Zabuza stepped out into the misty streets of Kiri, deciding to take a walk through the village before preparing for his mission.

He hoped the familiar sights and sounds of his hometown would help clear his head.

With a quiet sigh, he adjusted his massive sword and set off into the night.

As he disappeared into the mist, the village fell into an uneasy silence.

He moved quickly through the lower districts, his mind still buzzing with questions.

The further he got from the Mizukage's tower, the more he noticed the fear etched on the faces of Kiri's citizens.

People rushed through the streets, eyes down, shoulders hunched. Even the usual raucous laughter from the bars seemed muffled tonight.

He stopped in the shadow of a crumbling building, watching a patrol of Kiri ninja march past.

Their faces were hard, their eyes scanning the streets with a predatory intensity.

This wasn't the village he'd grown up in.

A commotion down the street caught his attention. A group of ninja had cornered a scrawny civilian, who looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Please," the man begged, his voice shaking. "I didn't do anything wrong. I was just trying to find food for my family."

The ninja, a burly man with a scar across his cheek, sneered at the man. "Save it, pal. You expect us to believe you stumbled into the restricted area by accident?"

"I-I didn't know," the man stammered. "The walls... they all look the same. I got lost."

The scarred ninja let out a harsh laugh. "Looks like we'll have to teach you a lesson about paying attention."

Zabuza cursed under his breath and turned away, the man's desperate pleas echoing in his ears as he vanished into the mist.

He had a mission to complete, and he couldn't afford to get sidetracked.

As he turned a corner, he came across a group of children playing with a ball in the fading light of dusk.

Their laughter, a rare and precious sound in Kiri these days, died abruptly as the ball rolled to a stop at his feet.

He bent down to pick it up, and the children froze, their eyes wide with fear.

Zabuza held out the ball, his voice gruff but not unkind. "Here."

One of the braver kids stepped forward, mumbling a quick "Thank you, sir" before snatching the ball and retreating.

In seconds, the children had vanished into the mist-shrouded alleyways.

He straightened up, and that's when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Don't take it personally."

"Your reputation precedes you, Demon of the Mist."

He turned to see a younger kunoichi he'd worked with on a few missions. Her green eyes sparkled with amusement.

"I don't care what they think," Zabuza grunted, starting to walk away.

The kunoichi fell into step beside him. "Of course not," she said, her tone light. "A demon only needs fear, right?"

Zabuza glanced at the kunoichi, surprised by her boldness. Most people in Kiri wouldn't dare to speak so frankly to him.

"You seem cheerful," he said, his tone a mix of curiosity and skepticism. "Unusual in Kiri these days. What do you want, Akane?"

Her smile faltered slightly, but she recovered quickly. "Just bored."

She quickened her pace until she was in front of him, then stopped abruptly, forcing Zabuza to halt as well.

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"So, I hear you're heading out on a mission. Anything exciting?"

He grunted noncommittally. "Just a routine investigation."

"Right," Akane said, her tone skeptical.

"Because they always send one of the Seven Swordsmen for 'routine investigations.' Come on, Zabuza. What's really going on?"

He fixed her with a hard stare. "You're awfully curious."

She met his gaze unflinchingly. "Things are changing in Kiri, Zabuza. Can't you feel it?"

"The air's thick with more than just mist these days. People are scared, and not just of the usual things."

Zabuza remained silent.

So he wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

"Be careful out there," Akane continued, her voice low.

"Especially in the Land of Waves. There are whispers... strange things happening. People changing."

"Changing how?" he pressed, his interest piqued.

The kunoichi glanced around nervously. "Just... watch your back, okay? And if you see anything strange... don't trust your eyes."

Before he could press her for more information, Akane melted into the mist, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

As night fell over Kiri, the mist thickened until it seemed to swallow the very light.

Zabuza stood at the village gates, ready to depart.

For a moment, he thought he saw a figure watching him from the shadows - tall, masked, with a single eye glowing red in the darkness.

But when he blinked, the figure was gone.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, Zabuza stepped into the mist.

Whatever awaited him in the Land of Waves, he would face it head-on.

After all, he was Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

And demons feared nothing.

----------

After Zabuza left, silence fell over the Mizukage's chamber. Yagura sat frozen behind his desk, his eyes empty, his face a blank slate.

Suddenly, the air behind him began to swirl, reality itself seeming to tear as a vortex of space-time ninjutsu opened.

A cloaked figure emerged from the swirling vortex, his face hidden behind an orange mask with a spiral pattern.

With a casual yet menacing gesture, the masked man reached out and grabbed Yagura's hair, yanking his head back.

As his dull eyes met the spinning tomoe of the Sharingan, the last flicker of light in them died out, and his will was consumed once more by the genjutsu's grip.

"What a pain," the masked man grumbled, his voice thick with irritation. "Having to reinforce this control every month is becoming... problematic."

From the floor beside him, another voice chimed in, belonging to a strange, plant-like figure that seemed to sprout from the very ground.

"Come on, Obito, don't be too hard on yourself. Keeping a Kage-level shinobi like Yagura under your control is no easy feat."

Obito released Yagura's hair with a sigh, letting the Mizukage's head slump forward lifelessly. "I suppose you're right, Zetsu."

"As long as I control the Mizukage, Kirigakure is mine to command."

"And they'll pay for what they did to Rin."

The pain in his voice was still raw, even after all these years.

He couldn't help but relive the moment when Rin, the love of his life, was killed by Kakashi's hand, her life slipping away before his eyes.

Black Zetsu tilted his head. "Your attachment to that girl still drives you, even after all these years. Fascinating."

Obito's visible eye narrowed behind his mask. "Don't test me. My motivations are my own."

"Of course, of course," Black Zetsu said, raising his hands in a calming gesture.

"I merely find human emotions intriguing. But let's focus on the task at hand. What of the Hoshigaki boy?"

Obito's posture relaxed, his tone turning calculating. "Ah, yes, Kisame. Placing him with Fuguki serves two purposes."

"It keeps a potential threat in the village in check and grooms a future Akatsuki member. His potential is considerable."

White Zetsu let out a low chuckle. "Speaking of potential threats, what about that rogue Mist ninja, Kojiro?"

"My clones always seem to meet with unfortunate accidents when they venture too close to those shores."

Obito waved his hand dismissively. "I've already set Kirigakure's dogs on Kojiro's trail."

"As long as he doesn't interfere with our plans, he's not a priority."

White Zetsu probed further. "And if he does interfere?"

A cold smile crept into Obito's voice. "Then Zabuza will take care of him for us. Either way, we come out on top."

He began to pace, his mind clearly racing with plans and strategies. "The real prize is that statue Kojiro stole."

"We still haven't fully unlocked its secrets, especially the specimens we acquired from it."

Black Zetsu's eyes lit up with interest. "Ah yes, those fascinating corpses from the Land of Fire. Ordinary men and women transformed into something extraordinary."

Obito nodded, his excitement visible even behind his mask. "Skin hardened to resist even the sharpest blades, regenerative abilities that border on the miraculous..."

"If we could harness that power, give your clones even a fraction of those capabilities..."

"With that kind of enhancement, my clones would be unstoppable," White Zetsu purred, his tone almost sensual.

"A true asset to your cause, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed," Obito said, his Sharingan gleaming in the darkness.

"All we need now is someone with the expertise to unravel the statue's mysteries, to bend its power to our will."

White Zetsu's lips curled into a knowing smile. "Someone, perhaps, like the man who stole it in the first place?"

Obito chuckled darkly. "Precisely. Kojiro may yet prove useful to us, whether he likes it or not."

As they continued to scheme, a tiny spider crawled across the ceiling, unnoticed by the two shinobis.

What harm could a mere spider do, after all?

Black Zetsu's gaze followed the arachnid for a moment before returning to Obito. "What about the other hidden villages? Won't they start to notice the changes in Kirigakure eventually?"

Obito shrugged, unconcerned. "Let them wonder. By the time they figure out what's going on, it'll be too late."

"The pieces are already in motion, Zetsu. Soon, the world will know the power of the Akatsuki."

"And your Eye of the Moon plan?" White Zetsu prodded gently.

Obito's voice softened, taking on a reverent tone. "One step at a time. First, we gather the Tailed Beasts. Then, we reshape this flawed world into something perfect."

As they continued their dark plotting, the spider silently observed.

In the shadows of Kiri, secrets multiplied like cancer cells, each one more deadly than the last.