Ryosuke flew up to the floor of the Mizukage's office. He was just about to gently tap on the window when he saw Mei Terumi lying on her desk.
Her mouth was half open, and she was fast asleep, drooling onto the documents beneath her.
Noticing how thin her clothes were, and remembering how damp and cold the Mist Village got in winter, Ryosuke used Ripple to quietly push open the window and flew inside.
The cold wind was blocked by the Ripple barrier. Ryosuke landed softly; his shoes made only the faintest tapping sound on the floor.
For a ninja to have someone approach this close and still not wake up, Mei Terumi must have been utterly exhausted.
Ryosuke retrieved a blanket from his ghost room, gently draped it over her, and turned off the lights so she could rest more comfortably.
The desk was cluttered with piles of documents. Ryosuke glanced through them briefly, they mostly dealt with personnel movements between major nations and villages.
The Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf had not yet deployed troops.
Those two were technically allies of his. But when it came to interests and the future, how reliable "allies" truly were, that was hard to say.
So Mei Terumi had been secretly keeping people on surveillance.
Then there was the Hidden Rock Village.
They'd kept a low profile, crafty as ever. Most likely, they had struck a deal with the major corporations, agreeing to remove their forehead protectors and covertly send ninjas to join the crusade against Ryosuke.
If they won, they'd take a share of the spoils; if they lost, they'd avoid any fallout.
As for the Hidden Sand Village?
Rasa and his men were stationed in Green City to prevent enemies from striking their home base.
Another group of Sand ninjas had been sent to guard the borders of the Land of Wind.
Once war broke out, they would adjust depending on how the battle went, attacking the Land of Fire or the Land of Earth to support Ryosuke.
Then there were the samurai from the three great nations of Fire, Lightning, and Earth, as well as hired mercenaries. Recently, this massive group had been moving toward the border. Once assembled, they'd take ships to the Land of Water.
There were a lot of them, roughly three to four hundred thousand.
Individually, their combat power couldn't compare to that of ninjas, but their strength lay in numbers. And since most were men chasing after money and power, outlaws who lived with their heads metaphorically hanging from their belts, they couldn't be underestimated either.
On top of that, there were also the ninjas from smaller countries and villages like the Land of Craftsmen.
They might not have been especially strong, but each had their own peculiar little trick.
And of course, there was one group that couldn't be ignored above all, the Akatsuki.
Ryosuke sighed softly.
"It's getting lively, huh."
"Mmm…"
Mei Terumi's eyes opened just a crack.
She wasn't fully awake yet. Dazed, she looked at Ryosuke standing in front of the desk and mumbled, "Am I dreaming?"
Ryosuke pulled a tissue and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. Seeing her blank, sleepy face, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, you're still dreaming."
She let out a disappointed "oh," wobbled to her feet with her eyes closed, and shuffled toward the sofa. Then, thump, she fell right onto it and continued sleeping.
Ryosuke once again reached into his ghost room and took out a small palm-sized gift box, setting it down on the nearby coffee table.
It was a souvenir he'd brought for Mei Terumi from the Land of Wind. He hadn't had the time to deliver it until now.
Hearing the sound, Mei Terumi opened her eyes again, saw the gift box on the table, then looked at Ryosuke standing nearby.
"This dream… isn't bad…"
Her consciousness sank back into darkness, and just as she was about to drift fully into sleep...
"Hmm?"
Mei Terumi suddenly sat upright, hair falling loosely around her shoulders, a single lock of bed hair sticking up as she stared wide-eyed at Ryosuke in disbelief.
Ryosuke met her gaze quietly, smiling.
After a long silence, his cheeks began to ache from smiling, and he waved a hand in front of her face.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm scared that if I blink, you'll disappear."
Her voice was a bit hoarse and nasal, probably from catching a slight cold.
Ryosuke poured her a cup of tea, gently heated it with Ripple, and handed it to her.
"Here."
Mei Terumi obediently gulped it down, then picked up the small gift box on the table.
"You came all this way and even brought a gift? Hehe, you're too polite."
Inside was a pair of golden bracelets, shimmering with the distinct craftsmanship of the Land of Wind. Mei Terumi's smile widened as she admired them, about to slip them on before pausing.
She seemed to think of something and asked, "I remember… the daughter of the Wind Daimyo, Tokugawa Yukino, also liked wearing gold jewelry. You didn't get the idea from seeing her, did you?"
Ryosuke nodded.
Mei Terumi puffed her cheeks slightly, then put the bracelets on and shook her wrist.
"So? Who looks better wearing them, me or her?"
Ryosuke thought for a moment. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"What's the lie?"
"You look better."
"And the truth?"
"They both look good, but..."
"But?"
"Compared to her, I'd rather see you wearing them," Ryosuke said.
Mei Terumi's heart skipped a beat. Even her lips trembled slightly as she tried, and failed, to suppress her smile.
She lifted her chin proudly. "I'm the Mizukage, you know! You think you can just see me whenever you want?"
She then carefully placed the bracelets back into the box and closed the lid.
They chatted a bit about recent events, but since it was already late, Ryosuke didn't stay long. He told the tired Mizukage to get some rest and left the office.
Mei Terumi curled up on the sofa, wrapped in the blanket, and took a deep breath. When she caught a faint trace of Ryosuke's scent, her cheeks flushed red.
After a while, she suddenly sat up, opened the gift box again, took out the bracelets, and carefully put them on to admire them.
A moment later, she removed them, put them back in the box, and tried to sleep.
Half an hour later, she sat up again, repeating the whole process.
Over and over, never getting tired of it.
The Mizukage's office echoed with her soft, happy giggles.
Meanwhile, after leaving the Mizukage's building, Ryosuke didn't go home to sleep. He wandered aimlessly through the Mist Village streets, thinking of ways to further strengthen their forces.
Bang!
A drunken man wearing a Grass Village forehead protector stumbled into Ryosuke's shoulder and fell to the ground.
"Sorry."
Ryosuke started to reach out a hand to help him up.
"Bastard!"
The grass ninja cursed, slurring, "Can't you watch where you're going?"
His two or three drunken companions joined in the yelling.
"If you're sorry, then act like it! Get on your knees! Bow down with your forehead on my foot and apologize properly, you idiot, gah!"
Before they could finish, three or four Mist ninjas rushed over and pinned them all to the ground.
They were the patrol officers on night duty.
The squad captain bowed deeply to Ryosuke.
"My apologies, Lord Ryosuke. We'll discipline them properly."
Ryosuke waved it off. He wasn't about to get angry over a few drunks.
As he watched the Mist ninjas drag them away, though, a faint feeling of regret crossed his mind.
"If only they'd been slower to act… I might've gotten a few soul fragments out of it."
But he shook his head.
At that level of ninja, even killing a hundred or eighty wouldn't make much difference.
Then he froze.
"Eh?"
He suddenly remembered something he hadn't done in a long time, bounty hunting.
———
Meanwhile, Kamihara Hayato was humming a tune while soaking in a bath.
Waiting for him outside today was a beauty from the Land of Earth.
The women of the Five Great Nations each had their own unique traits due to regional differences.
Land of Fire women, spirited and radiant.
Land of Wind women, strong and confident.
Land of Water women, seductive and ever-changing.
Land of Lightning women, fiery and fierce.
But the women of the Land of Earth were special, often with a touch of tomboyish charm. Like that short-haired girl in class who looked tough but had an incredible figure.
They acted bold and carefree, but once they blushed, that contrast made them irresistibly cute.
Kamihara Hayato narrowed his eyes, looking forward to the moment to come. But suddenly, a strange unease struck him, thinking of Ryosuke, who was also somewhere in the Mist Village.
He called out toward the door.
"Hey, beauty, you still there?"
"I'm here."
He exhaled in relief.
He hurriedly rinsed off, changed into clean clothes, and called out again.
"You still there?"
"I'm here."
Finally, putting on his slippers, he called one last time, "You there?"
"I'm here," Ryosuke answered.
Kamihara Hayato froze.
"…Shit."
And just like that, any chance of that happening tonight was gone.
Emptiness began to grow quietly from the depths of Kamihara Hayato's heart.
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