Uchiha Patriarch !

After two consecutive weeks of intense discussions, the higher-ups in Kirigakure finally reached a reluctant consensus. They decided to offer manpower instead of monetary or material compensation under the guise of supporting their allies. The village was truly destitute; the treasury was so empty that it could starve a rat. At this point, the only valuable resource they had left was their ninjas.

Of course, in another sense, Kirigakure still had a solid foundation. If they were willing to offer secret or forbidden jutsus, Konoha would naturally not refuse. However, the Kirigakure leaders weren't foolish enough to give away their core techniques. While losing ninjas was painful, as long as they didn't lose everyone at once, they could always recover in time by closing their doors and focusing on repopulating their ranks on their isolated island.

In every previous ninja war, Kirigakure had entered voluntarily, never being drawn in passively. Their geographical location ensured that the other countries on the mainland wouldn't go out of their way to trouble them. As long as they stayed out of trouble themselves, they remained relatively peaceful.

"It's finally settled."

After the meeting concluded, Yagura Karatachi slumped onto the couch, as exhausted as if he had just fought a war.

In a sense, it had been a long battle. The Kirigakure leaders took only three days to decide on "offering a certain amount of manpower instead of monetary or material compensation," but the following eleven days were spent arguing over how to distribute that manpower.

Everyone knew that once war broke out between Konoha and Kumogakure (the Cloud Village) or Iwagakure (the Stone Village), the manpower they offered would likely end up on the battlefield for Konoha. The clan heads were understandably reluctant to send their people to die for causes that had nothing to do with their clans' interests, leading to fierce arguments.

Even with the Mizukage and the village elder presiding over the meeting, it was only today that they managed to reach a conclusion.

"Honestly, the final arrangement wasn't much different from the initial one. I don't get what all the arguing was about." Yagura muttered, complaining as he sank deeper into the couch. If he had known the outcome earlier, he would've just used his authority as Mizukage to make the decision himself from the start.

"Meaningless arguments are often a necessary step towards resolution," the elder said from the opposite couch, leaning on his snake-headed cane, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Mizukage, are you heading to negotiate with that Uchiha clan leader next?"

"Yes," Yagura replied, halting his complaints.

With a troubled sigh, he added, "Just thinking about meeting that guy... it makes my stomach hurt." He pressed a hand to his stomach. Every time he thought of meeting Uchiha Sougen, his stomach started acting up. Even the medical ninjas had checked him out and said there was nothing seriously wrong—just stress, advising him to relax.

But how could he relax?

As the "failing Mizukage," the pressure on him was immense. If it weren't for the Konoha ninjas still being in the village, he might have already resigned. Their presence forced him to maintain the village's dignity, making it impossible for him to step down just yet.

Besides, Terumi Mei, the next candidate, was a bit young and a woman, unlike Konoha's Fourth Hokage, who had earned his fame on the battlefield. But, unlike the Fourth Hokage, Mei wasn't a rootless civilian ninja—she had the backing of Kirigakure's two major bloodline clans.

"Mizukage, may I accompany you this time?" the elder asked.

"You, Master?" Yagura looked over, surprised.

The Konoha ninjas had already been in Kirigakure for two weeks, yet the elder had kept his distance from them until now.

"Master, what are you planning?"

"I'd like to take this opportunity to meet that Uchiha clan leader in person, to see what kind of man he is. Also... Ao underwent surgery last night."

"Surgery?" Yagura understood immediately.

"I see. In that case, please join me in meeting the Uchiha clan leader, Master!"

When Yagura and his party arrived at the Konoha delegation's residence, they encountered a small surprise. A group of kids was playing ninja games, and a dulled shuriken nearly hit the elder. Thankfully, Hozuki Mangetsu reacted quickly, swatting the shuriken away without injury, thanks to his Hydrification Technique.

But the elder's bodyguard, Kenbei, was furious and ready to teach the kids a lesson, though Yagura stopped him.

"Mizukage, they nearly injured Master," Kenbei said, seething with anger, clearly displeased with Yagura's interference.

"Getting worked up over some children would only make the elder seem petty," Yagura said, though his eyes were on the girl who had just jumped down from a nearby wall. A sense of helplessness washed over him—those two shuriken that had collided in midair, almost slipping past the guards, had been thrown by her.

The technique of throwing shuriken like that, just like Fire Style jutsu, was a signature skill of the Uchiha clan.

In theory, shuriken throwing and Fire Style jutsu weren't particularly advanced techniques. But in the hands of the Uchiha, they transformed into something far deadlier. The ferocity of Uchiha Fire Style jutsu, capable of overpowering even Water Style techniques, was widely known. Equally famous was their uncanny shuriken manipulation technique, enhanced by their Sharingan.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa! I almost hit you," Fujika, the girl, apologized loudly, running over with Naruto and a few other kids following behind her.

"No harm done," the elder smiled warmly.

He waved his hand, and Kenbei, though still upset, calmed down.

"You kids shouldn't be throwing shuriken around like that. If you want to play ninja games, go somewhere where there are no people," Yagura scolded. Besides Fujika and Naruto, there were seven or eight other kids from the village, including a conspicuous white-haired, purple-eyed boy.

"Suigetsu, what are you doing here?" Hozuki Mangetsu asked, furrowing his brow at his younger brother's presence in the group.

"I'm playing!" Hozuki Suigetsu shrugged nonchalantly.

Like his older brother, Mangetsu, who was considered a genius, Suigetsu was also exceptionally talented. His intelligence and quick wit from a young age made many clan heads and elders envious of the Hozuki family's prodigy brothers. They couldn't help but compare their own children, feeling miserable in the process.

"Aren't you supposed to be training at home today... whatever." Mangetsu sighed, unwilling to say more. "Do what you want, but don't come crying to me when Dad punishes you."

"I've already mastered the Water Whip technique," Suigetsu said, forming a whip-like stream of water in his hand as he spoke.

Mangetsu rolled his eyes at his brother's show-off attitude. Mastering the Water Whip technique was no big deal—he had learned it in half an hour when he was five. But now that he had hit a plateau in his training of the Second Mizukage's secret techniques, the frustration of his slow progress was driving him crazy. Thinking about it, he decided to ignore his brother's antics and focus on his duty to protect the Mizukage and the elder as they headed into the Konoha delegation's quarters.

Mangetsu had recently joined the Mizukage's elite guard, the Shadow Guard. While his duty was to protect the Fourth Mizukage, it also provided an opportunity to learn directly from him. He wasn't the only one; Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi had also been recruited into the guard, as Yagura was determined to pass on as much of his knowledge as possible before he passed on.

"Mizukage, I apologize for my younger sister's rudeness," Uchiha Sougen said, standing at the entrance to greet Yagura.

However, his gaze was fixed on the elder, immediately recognizing the old man leaning on his cane as Kirigakure's Master.

"No need to apologize. Kids playing around is normal," Yagura said casually before introducing Sougen. "Uchiha clan leader, allow me to introduce Master, Kirigakure's highest-ranking elder."

"I had heard of you before coming to Kirigakure," Sougen said, greeting the elder as he openly observed him.

After a moment, Sougen raised an eyebrow. "A shadow clone?"

Normally, shadow clones were hard to detect, but Sougen had noticed the subtle difference in chakra levels.

"As expected of the Uchiha clan leader, your perception is remarkable," the elder admitted freely. "Forgive an old man's caution, but the power of your clan's Sharingan is intimidating, so I had no choice but to take this small precaution. I hope you don't mind."

At this moment, the guard standing by Elder Genji's side had no idea that what he was seeing was only a shadow clone. Even Kōkyoku Yatsura cast a surprised glance but quickly remembered his own experience and thought that Elder Genji's choice wasn't so surprising after all.

Speaking of which…

That damned one-eyed man used illusions to control him, but didn't manage to control Elder Genji... Could it be that Elder Genji has been using a shadow clone to move around all along? That would explain why the one-eyed man never found the chance to control or even eliminate him.

He couldn't help but silently acknowledge Elder Genji's cunning. Truly, the older, the wiser! If only he had been that cautious back in the day, he wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable situation.

"No worries! I'm not really that interested in using illusions to control people. Besides, whether it's the real body or a clone, as long as we can communicate, it's all good," Sougen said, gesturing with his hand to invite them in. Talking at the door wasn't ideal, and even if it was just a shadow clone, Elder Genji looked quite old. Standing there talking must be exhausting.

(End of Chapter)