BOOM!
Kirigakure, which had enjoyed only a brief period of peace, was once again thrown into violent turmoil.
The thunderous sounds of explosions and bloodthirsty shouts of combat rang out one after another throughout the village, while the metallic smell of spilled blood mixed with the perpetual mist that shrouded the settlement, adding an aura of cruelty to this already dim and foreboding city.
The civilian population of Kirigakure, who had unfortunately grown all too familiar with scenes of this nature, simply retreated to their homes, secured their families, and waited patiently for the latest round of violence to reach its inevitable conclusion.
While there were indeed many shinobi belonging to Kirigakure's extremist factions, there were far more ninjas who genuinely supported Terumi Mei's leadership and vision for the village's future. Because of this numerical advantage, the cleanup operation would reach its conclusion relatively quickly.
Anyone who had any connection whatsoever to the assassination attempts against Terumi Mei—even those who were merely suspected of involvement—was eliminated immediately and without mercy.
No one was spared from this ruthless purge.
As for those opposition members who had managed to conceal themselves more effectively in the shadows, while they could not be captured immediately, as long as Kirigakure continued to develop and strengthen its intelligence networks, they would inevitably be exposed sooner or later.
Kirigakure's forces quickly and efficiently suppressed the uprising, then immediately transmitted news of their success to Terumi Mei at her temporary encampment outside Konoha Village.
Outside Konoha Village
"Remarkably fast," Terumi Mei observed with satisfaction.
She carefully collected the intelligence reports she had just finished reading, pleased to learn that there was no greater crisis threatening Kirigakure at this time. That knowledge was reassuring enough for her current purposes.
As for the extremist shinobi who had been killed during the purge, Terumi Mei felt no sympathy whatsoever. She had always known that those particular individuals would never support her leadership under any circumstances, so their elimination was actually beneficial to village stability.
"Mizukage-sama, now that the internal crisis within the village has been resolved, should we proceed with continuing the negotiations with Konoha?" asked the jōnin who was standing beside Terumi Mei.
A strange gleam flashed momentarily in the man's eyes as he spoke.
"Of course we should continue," Terumi Mei replied, then paused thoughtfully. "But before we do that, Zero, tell me—how long have you been serving under my command?"
The Mist shinobi jōnin called Zero was visibly startled by the unexpected question, then immediately responded, "It's been four or five years, Mizukage-sama!"
"Yes, four or five years," Terumi Mei repeated slowly as she stood up and turned to face him directly.
"So tell me, when exactly did you betray me? Or perhaps you were working as an agent for those extremist factions from the very beginning?"
Swoosh!
Kunai and shuriken appeared in Zero's hands as if by magic, and with a dangerous flash in his eyes, he lunged directly at Terumi Mei with lethal intent.
At such close range, the other members of the delegation would definitely be unable to react in time. Terumi Mei would surely die from this surprise attack!
Shing!
The sharp tip of a blade pierced directly through Zero's heart, and his attacking movements stopped instantly.
He looked down in confusion and shock at the weapon protruding from his chest, his mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
"When... how did you..." he gasped weakly.
Blood began flowing from the corner of his mouth as Zero's life force rapidly faded away. He collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud and lay completely motionless.
"Remove the body immediately and burn it completely," Terumi Mei commanded coldly. "Don't leave any evidence that might complicate things for Konoha."
"Yes, Mizukage-sama!"
Konoha Village
From his position on the rooftop of the Hokage building, Shihouin Naraku gazed out toward the Kirigakure encampment beyond the village walls, a knowing smile forming on his lips.
"It looks like the formal negotiations will begin very soon," he observed quietly.
His extraordinarily powerful Observation Haki extended its range to completely cover the entire Mist shinobi camp. Nothing that occurred within that area could possibly escape Naraku's keen perception.
"No wonder Terumi Mei was able to become the Fifth Mizukage," he mused. "Her ability to handle crisis situations definitely should not be underestimated."
"I suspect that Kirigakure has probably calmed down completely by now."
When he considered the messenger hawks that had flown in and out of the Mist shinobi camp over the past few hours, it wasn't difficult to determine where those intelligence-carrying birds had been traveling.
Although some people within Konoha's leadership had genuinely wanted to intercept those messenger hawks and discover the internal secrets of the Mist shinobi delegation, such intelligence exchanges invariably used specialized coded symbols and encryption techniques that would be virtually impossible to decipher.
Only by capturing Terumi Mei herself would there be any realistic chance of unlocking those communication codes.
Otherwise, such efforts would prove to be a complete waste of time and resources.
Although Konoha had chosen not to intercept and eliminate the Mist shinobi's messenger hawks, the village had nonetheless maintained a state of appropriate vigilance and readiness.
The number of shinobi assigned to guard Konoha Village had been significantly increased, and a substantial force of elite ninjas had been deployed to maintain constant surveillance around the Mist shinobi encampment.
Konoha was conducting this monitoring openly and transparently, and Terumi Mei was fully aware of these security measures.
She could completely understand Konoha's cautious actions. After all, as the active Mizukage, she was leading a substantial group of Mist shinobi right at the gates of Konohagakure. If Tsunade hadn't assigned personnel to monitor the situation, it would have been a serious dereliction of her duties as Hokage.
Besides, the current relationship between the two villages was far from ideal, despite their diplomatic efforts.
Not long ago, Konoha's leadership had taken decisive action to eliminate the Fourth Mizukage Yagura. It would have been completely naive to pretend that there wasn't significant animosity and distrust between the two villages.
Both sides understood the monitoring arrangements perfectly: "I know that you know that I've assigned surveillance personnel, and I also know that you know that I'm aware of your surveillance of us."
In order to provide reassurance to both parties and maintain the delicate balance necessary for negotiations, everyone tacitly maintained this mutual understanding and accepted the current security arrangements.
Inside Konoha Village
In the spacious conference room, the Konoha delegation was led by Tsunade, while the Kirigakure representatives were headed by Terumi Mei.
Although the atmosphere between the two sides was not exactly warm and friendly, it was significantly better than it had been during their previous encounters.
"We in Konohagakure are very willing to believe in the sincerity of Mizukage-sama's intentions," Tsunade declared clearly from the outset. "Conducting peaceful business activities and trade relationships has always been one of our village's primary objectives."
Once these diplomatic words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room immediately became more relaxed and productive.
Terumi Mei smiled genuinely and nodded in agreement. "I am extremely pleased by Konoha's positive attitude toward these negotiations. This diplomatic openness must surely represent a very promising start to our discussions."
Following these opening pleasantries, both sides began the complex process of negotiating the specific details and terms of their proposed business agreement.
Although everyone had established a cooperative tone for the talks, neither side was willing to compromise when it came to protecting the fundamental interests of their respective villages.
However, it quickly became apparent that Kirigakure was at a significant disadvantage in these negotiations and was steadily losing ground in the face of Konoha's more experienced diplomatic pressure.
Nevertheless, Kirigakure would not abandon all of their essential demands and bottom-line requirements. To do so would make their entire journey to sign this peace and commercial agreement completely worthless.
"It looks like the business agreement should be ready for signing within two or three days," Shihouin Naraku observed quietly.
Uncle Chunyuan, who was standing beside him, nodded in agreement with this assessment.
Everyone present held similar views about the timeline.
The intense arguments over every detail and financial point demonstrated that all parties genuinely wanted to complete the signing of a meaningful and lasting agreement.
"Speaking of recent events, I've been feeling somewhat puzzled by certain patterns," Shihouin Chunyuan remarked thoughtfully. "Recently, several of the major countries have begun replacing the Kage leadership of their respective villages."
He glanced meaningfully at Naraku and asked, "Don't you find it curious why all these leadership changes have been happening?"
"Aside from the Kazekage of Sunagakure and the Third Hokage of our own Konoha, the replacement of the other three Kage from Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure shouldn't really concern us... except..."
Chunyuan paused as he considered the implications more carefully.
Naraku had personally killed both the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, had decisively defeated Iwagakure's forces in open warfare, had caused devastating losses to the Land of Earth's military capacity, and had indirectly led to Ōnoki's resignation from his position as Tsuchikage.
After making these calculations, Shihouin Chunyuan suddenly felt a sense of bewilderment about the situation.
Before a new Hokage had even emerged from his own family lineage, his nephew had already eliminated the Raikage and Mizukage of other villages and forced the resignation of a third Kage.
What an extraordinarily strange and unprecedented situation this had become!
"Uncle Chunyuan, I need to step out for a while," Naraku announced suddenly.
"Hmm?" Chunyuan was momentarily surprised by the abrupt departure, but he didn't question the decision. He simply nodded to indicate his understanding.
Naraku glanced once more at the crowd of negotiators who were still arguing intensely over contract details in the conference room, then turned and walked purposefully out of the building.
With a swift movement, he launched himself high into the air and flew out of Konoha Village in the blink of an eye.
The strong wind rushed against his face as Naraku traveled at tremendous speed toward the Great Naruto Bridge in the Land of Waves.
The location where he and Black Zetsu had agreed to meet was in the vicinity of the famous bridge.
Of course, they had not established any specific time for their rendezvous—only the general meeting location had been determined.
With Black Zetsu's unique abilities and methods of travel, as long as Naraku appeared anywhere in the designated area, his contact should be able to locate him without difficulty.
Swoosh—
Looking out at the busy construction activity on the Great Naruto Bridge in the distance, Shihouin Naraku positioned himself on a high cliff overlooking the area, settling in to wait patiently for Black Zetsu to make his appearance.
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