"You've spoken well, but I don't want to listen."
Akihara Kagura rejected Ao's proposal, speaking slowly: "Since it's unconditional surrender, then everything must unconditionally obey our orders..."
"Ao, you're more important than I am!"
Terumi Mei looked at Ao and said solemnly: "If I don't make it back, if I get killed in Konoha in retaliation, immediately organize everyone in the village to select the Fifth Mizukage..."
"But..."
Ao thought there really wasn't a suitable candidate in the village.
"Don't worry."
Akihara Kagura heard Terumi Mei's death wish and consoled this slightly extreme woman: "Perhaps Lady Tsunade might issue an order for me to kill all the Hidden Mist Ninjas in revenge. By then, you won't have to deal with the trouble of selecting the Fifth Mizukage..."
"..."
Terumi Mei's expression turned even uglier.
Ao looked at Akihara Kagura with a somewhat fearful expression.
In Konoha Village.
Tsunade was still presiding over a meeting.
The four Hokages believed that Akihara Kagura alone was enough to resolve the Hidden Mist Village, but Tsunade could not have this mindset; she still had to prepare in case Akihara Kagura failed.
"From today, the village will immediately prepare for war, summon all ninjas from outside to regroup, and organize the ninjas in the village into an army..."
"Place a weapon order with the Artisan Village to ensure the weaponry is ready..."
"Dispatch scout ninjas to monitor the directions of the Hidden Rock Village and the Hidden Cloud Village, and track the movements of these Ninja Village troops in time, preventing them from taking advantage of the chaos to participate in this war..."
As someone who had participated in two Ninja World Wars, Tsunade still remembered the war; she had once led troops, so she wasn't completely panicked.
"Shikaku."
Tsunade looked at the acknowledged strategist of Konoha Village and instructed: "You are to quickly devise a strategy to deal with this war, ensuring the battles end quickly..."
"Yes."
Nara Shikaku nodded, agreeing reluctantly: "Fighting on two fronts isn't that easy; I will quickly draft a strategy..."
"Fighting on two fronts, huh..."
"It would be good if we could just declare war on one village..."
"Fighting in two directions is indeed unfavorable for us..."
The meeting room immediately became lively.
Although they all believed Konoha would definitely win this war, fighting on two fronts was always a tough problem; it prevented Konoha from concentrating its strength.
"I will resolve this issue."
Nara Shikaku felt that an important person was missing from the participants and asked: "Lady Tsunade, where is Lord Kagura, the Hokage Assistant of our village?"
"Kagura's not here..."
"Where is Lord Kagura?"
"Why isn't Lord Kagura participating in this meeting?"
The other Jonin immediately chimed in; most of them had seen Akihara Kagura's formidable prowess on the night of the clan massacre, so the village's highest combat power couldn't be absent!
Especially Nara Shikaku, the strategist responsible for devising strategies!
Konoha stood a good chance against these two villages; Nara Shikaku believed the greatest success factor was the powerful force of Akihara Kagura, who could change the battlefield situation single-handedly!
"Kagura..."
Tsunade was still hesitating, unsure how to speak.
"I'm back."
Akihara Kagura's voice suddenly appeared in the meeting room, and in his hand was a woman—Terumi Mei from the Hidden Mist Village.
"This is..."
Kakashi Hatake looked at Terumi Mei's somewhat disheveled appearance and, after struggling for a moment, recognized her: "This is that dual bloodline ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, Terumi Mei?"
"Yes."
Akihara Kagura nodded and continued: "It's said she's the current leader of the Hidden Mist Village. She represents the Hidden Mist Village and is willing to sign an unconditional surrender agreement. Our war with the Hidden Mist Village can be declared over."
"..."
The meeting was dead silent.
Everyone present didn't know what to say.
Even Tsunade, who knew a little about the situation, widened her eyes, feeling as if her ears were deceiving her.
Didn't they just declare war this afternoon?
The war mobilization meeting hadn't even ended yet!
And the war with one of the villages was already over?
Akihara Kagura even brought back the current leader of the Hidden Mist Village!
"Is this a joke?"
A Jonin looked at Akihara Kagura in disbelief, doubting the authenticity of the event: "Lord Kagura, the Hidden Mist Village and we are separated by the sea; perhaps the declaration of war hasn't even reached the inside of the Hidden Mist Village?"
"I personally delivered the war declaration."
Akihara Kagura glanced at the Jonin, then looked at Terumi Mei beside him: "Upon returning, I also brought back the news of the Hidden Mist Village's surrender..."
"This should...be true, right? I seem to remember the emissary from the Hidden Mist Village mentioning that someone named Terumi Mei sent them..."
Nara Shikaku hesitated, also feeling a bit mentally stuck. He had always known that Akihara Kagura was powerful, but wasn't this a bit odd...
After all...
The war ended somewhat quickly.
Even the two villages hadn't begun intelligence reconnaissance, and the war was already over.
"It must be true..."
Kakashi Hatake had great faith in Akihara Kagura.
Kakashi Hatake had seen Terumi Mei before and knew her status was indeed high in the Hidden Mist Village, likely representing it.
"Send people to investigate first..."
Tsunade furrowed her brows; matters of war couldn't be a joke.
"The Hidden Mist Village agrees to unconditional surrender to Konoha!"
Terumi Mei stared intently at Tsunade, looking at this similarly high-ranking but greatly revered female ninja: "Before I came to Konoha, I had already ordered our people to announce in the Ninja World that the Hidden Mist Village would unconditionally surrender to Konoha; all Hidden Mist ninjas are awaiting the Hokage's decision, waiting to see if the Hokage will spare their lives!"
According to what Akihara Kagura said...
This Fifth Hokage might issue the order to kill all Hidden Mist ninjas!
"..."
Tsunade furrowed her brows, observing the blood stains on Terumi Mei's lips and complexion, quickly assessing her situation: "She's severely injured; treat her wounds first, we'll discuss other matters once we receive concrete intelligence..."
"Then, Lady Tsunade..."
Nara Shikaku took the initiative to ask, casting a glance at Akihara Kagura, his expression subtly peculiar: "Do we need to continue discussing the war strategies against the Hidden Mist Village?"
"Continue discussing..."
Tsunade rubbed her forehead, waving her hand: "Take her down for treatment, and the Dark Department should immediately send people to the Land of Water to verify the news brought by Kagura!"
"I don't need treatment!"
Terumi Mei didn't want to be taken away for healing; there was no trace of coquettishness in her demeanor, only a resolute plea: "I only wish to plead with the Fifth Hokage of Konoha to spare the lives of the innocents in the Hidden Mist Village; I am willing to die here in their place..."
Tsunade's frown deepened, somewhat unclear about Terumi Mei's meaning: "Konoha is only penalizing the Hidden Mist for colluding with Orochimaru to incite turmoil..."
"Kagura..."
Kakashi Hatake thought of a possibility, his forehead starting to sweat: "You didn't...kill all the people from the Hidden Mist Village, did you?"
"Not yet."
Akihara Kagura shook his head and continued on his own: "If Lady Tsunade needs me to kill them, I'll take another trip back..."
The people of the Hidden Mist Village are a sustainable resource.
Before the Ten-tails revives within him, Akihara Kagura wouldn't want to harvest the crops and cut the roots at the same time...
"It's not necessary to go to such extremes!"
Tsunade was startled by this sentence, quickly stopping Akihara Kagura.
"..."
Terumi Mei's mood immediately relaxed.
As long as this Hokage didn't want to murder everyone in the Hidden Mist Village, no matter what conditions Konoha posed, the Hidden Mist Village could agree to them.
"Then I'll immediately head to the Hidden Sand Village."
Akihara Kagura gave Tsunade a look and proactively asked: "Lady Tsunade, do you need all the people from the Hidden Sand Village killed? If you do..."
"It's not necessary to go to such extremes."
Tsunade massaged her forehead, suggesting: "I will accompany you to the Hidden Sand Village; I also want to see what's actually happening..."
This way of waging war...
Seems a little novel!