Mei stayed holed up in her room, not daring to show her face. She planned to stay hidden as long as this harbinger of doom was around… Charge into battle and confront the great enemy?
That wasn't her role right now.
Meanwhile, the Three-Tails was still enduring torment from Ryuji.
Each of the Three-Tails' struggles caused wave after wave of tremors. Kisame strongly suspected whether the Mizukage Building could withstand the shockwaves of their battle.
'As expected of the Tailed Beast with the strongest defense. Even with the power boost from the Chakra Amplification cloth armor, increasing my strength to be no less than Tsunade's, completely subduing this guy is still a bit of a stretch. Only Sage Transformation will do!'
Ryuji's eyebrows turned a reddish-brown, and a cross-shaped mark appeared in his pupils.
—Sage Mode.
Surging power instantly flooded his entire body.
Ryuji jumped down from the Three-Tails, grabbed its head, and yanked it out of the ground. Then, lifting its lower jaw, he flung it far away, sending it crashing towards the Mizukage Building.
His target was Kisame, who had been staying nearby without showing himself.
'If you want to watch from the sidelines while others fight, you might as well go cool off somewhere else.'
He didn't think he'd end up in a mutually destructive battle with the enemy, but an open spear is easier to dodge than a hidden arrow. Who knows if this guy has some dirty trick not shown in the original work?
After all, in the original work, Kisame assassinated Fuguki.
Kisame saw the Three-Tails hurtling towards the Mizukage Building, jumped out of the window, and leapt towards the nearby rubble.
He dared not clash directly with Ryuji right now.
After smashing through the Mizukage Building, the Three-Tails landed on its back, letting out several roars of frustration.
"You've watched the show long enough, kid."
Ryuji looked down at the young Shinobi with pale skin and shark-like teeth. Kisame, appearing quite young at this time, gripped the handle of his sword tightly, his face full of alertness facing Ryuji.
Seeing his look of facing a great enemy, Ryuji chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to kill you right now. You're more useful alive than dead."
Kisame watched him warily. "What do you mean?"
"Kirigakure's hidden reserves aren't as simple as they seem on the surface. I imagine there are many promising individuals hiding in the shadows. If I kill you, wouldn't that make it easier for you all to reorganize and unify?"
If Sunagakure is the most united village, then Kirigakure is the least united.
The Bloody Mist Policy indeed gave the village's Shinobi absolute obedience, but subordinates could only report upwards without inquiring; information flowed one-way to superiors without reaching subordinates, and there was no connection whatsoever between peers... Under such a system, Shinobi only had exchanges of interest between them, with no trust to speak of.
Hence, internal strife, subordinates rebelling against superiors, and defections almost never stopped.
While speaking, Ryuji swiftly leapt into the air, dodging a pounce from the Three-Tails, then landed on its head and once again stomped its head into the ground.
"You're not even trying to hide your intentions!?"
Seeing the figure who had so easily stomped the Three-Tails' head into the ground again, Kisame once more realized the strength of the person before him.
Ryuji smiled. "Is this something that needs to be hidden? Even if I tell you, would the person behind you voluntarily withdraw to make way for others? Won't you still have to fight it out in the end?"
Ryuji's eyes were full of mockery.
Kisame naturally had no interest in things like power, but the person behind him might.
Without Obito's manipulation, this man who had been doing liquidation work had long fallen into confusion in his heart. If someone came to guide him now, it would be easy to gain his loyalty.
And the fact that he had taken over Samehada and become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was proof enough that someone had already done so.
But his earlier decision to observe the battle without helping Yagura indicated that his loyalty wasn't to Yagura, but to the village's current true authority figure, 'Genji'... As for the possibility of it being someone else, perhaps it's possible, but Ryuji didn't know and didn't care.
Hearing his words, Kisame curled his lip, his full mouth of shark-like teeth looking quite intimidating.
"You got it right. Although I care about Kirigakure, I'm not willing to sacrifice myself for them."
Such a village wasn't worth giving one's life for. At least, not before the village became what Genji described, he wouldn't give his life for it.
"Hmph!"
Ryuji snorted lightly, soared through the air, and landed on the Three-Tails' back.
Before it could recover, he grabbed its tail and spun it around on the spot like a top for several rotations before hurling it into the distance... right towards where Mei and Ao were hiding and observing.
In the original work, Mei was the Fifth Mizukage, possessing two Kekkei Genkai... Of course, that level meant nothing to Ryuji.
But she ended Kirigakure's long-standing Bloody Mist policy and managed to bring order to the mess left by the Fourth Mizukage being controlled by another organization and the endless internal strife. Such governing talent was something Ryuji admitted he fell short of.
He had noticed this little one secretly observing him when he arrived in the village... Since she was already here and so close, not meeting her would be a pity.
Perhaps the next time they met would be on a real battlefield.
…
Ao had been using his Byakugan to observe changes on the battlefield.
Suddenly, a massive amount of Chakra flew from the center of the battlefield into his field of view. He quickly shouted, "Scatter!"
In fact, even without his warning, Mei had also noticed the anomaly; the Three-Tails' massive form was perfectly clear at a glance.
Both jumped out of the house simultaneously.
The next moment, a heavy object the size of a small hill fell, flattening the entire hidden residence.
The disoriented Three-Tails struggled to get up. At that moment, another arc traced through the air, finally landing on the Three-Tails' head.
Boom!
The Three-Tails' lower jaw smashed heavily into the ground again, immediately creating a crater with deep cracks.
Suffering this heavy blow, the Three-Tails completely lost consciousness, reverting to Yagura's form.
Mei's heart gave a sudden lurch. She looked at the newcomer with alertness mixed with threads of fear... He had come to find them. If he wanted to take action now, apart from a desperate fight to the death, she had no other choice, not even the qualification to flee!
Ao's head was also beaded with cold sweat. He never imagined that despite hiding so far away, and even Kirigakure's Anbu hadn't discovered their current location, this person had found them.
'And why had he come for us?'
'The battlefield was so large, there were so many high-level fighters. Why come for two nobodies?'
Ao's heart pounded wildly, his nerves making his breathing irregular.
…
"Phew~"
Seeing Ryuji leave, Kisame let out a long sigh.
'This man hadn't taken action, but the pressure he exerted was simply too great.'
'If we had fought, I don't know if I could have survived.'
'Good thing he didn't plan to kill me!'
Kisame breathed another sigh of relief, shouldered Samehada, and fled towards the outskirts of Kirigakure.
Choosing to flee now wasn't shameful. At most, he could come back after things settled down here.
…
Ryuji looked at Mei, whose reaction was quite similar to Kisame's, and couldn't help but feel amused.
In the original work, when Mei debuted, she was already the Fifth Mizukage, one of the five standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, revered and feared by thousands.
And now, he had become the object of her reverence and fear.
'Just half a year ago, I was still a nobody, and now I've become such a big shot. It's really a bit hard to get used to!'
Ryuji mused inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged as he looked at the young girl before him. "I have a few questions. If you can clear up my doubts, I'll spare your life."
Hearing his words, Mei was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected him to suddenly say something like this.
She swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart and asked, "What questions?"
Ryuji looked at Mei with appreciation, 'Being able to calm down so quickly under a life-and-death crisis and speak a complete sentence showed that this young girl becoming the future Fifth Mizukage wasn't just due to strength and talent.'
"I want to ask you, looking at the current situation, would it be better for Kirigakure to join Sunagakure or unite with the other Shinobi Villages?"
Hearing Ryuji's words, countless thoughts surged in Mei's heart.
'What did he mean by this?'
'Was he simply asking for my insight on the situation, or was he using this question to test my attitude towards the current Shinobi World situation to decide whether to kill or spare me?'
'But I'm just a nobody. Is my attitude that important?'
Mei was somewhat puzzled, but the current situation didn't allow her to think deeply. After pondering briefly, she voiced her true inner thoughts.
"If it were me, I would choose to unite with the other three Great Shinobi Villages!"
Hearing this, Ao felt his heartbeat slow by half a beat.
'My dear girl, you could have at least said something tactful!'
He didn't dare say it out loud, only roared inwardly.
But upon hearing her words, Ryuji burst into loud laughter.
"Following the majority, the view of a mediocre person!"
"Perhaps. After all, I am just a mediocre person to begin with!"
Mei didn't argue.
Or rather, the less the other party valued her, the better.
If the other party valued her, given his position, she would probably end up dead.
"A mediocre person, huh… Heh..."
Ryuji gave her a deep look, didn't say more, mounted his mechanical bird, and soared into the high sky.
He hadn't killed Yagura, just as he told Kisame.
Currently, Kirigakure's internal factional divisions were severe. Letting them fight and drain each other internally was best.
If he, an outsider, interfered and killed one side, causing an imbalance of power, it would instead accelerate Kirigakure's internal unification.
As for Mei... he didn't see anything particularly outstanding about her.
Perhaps his own level was such that he couldn't discern any deep aspects in her, or perhaps she was still too young and didn't yet possess the skills she had in the original work's era.
Still, Ryuji felt a bit regretful.
'If only this girl were a bit older.'
If Mei were a bit older and stronger, he could have revealed some of his trump cards to her and helped her become Mizukage, leading Kirigakure to join Sunagakure's camp.
Because, Kirigakure was isolated overseas, having no conflict of interest with Sunagakure whatsoever.