Watching Yuto still lying lazily on the rock, Mei shrugged and brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear.
"At a time like this, Yuto-sama should be busy, don't you think?" she said.
Yuto, eyes still closed, began to speak softly.
However, just as he finished, his nose twitched. He suddenly snapped his eyes open and sat up, turning to Mei with a grin.
"As expected, you understand me best," Yuto said with a smile.
Mei's lips curved as she blinked at him.
"Yuto-sama, I'll take that as a compliment."
As she spoke, she pulled a packet of fish balls from behind her back and held it up in front of his face.
Yuto's smile grew wider. He took the fish balls from her hand and started eating happily.
Watching him munch on the fish balls, Mei's eyes softened with a hint of amusement.
"Looks like Yuto-sama isn't all that worried about the state of the shinobi world," she said.
Yuto shook his head and swallowed what was in his mouth.
"There's nothing to worry about. Just a bunch of petty clowns jumping around."
Mei nodded slightly, then fell silent for a moment. A mix of doubt and caution crossed her expression as she looked over at him.
"Yuto-sama, that business with ambushing the three great villages… doesn't really feel like your style. Acting like that might expose your identity."
"Orochimaru is already dead. As long as the Mist develops steadily, we could slowly devour the other four great villages without them ever realizing it," she added.
Yuto nodded lightly, still smiling.
"That was indeed the original plan," he said. "But now we have to change our strategy."
Mei froze, then quickly asked, "Did you discover something, Yuto-sama?"
"I did come across something interesting. But it won't be long before the entire shinobi world finds out anyway. That's why I suddenly don't care much if my identity is exposed."
"On this big game board called the shinobi world, from the Warring States era up until now, it's always been the same few people playing," Yuto said quietly, a deep glint in his eyes.
Mei raised an eyebrow, a bit lost—clearly she didn't fully grasp what he meant.
Just as she was about to ask further, a sharp sound of something splitting the air came from the distance.
In the span of a few blinks, Ameyuri appeared not far in front of Yuto and Mei.
"Yuto-sama! Mizukage-sama!" Ameyuri called.
Seeing Mei sitting beside Yuto, she froze for a second, then quickly bowed her head respectfully.
Yuto turned and looked at her with a faint smile.
"Looks like the people from the Sand have arrived?" he asked.
"Yes, Yuto-sama," Ameyuri nodded, her sharp teeth showing as she spoke. "The Sand Village has indeed sent shinobi to negotiate. They want to trade to get Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro back."
"Who is currently in charge of the Sand Village?" Yuto turned to Mei and asked curiously.
"It's Chiyo, the puppet master hailed across the shinobi world as top class," Mei replied softly.
As expected.
A glint flashed in Yuto's eyes. He shifted his gaze back to Ameyuri, asking with interest,
"How are the Sand-nin planning to buy Gaara and the other two back?"
Ameyuri curled her lip.
"The Sand-nin who came said their village is willing to exchange money or land— they even suggested forming an alliance with us."
"Money? Land?" Mei said with open disdain. "How much money could the Sand even have? As for land, it's all desert anyway. And there's the Leaf stuck between us— even if they gave it to us for free, we wouldn't necessarily want it. As for an alliance… the Sand Village's getting the better deal there."
"Tell Chiyo that it's no problem if she wants Gaara and the other two back," Yuto said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Considering the three of them, plus the Ichibi Shukaku, trading them for one kinjutsu (forbidden technique) in her hands shouldn't be an issue."
"Yuto-sama, what secret art do you want from the Sand?" Mei asked, curious.
From what she knew, Suna was famous for its puppet techniques and its poisons, and she doubted either of those would catch Yuto's eye.
"The kinjutsu (forbidden technique) Chiyo holds—Kishō Tensei (Self-Reincarnation)," Yuto said, narrowing his eyes slightly, his tone light and amused.
Not long after the Sand-nin received the Mist's conditions, they used Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) to transmit the message back, and the Sand Village soon learned of what the Mist wanted.
"How does the Mist even know that you have Kishō Tensei (Self-Reincarnation)?" Ebizō asked gravely, his aged face scrunching into a tight frown.
Chiyo was silent for a moment, then turned her head toward Maki beside her.
"Agree to the Mist's demand," she said calmly. "As long as Gaara and the other two can return safely, I can hand this jutsu over to them."
"Big sis! You really intend to give that jutsu to the Mist?" Ebizō asked, his expression changing, his tone stern.
"It's just a single kinjutsu (forbidden technique). In this world, how many people would truly be willing to trade their own life to use it?" Chiyo said, her voice steady.
Only, there was a faint, almost imperceptible sorrow in her eyes.
When Yuto received the news that Chiyo had agreed, he immediately sent Temari and Kankuro back with a broad smile.
As for Gaara, who remained—Yuto planned to use him to verify whether Kishō Tensei (Self-Reincarnation) was genuine.
——
Deep within a dense forest—
Kabuto wiped the sweat from his forehead, then turned to glance behind him. Seeing that even now no one had come chasing after him, he slowly let out a long breath and slumped back against a large tree.
Orochimaru was dead.
And he had seen it with his own eyes.
It had been a battle of complete and utter one-sided domination.
The Orochimaru who had once seemed terrifyingly powerful to him had not been able to put up even the slightest resistance before that young man.
He'd been cut down, just like that—clean and easy.
The shock and fear Kabuto had felt at that moment was hard to put into words.
So the instant he saw Orochimaru die, Kabuto turned and ran. He'd been pushing himself day and night for several days now, all because he was terrified someone would come after him.
Because in his final moments, Orochimaru had not only left him instructions on how to resurrect him—he'd also told Kabuto a secret.
A secret that made every hair on Kabuto's body stand on end:
The legendary First Mizukage, Yuto, had already been resurrected.
A man who had gone to such lengths to hide his existence, now that someone knew about him… it was easy enough to imagine what that could mean.
And Kabuto had no intention of dying.
So once he learned this secret, he ran for his life.
But up to this point, Kabuto realized that no one had come after him at all.
"Is it that he doesn't know I exist… or that he no longer cares if his identity has been exposed?" Kabuto muttered to himself after a moment of silence.
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