Naruto: We Agreed on a Simulation, But They Actually Came to Life?

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: How Long Has It Been?

Kitahara Kaede leaned against the wall opposite the Mizukage building.

The street looked no different than any other day. A fishmonger pushed his cart past, and a few children crouched in a corner, playing.

However, the sentries around the Mizukage building had been replaced.

Yesterday, it had been a short man whom Kaede had seen several times; today, it was a fresh face with a completely different posture.

Genji had made his move.

Kaede withdrew his gaze and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. A scene from the previous evening flickered in his mind.

***

Terumi Mei had stood before him, her expression more solemn than usual.

"There is a very important mission in a couple of days," she said, then stopped.

Kaede looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

Mei pursed her lips. "I cannot disclose the specific details." She added quickly, her pace quickening slightly, "It is not that I don’t trust you, but the fewer people who know about this, the better."

Kaede looked into her eyes but didn’t push. He could guess it involved an operation regarding the Mizukage.

"I understand."

Mei let out a breath, though she didn’t seem entirely relaxed. Kaede could tell; she feared that if they couldn’t contain the commotion and the news leaked, the village would fracture.

After a moment of thought, Kaede spoke. "You don’t have to tell me the mission details, but if I can guess who your opponent is, I can provide a combat analysis for you. That shouldn’t count as a leak."

Mei studied him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Lord Genji has provided some intelligence."

She detailed the opponent’s basic combat data: physique, weapon type, and preferred jutsu.

As Kaede listened, he processed the information. "Yagura is small in stature and uses a hooked staff; he’s incredibly agile in close quarters. He has a Water Mirror jutsu that can copy an opponent’s ninjutsu and reflect it back. Do not start the fight with a single, repetitive jutsu."

Mei committed this to memory.

"If you fight him in close quarters, combining your current taijutsu with your Bloodline Limit, you’ll be fine." He paused. "But be wary of Tailed Beast transformation. He is a perfect Jinchuriki. Once the Three-Tails’ chakra surges, the pressure changes entirely. Don’t try to tank it; just stall him and leave the opening for Senior Ao."

Mei noted every word. "Understood."

***

Kaede opened his eyes. The shadow of the eaves covered half his face.

Lights were on in the third-floor windows of the Mizukage building, the curtains left open.

Everything he could do, he had already done. The rest was her fight to win.

***

On the first floor of the Mizukage building, Midori stood by the stairs, watching Ao and Terumi Mei walk in. Her voice was kept very low.

"The floors have been cleared, and the barrier team is on standby in the secret room. Lord Genji will come up once the operation is complete."

Mei nodded.

Ao and Mei ascended the stairs, the only sound in the hallway being the rhythm of their footsteps. Mei’s palms were sweating. She ran through the process in her head one last time.

Ao would use the Byakugan to lock onto the disrupted nodes within Yagura’s body, while she would be responsible for pinning Yagura down. Once Ao finished his hand signs, the genjutsu would be released.

Based on the abnormal chakra characteristics Ao had described during his previous reconnaissance, Genji had scoured the ancient sealing scrolls of Kirigakure to find the corresponding release formula, which Ao had spent a week practicing.

The process wasn’t complex, but their target was the Mizukage—a perfect Three-Tails Jinchuriki. If they failed and the commotion spread, all of Kirigakure would be turned upside down.

Mei didn’t stop. They had arrived.

Ao raised his hand and knocked. A calm voice drifted from inside.

"Enter."

Mei pushed the door open.

Yagura sat behind the desk. He looked like a young boy with pink eyes, currently reviewing documents. When he looked up, his gaze was clear, calm, and possessed the judgment expected of a Mizukage.

He looked nothing like a man under control.

Mei’s footsteps faltered for a moment. He was too normal.

If Ao hadn’t seen the abnormalities in the chakra pathway with his own Byakugan, no one would have suspected that the person sitting there had any problem at all.

No wonder no one had noticed for so many years.

Ao spoke first, his tone as routine as a standard report. "Lord Mizukage, starting today, Terumi Mei and I will be responsible for this round of close-range security."

Yagura glanced at him. "I see. You may leave."

He lowered his head to continue writing.

For a heartbeat, there was silence.

Mei and Ao exchanged a look. Ao’s Byakugan was already active.

In the next instant, they moved simultaneously. Ao pivoted toward Yagura’s flank and rear, while Mei charged straight from the front.

Yagura’s reaction was far too fast for someone being ambushed. There was no hesitation, not even a pause. His right hand snatched the hooked staff leaning against the desk, and as he leaned back, he performed a sweeping strike.

The hook grazed Ao’s shoulder, missing by less than two inches.

Mei pressed from the front, forcing Yagura to divide his attention. Yagura shifted his momentum, and the staff clashed violently with Mei’s kunai, sending a numbing shock through her wrist.

Hearing the commotion from outside, Midori gave a low command. "Barrier, seal the floor!"

Pale blue patterns surged across the walls of the entire floor, isolating all sound within.

The Three-Tails’ chakra inside Yagura began to churn, and the atmospheric pressure in the office suddenly became heavy.

Mei gritted her teeth and pushed forward, desperately clinging to Yagura’s attack rhythm to prevent him from freeing his hands.

Ao’s Byakugan locked onto the mass of foreign chakra at the core of Yagura’s pathway. Finishing his signs, he slammed his palm into Yagura’s back.

"Release!"

Yagura’s body stiffened violently.

Silence returned to the office.

Yagura fell to his knees, bracing himself on the floor and panting. His hands were shaking.

After a long while, he looked up. He gazed at the two people standing before him with the eyes of someone who had just been dragged from the bottom of the ocean and hadn’t yet realized where they were.

"...What are you doing?"

Ao did not deactivate his Byakugan. "Lord Mizukage, you have been under long-term mental control. That was a technique to remove the external interference from your chakra pathways."

Yagura had no immediate reaction to these words. He blinked slowly, his gaze eventually falling to the floor.

During the struggle, the documents on the desk had scattered. He reached out and picked one up.

It was a purge list. A dozen names, each followed by the word "Execution." At the bottom was his signature.

Yagura stared at that signature for a long time.

"...I wrote this."

He remembered signing it, but he couldn’t remember *why* he had signed it.

He picked up another paper. A decree to purge those with Bloodline Limits. It was also in his handwriting.

Yagura’s hands shook even more violently. He flipped the paper over and back again, as if trying to reconstruct what he had been thinking at the time.

The door pushed open. Genji entered, escorted by Midori and Gonbe. His cane clicked against the floor.

Yagura slowly looked toward Genji. "Genji... how long has it been like this?"

Genji came to a halt. "It is impossible to determine exactly when it began."

Yagura didn’t ask anything else. He looked down at the paper in his hand, staring at his own signature, then placed the paper back on the floor.

"I can’t tell the difference," his voice dropped. "There were some orders that I remember feeling were right when I signed them. But looking at them now, I don’t know if that ’right’ was actually my own judgment..."

He slowly stood up. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.

"I abdicate."

Genji didn’t respond immediately. Yagura’s gaze swept over the documents strewn across the floor.

"Every order I signed while sitting in this position, every person killed... I did it with my own hand."

"Whether I was controlled or not, the responsibility lies with me."

Genji’s finger lingered atop his cane for a few seconds.

"As of today, Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, is stepping down."