"Ayato Hyūga, you're crossing a line!"
A handful of Anbu suddenly materialized and drew short blades, forming a ring in front of Mei Terumi. Everyone in the room shot Ayato furious looks; even Ao stepped forward to reprimand him.
Ayato had truly gone too far.
He'd asked the Mizukage to "spend a night" with him? Mei Terumi was the hero who had ended the Blood Mist era — the Fifth Mizukage, the pride of the village and an idol to countless young shinobi. For Ayato to suggest such a thing publicly was outrageous. The whole office bristled.
Then—slowly—their expressions changed. Beneath the shock and anger something else dawned: Ayato wasn't serious. He was playing.
He'd been deliberately provoking everyone for sport. It wasn't about gall or shame; it was a game to him.
"I'll say this plainly: I've something private to settle with your Mizukage. If too many people see us together, all that lovey-dovey nonsense will be embarrassing even for me." Ayato gathered Mei and Zabuza's sealed corpses into the small space inside his scroll as he spoke.
He'd read the room. Mei was furious and could, in blind rage, melt the bodies and ruin his chance to collect the reward. So he pocketed the "bodies" first — to him they were a payout, not corpses.
"Leave this to me," Mei said through clenched teeth. Her brown hair shadowed her face; her whole body trembled with cold chakra. The Anbu hesitated, then bowed and filed out. If the Mizukage ordered them to step back, they would obey.
Only the two of them remained.
Ayato cast a lazy glance at Mei's proud posture and couldn't help a lecherous smirk. "Missing that butt of yours again?"
Five years earlier they'd clashed over the capture of an S-rank rogue, and Ayato had publicly poked Mei in the backside with a ruthless, shameless arrogance. She'd never forgiven him.
Mei's hands moved, palms forming seals. The room flashed with a dark red barrier — she was taking no chances. She'd lost to Ayato before when she was only an elite jōnin; now she carried the village and its title. She would not be humiliated again.
"Now that there's no audience, let me repay the insult you forced on me last time." Mei's voice was silk and steel. She struck the ground.
A towering water pillar burst up, blasting Ayato into the air. She followed with a water-blade technique that erupted into five enormous water dragons. One lunged and clamped around Ayato's waist, the others seized his limbs.
Ayato dangled there, a lollipop between his teeth, calm as a cat. Mei had clearly grown stronger — far past her old jōnin level; she now wielded true kage-tier power. Each of those water dragons could fell a seasoned jōnin.
"So — this is all you've got?" Ayato asked, casually testing the bonds. Mei wasn't playing; this was full force.
Mei's face hardened. "I won't let you mock my name. If you want to die, I'll show you the Mizukage's power."
She settled a water prison around him — a dense, mountain-heavy sphere. Ayato could feel the weight. It was meant to hold even high-tier foes.
Ayato blinked. He lifted two fingers and a ripple of dark force burst from him like a gale. The heavy water prison detonated and evaporated; the crimson barrier shuddered and cracked. The building itself groaned and collapsed around them.
Mei's composure broke into shocked disbelief. She hadn't expected that. Ayato stood amid the ruins, hands in his pockets, still sucking his lollipop.
"You got stronger?" she muttered, voice incredulous. "You? Don't make me laugh."
Ayato waved her off. "No need to hide. Use your kekkei genkai. Attack any way you like. I have all the time in the world."
Mei's eyes flashed murderous ice. "Fine. Meet the Mizukage's true strength."
She shaped seals with speed and fury and unleashed a molten onslaught — a roaring torrent of lava that seared the stone, swallowing Ayato whole.
"Such a pretty face wasted on a pervert," Mei sneered through the molten heat, then moved in, as if to give the insult a final, theatrical finish.
Blue lightning ripped through the lava. Electricity cleaved the flow into glittering shards; Ayato emerged, electric armor crackling across his form. Mei's smile froze. Lightning armor? Had Ayato learned the Raikage's exclusive techniques?
Before she could react, Ayato blinked from being swallowed to appearing inches from her. He caught Mei by the jaw in a sudden, impossibly quick motion and kissed her.
Mei stiffened — surprise, shock, embarrassment all at once. Her pupils widened; the world tilted. The office, the ruined ceiling, the trembling Anbu outside — none of it mattered. For a breath, she was disarmed.
"You… you'll pay for this!" Mei spat as she shoved him back and scrambled to her feet, falling onto the rubble for a moment.
Ayato fixed her with a smug grin and kissed her again, more forceful this time.
Mei went flush and nearly lost her footing. When she finally snapped back to herself she bit him — hard. Blood welled at the corner of Ayato's mouth, but it healed almost instantly.
Just then a hundred Anbu reappeared in a ripple — the whole guard, in formation. They dropped to one knee out of instinct to protect their Kage, only to witness the two leaders locked in a bewildering, intimate scene: the Mizukage and the legendary disaster-ninja in a very public embrace.
Confusion flooded them. Had an enemy infiltrated the village? Who was that silver-haired man kissing their Mizukage?
Slowly recognition dawned: the silver-haired man was Ayato Hyūga — the so-called disaster ninja. The sight of their beloved Mizukage entangled with the notorious outsider made the Anbu's faces go from shock to speechless bewilderment.
"Is the Mizukage all right?" Ao vaulted forward and then froze, staring in disbelief. Mei and Ayato were kissing — openly. Everyone's assumptions about the encounter collapsed at once.
Mei's face burned. She'd been furious a moment ago; now she was angry with herself. Her breath was ragged, her cheeks flushed scarlet. For a woman who had never publicly courted anyone, this was humiliating and bewildering.
Ayato's grin only widened. "Young love—what a mess," Ao muttered, trying to process it, then vanished with a shake of his head.
The Anbu dispersed at Ao's hand. Whatever domestic calamity this was, they would not intervene.
Mei lunged at Ayato in a flare of fury. "Pervert! Scoundrel! You stole my—my first kiss! I will kill you, Ayato Hyūga!"
Ayato licked his lips, amused. "Relax. I wasn't planning to stop. Let's keep playing." He leaned in and kissed her again, teasing and shameless.
Mei responded with everything she had: a sudden explosive push of chakra that sent him flying backward. He landed, cradling his mouth and rubbing the place where she'd bitten him. "Ow," he said, smiling through the sting. "You pack a punch."
Mei's face was a portrait of fury and mortified pride. "You'll pay for this," she hissed, and vanished in a streak to attack him full out.
The office collapsed into chaos as the two of them crashed into each other — not a political duel so much as a domestic train wreck on a battlefield.
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