On a quiet path in Kirigakure.
Terumi Mei walked with her hands behind her back, quietly following beside Yuto.
"Has something happened in Sunagakure?"
Yuto looked ahead and suddenly asked.
Terumi Mei was slightly stunned, then a smile appeared on her face.
"Although Lord Yuto usually seems a bit lazy, it looks like he's been paying attention all along."
Terumi Mei turned her head to glance at Yuto. Clearly, Yuto had hit the mark. This was indeed something that had been troubling Terumi Mei lately.
Hearing Terumi Mei say he was lazy, Yuto revealed a helpless expression and waited for Terumi Mei to explain the matter.
"A while ago, Chiyo represented Sunagakure in negotiations with our Kirigakure and reached some cooperation agreements. But things haven't gone as smoothly as expected..."
Terumi Mei lightly furrowed her brows. She paused at this point, seemingly organizing her words. After a while, she spoke again:
"Kirigakure's products are considered scarce resources for Sunagakure. With Kado's transport line, it indeed saves a lot of time and money."
"But with the Land of Fire in between, transportation is quite troublesome. We can only transport by going around the Land of Fire's borders. The profits are huge, but it wastes too much manpower, and we have to guard against the Land of Fire's schemes."
After Terumi Mei finished speaking, she looked at Yuto and found that he had only nodded lightly, then looked at her with a gaze that said "continue."
"Lord Yuto really is..."
Terumi Mei complained internally, knowing that these few troubles were probably just small problems in Lord Yuto's mind.
She did have a more troublesome matter. Clearly, that was what Lord Yuto wanted to know about.
"In terms of just resource exchange, there isn't much of a problem between our two sides. But if we go deeper, that old hag Chiyo isn't as decisive as she was when signing the agreement."
"Sunagakure's ninjas are somewhat exclusionary. Plus with that old hag Chiyo seemingly pushing things along in secret, our Kirigakure's progress in the Land of Wind has been extremely slow."
Terumi Mei's voice carried traces of dissatisfaction. Clearly, Granny Chiyo had been giving Terumi Mei quite a headache lately.
Seeing Terumi Mei's distressed appearance, a smile couldn't help but appear on Yuto's face.
It seemed Terumi Mei had suffered quite a bit at Granny Chiyo's hands.
Terumi Mei was still too young in the end. In terms of strength, Terumi Mei, who possessed two kekkei genkai, could probably rank among the higher positions among the many Kage-level powerhouses.
But in terms of political maneuvering, Terumi Mei couldn't hold a candle to Granny Chiyo. Of course, the same went for Yuto.
However, with strength surpassing most ninjas, in most situations, Yuto didn't need things like political maneuvering.
Just like Senju Hashirama back then. If they were talking about political maneuvering, ten Senju Hashiramas couldn't compare to one Senju Tobirama.
But with his strength, Senju Hashirama could still suppress the other hidden villages completely. Distributing tailed beasts whenever he wanted, quite generously.
"Sunagakure's Chiyo is a ninja who has survived since the Third Great Ninja War. Underestimating her will only lead to losses."
A smile appeared on Yuto's face. He glanced at the unhappy Terumi Mei and continued:
"When Chiyo came to Kirigakure to sign the agreement, Sunagakure's situation wasn't good. The jinchuriki Gaara was in our hands."
"The Fourth Kazekage was dead, and having just experienced the war where the four great hidden villages attacked Konoha, the entire Sunagakure's situation at that time was probably extremely poor."
"In those circumstances, Chiyo came alone to Kirigakure. Not only to exchange for the jinchuriki Gaara, but also out of fear of Kirigakure's retaliation."
Yuto's eyes looking into the distance held a deep gaze. He stretched his body and placed his hands behind his head.
Being able to quickly judge and make the correct decision in the most dangerous situation—how could such a person be underestimated!
Terumi Mei's lightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed. If their positions were swapped, Terumi Mei knew she absolutely couldn't reach Granny Chiyo's level.
For a moment, Terumi Mei's frustration from suffering at Granny Chiyo's hands improved a bit.
"Then, Lord Yuto, what should be done about the Sunagakure matter?"
Terumi Mei discovered that many problems she couldn't figure out could be easily solved just by Lord Yuto speaking up.
"Since she's an old fox, let another old fox deal with her."
Yuto said with a smile, casually.
"Lord Yuto means—the Chief Elder!"
Terumi Mei's eyes lit up. How had she forgotten about that old fox?
With a solution to the problem, Terumi Mei's mood instantly improved significantly.
For a while, Terumi Mei kept talking to Yuto about interesting things that had happened in Kirigakure while Yuto was away.
Of course, mixed in were some events that had occurred in the shinobi world.
On the road, Yuto and Terumi Mei occasionally let out a laugh.
Before long, Yuto, who had been dragged by Terumi Mei to go shopping, was covered in various bags of all sorts.
Only after there was no more room on Yuto's body to hang bags did Terumi Mei stop, and Yuto let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Yuto wasn't paying for these things himself. Otherwise, it would have been enough to bankrupt him.
On the street.
"Quick, look! The Mizukage is shopping with Lord Yuto!"
"Say, are the Mizukage and Lord Yuto already dating?"
"I don't know, but if it's true, this would be big news in the village."
"I heard the village's ninjas say that the Mizukage usually doesn't smile much. Look at the smile on the Mizukage's face now..."
"But the Mizukage really should find a man to date. After all, she's already in her twenties."
On both sides of the street, curious and gossipy gazes looked at Yuto and Terumi Mei walking in the center of the street, continuously discussing in low voices.
Although the villagers on both sides deliberately lowered their voices, with Yuto and Terumi Mei's hearing, how could they not hear?
Yuto, covered in bags, didn't show any obvious change in expression.
However, when Yuto turned his head to look at Terumi Mei beside him, he discovered that she was deeply lowering her head.
Faintly, Yuto could see Terumi Mei's flushed cheeks.
When Yuto heard the last comment from the villagers nearby.
Crack!
Terumi Mei suddenly clenched her fist, and a crisp cracking sound came from her knuckles.
The corner of Yuto's mouth twitched violently, and he couldn't help but take a step to the side.
Fortunately, the person who said this was just an ordinary villager. If it had been a ninja from the village, they probably would have already been punched into a wall by Terumi Mei.
[
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