"Just now, this old man carefully questioned the sixteen ninja who survived after encountering Uchiha Keizumi and that Uchiha girl…" Genji's aged face was wrinkled into a tight mass, and his already stooped body seemed to have grown a little shorter without anyone noticing. "None of them had committed unforgivable heinous crimes, and the severity of the injuries on their bodies also corresponded to the seriousness of the wrongs they had committed…"
"In that case, the records here regarding Uchiha Keizumi's Sharingan abilities should also be trustworthy…" Mei forced out a smile that looked little better than a grimace. With the situation having deteriorated to this extent, she was actually not as dejected as before. "That said, if a single Uchiha Keizumi is already this terrifying, it is hard to imagine how you and the predecessors who founded the village dealt with Uchiha Madara, and with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who was even stronger than Uchiha Madara."
Hearing Mei's somewhat reverent sigh, Genji, who had still been shaking his head and sighing a moment ago, suddenly could not help but cough violently.
How had Kirigakure faced Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara back then? He could hardly tell Mei that, whether facing Hashirama or Madara, Kirigakure at the time could do nothing but take a one-sided beating.
In the end, it was only thanks to a rift arising between those two monsters that Kirigakure, along with the other three great nations, had managed to survive by sheer luck to this day, wasn't it?
"Genji! Are you all right?!" Seeing Genji suddenly start coughing violently, and fearing that this elder who had been around since the village's founding might suddenly suffer some fatal mishap, Mei hurriedly rose, trying to look after him.
Even setting aside that Genji was her greatest supporter in becoming the Fifth Mizukage, the present Kirigakure, battered by storm and uncertainty, also needed a few more pillars to hold it up. Mei did not want Genji to collapse at a time like this.
"...Cough, cough... I-I'm fine. I probably caught a bit of a chill tonight." Genji waved his hand and deliberately shifted the subject. "Go gather the ninja first. This old man will support your becoming the Fifth Mizukage. As for Uchiha Keizumi's Sharingan abilities… at this point, there is nothing left in the village that cannot be accepted."
Genji's words were phrased very indirectly, but Mei understood what he meant. Although putting it this way might sound somewhat harsh, Kirigakure was now also at the point of smashing the cracked pot and giving up on saving it; with its vitality so badly damaged, there was indeed no need to care whether it might be hurt even more.
To put it more bluntly, Kirigakure's very survival now depended entirely on Keizumi's mood. Rather than making petty moves under the gaze of that monster, it would be better to simply lie flat and, by borrowing Keizumi's hand, completely cut away the rotten flesh from Kirigakure's body.
"This is the only way..." Mei nodded helplessly, then looked somewhat embarrassedly at the stooped Genji. "Ao has already gone to gather the ninja remaining in the village. Are you still able to move around right now?"
If Mei had been given another ten years, she believed that she could have relied entirely on her own strength and achievements to sit firmly upon the seat of the Fifth Mizukage.
Unfortunately, her foundations were still too shallow. Even with the support of an elite jōnin like Ao, she still had quite a long way to go before becoming Mizukage.
Under normal circumstances, Genji should have temporarily acted as Mizukage, and only when the time was right would she have taken on the name of Mizukage.
But Mei did not have time to wait, and Kirigakure was in urgent need of a Mizukage to take charge of the overall situation, so they could only place their hopes in obtaining Genji's endorsement.
"...Let Gonbee take this old man's token and make the trip instead." Genji took out a string of prayer beads from his pocket and handed it to Mei. With Mei's strength, plus his support, even the most stubborn hardliners in the village would presumably have nothing to say.
"Please leave it to me." Mei revealed a somewhat strained smile, then strode out and tossed the prayer beads to the guard standing outside the door. "Jōnin Gonbee, Genji wants you to come with me."
"I understand. Please wait a moment." After catching the prayer beads, Gonbee first checked whether they were genuine, then walked into the Buddhist hall and respectfully dropped to one knee before Genji. "Please give your orders."
"Gonbee, I have already decided to support Terumī Mei in becoming the Fifth Mizukage. Take my token and go bear witness." Genji spoke slowly. "You must remember this: only Terumī Mei... no, only the Fifth Mizukage—only she can save Kirigakure! So please trust her. If anyone refuses to accept it, tell her that this old man unconditionally approves any order given by the Fifth Mizukage!"
Gonbee raised his head in disbelief, unable to believe that Genji would give Terumī Mei such astonishing support. Even when Yagura became the Fourth Mizukage back then, Genji had merely expressed his support in a simple manner. Not only had he never given such unconditional endorsement, he had not even taken the initiative to appear in person to let everyone see his support for Yagura.
"Yes!!!" However, out of loyalty to Genji, Gonbee accepted the order without the slightest hesitation. At the same time, he warned himself in his heart that he must change his previous attitude toward Terumī Mei, since she had already obtained Genji's full support.
As Genji's most loyal confidant, Gonbee would only unconditionally obey Genji's orders.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Fifth Mizukage." When Gonbee saw Mei again after receiving Genji's instructions, his attitude had already changed from his earlier strictly businesslike manner to the respectful posture of a subordinate facing a superior.
Although it was still far from the level of reverence he showed toward Genji, for an elite jōnin—one of the few in the village—such a posture was already enough to explain everything.
"Let's go." Mei truly had neither the time nor the energy to exchange pleasantries with Gonbee. She simply nodded and ran toward the village, with Gonbee quickly following behind.
While Mei was securing Genji's support, Ao on the other side had failed to persuade the village's ninja as planned. The moderates—or rather, the reformists—led by him remained in a tense standoff with the conservatives led by Kukurin.
What was worse, as more and more ninja received the message and returned to the village, the number of conservative ninja standing behind Kukurin also continued to increase.
Just as Keizumi had judged, the tragedy of the "Village of Bloody Mist" was indeed inseparable from Obito. However, without the cruel and bloodthirsty atmosphere of the Land of Water and of Kirigakure itself, it would not have produced such a large group of brutal and bloodthirsty murderers.
In the past, these people had all gathered around Yagura, who had been controlled by Obito. Even when carrying out missions, they rarely left the vicinity of the village, so naturally the ninja who returned first were mainly those from the conservative faction.
By contrast, reformists like Terumī Mei and Ao had never been well regarded in Kirigakure in the past. Most of their people had been stationed on the outer islands for defense, so even after receiving the message, it would still take them quite some time to return.