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Igawa Bu was utterly exhausted these past two days.
It wasn't so much physical fatigue as it was the sheer amount of things he had to worry about.
To ensure the operation went off without a hitch, he had mentally rehearsed countless possible mishaps and devised countermeasures for each one.
He had even made a special trip to the ANBU archives to retrieve a detailed map of Kirigakure, which marked the guard posts and patrol routes of every defending shinobi.
But afterward, he felt like a complete idiot.
He was only providing intel unilaterally—he knew next to nothing about the true strength of Zetsu and his group.
What if these people were all bark and no bite? What if they turned out to be pushovers? Wouldn't he just be walking into a trap?
But the Third Mizukage was somewhere within Kirigakure, and the situation forced him to make a choice.
In the end, his thirst for power won out. Especially after Igawa Tai's death, his clan was effectively left without an heir—which ironically gave him the freedom to take risks. After all, he no longer had to worry about future generations.
On the day of the matches, Igawa arrived at the VIP section with dark circles under his eyes.
The first match was already underway. After watching for a while, he found it far more exciting than the first round—at least, he couldn't tell who would win yet.
But the real highlight of the day was the second match. Rumor had it that tickets were being scalped for 50,000 ryo apiece, and even then, the seats weren't great.
He knew that Ameyuri Ringo was formidable, a genius in Lightning Release. In terms of pure skill, she absolutely deserved to be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and public opinion heavily favored her.
But what the hell was Midorima Asachi?
Just a medical-nin. Making it to the second stage was already his limit—did he actually think he could become one of the Seven?
No way, right?
What a joke!
No matter what kind of dumb luck Midorima had stumbled into to reach the second stage, there was no way he could defeat Ameyuri Ringo.
The only downside was that these past two days, he had been so busy coordinating with Zetsu that he'd forgotten to communicate with Ameyuri and instruct her to kill Midorima.
But it didn't matter. Midorima was a dead man walking—he'd just get to live a couple more days.
The two fighters in the arena were nearing the end of their match. Igawa stifled a yawn, then caught sight of a rotund belly entering his peripheral vision. He immediately straightened up.
"Lord Fuguki you rarely come to watch," Igawa said with a smile.
Fuguki Suikazan glanced at Igawa and grinned. "Deputy Chief Igawa, you're here for every match, I see."
"The ANBU is short on personnel. I'm scouting for potential recruits," Igawa replied smoothly.
"What a coincidence. I'm also here to see who might become my future comrade," Fuguki said, chuckling.
Igawa mentally flipped him off.
Scouting future comrades? More like sizing up opponents for Fuguki's protégé.
In the past, Igawa would've been worried about Fuguki monopolizing influence within the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. But now? He was almost looking forward to seeing Fuguki's reaction in a few days.
"By the way, Lord Fuguki, will you be accompanying the Mizukage on patrol tomorrow night?" Igawa asked casually.
"That's right. Why do you ask?" Fuguki frowned.
"Well," Igawa coughed awkwardly, "as you know, after Tai's death, I've been wanting a son. Now that I have one on the way, I'd like to hold a family banquet and take a couple of days off. Since I ran into you here, I figured I'd ask."
"You want to take my shift tomorrow?" Fuguki raised an eyebrow.
"That depends on your generosity," Igawa said, watching Fuguki nervously.
"I don't care either way," Fuguki said, rubbing his ample belly. "But don't overexert yourself. If something were to happen to you in bed, it wouldn't make for good gossip."
Igawa's smile stiffened before he forced out an awkward laugh. "Life will be easier from now on… Oh! I've got a stomachache. Please, take my seat."
Without waiting for Fuguki's response, he hurried off.
Fuguki smirked as he watched Igawa disappear down the corridor. "A new child on the way? Probably some bastard's brat."
Igawa half-jogged to the restroom reserved for department heads, locked the door behind him, and headed to the stall at the far end.
A white, half-bodied figure emerged from the wall above, looking down at him.
Despite having seen Zetsu multiple times, Igawa still flinched.
"Why'd you come out from there?" Igawa hissed.
"Would you prefer I come out of the toilet next time?" Zetsu replied dryly.
Igawa glanced at the toilet, imagining a human head popping out of it, and shuddered.
This bastard is definitely trying to scare me to death.
"Let's get to business. Tomorrow night, I'll be with the Mizukage. Are you absolutely sure you can handle him?" Igawa looked up at Zetsu.
"We can. But at the critical moment, we'll need your help," Zetsu said with a grin.
"What?" Igawa's eyes widened. "No way—I'd be walking to my death!"
"On the contrary, it has to be you. The Mizukage would never expect an attack from someone by his side."
"If anyone finds out, I'll be killed!"
"They won't. Just pin the blame on someone else—the 'new' Mizukage will back you up," Zetsu assured him.
"New Mizukage?"
Igawa's heart sank. So after all this, he was just a backup plan?
"Who is the new Mizukage?" he demanded, barely containing his anger.
"Ah, my apologies. I must not have explained clearly, leading to a misunderstanding. The new Mizukage will still be the Fourth—except he'll follow your orders, and ours. Given your current strength and reputation, do you honestly think you could take control of Kirigakure alone?"
Igawa clenched his teeth and shook his head.
If he tried to become Mizukage now, Fuguki would probably cut him down first.
But if he wasn't going to be Mizukage, then the risks he was taking were far too great.
Because of the Third's presence, he had no choice but to act. But to do all this only to hand power to someone else? The thought made Igawa seethe with resentment.
"Exactly. In the meantime, you can eliminate your rivals. Once there's no one left in Kirigakure stronger than you, the title of Mizukage will naturally fall to you. Then, you can remove the Fourth. The village will still be yours—it's just a matter of timing," Zetsu said smoothly.
Igawa wavered.
Zetsu was right—he currently lacked the influence to command the village's respect.
"Fine… we'll do it your way. But don't you dare double-cross me…" Igawa looked up again, only to find Zetsu already gone. Furious, he stomped his foot and stormed out of the restroom.
By the time he returned to his seat, the first match had ended. Fuguki was resting with his eyes closed but cracked them open at the sound of footsteps.
"That was quite the bathroom break," Fuguki remarked.
Igawa ignored him and glanced at the arena, where shinobi were using Earth Release to repair the battlefield.
"Who do you think will win the next match?"
Fuguki opened his mouth, then paused before saying, "The winner."
Igawa rolled his eyes. What a useless answer.
But then it hit him—something was off.
If the gap between the two fighters was obvious, Fuguki wouldn't have answered like that.
Could Midorima actually be that strong?
For the first time, doubt crept into Igawa's mind.