A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Outside Kirigakure, Mei Terumi and her companions were panting heavily, exhausted.

After hours of fierce fighting and fleeing, they had finally managed to shake off their pursuers. The real chaos had begun when the Kirigakure ANBU launched a large-scale attack against them.

Forced into a corner, Mei Terumi and her faction had no choice but to retaliate with full force. Having prepared for a coup, she naturally had a significant number of supporters.

The conflict had essentially devolved into a brutal clash between two major factions, quickly escalating into a full-blown civil war within Kirigakure. In just half a night, nearly 70% of the ANBU forces were wiped out.

Among them, 50% had died in combat, and 20% had defected to Mei's side. This left only about 30% of the original force still loyal to the Mizukage.

Even the Mizukage's personal guards had suffered heavy losses, with over half of them either killed or incapacitated. The village was effectively shattered.

Mei Terumi glanced around at the remnants of her faction. Only about a hundred loyalists had managed to escape with her. With these hundred people, reclaiming the village and saving it seemed almost impossible... Even Mei herself doubted their chances.

For now, their survival was uncertain.

What puzzled her most was how their plan had been exposed. Who had betrayed them? The whole situation felt bizarre.

If she'd just had one more day, she was confident they could have succeeded in saving the village. But last night, everything fell apart.

Mei felt deeply unwilling to accept this outcome, but there was no point in dwelling on it now. Soon, Ao raised an alert.

"The ANBU have caught up. We can't afford to fight anymore."

Mei understood what Ao meant. No matter how much they fought, it would only result in the deaths of Kirigakure's elite forces. These ANBU were not controlled, they were simply loyal to the Mizukage, and they were vital to the village's strength.

Originally, Mei had intended to rely on these people once she took power. Now, they were all perishing in a meaningless internal conflict.

"We're leaving."

"Which way?" Ao asked. This simple question left Mei stunned. Where could they go? Even she didn't know.

After a moment of hesitation, she made a reluctant decision.

"Contact Zabuza."

"Understood."

Zabuza arrived quickly, or rather, he had been nearby the whole time. However, under Aoba's orders, he was not allowed to act unless Mei initiated contact.

To be honest, Zabuza had been tempted to step in and help. He had been observing Mei and her faction for some time and felt that Mei might genuinely be a good candidate for Mizukage.

But the complexity of Kirigakure's situation made him hesitant to draw conclusions. Last night's chaos had been so extreme that, for a moment, even Zabuza felt the entire nation was beyond saving, and his decision to leave early had been the right one.

Moreover, Aoba's influence over Zabuza had only grown stronger over the years. Zabuza was certain that Aoba had marked him with the Flying Thunder God seal and possibly other means of surveillance. He knew he couldn't defy Aoba's orders.

When Mei finally sent the signal, Zabuza exhaled in relief and quickly stepped in to guide them.

"Follow me."

When Zabuza appeared so promptly, Mei immediately realized they had been cornered from the start. Yet, ironically, the fact that someone wanted to exploit them meant they still had value and their lives could be spared.

If they had no value left, their only option would have been to turn back and fight to the death against the loyal ANBU, it was a scenario Mei desperately wanted to avoid.

The Konoha ANBU dispatched to receive them soon arrived.

Seeing they were from Konoha, Mei felt a slight sense of relief. Given the current situation, Konoha was likely the only village with both the position and the courage to take them in.

Although she had suspected for a while that Zabuza was backed by Konoha, seeing it confirmed still left her feeling helpless.

Konoha's strength, its deep-rooted foundation, and its far-reaching influence, it was something Kirigakure wouldn't be able to match, not even in decades.

"I want to know, what reason does Konoha have to accept us?" Mei Terumi tried to hold onto the last shred of initiative.

"That depends on you." The leader of the ANBU escort threw the ball right back into her court with a single sentence.

Mei's faint hope was extinguished. They had no other choice.

While the other great villages envied Konoha's prosperity, when it came to choosing a place to seek asylum, Konoha was the obvious choice.

Among the Five Great Nations, only Konoha bothered to maintain appearances, a trait left by the legacy of Hashirama Senju. Konoha was one of the few villages in the ninja world to retain a semblance of conscience.

Although it wasn't much, it was still something.

In times of war, this conscience was a burden. But in moments like this, it became a shining beacon, the most compelling advertisement for Konoha. This was one of the main reasons Mei decided Konoha was her only option.

For instance, Suna had fallen entirely and was now little more than Konoha's subordinate. It didn't have the strength to protect them.

As for Iwa and Kumo, Mei could easily imagine her fate if she sought refuge there. As a kunoichi with dual kekkei genkai, she would undoubtedly be imprisoned and turned into a breeding tool. Those two villages wouldn't even bother to put up a façade.

She had no doubt that Kumo and Iwa would resort to such methods. After all, Kirigakure itself wasn't any better.

In reality, Konoha was the only village that occasionally followed reason. The other four of the Five Great Nations were pure thugs, while Konoha was more like a cultured thug.

This was why Mei sought Zabuza's help, knowing full well that Konoha was likely backing him. It was a poor choice, but compared to the alternatives, it was the best they had and a testament to the abysmal standards set by the competition.

The ANBU from Konoha weren't just tasked with extracting the fleeing Kirigakure rebels. After Mei and her group left, the ANBU swiftly set up traps at the site.

Then, they established an ambush nearby.

Under orders from Konoha's higher-ups, they were to use this opportunity to deliver a decisive blow to the Kirigakure ANBU that would inevitably pursue. The goal was to further weaken Kirigakure's already fragile forces.

After the previous night's civil war, Kirigakure, already pushed to its limits by Obito's machinations, had lost half of its remaining strength.

Now, Aoba's objective was to dismantle what little remained.

Black Zetsu was fully aware of what Aoba was attempting. If Aoba succeeded in unifying the ninja world, the chances of reviving Kaguya would plummet, and Black Zetsu's own ability to operate in the shadows would be drastically reduced.

Over the years, many of the ninja world's wars had been subtly influenced by Black Zetsu's manipulations.

This time, however, had been its best opportunity yet. It had waited for the Rinnegan to emerge, gained Uchiha Madara's trust, and almost succeeded. If not for Madara being too old and frail to gather all nine tailed beasts upon awakening the Rinnegan, the ninja world might already have fallen.

Madara had chosen both Obito and Nagato as backup plans, but both harbored their own agendas.

Obito was consumed by his feelings for Rin, while Nagato was focused solely on the burdens of his village. Then, Aoba entered the fray and instantly took Obito out of the equation.

This forced Black Zetsu to reveal itself and personally intervene in the game. This, so far, was Aoba's greatest victory.

Unfortunately, Black Zetsu only briefly showed its hand before retreating back into the shadows.

Now, the situation resembled a chess match between Aoba and Black Zetsu, with the ninja world as the board.

Black Zetsu had assembled three pieces to pressure Aoba's forces. Aoba, in turn, had stealthily removed one of them.

The current score: two against two.

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Currently on Chapter 224 - The Raikage's Desperate Path