Chapter 347: Thoughts of Killing Her; Aftermath
Two days later.
Mizukage's Office.
"Lord Mizukage, this is the damage report and repair plan for Training Ground No. 1 and the surrounding buildings." An Anbu knocked on the door and walked in respectfully.
Since the battle that day, Mei Terumī's prestige had risen again. Ninja who originally disapproved of her had now completely abandoned their past rebelliousness and respected her from the bottom of their hearts.
Including the Mist Anbu, who were originally the most cold and ruthless, their style had now also changed somewhat.
The Anbu left the report and departed. The Fifth Mizukage took the report, flipped through two pages, and put it aside.
It was certainly satisfying to blast those large-scale ninjutsu wave after wave during the fight.
But cleaning up the mess was much more troublesome.
From her slightly furrowed brows, it could be seen that it was definitely a rather headache-inducing matter. This was not something that could be completed simply by repairing with Earth Style. Those iron stones specially selected as ninjutsu targets were originally indestructible and had withstood the beating of ninjutsu for so many years without any problems. Unexpectedly, they were destroyed by the ninjutsu of two women. It would take a long time and funds to replace them!
And the surrounding buildings were almost razed to the ground by the aftermath, as if they had been bombarded by powerful Wind Style!
Fortunately, there were no residential houses nearby. It would have been dangerous if others were accidentally injured.
Letting go of the headache for now, Mei Terumī sat in her office chair and stared blankly for a while before suddenly remembering that she had also invited the Konoha envoy for a talk.
"Just right, I'll go out and relax!" She blinked, picked up the Mizukage hat, put it on her head, and walked out of the office; in the display room next door, Haruno Sakura had been waiting for a while, looking with interest at various artifacts recording the history of the Mist placed in the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I've been busy dealing with the aftermath for the past two days and haven't had time to talk to you in detail." Mei Terumī smiled brightly and said, "It's too stuffy here. Let's go out for a walk and talk as we walk!"
Walking diplomacy? Haruno Sakura smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright."
The two walked out of the Mizukage's office building.
Mei Terumī had something on her mind. She said it was a walk, but she walked very fast in silence. In a few moments, she brought Haruno Sakura to the training ground where they had fought two days ago.
For some reason, Mei Terumī hadn't arranged for personnel to come and repair the site here. The huge pit on the ground still remained, only the traces of battle such as corpses and ninja tools had been cleaned up.
At the edge of the deep pit were dilapidated buildings, and further away was the residential area. If she hadn't restrained a lot of her power in the battle that day and hadn't gone all out like she did against Orochimaru, maybe half of the Mist Village would have been destroyed by her!
Even so, the aftermath of the battle still caused huge damage.
This was the first time Haruno Sakura had fought in the city center, which was completely different from field combat.
Looking at the devastation here, Sakura couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart. Konoha's population density was higher. If a Kage-level ninja desperately ran to the center of Konoha to wreak havoc, wouldn't tens of thousands of people be killed or injured! As for the high-population-density concrete jungle like the cities in her previous life envisioned by the Uchiha, that would be even more unimaginable.
Mei Terumī stood on a rock protruding from the ruins, which was a huge stone mountain left by the condensation of her Lava Style.
The breeze gently blew across Mei Terumī's face, lifting her smooth and beautiful long hair. She slowly closed her eyes, as if enjoying the caress of the spring breeze.
"Miss Haruno Sakura." The Fifth Mizukage took a deep breath and turned to speak to Sakura under the stone mountain.
"Hn?" Sakura looked up.
"Did you know," she said calmly, "during the battle, I once thought about killing you along with the First Elder and the others."
Haruno Sakura was momentarily stunned and subconsciously took a step back.
Mei Terumī's blunt words surprised her a little, leaving her somewhat at a loss, and for a moment she didn't know how to answer Mei Terumī.
"Are you... joking?"
Seeing the girl suddenly startled, Mei Terumī suddenly smiled gently. "I have no ill intentions, don't be nervous."
She blinked and continued, "However, this thought really existed. Miss Haruno Sakura, your strength is too strong, and you are still so young. The future you might become even stronger."
Haruno Sakura pursed her lips and listened to her silently.
While speaking, Mei Terumī walked down the stone mountain with graceful steps and said, "The threat of the Suikazan clan is nothing more than a skin disease. Even without your help, we could have solved them with our own strength after a while. But your existence is more worrying. I feel that even the current me might not be sure of defeating you."
"You are less than fifteen years old, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the future. And I am almost thirty years old, my strength is close to its peak, and there is not much room for growth." She walked up to the girl, put her hands on her hips, and said, "It's like this now. In a few years, maybe the entire Mist will be defeated by you!"
"Tell me, should I have taken this opportunity to kill you?" Mei Terumī looked at Haruno Sakura with burning eyes.
Such a seemingly delicate beauty, while smiling charmingly, spoke such murderous words.
Her danger level was comparable to her beauty level.
Haruno Sakura did not speak. She had calmed down and looked back into Mei Terumī's eyes calmly. Those eyes, which were also emerald green, were clear and bright. Saying she wanted to fight and kill, but no killing intent could be seen.
"Haha, didn't scare you!" Mei Terumī smiled. "Let's not talk about whether I can kill you or not. If I really did that, what would be the difference between the Mist Village under my rule and the Village of the Bloody Mist period? Such a Mist, even if it eliminates future threats, is only bringing about its own destruction. Besides..."
Haruno Sakura also nodded. "Indeed, it is precisely because we believe that the Mist Village has changed that we took the initiative to contact you."
Sakura's statement was actually just nice words.
Konoha's active contact with the Mist stemmed from dealing with the threat of the Akatsuki, so they wrote to them. This was the initial contact between Konoha and the Mist. At that time, Tsunade and the others didn't expect that the closed Mist had quietly changed.
Later, from the intelligence reported by the messenger, they found that they were moving towards peace and openness, so they sent Kakashi's elite squad to contact the Mist and establish a connection.
As for trusting the Mist Village... if they really trusted them, they wouldn't have sent Haruno Sakura over. This was a Kage-level combat power.
But at least one point was correct. Konoha and the Mist were gradually becoming countries that could coexist peacefully from being enemy countries that never interacted with each other until death.
In the general direction, Konoha did believe that the Mist was changing itself.
Mei Terumī could hear the meaning in her words.
"After seeing you, I realized that the Mist has been detached from the times and the ninja world for too long, and has fallen behind." She sighed. "For a long time, we spent too much time killing each other, destroying one foundation of the village after another, the Yuki, Kaguya, Hozuki and other ninja clans, as well as the inhumane graduation exam of killing each other... so much so that the current Mist's strength is exhausted and has begun to lack successors."
Mei Terumī said somewhat helplessly, "In the entire Mist Village, let alone a young ninja of your level—I'm not that greedy—I can't even find a young ninja two grades lower than you!"
"You are too modest, Sister Mei Terumī." Sakura laughed. "Isn't Chōkurō very powerful?"
"Him? He's still far off!" Speaking of her loyal subordinate, Mei Terumī also smiled slightly. "Kurō has always dreamed of inheriting the title of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, so I gave him the Hiramekarei twin swords captured that day. It can be considered a reward for his courage and sacrifice that day! I hope this sword can make up for his lack of strength somewhat."
"He also has a younger brother, Chōjūrō, who is young but also a good child, worth cultivating. And Hamaru, Hinamen, and so on." Speaking of the village's new generation, she smiled brightly. "Of course, they are still much worse than your Konoha's new generation."
"When these children who haven't been harmed by the Village of the Bloody Mist policy grow up and take over my shift, the Mist will restore its former glory and become a powerful ninja village full of light, peace, and openness again." Mei Terumī looked forward with longing in her eyes, speaking affectionately.
At this point, the Fifth Mizukage stopped, suddenly realizing that her only audience was a Konoha ninja, and immediately smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I almost forgot, you are not a Mist ninja."
"It's fine. I understand the Mist's desire for revival and rise very well." Haruno Sakura said. Her homeland in her previous life had climbed up from the lowest valley where everyone bullied it. Until she transmigrated, the pace of revival had not stopped, so she could naturally empathize with the Mist ninja...
Mei Terumī was a little surprised. "Can you understand? Isn't Konoha always the strongest country in the ninja world?"
"Eh?" Haruno Sakura was stunned, rolled her eyes, and hurriedly said, "Aha... Konoha has also had embarrassing times!"
"Alright..." Mei Terumī accepted this explanation. Although forced, after experiencing the Nine-Tails Incident and the Uchiha Incident, Konoha was indeed very weak for a period of time. Even Orochimaru could invade it. These years, it had also endured hardships to taste success, and gradually improved.
The Fifth Mizukage didn't dwell on these details either, and said seriously, "In short, before that, I want to protect them and prevent them from being harmed by people with ill intentions like the Suikazan clan or the Akatsuki."
"Our Mist fighting and eradicating the Akatsuki is not only for revenge, but also to protect our own village. This is the future goal and major policy of our Mist Village."
Mei Terumī said with a solemn expression.
Haruno Sakura stepped forward, looked straight at her, and after a while said, "Then, I, Konoha Jonin Haruno Sakura, authorized to represent the Hidden Leaf Village of the Land of Fire, formally apply for the establishment of friendly diplomatic relations with the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water."
Mei Terumī nodded and said solemnly, "I, the Fifth Mizukage of the Mist, Mei Terumī, representing the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water, accept the application for friendly diplomatic relations from the Hidden Leaf Village of the Land of Fire."
The two took a step forward and held each other's hands.
Held tightly together.
"Now you can give me the real handwritten letter from Tsunade, right!" Mei Terumī smiled slightly.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!