"Oh Mū, you are back! I heard from Ōnoki that you got snubbed in Konohagakure?"
The door opened, and in floated an old man dressed in a grayish-brown hemp robe, wearing the Tsuchikage's hat. Mū looked up and slowly stood to give up the Tsuchikage's seat.
"Heh... I've never been afraid of a little cold water," Mū replied with a faint smile.
"Oh?" Ishikawa, the first Tuchikage, raised an eyebrow as he sat down slowly. "A bit of cold water is nothing."
Mū responded casually, as if the humiliation dealt by Madara had been nothing more than a breeze. Ishikawa gave him an admiring glance. This was exactly the kind of man he wanted, a person who knew how to endure and keep his true power hidden.
"Then how about another bucket?" Ishikawa asked with a half-joking tone.
"Let's not. Another round and I might not survive," Mū said, his expression tightening slightly.
That fight with Madara had been more than enough. Victory, if one could even call it that, was purely a fluke. He knew that if they faced off again, he might not come out alive.
"But I heard from Ōnoki that you went head-to-head with the Demon of the Uchiha. Mū, I didn't expect your strength to be that impressive," Ishikawa said, his eyes lighting up with surprise.
"Just luck," Mū answered with an awkward laugh.
Clearly, that brat Ōnoki had boasted a little too much in front of his master. The teacher filter must have kicked in, and Ōnoki probably painted him as some unstoppable force. What the boy didn't see was Mū getting pushed into a wall by Madara, then shoved and pinned to the ground like a rag doll.
"Hahaha! As expected of the brilliant tactician of Iwagakure! With power like that, you've brought honor to the village!" Ishikawa said, clapping him on the shoulder and laughing heartily.
"Ahem. Konoha also paid us a generous amount in compensation and ninja tools. I've already turned everything over to the village," Mū reported calmly.
Hearing that, Ishikawa gave a big thumbs-up.
"Mū, you're the perfect candidate for Tsuchikage. Not only are you strong and wise, but you're also incorruptible. No wonder the villagers are already calling you Mū-sama. And that Will of Stone of yours? I had it carved onto the village gates. Turns out, you're not just a strategist, you've got the heart of a philosopher!" Ishikawa said with a hearty laugh.
Mū gave a faint smile just as he'd intended.
That speech had been meant to stir the villagers' hearts, and it had come even before Konoha had coined their own Will of Fire.
After a bit more casual talk, Ishikawa yawned and left Tsuchikage's office.
As soon as he was gone, Mū's eyes narrowed slightly. Looks like the old man really does plan to pass everything to me. He's already handed over this much authority...
Mū sat back down and began working through the paperwork. Truthfully, there wasn't a great deal to handle in Iwagakure. The village was still small, and in these early days of nation-building, things remained manageable.
Most of Mū's attention was devoted to shaping the future. Right now, Konoha hadn't even established a ninja academy or the ANBU. Since he had knowledge of what was to come, why not act ahead of them?
He would create Iwagakure's own equivalents, an elite training institution and a nascent intelligence force.
---
Meanwhile, in Kirigakure, the Land of Water
"What the hell? I even had my water cannon jutsu aimed at my own head, and then Mū tells me he's fine?!"
Inside a tall fortress, Gengetsu Hōzuki slouched in a chair, one hand propping up his head as if he'd just been moments away from blasting his skull open with the Water Gun: Hydrification Technique. Holding the letter Mū had sent, Gengetsu smirked in disbelief.
"Too damn good... I get to fight him again! That guy finally stopped playing dead. If he hadn't replied soon, I was about to storm Iwagakure myself."
Still grumbling, he folded the letter into a paper airplane and flicked it out the window without a care.
BANG!
The door slammed open, and in stomped an old man with long, scraggly hair, wrapped in coarse linen robes. His eyes were fierce as they landed on Gengetsu.
"Gengetsu Hōzuki! You brat! I told you to take care of the village's affairs! Why are you goofing off in here again?!"
The man was Byakuren, Kirigakure's current Mizukage.
Gengetsu raised both hands helplessly and gave an exaggerated shrug. "Relax, old man! Don't pop a vein. You're scowling so hard your eyes are going be popped out of that big-ass skull."
As he spoke, he casually formed a half-seal with his fingers in front of Byakuren, a lazy grin tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Stop fooling around!" Byakuren barked, his voice echoing through the chamber.
Gengetsu rolled his eyes with a long sigh. This guy... Sure, he's a decent Kage, but damn if he isn't the most uptight man alive. Always stiff, always tense. Nothing like the other village leaders, especially with the way he's constantly breathing down my neck.
Standing next to him felt like being trapped under a mountain, just pure suffocation.
Mū was way better. With Mū, there was no need to sugarcoat anything. If they were pissed, they fought it out. Worst case? They'd die together. Fair enough.
---
That same afternoon, Mū remained in his office, diligently working through a stack of paperwork. He reviewed and signed off on multiple development proposals. One involved building an ANBU headquarters. Another detailed the founding of Iwagakure's first Ninja Academy.
He also issued directives to send teams to various regions to seek out investment opportunities. The goal was simple: establish trade, accumulate capital, and turn Iwagakure into a thriving, self-sufficient village.
After stretching his back, Mū turned toward the window and stared out over the rooftops of Iwagakure, his gaze distant, calculating.
Knock knock…
Just as his thoughts began to drift, a gentle knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Mū said calmly, his eyes still on the horizon.
Ōnoki entered slowly, carrying a tray of food in both hands.
"Sensei, it's already evening. You should eat something," he said with quiet admiration and concern.
Mū raised an eyebrow. Now that he thought about it, he was indeed a bit hungry. He nodded silently, then sat back down and began eating at his desk, still sorting through documents between bites.
Meanwhile, Ōnoki kept himself busy trying to win Mū's favor.
"Sensei, I made tea for you, hehe..."
"Sensei, I'll give you a back massage!"
"Sensei, do you want a wife?"
Mid-bite, Mū nearly choked. He turned and gave Ōnoki a cold, sharp glance.
"Ōnoki... what the hell are you even saying? If you want something, just spill. I am your teacher."
Still chewing on his rice ball, Mū didn't even bother to look up again.
"Hehe... Sensei, you really do know me best~" Ōnoki chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.
"So... that jutsu you used against Madara Uchiha last time, it was amazing. Especially that white light one..." he trailed off with a giggle, then leaned up and snuggled against Mū's arm like an affectionate child.
"All right, all right! Enough!"
Mū shivered. Even wrapped in bandages, he could feel just how awkward that was. The image of a wrinkled, balding old Ōnoki doing the same thing years later flashed through his mind; it was borderline traumatic.
Seeing the hope lighting up Ōnoki's face, Mū gave a strange little smile beneath his wrappings.
"You want to learn my Dust Release: Jump Shot technique?"
He gave the boy a long, meaningful look.
"Yes! Yes! I do!" Ōnoki nodded so hard his head nearly bobbled off.
"But... are you even qualified?"
Ōnoki was speechless.
---
"First of all, to learn Dust Release, you have to master three chakra natures, Wind, Earth, and Fire, and truly understand their properties," Mū said calmly, explaining with surprising patience. "Dust Release is a Kekkei Tōta, a technique that surpasses all Kekkei Genkai."
He wasn't boasting. It was just the truth.
In the entire world of shinobi, the only known Kekkei Tōta was Dust Release. Even the famed Sharingan was merely a Kekkei Genkai, bound by bloodline. But the jutsu he had created, Dust Release, stood in a different league altogether.
Its destructive power was absolute. It doesn't merely kill or destroy, it reduces everything to atoms. Even techniques like Ash-Killing Bone left behind a pile of dust. Dust Release didn't even offer that much. There'd be nothing left of you. Gone, down to the molecular level.
If users of the Rinnegan weren't able to absorb it, Mū honestly felt he could bluff his way through a confrontation with even Isshiki or Kaguya.
"Wha... seriously, Sensei? It's that hard? I haven't even fully grasped Earth Style yet..." Ōnoki muttered, shoulders slumping like a withered cabbage leaf.
You couldn't really blame him.
At his age, even prodigies like Hiruzen Sarutobi were still practicing Clone Jutsu. Expecting Ōnoki to already master three elemental chakra transformations was absolutely pushing it.
"That's why you need to work hard. Once you've mastered all three chakra transformations, I'll teach you."
With that, Mū popped the last rice ball into his mouth, adjusted his bandages with a swift tug, and vanished from the room in a blur of speed using the Body Flicker Technique.
===
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