A week passed in the blink of an eye. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, now short one member, once again gathered in the small meeting room at the top floor of the Mizukage Building. Unlike last time, when the room had felt empty and hollow, today every seat was filled.
Aside from the six active members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the Fourth Mizukage himself was present, along with the envoys preparing to depart for Konoha for negotiations. After all, the Swordsmen were essentially escorts and muscle; the ones actually responsible for diplomatic talks were the official envoys, led by the chief advisor, Elder Oniyuzu Anjō.
Yes—
In order to quickly put an end to the previous defeat and shake off that heavy burden so he could fully pursue his grand plan of strengthening the Kirigakure, Yagura was willing to send his own right-hand man, Elder Oniyuzu Anjō, to personally negotiate with Konoha and bring this troublesome matter to a complete conclusion.
"Elder Anjō, I'm counting on you for everything."
Yagura held the elder's hand warmly as he spoke.
"Mizukage-sama, please rest assured," Oniyuzu replied sternly.
"And to everyone else—this time… I must trouble you all to accompany Elder Anjō on this journey." Yagura turned to the rest of the envoy team, his expression sincere. Negotiating with Konoha would not be an easy task. Elder Oniyuzu alone could not possibly handle everything.
Thus, Yagura had specially selected a group of capable personnel from various departments—individuals skilled and sharp in administrative affairs—to form this envoy team under Elder Oniyuzu.
It couldn't be helped.
Kirigakure didn't have a dedicated "Foreign Affairs Department," nor did any other Hidden Village for that matter. No village had true professional diplomats. Whenever diplomacy was needed, people were simply pulled in from other departments. Fortunately, this wasn't unique to the Kiri—everyone did the same.
"Mizukage-sama, please rest assured. We will give our utmost to support Elder Anjō," they responded, smiling as pleasantly as they could.
Whether they liked it or not didn't matter. At this point, all reluctance had to be swallowed. No one wanted to seem insincere—not when even doing the job might fail to earn appreciation.
Yagura nodded with satisfaction before turning to the final group within the envoy team.
"Jūzō, Kyoichi, Mangetsu, Mizushiro, Zabuza, Ringo… I leave Elder Anjō's safety to you."
He called out each of the six names warmly.
It was only natural.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were his direct combat force, the sword in his hand. And as a Mizukage with ambition, he wanted more than obedience—he wanted their loyalty.
"Don't worry, Mizukage-sama! Unless all of us drop dead, we'll definitely bring Elder Anjō and the others back safely," Jūzō declared boldly.
Everyone in the room nearly rolled their eyes.
"Jūzō, seriously… can't you say something less ominous?"
Yagura looked helpless.
Right before departure—
Talking about dying was absolutely inauspicious.
Even Kyoichi couldn't help but laugh. He didn't mind Jūzō's unlucky phrasing. Even if Jūzō really had the "crow's mouth" curse… Kyoichi didn't care. Danger was nothing but a whetstone that sharpened growth.
As long as it didn't kill him—
Any trouble that came, he'd take on.
"We're shinobi. Any mission could be our last—that's simply the truth. I don't see what's wrong with what I said," Jūzō replied dismissively, clearly not feeling he had said anything incorrect.
Yagura could only sigh internally.
He couldn't scold Jūzō over something that trivial.
"It may be true, but… couldn't you say something nicer to lift everyone's spirits?" Yagura tried again, exasperated.
"What's the point? If we run into danger, a thousand pleasant words won't be as helpful as a single shuriken. Better to spend the time practicing shuriken throwing instead of fussing over useless pleasantries."
"…Forget it. Elder Anjō, if everyone is ready, then depart. I'll escort you to the village gates."
Yagura admitted defeat.
This was clearly the type of man who didn't understand the concept of tact. If he kept lecturing him, Jūzō would only stubbornly argue back.
Ending the conversation was the best strategy.
"We've been ready for a long time," Elder Anjō replied.
Jūzō also finally shut his mouth.
"Good. Then let's go."
At Yagura's command, the envoy of fewer than twenty people set out. The Fourth Mizukage personally escorted them to the village gate, watching their silhouettes disappear into the thick mist.
Only then—
He let out a long sigh.
"I hope the negotiations with Konoha go smoothly…"
But even as he said that, his instincts kept gnawing at him—
A vague but persistent unease.
He could feel it.
This negotiation… something was going to go wrong.
Ever since he sat on the Mizukage's throne, almost nothing had gone smoothly. Failures and setbacks came one after another. His campaign against Konoha had gone poorly. The desperate gamble of sending the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had resulted in Konoha's hidden taijutsu expert breaking his sharpest blade.
If not for the Koeda Clan's arrival—
And Kyoichi directly confronting Orochimaru—
He'd only have been able to brag about Ao stealing a single Hyūga Byakugan during the early stages of the war.
"Let's go back."
Yagura turned around and began walking, asking the ANBU beside him, "Any results from the investigation I assigned you?"
"The Kaguya clan is unchanged—nothing unusual. As for the Yuki clan, we're unsure whether any descendants survived. So far, we found nothing," the ANBU answered respectfully.
"There must be survivors."
Yagura narrowed his eyes.
"When the Yuki clan was exterminated… many escaped. Maybe they left the Land of Water, maybe they're hiding under new identities. Keep searching."