"He is right at the village gate now, saying Onoki has important matters to discuss with you."
"Tell him I'm in a meeting, then bring him into the village and find out exactly what the matter is."
Although the Third Mizukage was curious about what kind of scheme Onoki was up to, he was not prepared to communicate with Hidden Rock personally, even if he were not in a meeting.
Now, if Onoki had come personally, that would be a different story.
The Hidden Mist Anbu nodded and left the meeting room.
Once the door was closed again, the meeting room fell into a strange silence once more.
Master Yuan simply closed his eyes to rest, looking like an elderly man lacking in energy and spirit.
At his age, he really didn't want his reputation affected by such matters.
The Jonin Squad Leader appeared contemplative, but kept his mouth shut, not daring to make a sound.
There were gaps even among the higher-ups; nominally, as the leader of the Jonin Squad, he was the leader of all Jonin in Hidden Mist, but he was the last on the list of high-ranking officials.
In other words, he was the most likely to be pushed to sign a treaty and take the blame.
The advisor had a serious face, looking displeased with the current situation, but didn't speak.
The Mizukage's assistant stood tall and confident, avoiding eye contact, also keeping silent.
The Mizukage's assistant was also low-ranking among the higher-ups, but his role was special, bound to the Mizukage; generally, as long as the Mizukage had no opinions, the assistant would remain unscathed.
"Mizuhiro, what are your thoughts?" The Third Mizukage, seeing no one speaking, turned to the Hidden Mist Jonin Squad Leader.
Mizuhiro sighed inwardly, knowing that what must come will come, his rank being the lowest.
His mind turned rapidly, thinking quickly about the perfect response.
Directly suggest peace talks? Impossible, as that would certainly mean he would be sent to sign the treaty.
Refuse peace talks? That's not feasible either, too easy to offend people.
Everyone knows Yagura is the favored successor of the Third Mizukage; if peace talks were truly refused, and Yagura were killed by Konoha, Mizuhiro would definitely be resented by the Third Mizukage for being the first to propose such an action, and it would not bode well for him.
"In this incident, Konoha's demonstrated military strength cannot be underestimated. We must investigate thoroughly why Yagura was defeated so quickly, and why most of the troops were captured." Mizuhiro analyzed seriously.
Refuse or agree? He chose 'or'!
The Third Mizukage showed a slightly displeased expression but said nothing more, looking toward the Mizukage's assistant.
The pressure on the Mizukage's assistant instantly mounted, but he had no choice but to speak.
After all, without the Mizukage's support, his position had less authority than Mizuhiro's Jonin Squad Leader.
"Peace talks are a major issue involving numerous considerations, such as the opinions of the village's ninjas, Konoha's motives, and the effects of the peace talks..."
The Mizukage's assistant said a lot, but avoided stating whether he supported or doubted the peace talks.
There was nothing else to be done; he couldn't quite figure out the Third Mizukage's thoughts now.
After such a defeat, would the Third Mizukage still value Karatachi Yagura as much as before?
The Third Mizukage then looked at the advisor.
The others had spoken, leaving the advisor unable to make an exception, so he followed suit with some ambiguous words.
After the advisor finished speaking, the Third Mizukage did not have Master Yuan speak next, but instead narrowed his eyes in contemplation.
Over a thousand captives was indeed not a trivial number.
Bear in mind, Hidden Mist currently had just over seven thousand ninjas. If Konoha killed all the captives, their total number of ninjas would instantly be reduced by one-seventh, an enormous impact.
The key point is, this wasn't dying heroically on the battlefield, but rather an accident caused by negotiation breakdown, which would stir emotions among the captives' families.
Yet, the Third Mizukage felt reluctance to sign a treaty.
During his term, Hidden Mist had taken the initiative to attack twice, both times ending in failure. How would future generations judge him?
Ambitious but incompetent? Overestimating his abilities?
"Today's meeting concludes here." The Third Mizukage rubbed his forehead and said.
He was worried about potential issues from not negotiating, yet he didn't want the defeat to ruin his reputation.
After returning to the Mizukage Office, it wasn't long before the Anbu responsible for communication with Hidden Rock arrived.
"Lord Third, here is the confidential message from Onoki. It has been checked and is clear of issues." The Hidden Mist Anbu handed a scroll to the Third Mizukage.
The Third Mizukage nodded, opened the scroll, while the Hidden Mist Anbu wisely stepped outside the office door.
Initially, the Third Mizukage had a serene expression, but after five minutes, his face gradually became grave.
"Wood Release ninja has emerged again, Habu Mokgetsu is expected to become the second God of Ninjas?"
After reading, the Third Mizukage rolled the scroll back up and fell into thought.
Is there old resentment between Hidden Mist and Hidden Rock? Of course there is, the two sides' second-in-commands perished together on the battlefield.
But that counts as an old grudge; looking at the entire Ninja World, the Five Great Ninja Villages all have old grudges with one another.
The Third Mizukage believed Onoki's intelligence was likely true, or at least partially true.
Because ninjutsu cannot deceive people, Mokgetsu cannot remain out of action forever. Whether he possesses Wood Release and his abilities will eventually be exposed.
"Was Yagura's capture the work of Habu Mokgetsu?" A flash of realization struck the Third Mizukage's mind.
If Habu Mokgetsu truly has powerful Wood Release as Onoki described, there's potential for him to become the second Senju Hashirama.
Then Karatachi Yagura's defeat would be much more understandable.
The powerful Wood Release ninja Habu Mokgetsu leading a ninja squad to attack, Yagura being captured would indeed be reasonable.