At the same time that Yuu was holding his little lecture on this side—
thousands of kilometers away,
in Kirigakure of the Land of Water,
a report concerning the latest battlefield situation was brought back from the front by a Kiri Anbu and delivered directly to the Third Mizukage, Suien, who was eating inside the Mizukage residence.
After hearing the Anbu's report clearly,
Suien let out an enraged roar.
He slammed the bowl of rice soaked in broth and preserved vegetables onto the table and waved both hands violently.
"Impossible!
"Absolutely impossible!"
"Yagura Karatachi is Kirigakure's strongest jōnin! His strength is second only to mine!
"And you're telling me even he lost?!
"Not only did he lose, but both tailed beasts we sent there ended up in Konoha's hands?!
"This…"
How could that possibly make sense?!
Those were two tailed beasts!
Not two pigs being fattened for New Year!
In theory, even if they had simply thrown the beasts directly into Konoha Village and let them run wild, they should have been able to plunge the entire village into chaos and leave Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others completely overwhelmed.
Yet now—
they couldn't even capture a single Konoha stronghold on the border of the Land of Fire?
And both beasts had been captured?!
Was Shakuka Town some kind of greatest fortress in the entire Land of Fire?
What the hell had Yagura, Jinin Akebino, and the others been doing to manage to lose a battle this badly?!
And even taking ten thousand steps back…
even if Yagura and the others were all useless parasites who did nothing but eat and wait for death—
wasn't that lord supposed to be backing them up?
Could it be that even that lord had lost?
That was right.
As a former guard of First Mizukage Byakuren,
Suien had personally seen Uchiha Madara before.
At the same time,
he was one of the very few people who could interact with Madara while actually knowing his true identity.
Because of the restrictions Madara had placed on him in advance, Suien couldn't reveal the truth.
Nor did he particularly need to.
Without Madara secretly giving him a push, Suien would have found it extremely difficult to become the Third Mizukage in the first place.
Their relationship was essentially one of mutual exploitation—
not merely controller and puppet.
But this time…
the situation was slightly different.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
After venting his emotions, Suien took a deep breath.
He picked up the bowl and chopsticks he had overturned earlier and asked the question.
Since he had been eating rice soaked in broth, trying to recover the spilled grains was obviously impossible.
But his mind was no longer on the meal anyway.
The Anbu lowered his head and answered somewhat nervously.
"Reporting to Lord Mizukage.
"We've heard that the one who defeated Jōnin Yagura and captured both the Six-Tails and Three-Tails was once again Konoha's Mikami Yuu—
"the 'White Reaper' who previously gained a fearsome reputation on the Sunagakure front.
"Several members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were also either killed or captured by him."
The Anbu hesitated briefly.
"In addition, according to several reports that have yet to be confirmed, Konoha's 'Yellow Flash' may also have appeared on the Kirigakure front.
"However, that information has not yet been verified."
"…Then it isn't strange anymore."
Suien narrowed his eyes.
Over the past few months, he had heard the name Mikami Yuu so many times that his ears were practically developing calluses.
Starting with Fuguki Suikazan,
the boy had been like Kirigakure's natural nemesis.
Every time he appeared,
at least one elite Kiri jōnin was guaranteed to disappear with him.
As for Namikaze Minato…
although that name was slightly less familiar to Kirigakure,
his astonishing record on the Kumogakure battlefield had already reached the desks of the higher-ups in every major ninja village through various intelligence channels.
He had faced the Fourth A and Killer B alone—
and forced two Kage-level fighters to retreat.
Then there was that Flying Thunder God Technique, which allowed him to slaughter enemies wherever he appeared.
It was said that the Third Raikage, forced by the situation, had personally issued an order stating that any Kumo ninja who encountered the Yellow Flash was permitted to abandon their mission immediately without punishment.
The sole purpose was to reduce Kumogakure's casualties as much as possible.
For a village as fiercely martial as Kumogakure,
such an order was nearly unbelievable.
As for what Ōnoki of Iwagakure thought about it…
that remained unclear.
After all, he hadn't personally entered the war yet.
But from the perspectives of Kumogakure and Kirigakure…
this master-and-disciple pair of Namikaze Minato and Mikami Yuu truly were two smiling tigers—
two blacktip sharks waiting beneath calm waters.
Who knew what kind of ridiculous luck Konoha had?
Just as they were on the verge of losing two top-tier combatants—
the White Fang and Orochimaru—
they somehow drew two SSR-level character cards in a row, both with the potential to be cultivated into village leaders.
It made the other villages both envious and jealous.
And if Konoha were allowed to fully absorb those two captured tailed beasts and gain two new jinchūriki…
that would be a nightmare for every other great nation!
At this rate,
maybe the entire ninja world would eventually contain nothing but the Land of Fire!
"Bring me paper and a brush!"
Suien raised his head and shouted.
"I'm writing to Konoha!
"Demand that they return the tailed beasts they captured!
"And…"
His expression sharpened.
"Send messages to Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
"Tell them that if they don't want to face a Konoha possessing three jinchūriki and two combatants on the level of the Sannin—
"then they must support us and jointly pressure Konoha!"
"This will determine the direction of the ninja world for the next twenty years!"
While saying this,
another thought quietly began to grow inside Suien's mind.
Kirigakure's defeat was already an established fact.
But because the village was isolated overseas,
it would be extremely difficult for Konoha or any of the other great nations to launch a full-scale invasion of the Land of Water.
So there was no immediate danger of being annexed.
In that case…
could he perhaps implement an offshore balancing strategy?
If he could somehow make Konoha, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure fight one another—
preferably with Uchiha Madara joining in as well—
and eventually force all four sides to cripple each other…
then Kirigakure could simply sit back and reap the benefits.
Wouldn't that be wonderful?
At that point,
he, Suien, would possess unprecedented achievements and become the greatest Mizukage in Kirigakure's history.
Then he would no longer need to maintain his rule through the poisonous, short-sighted extreme purges of the Bloody Mist.
Mm.
He needed to plan this carefully.
Suien stroked his chin and began thinking.
…
Compared with Kirigakure,
Sunagakure received the battlefield intelligence somewhat later.
But due to geographical distance, it still received the news earlier than Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
The report contained no mention of Uchiha Madara.
After all, the information that Madara had appeared was still an absolute secret known only to Yuu and the others who personally participated in Rin's rescue—
along with Third Mizukage Suien.
It had yet to become public knowledge.
In the eyes of most spies and ordinary Konoha ninja,
Yuu's group had simply seized the Three-Tails from a group of "Kiri Anbu."
Even so…
the report still caused an enormous uproar among Sunagakure's leadership!
That was Kirigakure!
One of the Five Great Nations!
A village whose overall strength was roughly comparable to Sunagakure's!
And they had lost this decisively—
to the point of losing their tailed beasts?!
This…
Had Konoha already become this powerful?
If so, maybe Sunagakure's earlier defeat could actually be considered a relatively good outcome?
Driven by all kinds of thoughts,
Chiyo called an emergency council meeting in the middle of the night.
Pakura still sat in the main seat as Acting Kazekage.
Below her were the same seven or eight Sunagakure elders as before.
There was only one additional face—
the recently promoted young jōnin Karura, who had been entrusted with important responsibilities.
The moment the meeting began,
Elder Totsuguri, with his goatee, spoke first.
"I said long ago that Konoha is currently at the height of its momentum.
"Given Sunagakure's present circumstances, it truly isn't wise for us to make them our enemy.
"We should maintain and strengthen the alliance we already have."
"…?"
Chiyo and Ebizō exchanged glances.
"Elder Totsuguri.
"If this old woman remembers correctly, weren't you the one who suggested attacking Wildfire City last time while Orochimaru had just defected?"
"…Ha."
Elder Totsuguri laughed awkwardly but kept a perfectly calm expression.
"That was then.
"This is now."
"Konoha currently possesses three tailed beasts.
"They also have the 'White Reaper,' who can capture multiple tailed beasts, and the 'Yellow Flash,' whose strength is no weaker than his."
He spread his hands.
"What kind of terrifying force is that?
"Only an idiot would want to become their enemy."
"In my opinion, Konoha is at least more trustworthy than several of the other villages.
"They aren't as calculating as Iwagakure.
"As long as we communicate sincerely based on the peace treaty we signed previously, it may even be possible to seek deeper military cooperation."
"At that point—
"with Konoha's military strength combined with our intelligence and strategy—
"how difficult would it really be to annex the Lands of Lightning, Earth, and Water?"
He smiled.
"Some may say that would make us a subordinate of Konoha.
"But if being a subordinate brings us genuine benefits and fertile territory—
"what's wrong with that?"
"…"
Several elders around the table fell silent.
To be fair,
many of them had similar thoughts right now.
But…
weren't you usually the warmongering faction constantly shouting about fighting Konoha?
And now, in the blink of an eye, you had become a peace advocate demanding sincere cooperation?
Wasn't that transformation a little too fast?
Arrogant before—
servile afterward.
Thinking about it was almost enough to make one laugh.
"Cough, cough."
Chiyo cleared her throat.
"The matter of the Sunagakure–Konoha peace agreement is one of today's important topics.
"Everyone may express their views freely.
"Lady Pakura will make the final decision."
She paused.
"However…
"There is another important matter for which I called everyone here today."
"It concerns the jinchūriki of the One-Tail."
"The jinchūriki?"
Totsuguri and the others exchanged confused looks.
Chiyo didn't keep them in suspense.
"Bunpuku may not have much longer."
"!"
"I recently visited the Temple of Wind and checked on him.
"He said he can already feel his end approaching.
"He may die sometime within the next year."
"Before that happens, Sunagakure must prepare a new candidate for jinchūriki so that after his death, someone will be ready to inherit the power of the One-Tail…"
While Chiyo and the others began exchanging opinions,
on the other side—
Pakura sat in the main seat with her chin resting on both hands.
She listened only halfheartedly to the discussion around her.
Her thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
She was thinking about Yuu.
How should she put it…
as someone who had fought Yuu several times in the past—
and had even held the upper hand during their earliest encounters—
Pakura had a very clear understanding of that white-haired brat's growth potential.
She had long suspected that he would cross the threshold into the Kage level and eventually become extremely powerful even among the Kage.
But…
even Pakura hadn't expected Yuu to improve this quickly.
Suppressing tailed beasts was normally a job for the Five Kage.
And even then, it usually required a Kage who was both highly experienced and at the peak of their strength.
Take Pakura herself.
Although she held the title of Fourth Kazekage and ranked among Sunagakure's strongest ninja,
she still wasn't confident she could independently suppress and seal the One-Tail.
She would need Chiyo or Ebizō assisting from the side.
Yet Yuu had defeated two tailed beasts in rapid succession within an extremely short period.
Even if Namikaze Minato and others had helped him,
that alone was enough to demonstrate his strength.
From Sunagakure's perspective,
the appearance of such a powerful young ninja in Konoha should have made Pakura wary.
And yet…
for some reason,
a faint sense of secret delight rose in her heart.
She almost felt proud by association.
The feeling was something like—
See? My eye for people really is pretty accurate.
Someone I took an interest in growing this quickly is perfectly normal.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen that guy in quite a while.
We've only been exchanging messages through the Kamaitachi.
I wonder if he's gotten taller.
Has his appearance changed much?
If I saw him again now, maybe I wouldn't even recognize him at first glance…
While Pakura's thoughts drifted farther and farther away,
she suddenly heard someone calling her name.
Coming back to herself,
she realized Chiyo and the others were all looking toward her, apparently waiting for her final decision.
"Cough, cough…"
Pakura cleared her throat.
She recalled the scattered fragments of the discussion she had heard and said,
"Mm…
"Elder Chiyo is right."
"Although Sunagakure was among the first villages to possess a tailed beast, our development of jinchūriki has fallen far behind the other villages.
"That is unquestionably a waste of resources."
"So perhaps we should learn from Kirigakure and Kumogakure and attempt to properly develop the power of the tailed beast for the village's use."
She looked around.
"As for the next candidate to become the One-Tail's jinchūriki—
"does anyone have a preferred choice?"
"…Not yet."
Chiyo shook her head.
"So far, we haven't found anyone in the village who is particularly suitable."
"Rasa does possess a little aptitude in that regard, but not much.
"If we truly made him the One-Tail's jinchūriki, it would probably be rather difficult for him."
More importantly—
Rasa and Pakura were not on the same political side.
Back when Pakura was consolidating her position as Fourth Kazekage,
Rasa had caused her plenty of trouble.
Under those circumstances,
if Rasa obtained the One-Tail's power and his strength increased dramatically…
who knew whether he might begin plotting a comeback?
Perhaps even rebellion and a seizure of power.
That would deal a serious blow to the stability Sunagakure had only recently regained.
"…"
Pakura remained silent for a moment.
Then she suddenly asked,
"Then…
"what if I do it?"
"?"
Chiyo froze.
It took her a moment to understand.
"You mean…
"you personally want to become the jinchūriki?"
"This…"
How could that possibly work?
Setting everything else aside—
a jinchūriki was supposed to endure the hatred and bullying of the entire village!
How could they possibly make their own Kazekage into one?
Wouldn't that completely ruin the village's social atmosphere?
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!