After the Konoha ninjas left the Village Hidden in the Mist, Mei Terumi's fingers cracked as she clenched her fists, the anger on her face no longer suppressible.
"A bunch of insolent brats!" she cursed coldly. "Sooner or later, I'll kill that little brat!"
"Lady Mizukage!" Chojuro said worriedly, trying to calm her. "If the Konoha ninjas form an alliance with Mr. Zabuza and the others, what should we do?"
"Then we'll start a Great Ninja War!" the Fifth Mizukage declared, her face murderous. "Send people to the Cloud Village and ally with them. Let that brat Naruto Uzumaki know that this isn't the Land of Fire, and he can't just do whatever he wants!"
"..." Chojuro lowered his head, his expression grave.
Although their Mist Village was still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, it was currently the most backward of them all. The village's ninja ranks had a severe generational gap, and its strongest fighters had all defected. Even a confident woman like Mei knew in her heart that they could only be a junior partner in any alliance with the other great villages.
The young Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, had used a jutsu that fully demonstrated his power, a clear move to intimidate their village. When it came down to it, they had two options: agree to Konoha's mediation, or bring in outside help and start a ninja war, resisting to the bitter end.
Neither option was easy.
After all, the current Mist Village was too fragile to withstand any major storms. It was barely maintaining the facade of a great ninja village with its still relatively large number of ninjas. If a Great Ninja War really broke out, the first to suffer would undoubtedly be the weakest of them all: the Mist.
Starting a war was just a last resort, an option for when there was no other way.
As Mei walked towards the Mizukage's office, she suddenly stopped. She reached out to stroke Chojuro's hair and said softly, "Chojuro, grow up quickly... and carry the responsibility of the village on your shoulders."
If, on the day of the negotiations, the Konoha Hokage still maintained his aggressive attitude, she had already decided what to do. If the situation became truly critical, she would risk her own life to kill Zabuza Momochi and entrust the future of the village to the younger generation.
Besides assassinating Zabuza, which would leave the entire rogue army without a leader, it would also surely cause the mediating brat to lose a great deal of face. The death of a Kage, she thought, should be enough to quell that brat's anger, right?
"Lady Mizukage..." The young man lowered his head awkwardly, not daring to move. He couldn't understand Mei's thoughts, let alone the depth of her resolve.
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On the other side, among the Konoha guard ninjas, Yamato seemed to have accepted his fate of being fired. Throwing caution to the wind, he began his tireless persuasion once again. "Lord Hokage, no matter what, that was too dangerous. What if it had started a war between Konoha and the Mist Village..."
"The war between our two villages has never stopped," Naruto Uzumaki said, shaking his head. "To this day, Konoha and the Mist have never signed a peace agreement. It's just that, over time, they became too weak to continue waging war against us."
"So, are we going to see the Second Hokage next?" Yamato asked.
They had rushed here straight from Konoha, not even stopping to see the First and Second Hokages. Because they were met by Mist ninjas upon arrival, they came directly to the village. Now that their business in the Mist was temporarily concluded, they could finally go see the Second Hokage. He was the one who understood the situation in the Land of Water best.
Naruto nodded. "First, we'll go see Lord Second Hokage. Then, we'll go see the rogue ninja, Zabuza Momochi."
-----
At that moment, Tobirama Senju had just led a team of Root members back to their hidden base after eliminating a logistics team from the rogue army.
Inside the base, the imprisoned Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, glared at him, his face a mask of anger. "So, it's been you Konoha ninjas pulling the strings all along!"
"Hmph." Tobirama slowly sat down and said coldly, "If we hadn't been selling you enough war supplies, Zabuza and his rogue army might not have been able to last this long."
"Mr. Zabuza has been tricked!" Utakata gritted his teeth. "You ninjas from an enemy country... you want the entire Land of Water to shed its last drop of blood!"
"Congratulations, you guessed half of it right," Tobirama walked over to Utakata, pinched the jinchuriki's chin, and sneered. "The Land of Water is isolated overseas. For a country with such a powerful geographical advantage to be usurped by ninjas like you is truly a waste."
"Bastard... what do you mean by that?" Utakata jerked his head away, wanting to spit, but was kicked to the ground by Fu Yamanaka, who stood beside Tobirama.
Tobirama's sneer didn't waver. "Hmph, it means that the Land of Water has belonged to Konoha since ancient times. Back then, the Kaguya clan, a distant relative of Konoha's Hyuga clan, occupied this land and wanted to offer it to Konoha. Unexpectedly, they were destroyed by the Mist Village. We are here on this trip to avenge the Kaguya clan!"
"..." Utakata broke out in a cold sweat as he listened.
As a Mist ninja, he knew the tragedy of the Kaguya clan. It was said that the clan was full of madmen who, for some inexplicable reason, decided to rebel and attack the Mist Village to seize power. Who would have thought that Konoha was secretly backing them?
Only, Fu Yamanaka was listening with a head full of question marks. How had he never heard this story?
Logically, Root had access to almost all of Konoha's secret files. Fu, who had often used his family's secret techniques to help Danzo obtain classified information, knew more than most. But he had never heard of this version of events. From what Fu knew, the Kaguya clan had been unwilling to submit to anyone at the start of Konoha's founding and were driven out of the Land of Fire by Madara Uchiha himself.
Later, when Fu and Tobirama went to the base entrance to welcome Naruto's group, the Yamanaka ninja spoke up, still surprised. "Lord Second, was the Kaguya clan really a spy sent by Konoha to the Land of Water? That seems a bit..."
"Is it that important whether it's true or false?" Tobirama glanced at Fu as if he were an idiot. "The Kaguya clan was wiped out long ago. How could those madmen live long anyway?"
Fu Yamanaka was silent.
This feeling was a bit familiar.
It seemed Lord Danzo used to use this tactic. Back then, Danzo had pushed for a war with the Stone Village under the pretext of avenging ninjas stationed at a Konoha outpost. In reality, that outpost had been cleaned out by their own Root members.
However, the Second Hokage's thinking was even more wild. He could fabricate such a ridiculous reason involving the long-dead Kaguya clan. But the Second Hokage was right. The Kaguya were all gone. Who was left to say what was true or false?
"They're here." Tobirama's face became stern as he stared at the ninjas rushing over from a distance. "That brat Naruto… he actually brought so many guards this time."
"Mmm... huh?" Fu Yamanaka nodded, but his expression changed as he got a better look at the guards. "Those ninjas around Lord Fifth Hokage… why are they all former reserve members of our Root?"
What was going on?
After leaving Lord Danzo, a part of Root joined ANBU, another part followed the Second Hokage, and a third part became the Fifth Hokage's personal guard team?
A disorganized mess when they were together, but shining stars now that they were scattered?
Could it be that all of them in Root were actually talented and were just being held back by Lord Danzo… no, by that guy Danzo?
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Bonus:
Fu Yamanaka: That dog Danzo held me back!
Danzo Shimura: Insolent! Without me, you'd just be a side-branch member of the Yamanaka clan...
Fu Yamanaka: We're doing great after leaving you, Lord Danzo!
Danzo Shimura: What?
Fu Yamanaka: Even our weakest brother got a spot in ANBU!
Danzo Shimura: I can get you spots too!
Torune Aburame: I'm the Fifth Hokage's personal guard. Can you get me that?
Danzo Shimura: You all... became the Hokage's guards?
Torune Aburame: Some of us are. And some are the Second Hokage's trusted subordinates.
Danzo Shimura: I have an idea... find a way to resurrect me. Then you kill the Fifth Hokage, I'll become the Sixth, and I'll make you all my guards...
Torune Aburame: We're already the Hokage's guards now. Why would we go through all that trouble for you?
Danzo Shimura: I have the Tongue-Cursing Seal...
Fu Yamanaka: ...Did you forget who in Konoha is the best at forbidden jutsu? You think we're scared of that seal?