Chapter 156 Reading Comprehension of Mei Terumi
"Left, turn right at the next intersection." Uchiha Touhuan's shadow clone wandered around the small town, with Tobi pointing the way in his ear.
Soon, the disguised Uchiha Touhuan arrived at the rebel stronghold.
"Lord Touhuan, the code is that he says the water is clear, and you will cleanse the filth." Tobi whispered in his ear.
Under Tobi's guidance, Uchiha Touhuan easily infiltrated the Village Hidden in the Mist rebel stronghold.
"Captain Satake." After entering the underground stronghold, rebel members greeted the disguised Uchiha Touhuan one by one.
Uchiha Touhuan nodded to them in turn, and then asked, "Is the leader in?"
"The leader is in his office." The civilian staff in the stronghold replied.
Uchiha Touhuan nodded, then found Mei Terumi's office in the stronghold and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Mei Terumi's voice rang out from inside the office.
When Uchiha Touhuan entered, he noticed that compared to their last meeting, Terumi Mei's pretty face now wore a deep weariness, with noticeable dark circles under her eyes. Her desk was covered with papers densely packed with writing. Uchiha Touhuan glanced at
the papers out of the corner of his eye and saw that they detailed his actions in Konoha, with Terumi Mei's own interpretations of his methods written below in delicate handwriting.
In that short glance, Uchiha Touhuan gleaned a great deal. Some of the woman's assumptions about his intentions were correct, some were wrong, and some were simply overthinking.
For example, when Uchiha Touhuan entertained Genma Shiranui and other former subordinates of the Fourth Hokage, the menu used was the traditional menu from the Fourth Hokage's era. Mei Terumi thought that Uchiha Touhuan did this to evoke their nostalgia for the Fourth Hokage and thus unite them around his ally Kakashi. But to be honest, if he hadn't seen this information today, Uchiha Touhuan wouldn't even have known that the menu that day had such a significance.
Uchiha Touhuan shook his head imperceptibly. Mei Terumi was currently acting like a high school student engrossed in reading comprehension, but this woman probably hadn't realized that she was engaged in a rebellion, and simply following the script wouldn't get anything done.
"Hmm? Jonin Satake?" Mei Terumi looked up at the person Uchiha Touhuan was disguised as and asked, "Is there something you need?"
"It's nothing particularly important, but I'm planning to request that we add a few more missions to our squad. We've been feeling a bit too idle lately," Uchiha Touhuan said.
"Jonin Satake, I understand your desire to contribute to the organization, but our current scale of operations is already quite large. If we increase the workload further, Kirigakure will definitely notice," Mei Terumi said.
Touhuan Uchiha's lips twitched. *Girls, you guys were already discovered a long time ago!* If it weren't for wanting Kirigakure to continue its chaos, you wouldn't have had the chance to establish this base here.
"I understand," Touhuan Uchiha nodded, then looked openly at the things on Mei Terumi's table and asked, "Boss, what are you studying?"
"Heh, studying our village's greatest enemy, Uchiha Touhuan," Mei Terumi said, gritting her teeth.
Uchiha Touhuan: ...
This disciple of mine doesn't seem so friendly to me.
"Jonin Satake, what do you think of the current Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Uchiha Touhuan?" Mei Terumi suddenly asked.
"Uchiha Touhuan?" Uchiha Touhuan, disguised, feigned righteous indignation. "Of course I hate him to the bone. He killed so many of our comrades in the Third Shinobi World War, even my childhood friend died at his hands. I only regret that I am not strong enough to kill him with my own hands!"
Uchiha Touhuan easily portrayed the resentment and helplessness of a middle-aged man burdened with blood feuds but unable to avenge them due to his lack of strength. This acting skills impressed Tobi, who was possessing him and helping him disguise himself. As expected of Lord Touhuan, his acting skills are truly flawless!
But what Tobi didn't know was that this kind of acting skills that some people in his previous life longed for were just the most basic skills for politicians.
As expected, Mei Terumi was speechless for a moment when she saw Uchiha Touhuan's anger. After a while, she comforted him, saying, "Jonin Satake, I understand your feelings. As a Kirigakure ninja, I also hate Uchiha Touhuan. However, I also feel that some of his methods are exactly what we urgently need to learn right now." "
During this time, I've gathered a lot of information about him from the end of the Third Shinobi World War until he became the Fifth Hokage of Konoha. Many of our spies have fallen in Konoha because of this. But after reading this information, I have to admit that perhaps only by learning his methods can Kirigakure escape its current predicament." Mei Terumi sighed and said, "It's ridiculous, isn't it? We want to make the village better, but we have to learn the methods of our greatest enemy."
"No, Leader, if this is for Kirigakure, then it's all worth it," Uchiha Touhuan said, feigning emotion.
"However, I still can't understand the deeper meaning behind many of Uchiha Touhuan's actions." Mei Terumi said with a relieved smile, seeing that the person before her could understand her.
Uchiha Touhuan actually wanted to say that most of his actions didn't really have any deeper meaning, and that Mei Terumi's continued speculation would be pointless and would only lead her into a vicious cycle.
"Uh, then, leader, what should we do now?" Uchiha Touhuan asked.
"Our new Will of Water slogan is already spreading throughout the Land of Water. Many ambitious individuals who realize the village's problems are willing to join us. I think it won't be long before, with the ninja survivors I've recruited using methods I've learned from Uchiha Touhuan, we can soon launch a decisive attack back into Kirigakure and oust Yagura Karatachi." Mei Terumi said hopefully.
Uchiha Touhuan: …
Uchiha Touhuan sighed inwardly. This woman's method of learning from him through intelligence analysis and speculation only yielded superficial results.
Is winning over civilians and surviving ninja important to the current Kirigakure resistance organization? Yes, it is, but this woman seems completely oblivious to something even more crucial: securing a claim to power!
How can they directly confront the Fourth Mizukage at this juncture? If Uchiha Touhuan were in Mei Terumi's position, his first act would be to declare within the Land of Water that the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had been misled by treacherous officials, and that the actions of the patriots of the Land of Water were in honor of the Kage and an attempt to punish the traitors. After all, both are rebellions, but "purging the court of corrupt officials" and openly declaring rebellion are entirely different in name.
Frankly, if Uchiha Touhuan were to control Yagura Karatachi and forcefully declare this, he could immediately define these people as rebels. At that point, no matter how loud their slogans, it would be useless.
Didn't Uchiha Touhuan properly bow to Hiruzen Sarutobi before his coup?
What Mei Terumi and her group should be doing now is extricating Yagura Karatachi from the Blood Mist policy, then shifting the blame for the Blood Mist Village onto a corrupt high-ranking official in Village Hidden in the Mist. This person would be responsible for misleading the Fourth Mizukage, solidifying the claim of "purging the court of corrupt officials." This way, no matter what Yagura says, they can explain it away by claiming the Mizukage is controlled by treacherous ministers.
This way, once they actually oust Yagura, power in Village Hidden in the Mist can transition peacefully. This is why Touhuan Uchiha shifted all the blame onto Touhuan.
However, Touhuan Uchiha won't directly force Yagura Karatachi to declare them rebels. Touhuan Uchiha wants a Water Country completely plunged into chaos. Labeling them rebels would certainly increase the difficulty of their rebellion, but it wouldn't actually affect the Fourth Mizukage's downfall.
Given the current situation in Kirigakure, the people have been pushed to their limits by Obito's hastily implemented "Bloody Mist Village" policy. Even without Mei Terumi, countless people who could no longer tolerate this policy would rise up and overthrow it.
At that point, after undergoing a baptism of blood, Village Hidden in the Mist would be more likely to truly unite.
This is something Uchiha Touhuan doesn't want to see. Village Hidden in the Mist's geographical advantage is too great; they have the ocean as a natural barrier.
Once they resolve their internal problems and a leader with even a modicum of intelligence emerges, if they truly grasp the essence of offshore balance, the pressure on the Land of Fire (which is located on the mainland and has to confront two and a half major powers head-on) would be immense (the other half being the Land of Wind).
Therefore, for Uchiha Touhuan, the more chaotic the Land of Water, the better. Thus, Uchiha Touhuan doesn't mind giving Mei Terumi a little guidance.
After all, Uchiha Touhuan's past life had taught him that, compared to incompetent and mediocre leaders, those half-baked leaders who knew little but could do a lot more harm than good.
"That's wonderful, Chief! I believe we will succeed. Once you become the Fifth Mizukage, I believe the village will emerge from its past gloom under your leadership," Uchiha Touhuan said excitedly.
"Satake, actually, who becomes the Fifth Mizukage isn't important. I only hope the village can become better," Terumi Mei said with a sigh.
Uchiha Touhuan: ...
Uchiha Touhuan almost laughed at this woman.
Although the person who previously held this identity wasn't in a particularly high position within this resistance organization—just a peripheral figure in the decision-making hierarchy—even a peripheral figure in the decision-making hierarchy was still a member of the leadership, your confidant! Everyone's risking their lives for you.
It's fine for you to say these things to your subordinates, but you don't even dare openly express your ambition to become the Fifth Mizukage in front of your trusted confidants. What, you yourself think you can't succeed?
Satake Masato's position, if converted to the Isshin-kai of Konoha, would be roughly equivalent to Nagai Seiichi, the current captain of the Jonin team. When Uchiha Touhuan met with the Isshin-kai in private, he never hid his ambition to become the Fifth Hokage. As a leader, if you can't constantly instill confidence in your subordinates, their morale will eventually crumble. After all, they're risking their lives for you.
In other words, only when the leader has a clear goal will the subordinates understand the tangible benefits of success and have the motivation to fight desperately.
Uchiha Touhuan secretly rubbed his forehead. At first, he thought that since Terumi Mei was studying his behavior so carefully, she must have learned something. He thought he might have to put in some effort to lead her astray. But now it seemed he didn't need to deliberately guide her at all. He just needed to let this woman figure things out on her own, and then encourage her at crucial moments, allowing her to fully utilize her initiative. The situation in the Land of Water would naturally develop in the direction he wanted.
"The leader is righteous!" So, Uchiha Touhuan, still in disguise, simply bowed and said.
"Jonin Satake, please don't say that." Terumi Mei stood up and helped Uchiha Touhuan up, then said, "The future of the Land of Water and Kirigakure still requires our joint efforts!"
"Yes! I have always believed that under the leader's leadership, we will create a brand new future for the village." Uchiha Touhuan said meaningfully.
...
After leaving the base, Uchiha Touhuan returned to the small house he had been in before. The White Zetsu also released itself from Uchiha Touhuan's shadow clone.
"How was it? Any gains?" Black Zetsu asked hastily upon seeing Uchiha Touhuan return.
"A great harvest," Uchiha Touhuan smiled. "The Hidden Mist Village has finally found the perfect Kage."
"You mean that little girl, Mei Terumi?" Black Zetsu asked, puzzled.
"That's right," Uchiha Touhuan said with a meaningful smile.
"So, what do we do next?" Black Zetsu asked curiously.
"Increase the pressure on Yagura's side, ideally forcing anyone in the Hidden Mist Village with even a little strength to join the resistance," Uchiha Touhuan said coldly.
"Why?" Black Zetsu didn't understand Uchiha Touhuan's actions. Wasn't this aiding the enemy? He had invested considerable effort in maintaining Yagura as a pawn over the years.
"This current resistance is essentially a giant bomb. Those who join are the gunpowder, and their half-baked leader is the fuse. Since this bomb will explode sooner or later, the more gunpowder we have, the better," Uchiha Touhuan said with a smile.
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(End of this chapter)