prynovel Chapter 194 194
Chapter 194 194
After that, the Mizukage election went exactly as everyone expected.
Mei Terumī, who was still relatively unknown, successfully claimed the seat of Mizukage.
The news shook Kirigakure.
Although Mei had some reputation among the younger generation, that was all it was—some reputation.
In terms of strength, she was not even considered one of the village's top shinobi.
So how could someone like her become Mizukage?
Even though Mei quickly revealed the power she had only just reached, and with Mero and the others helping cover for her, it created the impression that she had already stepped into the Kage level...
An impression was still only an impression.
It could not replace reality.
Soon, many ninja clans began voicing their doubts. Some openly refused to acknowledge this new Mizukage.
And that very night, the newly appointed Fifth Mizukage quietly arrived at Shiki's room.
"Shiki."
Mei Terumī took a deep breath, then looked at him seriously.
"Let's make another deal."
Shiki raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
At first, he was only curious.
But as he listened to what Mei had to say, his expression shifted slightly. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
Then, as if it were nothing, he waved his hand.
"Fine. I agree."
The moment she heard that, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Mei's lips.
Shiki saw that smile and almost laughed out loud.
This woman...
She had definitely misunderstood something about him.
Still, since the misunderstanding happened to serve his own goal, he had no intention of correcting her.
The next day
Normally, for a newly appointed Fifth Mizukage, there was only one sensible path to take.
She should first stabilize the Mizukage faction, nurture loyal shinobi through Kirigakure's official system, build up her own strength step by step, and only then slowly take back the authority held by the local clans.
In fact, this was also the direction the Fourth Mizukage had originally intended to take before assuming office.
But Mei Terumī was different.
The woman who usually carried herself with a calm, gentle smile made her move the moment she took power.
She began reclaiming the privileges of the local ninja clans.
Her methods were not reckless.
Her pace was not especially fast.
But to the clans of the Land of Water, it was enough.
The new Mizukage had barely taken her seat, and she was already reaching for the power in their hands.
Naturally, they could not tolerate it.
Inside the mansions of the various clans, cold laughter sounded one after another.
"That little girl..."
"She really thinks becoming Mizukage means Kirigakure belongs to her?"
Several clan heads narrowed their eyes, their expressions turning dangerous.
"Let her try."
"Kirigakure is not a place where a newly appointed Mizukage can do whatever she wants."
The Bloody Mist had not disappeared completely.
It had only changed its shape.
And now, Mei Terumī had placed her hand directly on its throat.
Unrest broke out everywhere.
The shinobi loyal to the Mizukage faction could only look up at the sky and sigh, feeling like they might have chosen the wrong Mizukage after all.
And just then, the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumī, began suppressing the opposition without the slightest hesitation.
Her first target was the Tōki Clan.
The same clan that had only recently betrayed the Mizukage faction.
Under the watchful eyes of countless spies and intelligence agents, Mei Terumī brought a masked man with her and openly walked into the Tōki Clan's territory.
Not long after, a violent commotion erupted from within the clan compound.
Everyone outside heard the sound of blades cutting through the air.
Then came the screams.
"Argh! You madman! Who the hell are you?!"
"What? Who am I?"
The masked man's voice rang out from inside, shameless and arrogant.
"I'm Mei Terumī's man!"
"Anyone with the guts to go against her will answer to my sword!"
"Now stand straight so I don't miss. After all, a quick death is better than being cut at the wrong angle and bleeding out slowly."
"Surrender? That doesn't exist. Unless you have two lives, none of you are walking out of here!"
It would be a lie to say Shiki was not enjoying himself.
Apparently, he had a talent for acting.
The intelligence agents outside: "...?"
About an hour later, Mei Terumī walked out of the Tōki Clan's territory with an arrogant look on her face.
Behind her, the masked man followed at a relaxed pace, giving off the air of someone who had finally stretched his limbs properly.
And behind them came some of the surviving leaders and elders of the Tōki Clan.
Every one of them had their heads lowered.
Faint bruises marked their faces, and their expressions were filled with gloom, shock, and humiliation.
And it did not end with the Tōki Clan.
After that, Mei Terumī visited the Kurosuki Clan, the Suikazan Clan, and one clan after another.
She did not even spare her own clan.
Every single one of them was crushed by that mysterious masked man.
He did not sneak around nor did he try to dodge any blow directed at him.
He charged straight in from the front, took every challenge head-on, and overwhelmed them with absolute strength.
Whenever Mei Terumī walked out of a clan's territory with that masked man behind her, the remaining survivors had no choice but to lower their heads and follow.
Without exception.
Of course, Mei Terumī was not like the Fourth Mizukage, who would wipe out entire clans without hesitation.
Even though the masked man she brought along fought his way straight into the strongholds of the major ninja clans, not everyone was killed.
Only those who openly tried to rebel against her or seize the Mizukage position for themselves were cut down.
As for the others—those who only doubted her
They were spared.
At most, they suffered broken bones or torn muscles.
Painful, yes.
Humiliating, even more so but not fatal.
Given time, those injuries would heal.
At the same time, Mei's methods were precise.
Even when she used force to make the major ninja clans sign agreements, she never pushed too far. She applied just enough pressure—enough to break their resistance—without crossing their true bottom line.
The message was simple.
I can destroy your clan if I choose to.
But I'm willing to sit down and talk.
So… will you talk?
A blade in one hand.
A compromise in the other.
Step by step, Mei Terumī carved her way across the Land of Water.
Relying on overwhelming strength and absolute pressure, she forced the scattered forces of Kirigakure back into place.
In just one week
The once-fragmented village was pulled back together.
The major ninja clans had no choice but to lower their heads and return to Kirigakure's rule.
Although they still retained a degree of autonomy, the foundation of centralized authority had been reestablished.
Kirigakure… had begun to unify once more.
The shinobi loyal to the village were overjoyed.
Some even wept openly.
To them, this newly appointed Fifth Mizukage was nothing short of a miracle.
At the same time, however
Their attention kept returning to one figure.
The masked man.
Just who was he?
In truth, it wasn't only the loyalists who wanted answers.
The defeated ninja clans were just as desperate to uncover his identity.
They could not accept losing to an unknown.
Yet whether it was Mei Terumī, Mero, or any of the others...
All of them remained silent.
Not a single word was revealed.
As for the shinobi who had witnessed the Three-Tails incident, they had long since been placed under strict memory seals by their superiors. Even if they were secretly captured and interrogated by the clans, nothing could be extracted.
"So… who exactly is that masked man?"
The clans were left completely in the dark.
And as time passed, with no answers to be found, speculation began to spread among the shinobi of Kirigakure.
"This person… he must be a wandering swordsman from the Land of Water."
"Someone who couldn't stand seeing Kirigakure in chaos any longer."
"So when the Mizukage called, he stepped forward… and took responsibility with his blade."
At first, it was just a guess.
But as the story passed from one person to another...
It slowly began to change.
In the rumors…
The story about the masked man slowly began to take on a life of its own.
At first, it was still somewhat believable.
They said he was originally just an ordinary shinobi from the Land of Water.
Nothing special.
Nothing worth mentioning.
But because he was too soft-hearted, he was targeted by certain clans, hunted down, and eventually forced to leap from a cliff.
Yet instead of dying, he survived.
And in that desperate moment, he obtained some forgotten inheritance from the Warring States era.
From there, everything started to drift further and further from reality.
The story claimed that after gaining power, he lost interest in fame and conflict.
He withdrew from the world and lived alone deep within the mist-covered forests, far away from Kirigakure, living like a hermit.
Then...
One day, while carrying out a mission, Mei Terumī accidentally lost her way and entered that remote valley.
That was where the two met.
Some said he saved her.
Some said they fought first.
Others said he simply appeared when she needed help the most.
No one could agree on the details.
But every version ended the same way.
From that meeting onward, the two grew closer.
Fighting side by side.
Completing missions together.
Gradually, feelings formed between them.
And yet...
Mei Terumī could not abandon the Land of Water.
So in the end, they parted ways.
One returned to Kirigakure.
The other remained in that quiet valley.
If the story had stopped there, it might have still sounded reasonable.
But it didn't.
The rumors only became more outrageous.
It was said that after Mei left, the masked man once encountered two powerful shinobi fighting to the death.
Both of them were on the brink of reaching the Kage level.
When they died, they entrusted everything to him—their will, their chakra, their strength.
And just like that, he stepped into the realm of Kage.
As for what happened next
That part changed the most depending on who told it.
Some said Mei returned to that valley after becoming Mizukage, unable to find a way to deal with the chaos in the Land of Water.
Some said she went there simply to clear her mind.
Others insisted she went back because she could not forget him.
But in every version
He was still there... waiting for her.
A lone figure in the mist.
And when they met again, whatever had been left unfinished between them was finally resolved.
After that
The masked man chose to leave the valley.
He picked up his blade once more.
Not for himself... But for her.
At some point, no one even questioned whether any of this was true anymore.
The story had already become something else entirely.
Something closer to legend than reality.
And strangely enough
The more exaggerated it became…
The more people believed it.
Shiki stared at the report in his hand, his usually calm expression finally cracking.
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
"…Why does this sound exactly like one of those ridiculous fantasy stories I read in my past life?"
He pressed his fingers against his temple, clearly feeling the secondhand embarrassment creeping in.
"…What kind of third-rate novel is this supposed to be?"
His voice was low, almost disbelieving.
The only reason he had agreed to Mei Terumī's request in the first place was simple.
He needed results.
Cleaning up a few rotten ninja clans would let him steadily accumulate progress for his own template.
That was all.
But these rumors…
Cliff jumps.
Mysterious inheritances.
Chance encounters with a beautiful woman.
Secret feelings.
Two dying experts conveniently passing on their power.
Then years later—returning to the world and crushing everyone in dramatic fashion…
Shiki lowered the report slightly, his expression turning even more complicated.
"…This really has every single cliché."
Every. Single. One.
For the first time in a long while, even he didn't know whether to laugh or feel embarrassed.
"…It's just a rumor. Don't take it too seriously."
Mei Terumī's cheeks flushed faintly, and her gaze shifted ever so slightly to the side.
"Give it some time. It'll fade on its own."
Of course
There was no way she would admit that these rumors had been deliberately guided from the shadows.
Or rather…
It had been a unanimous decision among the higher-ups of the Mizukage faction.
After witnessing that overwhelming display of power, it would have been strange if they hadn't tried to make use of it.
"Hmph!"
Rin Nohara puffed out her cheeks, clearly dissatisfied, and narrowed her eyes at Mei.
"Mizukage-sama, I think that's unfair."
"Oh?"
Mei tilted her head slightly, her expression still calm, her smile gentle and composed.
"How so?"
"…Because you're letting something like that spread without correcting it."
Rin crossed her arms, her tone firm.
"If people misunderstand, it could cause trouble later."
Mei's smile didn't waver in the slightest.
"After all… I didn't create those rumors myself."
Her answer was smooth.
Deception was part of a shinobi's craft.
Kakashi Hatake had once said—
Every move a ninja makes should be capable of deceiving the enemy.
Mei Terumī was not someone who enjoyed lying.
She simply understood what was necessary.
"Of course… if Shiki really had that intention, I wouldn't mind."
Mei Terumī's lips curved into a soft, almost teasing smile.
"If those rumors happened to come true… so what?"
"Eh?!"
Rin Nohara froze, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Mizukage-sama, how can you say something like that?!"
"Shiki-sama already has someone by his side! And you're letting rumors like this spread… don't you feel even a little guilty?"
Mei didn't flinch.
Instead, she gave a light shrug, as if it were nothing worth worrying about.
"They're not married, are they?"
Her tone remained calm, almost casual.
"If that woman can't even trust him over something like this… then what exactly is there to protect?"
"Besides..."
Mei's smile deepened, carrying a hint of mischief now.
"Even if they do get married… it's not as if divorce doesn't exist."
Rin fell silent.
For the first time, she truly understood just how far someone could go when they decided to be completely shameless.
"..."
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