Those people either were unwilling to take sides or had no intention of participating in the battle. However, according to past custom, once the first two groups determined a winner, this silent majority would also quietly obey the former's orders.
"Have you all gone mad?! Kukurin!" Yet even though he had gained the support of quite a few people, Ao showed not the slightest intention of going to war. Instead, he shouted furiously at Kukurin in both shock and anger, "At a moment when the village stands at the brink of life and death, how long are you going to keep this nonsense up?!"
Though Kukurin had only a few dozen people behind him, almost all of them were the village's core fighting strength. Even if they were not jōnin, they were still veteran elite chūnin.
If this had been before last night, Kirigakure might barely have been able to withstand losses of that scale. But if they lost this portion of their fighting strength now, the Land of Water's status as one of the Five Great Nations would also become precarious.
Not to mention that if Ao wanted to wipe out Kukurin's group, the people behind him would also suffer grievous losses. At that point, let alone preserving Kirigakure's status, it might even fall to a level inferior to Kusagakure and Amegakure!
After being rebuked by Ao, Kukurin's expression also stiffened slightly. Ao did not want to go to war, but how could Kukurin have been willing to tear off all pretense at a time like this?
If the situation really was as terrible as Ao had said, then he might well become Kirigakure's sinner!
Just as Kukurin had been pushed into a difficult position, while Ao's side was also wary of acting recklessly, Terumī Mei, on the other side, braved the rain and arrived at the temple where Genji resided.
Just as Mei had expected, Genji had already returned to the temple by this time. However, what she had not expected was that, besides Genji and his guards, there were also more than a dozen injured ninjas in the temple receiving treatment.
"Genji, I would like to ask you…" Mei lowered her head respectfully to Genji, intending to ask him to support her in becoming the Fifth Mizukage.
However, what Mei had not expected was that before she could finish speaking, Genji waved a hand at her, then gestured to the guards. Those people then escorted out the wounded ninjas who had just been questioned by Genji, leaving Mei and Genji to speak alone.
"Take a look at this, Terumī Mei." Only after everyone had left did Genji finally tremble as he fumbled out a scroll from the wall niche behind him and hand it to Mei. "Read it first, then we'll talk."
Mei frowned slightly, but she still accepted the scroll and opened it. With just one glance, her expression changed. The contents of the scroll were clearly various pieces of intelligence regarding Uchiha Keizumi.
The person who had recorded the intelligence was probably some Kirigakure spy lurking in Konoha. However, the spy's status was likely not high, and his ability to gather intelligence was also limited, so the records concerning Keizumi were basically all based on hearsay.
But for the current Kirigakure, a piece of intelligence like this concerning Keizumi was more precious than any secret technique or forbidden technique. It almost had the potential to affect Kirigakure's future survival or destruction.
As Mei read the intelligence, her tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. The good news was that Keizumi's style of conduct in Konoha had not been any different from how he acted in Kirigakure. Even the Third Hokage's son had died at his hands after committing a grave mistake. This meant that the possibility Mei had been most worried about—that Keizumi had come specifically for Kirigakure—could basically be disregarded.
Moreover, Keizumi's conduct was so rough and unrestrained that the plan she had previously fabricated to persuade—or rather, fool—the other Kirigakure ninjas did not seem entirely without hope of succeeding.
Of course, this was not entirely good news either. The intelligence's description of Keizumi's strength was exaggerated to a certain extent, yet Mei had personally witnessed Keizumi's power. Just thinking that that monster might still have even more hidden cards made her feel somewhat weak all over.
Fortunately, her expectations from the very beginning had not been particularly high. Ao was still harboring the delusion of settling accounts with Konoha or even Keizumi, but Mei only hoped to preserve Kirigakure's future. No matter how strong Keizumi was, when faced with pressure from the Four Great Nations, he presumably would have no choice but to spare the Land of Water, right?
"…Keep reading." Seeing that even the expression in Mei's eyes and brows had relaxed considerably, Genji knew she still had not reached the key part of the intelligence. He could only tap the floor with his cane and remind her, "The part about the abilities of Uchiha Keizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Yes! So Uchiha Keizumi really did awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan… What is this?" Mei hurriedly responded respectfully, then quickly skipped over the various analyses of Keizumi's personality and went straight to the related intelligence about the Mangekyō Sharingan.
At present, only a few years had passed since the end of the Third Great Ninja War. The various ninja villages—especially closed-off ones like Kirigakure—were not unfamiliar with the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, one of the two founding clans of Konohagakure.
At Mei's level, she knew even more clearly that above the Sharingan existed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Considering Keizumi's strength, it was only reasonable that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Perhaps the monster's endlessly emerging Kekkei Genkai were actually the abilities of his Mangekyō…
However, after Mei finished reading about the abilities of Keizumi's Sharingan, the expression on her beautiful face—soaked by the rain—gradually twisted. Then she raised her head in disbelief and looked toward Genji, hoping to hear a denial from his mouth.
"…This old man will support you in becoming the Fifth Mizukage…" Unfortunately, Genji only sighed, raising his head with a bitter smile as he spoke. "Right now, aside from you, there is no ninja in the village capable of bearing the name of Mizukage…"
"I've already had Ao inform the others, telling them to endure for the time being. Once Uchiha Keizumi becomes a public enemy of the ninja world, everyone will be able to unite and drive him out of Kirigakure…" Even though she had obtained Genji's support just as planned, Mei's mood appeared extremely low.
"A good plan." Genji spoke as if offering comfort. "Uchiha Keizumi… perhaps, like Uchiha Madara in the past, is something that can be regarded as a natural disaster. The fact that Kirigakure can survive under him is already quite fortunate. You will be a competent Mizukage—you need not blame yourself."
"How could there possibly be such an unreasonable ability?! Judging the crimes of the past—even those of the future… doesn't that mean that no matter whether it's the past or the future, every scheme is useless against him?!" Mei was extremely agitated, and even her rather ample chest was rising and falling violently. "Even if we manage to persuade the others to temporarily submit, with Uchiha Keizumi's personality and methods, there's no way he would spare them!"
Just thinking about those fellow village ninjas who disregarded human life made Mei feel as if her head were about to explode. Letting those villains—who had committed who knew how many crimes—appear before Keizumi… how was that any different from sending them to their deaths?