Yuki Clan with you. I should have been more meticulous when riding this nation of the influence of Kekkei Genkai…”

While speaking, Yagura formed a series of hand signs using just a single hand before spinning both his body and club to make a swirling vortex of water around him, much like a spherical cocoon. Immediately after that, the vortex began to spread to the water around him, gradually affecting all the water within the room, pushing up the sides as the center sank to form a colossal whirlpool.

Clicking her tongue, Mei muttered, “He isn’t called the greatest user of the Water Release for nothing…” while forming her characteristically slow hand signs. She was beginning to run low on Chakra, but the only attack she had that could pierce Yagura’s defenses was her Lava Release: Great Javelin.

Just as Mei was considering asking Wu for assistance, the latter took the initiative to channel Natural Energy into her body. The moment he did so, Mei felt a powerful and pervading heat permeating her entire body, most notably concentrated around her lungs. When she eventually exhaled her jutsu, the previously reddish-orange beam appeared a luminous shade of gold as it pierced the ice formed by Haku, Yagura’s barrier, his lower body, the swirling vortex of water, and the base of the chamber in an instant…

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(A/N: Wu’s Natural Energy is roughly 10-100x more potent than normal Chakra, depending on the concentration.)