The Raikage stood with his back to the door, hands clasped behind him as he gazed out the window at the village, his waist still sore from the previous night.
This recent period had been strange for him.
First, the absurd yet effective attack and annihilation of Councilor Tenro's clan (including the man himself) inside the village, carried out by a handful of nobodies. Then, the self-immolation of Konoha's Sannin, who chose to end his own life before they could extract all his information. After that, he had to attend Chad's double wedding with Hibui and Kiyui, where he acted as Chad's father figure (he definitely did not shed manly tears that day). And at the end of the ceremony, just as he belatedly realized that Hibui had dragged a red-faced Yugito toward what was supposed to be the bridal chamber, one of the kunoichi from his own generation knocked him out through sheer drinking—and he woke up in an unfamiliar bed.
What followed was something the Raikage could only describe as the beginning of a romance so passionate that, for the first time, he began to doubt whether his training regimen could keep up.
If things continued at this pace, he might have a wedding of his own soon… and his own heir.
By then, he wasn't even curious why Yugito had been walking so strangely after Chad's wedding. But judging by the flushed, defeated expressions on Hibui and Kiyui's faces, he could make some guesses…
Still, all of that could be considered secondary events.
"Why does the Lightning Daimyo suddenly want to expand so aggressively?" he wondered again that day.
He wasn't against the idea of war—Kumo didn't fear conflict. More land for the Land of Lightning meant more resources for Kumo: more food, more medicine, more tools…
How did he know the Daimyo was serious?
For starters, he had suddenly stopped living a hedonistic lifestyle. He even sent ninja to verify whether he was under a genjutsu, but everything checked out. Nor was it someone using a Transformation Technique to replace the real Daimyo.
No—the Daimyo claimed he had a dream and wanted to fulfill it.
Damn it, he had secretly quintupled the village's budget with a mere wave of his hand!
"How much money was that guy wasting on excess?" the Raikage ran a hand over his head. The money was more than welcome, but he had to be careful with how it was spent, or the other villages would soon realize they had more funds than they should and start investigating why. "No matter—he's given us free rein on this matter."
He had even gone as far as to say they were allowed to eliminate the Water Daimyo and the nobles of the Land of Water!
In other words, he didn't want to expand, gather resources, and then withdraw.
That had been the usual pattern in recent years—a classic bite of flesh before retreating to digest the gains.
But now they were talking about permanent occupation!
He had spent days discussing plans, holding off on actual preparations so as not to raise alarms. But…
"Why do you want me to arrange a meeting with the Mizukage?" the Raikage turned to look at Chad, who was sitting across his desk, drinking sweet anise liquor from a gourd larger than a watermelon. "What are you doing?" he snapped, extending his hand. "Give me some!"
Chad tossed the gourd to him and pulled out another one from somewhere—this one even bigger.
Raikage: …
You really like this drink, huh?
After taking a couple of long swigs, he set the gourd down on the desk.
It still wasn't entirely to his taste—but it was free!
And the Sage of Six Paths knew how much he needed something sweet to stimulate his mind right now…
"If we want to follow the Lightning Daimyo's orders, conflict with Kiri is inevitable," Chad began after swallowing. "The Hidden Mist won't accept the Land of Water being devoured by the Land of Lightning, because the Lightning Daimyo will always prioritize us."
Two Great Ninja Villages in the same land under a single ruler?
Unthinkable.
Sure, if the ruler were wise, they could encourage competition between both villages to win their favor—but that wasn't how things would work here.
"Bah! We're not afraid of those cowards who hide to attack," the Raikage dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Still, you didn't answer my question."
"Do you remember what I told you about Itachi Uchiha?"
The Raikage recalled it, his eyes widening as his pupils shrank.
He gestured for the ANBU to leave the office and seal the area, leaving them completely alone for a high-level confidential discussion.
Not even Mabui could enter under these circumstances.
"Are you saying you've already achieved it?" the Raikage asked in a low voice.
"Yes." Chad revealed a Mangekyō Sharingan on his shoulder. "It took a few years, but it can now be used."
A complete lie, of course.
"Are the conditions still the same as you speculated?" the Raikage only gave it a brief glance before focusing back on Chad.
"Yes. I'm an excellent medic—but I don't perform miracles!" Chad shook his head as he took another drink from the massive gourd. "I gathered enough chakra and converted it into ocular power to cast Kotoamatsukami, but it will only work once, on a single person. After that, this eye will go blind and become useless." He sighed with feigned regret. "After all, I'm not an Uchiha. The fact that I managed this at all is already an achievement."
Obviously, it was lies stacked upon lies—but the Raikage had already been influenced by a previous Kotoamatsukami, and Chad had made preparations as a fallback.
"Using Kotoamatsukami on the Mizukage to make her betray her own village? I love it!" The Raikage felt the idea was brilliant. Most of Kumo's hatred toward Kiri stemmed from Yagura. The new Mizukage was barely known outside her village, too busy patching up the remnants of the Bloody Mist era. "Wait—what do you plan to do with her after Kiri falls?"
That was a Kage-level combatant!
The Raikage would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in her future development.
"What do you expect me to do with a kunoichi who has Kage-level strength, is attractive, has the potential to grow even stronger by my side, is absolutely loyal, and possesses dual Kekkei Genkai?" Chad raised an eyebrow at the Raikage, making a universally understood gesture with his fist and thumb. "Naturally, I'll make sure she contributes to Kumo's population every year!"
From what he vaguely remembered, Terumi would grow old and die alone.
That's how cowardly the men of the Mist were.
Wouldn't it be better for her to build a family and be happy?
The Raikage looked like he wanted to say something, but remembering Chad's background—and Mei Terumi's dual Kekkei Genkai—just imagining the potential of their children was enough to make him shut his mouth and pick up the gourd to drink again.
…
But seriously… every year?
As for the morality of it, they were just tweaking her loyalty a bit, and Chad would handle the rest with his charm. As long as Terumi joined Kumo, what was the problem?
Villages did far shadier things every day, and it wasn't the end of the world—they just didn't broadcast those matters.
Just look at Danzo from Konoha!
He had been doing the worst of the worst for decades, yet the Hokage never executed him for it—that in itself was even more impressive.
Could it be true that after Sarutobi's wife died, those two…?
"I don't think it'll be that easy to arrange a meeting with her. Even if we use the Land of Whirlpools as neutral ground, she won't necessarily agree to leave Kiri," the Raikage said with experience.
The Kage leading each village had countless responsibilities, and with Kiri's current chaotic state, unless there was a compelling reason, it was doubtful the Mizukage would set everything aside for negotiations.
Not to mention that Kumo and Kiri had a long history of distrust—the only times they had "cooperated" (in the loosest sense) were during attacks on Uzushiogakure and Konoha.
"What if the Water Daimyo orders her to attend the meeting?"
The Raikage lowered the gourd and looked at Chad.
"The Land of Lightning sends a representative—me—and the Land of Water sends another—the Mizukage," Chad explained simply. "If she knows she's not meeting the Raikage himself, she might feel more at ease and less guarded."
Knowing Terumi, she would probably attend even if A himself went—but that wasn't something he needed to say out loud.
"Let me remind you—the matter with Ao was your doing. If she knows you're representing us, she'll try to kill you instead."
Though, since the critical point was getting the Mizukage to show up, regardless of her attitude…
It might actually work better that way!
"No," Chad corrected. "That was Kakuzu from the Akatsuki. I just put up some money."
Like placing a bounty on the black market—maybe it never gets claimed!
"I don't think she'll care about the sequence of events—only the reason," the Raikage shook his head. "Ao, with a Byakugan stolen from the Main House and decent political skill, was as important to her as Darui is to me. I doubt she hasn't investigated why that stitched-up guy killed him and took his head."
Now that he thought about it, it was strange that Kakuzu had left the body behind. Given how obsessed he was with money, he could've sold the rest for a few extra ryo.
"It still works in our favor," Chad shrugged without guilt. "The real key is that the Mizukage herself must appear before me—not some random Mist jonin, not a clone, not a fake Mizukage."
Using Kotoamatsukami on a clone…
That would really piss him off.
"I'll send some sensor ninja with you. It'll also help prevent a Kiri ambush."