Land of Water.
The Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage Building conference room.
The usual faint smile of the Third Mizukage was gone, replaced by a slightly cold seriousness.
"Five members of the Seven-Swords Ninja plus one Minazuki Kan, so much strength has been lost, yet not even one of Konoha's geniuses was killed. Have I been too lenient with Yagura, allowing such a significant strategic failure?"
The Third Mizukage slapped the information that was sent over onto the conference table with a cold expression.
The conference room was silent; no one responded, and not a sound was made.
This time, the Hidden Mist Squad on the east coast indeed suffered considerable losses, and no one wanted to provoke the anger of the Third Mizukage by speaking for Karatachi Yagura.
About a minute and a half later, the Third Mizukage scanned all the Hidden Mist high-level officials with his eyes.
At this moment, the advisor sitting to the right of the Third Mizukage spoke, "Yagura did make mistakes, but the failures on the battlefield can't all be attributed to him. After all, no one expected that Konoha still had a strong figure who mastered the Flying Thunder God technique hidden."
"Whether it's Konoha or Habu Mokgetsu himself, they hid too well," the advisor lamented.
Logically speaking, ninjas with a Kekkei Genkai are the hardest to hide, as they are extremely rare in the Ninja World, and those with a bit of strength usually make a name for themselves.
That's the outrageous point about Mokgetsu. He not only has the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai but also mastered the rare Time-Space Secret Technique like the Flying Thunder God, yet he's remained relatively unknown.
According to the level Mokgetsu demonstrated, either ability alone should have made Mokgetsu an object of attention.
However, Hidden Mist only discovered Mokgetsu's Flying Thunder God information after significant effort. In the battle where Minazuki Kan was killed, not even a trace was left because Mokgetsu not only took away the corpses of key figures but also destroyed the bodies of other ninjas, leaving Hidden Mist with no leads initially.
"Actually, Yagura has already worked hard to make amends. If Yagura hadn't made adjustments in time, our forces might have suffered even greater losses." After talking about Mokgetsu's insidiousness, the advisor pointed out Yagura's efforts.
It's not that the Hidden Mist Ninja aren't competent, it's just that the Konoha Ninja were simply too cunning.
"That's what he should do as the unit commander." The Third Mizukage's expression softened slightly but still carried a cold undertone.
Seeing this, the advisor nodded internally. This rebuke of Karatachi Yagura was a performance for the Third Mizukage.
Although the Third Mizukage appeared very angry, the advisor knew he was just putting on a show. After all, Hidden Mist indeed suffered significant losses, and if the Third Mizukage didn't scold, it would be up to other high-ups to discuss how to punish Karatachi Yagura.
Now that the Third Mizukage had finished scolding and seemed temporarily appeased, it wasn't appropriate for other high-ups to continue harping on Karatachi Yagura's mistakes.
If the Third Mizukage was truly disappointed with Karatachi Yagura, it wouldn't be as simple as scolding a few words.
Seeing this, the advisor stood up to speak on behalf of Karatachi Yagura. Although he had a favorable view of Yagura, he wouldn't go as far as to clash with the Third Mizukage for him.
It's not that the advisor feared the Third Mizukage; with his status, there's no reason. Before the Third Mizukage became Mizukage, the advisor was already an elder of the Hidden Mist Village.
The advisor was concerned about signaling to the Third Mizukage that he wanted to interfere in the selection of the Fourth Mizukage.
If such issues led to internal turmoil in Hidden Mist, that was a situation the advisor didn't want to see.
"Now Yagura wants the village to bolster forces and continue to confront the Konoha Squad. What are your opinions on this?" The Third Mizukage asked, looking at the high-level officials of the Hidden Mist.
The Third Mizukage was inclined towards Karatachi Yagura's idea of continuing to deplete Konoha's strength and engage in attrition. However, given Yagura's recent defeat, it wasn't appropriate to make a unilateral decision, as it would seem too autocratic.
"I think it's feasible. The stronger Konoha appears, the more other Ninja Villages fear Konoha. With such a powerful Konoha, even if other Ninja Villages vie with each other, they will be more cautious, wary of the powerful Konoha." The captain of the Hidden Mist Jonin Squad thought for a moment and said.
The Three Great Ninja Villages aren't united in attacking Konoha. For instance, Hidden Cloud is at war with Konoha, Hidden Rock, and Hidden Sand at this moment.
Therefore, the captain of the Hidden Mist Jonin Squad agreed with Karatachi Yagura's overall plan, viewing it as a great opportunity for Hidden Mist to rise in prominence, defeat Konoha, and reach unprecedented heights, gaining massive fame and fortune.
"Continuing the battle is fine, but in the current situation, only by deploying the Jinchuriki to the battlefield as a trump card can we defeat the Konoha Ninja Squad," one of the Hidden Mist high-ups, whose lower face was wrapped in bandages, said in a deep voice.
In fact, having the Third Mizukage personally enter the battlefield would be more effective, but as the leader of the Ninja Village, the Third Mizukage can't casually take to the battlefield.
Besides, it's somewhat rebellious for an advisor to actively suggest the Mizukage go to war.
"Jinchuriki..." The Third Mizukage fell into contemplation.
In Hidden Mist Village, there are two Tailed Beasts: one is the Three-tails, and the other is the Six-tails. Currently, both Jinchuriki's states aren't very good, especially the Three-tailed Jinchuriki.
...
[The disciple Uchiha Obito's strength has increased, reputation has risen, experience has accumulated, slightly increasing the probability of becoming Hokage, gained progress reward — Chakra＋1500, Fire Attribute Skill Extraction Scroll·S (Master Level), Fire Attribute Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll]
[Fire Attribute Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll: Can elevate any already mastered Fire Release Ninjutsu to Master Level. If the ninjutsu is already at Master Level, it converts to a three-thousand-point proficiency boost]