Kuji shook his head. "No. On the contrary, the three major ninja villages have also sent shinobi, hoping to negotiate with the Hidden Mist Village."
Negotiations again?
Shigure smiled faintly. "There's nothing to talk about."
Hearing this, Hisashi continued, "Lady Terumī replied the same way. However, some unexpected circumstances occurred, so…"
"So what?"
Hisashi frowned, seemingly unsure how to explain. "For the specifics, please ask Lady Terumī yourself, Lord Shigure. I spend most of my time stationed here and don't know much."
"Hmm."
Shigure nodded and headed upstairs toward the Mizukage's office.
Along the way, the Mist shinobi who saw Shigure immediately straightened in respect.
Shigure stopped by the window at the end of the corridor and looked outside.
In just three months, the reconstruction of Kirigakure had advanced tremendously.
The village looked completely different from before.
Many new high-rise buildings had been constructed, all designed with Kirigakure's distinctive architectural style. At the same time, the village's territory had expanded significantly.
The Uchiha compound, which had once been considered the outskirts of the village, was now located within Kirigakure's central district.
It was easy to imagine just how much construction had taken place in these three months.
Shigure pushed open the office door.
Inside, Terumī Mei sat behind her desk, buried in a mountain of documents.
"What's the situation now?"
Terumī finally lifted her head from the paperwork. When she saw Shigure, she immediately stood up and walked over.
Grabbing his arm, she pulled him to the Mizukage's seat and pressed him down into it.
"You're the Mizukage of Kirigakure. I've already abdicated! Yet I still have to work like a laborer for you every day. I'm sick of this kind of life!"
Hearing this, Shigure smiled helplessly.
The Great Sage activated.
Information flowed through his mind as it automatically scanned and organized the documents on the desk.
"Alright," Shigure said calmly. "Tell me what's been happening during these three months."
Terumī sighed.
"First, during your seclusion, Konohagakure began enforcing a strict village lockdown."
"A lockdown?" Shigure raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Terumī glanced at him.
"Because you resurrected the Fourth Hokage and absorbed the Nine-Tails' chakra from his body. The entire village of Konoha became extremely nervous."
"So they chose to seal themselves off before anything else could happen."
Shigure chuckled softly.
He had already obtained what he needed. Why would he bother returning to Konoha to seize the Nine-Tails from Naruto?
Terumī continued.
"The other matter concerns the three major ninja villages that sent envoys to negotiate."
Shigure nodded. "What do they want?"
Terumī's expression became more serious.
"They want peace… in exchange for the tailed beasts."
"They claim they are willing to allow the tailed beasts to be handed over to Kirigakure for custody. However, the condition is that as long as the tailed beasts remain in Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village must never wage war against the other villages for any reason."
Shigure thought about it for a moment.
On the surface, this condition didn't seem problematic.
In fact, it looked like the other villages were relinquishing ownership of the tailed beasts entirely.
But Terumī shook her head.
"That doesn't mean they've truly given up their claim to them."
Shigure frowned slightly.
"According to the treaty," Terumī explained, "if the Hidden Mist Village ever launches a war against the ninja world, the other villages will unite and reclaim their tailed beasts by force."
Shigure fell silent for a moment.
Then he understood their true intention.
They knew that reclaiming the tailed beasts from him right now was impossible.
So they chose patience.
They would endure for now and wait for the future.
After all, once Shigure was gone, would Kirigakure remain as powerful and prosperous as it was today?
Probably not.
Even though Kirigakure possessed numerous clans with Kekkei Genkai, maintaining control over them was never easy.
In fact, those very bloodline clans were a double-edged sword.
When wielded properly, they could make a village invincible.
But if the one in control lacked the strength to wield that sword, the blade would inevitably turn back on its master.
Realizing this, Shigure understood their calculation.
"There's nothing wrong with that condition."
If Shigure were to disappear one day, then it would be absolutely impossible for the tailed beasts to remain safely in Kirigakure.
At that time, the other villages would inevitably try to seize them again—but by then, it would already be impossible.
"These conditions can be agreed to," Shigure said calmly. "So what were you worried about before?"
Hearing this, Terumī Mei handed him a document.
Shigure picked it up and glanced through it.
He froze.
"This is…"
The report stated that Uchiha Sasuke had been investigating the three major ninja villages and had subsequently disappeared.
Terumī explained, "I originally intended to agree to their proposal immediately. But Sasuke disappeared while investigating those villages. There's a chance they captured him."
"If that's really the case, then agreeing to their conditions would be equivalent to abandoning any attempt to rescue Sasuke."
Terumī's expression carried a trace of embarrassment.
"That's why I kept delaying. I wanted to wait until you came out of seclusion."
Shigure frowned slightly.
"Then why didn't you send someone to call me?"
Terumī rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't you know what you did yourself?"
"It's not that I didn't want to call you. The barrier you set up—Kuji and the others attacked it together, and they still couldn't break it."
"Do you think anyone else in Kirigakure has the ability to break your barrier?"
Shigure scratched his head awkwardly.
"At the time, I only wanted to prevent chakra leakage from damaging the village. So the barrier was made a bit sturdier."
"A bit sturdier?"
Terumī was speechless.
With that level of barrier, even if Kirigakure were destroyed, Shigure himself would probably remain completely unharmed.
"So what are you going to do now?" she asked.
Shigure looked down at the report in his hand.
"Of course, we rescue Sasuke."
"I'll visit the three major ninja villages—one by one."
Although Sasuke's disappearance might not necessarily be their doing, they were still possible suspects.
It was worth investigating.
However, the most likely culprit wasn't the three villages.
It was Uchiha Obito.
But Obito alone probably didn't possess the strength to suppress Sasuke.
That meant someone else must be involved.
And the most likely candidate… was Orochimaru.
At that moment, Orochimaru stared at the figure before him with excitement in his eyes.
"It worked."
Obito slowly stood up and stepped out of the experimental chamber Orochimaru had prepared.
Although his hair had turned white, Obito slowly opened his eyes.
His left eye had successfully transformed into the Rinnegan.
"By fusing more Uchiha bloodlines, the accumulated power was finally sufficient to awaken the Rinnegan," Orochimaru said with clear excitement.
However, Obito seemed slightly dissatisfied.
"It's a pity… only one Rinnegan awakened."
Orochimaru frowned.
"Can a single Rinnegan perform the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique?"
Obito shook his head.
Beside them, Uchiha Madara sighed quietly.
"It seems we'll have to find another way for you to integrate even more of the Uchiha clan's bloodline."
(End of Chapter)
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