Konoha ninja surrounded Kirigakure.
The village was deathly silent, without the slightest movement.
Looking at Kirigakure, where only twenty percent of the houses still had lights on, Yako said:
"Let's wait and see whether Kirigakure intends to resist to the bitter end, or whether they understand the situation and surrender."
After more than ten minutes, a small boat rowed out from Kirigakure.
There were only three people on board.
Facing the dark mass of several thousand Konoha ninja rising and falling with the waves, all three people on the boat felt a surge of sorrow.
But what could they do?
War and death were conclusions no ninja could avoid.
Back when the main Mist force had left Kirigakure to attack the Land of Hot Water, they too had been full of spirit and momentum.
Yet in the blink of an eye, several months had passed, and more than seven thousand Mist ninja had died in battle.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
Elder Gensui.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
The clan leaders of the major ninja clans.
All of them had died one after another in the war.
Even the two tailed beasts, the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, had been killed by Konoha.
Everything Hashirama Senju had said was a lie.
What use was obtaining tailed beasts?
How could they possibly deter other villages?
At the very least, Konoha Village did not accept the deterrence of tailed beasts.
Yako saw the person standing at the front of the boat and felt that it was unexpected, yet reasonable.
Mei had put on the Mizukage robe.
Mei was five years older than Kakashi. She was nineteen now and had only just earned the title of genius girl.
Among the remaining Mist ninja, Mei was already one of the stronger ones.
Mei looked at the figures standing at the front of the Konoha forces, and a chill filled her heart.
When facing an enemy she could not defeat, Mei could never stop herself from wanting to retreat.
Underworld King Fox had killed countless people.
His presence made even Orochimaru beside him seem somewhat kind.
Mei jumped down from the boat, bowed, and held out the scroll of unconditional surrender with both hands.
Yako accepted the scroll with one hand and said to Mei:
"Fifth Mizukage, lead Kirigakure in adapting to the new order."
Mei stood and adjusted her V-shaped collar.
"Yes, Lord Fox."
The era of the Five Great Hidden Villages had passed.
Even the Mizukage had to address Fox respectfully as "Lord."
After entering Kirigakure, one could clearly see the village's desolation.
Yako said to Mei beside him:
"Kirigakure stands alone overseas. Since the founding of the village, you have always believed that only you could land and attack other villages, and that other villages could never invade Kirigakure.
That is why you repeatedly provoked other ninja villages and never received enough punishment.
If Kirigakure had received a severe punitive strike earlier, perhaps you would not have suffered such devastating losses now.
Does Kirigakure still have one thousand ninja?"
Mei gave a bitter smile.
"No. We counted last night. Including disabled retired ninja who were re-recruited, there are nine hundred and thirty-two in total."
Yako said:
"From now on, the Land of Water will be governed by the joint government I establish. Kirigakure should not interfere.
The capital of the Land of Water and the four major port cities will have police divisions established by Konoha.
Aside from those five major cities, Kirigakure will establish police divisions in all remaining cities and towns.
In another month to a month and a half, teleportation shrines will be established in every city and town in the Land of Water. By then, you Mist ninja will be able to use the teleportation shrines as well."
Mei asked in surprise, "We can use them too?"
"Of course," Yako said.
"Destruction without construction has no meaning. I want to establish a new order."
Mei had previously believed Fox to be a bloodthirsty ninja who had tempered his ninjutsu and mindset to the absolute peak.
But after this brief conversation with him, she discovered that Fox was calmly and firmly advancing his will.
That unyielding firmness made Mei understand for the first time what it meant to be subdued.
Of course she hated Fox.
She hated Konoha.
Yet in this moment, she understood that Fox allowing the Mist to use the teleportation shrines meant he did not care about their hatred at all.
He seemed utterly confident that Kirigakure would change according to his will.
After establishing a temple inside Kirigakure, Yako watched batch after batch of Konoha ninja leave through the teleportation shrine.
Some returned to the village to rest.
Others headed to the Land of Hot Water.
Orochimaru said, "Fox, I will not go to the Land of Hot Water battlefield.
With your current strength, once you go there, the Cloud will likely suffer a rout.
I intend to return to Konoha Village and continue my ninjutsu research."
Yako said, "Very well. I will take people to reinforce the Land of Hot Water front."
After thinking for a moment, Yako worried that Orochimaru might go too far down the wrong path of human experimentation, so he took out a scroll.
"This is a Dust Release scroll, Lord Orochimaru. You may study Dust Release. Kekkei Tōta is more powerful than Kekkei Genkai and has greater potential."
Orochimaru accepted the scroll, silently thinking that since Fox was so powerful, his understanding of ninjutsu was surely more accurate.
After sending off the final Konoha squad, Orochimaru arrived before the shrine.
The temple priest was an Uzumaki ninja. He opened a scroll in front of Orochimaru.
"Lord Orochimaru, please touch the target shrine."
It was a map scroll of the shinobi world. On the scroll were glowing points, each one representing a teleportation shrine.
Aside from the Land of Lightning, the Land of the Moon, and the Land of Iron, every nation on the map had glowing points marking teleportation shrines.
Orochimaru pressed his finger onto the location of Konoha Village.
He channeled chakra into the scroll, activating the Flying Shrine formulas between the two locations, and vanished instantly.
Yako said to Mei:
"Attacking a temple or shrine is equivalent to attacking me. I will appear instantly. Remember to inform the Mist ninja of this rule."
"Yes, Lord Fox."
Mei saw that Fox did not use the Flying Shrine and instead vanished directly with Flying Thunder God.
Of course.
He had created the entire teleportation shrine system. Naturally, he could teleport wherever he wished.
When Yako appeared again, he was already in a town on the Land of Hot Water border.
The frontline command staff were all waiting for Fox.
Yako first looked at Uchiha Fugaku and said:
"Clan Leader Fugaku, please accept my condolences."
The Uchiha clan leader, Uchiha Kagen, had sacrificed himself in battle to stall the Third Raikage.
Among the three fronts, the Land of Hot Water war had been the most difficult.
The Cloud ninja led by the Third Raikage were stubborn and unyielding, without the slightest intent to negotiate or soften. They had continued fighting fiercely against Konoha forces along the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon.
Uchiha Fugaku said, "Lord Fox, sacrifice is inevitable in war. Konoha has lost many ninja. My father was only one of them."
Yako glanced at Fugaku's eyes.
Fugaku should have awakened it, right?
He wondered what Fugaku's Mangekyō ability was.
After Uchiha Kagen's sacrifice, Namikaze Minato had become commander-in-chief, while Fugaku served as deputy commander.
Minato said, "Lord Fox, it is time to launch a full offensive."
Yako nodded.
"We will fight from the Land of the Moon all the way into the heartland of the Land of Lightning, until we capture the capital of the Land of Lightning.
One month from now, we will completely end the Third Shinobi World War."