Such an enormous upheaval had occurred inside Kirigakure, and it had caused such a grand commotion. Naturally, there was no way the news could be concealed.
Almost the next morning, the Third Mizukage's resignation letter and the secret report regarding the upheaval within Kirigakure were delivered together to the Daimyo of the Land of Water.
Submitted alongside them was a petition to grant the position of Fourth Mizukage to Kirigakure jonin Rei Kaguya.
For something like this to happen in the Land of Water, a nation whose economy was deeply tied to Kirigakure's mercenary work and war activity, the Daimyo of the Land of Water naturally could not simply sit by and ignore it.
And so, by the afternoon of the next day, the Daimyo of the Land of Water's carriage appeared in Kirigakure.
Together with Kirigakure's other authority holder, the Elder Genji, he met the Third Mizukage and the other central figure in the intelligence report, Rei Kaguya.
"…That is roughly how things happened."
The Third Mizukage ended his explanation regarding the causes and consequences of his resignation. His mouth dry, he picked up the strong tea beside him and drank.
After hearing his statement, the Daimyo of the Land of Water and Genji looked at each other. Both saw the same strange expression on the other's face.
It was disbelief.
And yet they had no choice but to accept it.
"Such an absurd thing actually happened right under our eyes…"
"Even with Lord Third personally explaining it, I still find it very difficult to believe this is real."
Facing the sighs of Genji and the Daimyo of the Land of Water, the Third Mizukage smiled bitterly. He looked down at his hands, which now clearly showed wrinkles and age spots, and sighed from the heart.
"I also do not want to believe that something happened which trampled both my own dignity and Kirigakure's face into the dirt… But since it has already happened, we have no choice but to face the many consequences this matter has caused."
The Daimyo of the Land of Water fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at Rei Kaguya, who was flipping through various pieces of classified intelligence that originally only the Third Mizukage could access. Hesitantly, he asked,
"But entrusting the future of both the village and the Land of Water to such a young man… would that not be a little too much of an overcorrection?"
"I-I am not saying there is anything wrong with letting a young Mizukage lead Kirigakure. It is just that I am somewhat worried. Young people may not have experienced enough and could perhaps act too impulsively in matters that could originally be maneuvered around…"
"Impulsive?"
The Third Mizukage glanced at Rei Kaguya beside him, then shook his head with a somewhat odd expression.
"Personally, I believe that although Rei-kun does sometimes behave rather impulsively… his strength is already enough to provide sufficient support and capital for his impulsiveness and willfulness in most situations."
"That is true. Judging from Rei-kun's performance on the battlefield, his strength has already surpassed every previous Mizukage in all aspects. And he is still so young, with more than enough time to grow and learn…"
The elderly Genji nodded and agreed.
"Moreover, according to the ideals passed down from Byakuren's era, Rei-kun, who has become the village's new strongest shinobi, should indeed replace Lord Third and become the new Mizukage."
"Don't make it sound like I'm some brat who doesn't know the height of the heavens just because I have a little strength."
Rei Kaguya organized the information he would need next, then looked up at the two old men who could provide the necessary legitimacy for his position as Mizukage.
"We can put the topic of the Mizukage aside for now. After all, there are still plenty of related ceremonies and procedures to go through. The most important thing right now is ending our war with Konoha."
"Ending the war?"
The Daimyo of the Land of Water anxiously pressed his fingers together, then looked at Rei Kaguya and asked in a small voice,
"Um, may I ask you a question, Rei Kaguya?"
"Please speak directly, Lord Daimyo."
Rei Kaguya nodded, signaling for him to ask whatever he wanted.
"Your strength… can it defeat the strongest shinobi of Konoha in the Land of Fire?"
The Daimyo of the Land of Water took a deep breath and asked the question he cared about most.
"If we do not consider the possibility of them being driven into a corner and using the forbidden Impure World Reincarnation, then it should be roughly nine to one."
Rei Kaguya roughly estimated the strongest lineup Konoha could currently produce and answered calmly,
"If I were fighting all of Konoha's experts alone, I would be the nine, and they would be the one."
"Then why should we take the initiative to end the war with Konoha?"
When the Daimyo of the Land of Water heard this answer, which far exceeded his expectations, he asked in complete confusion,
"As long as you can kill Konoha's higher-ups, we should be able to quickly collapse the will of Konoha's ninja to resist and turn the entire Land of Fire into our territory, yes?"
"That brings us to some of the problems Lord Third left behind after being controlled by genjutsu."
Rei Kaguya spread out a scroll in his hand and pointed at the numbers on it.
"As of before we officially went to war with Konoha, Kirigakure had a cumulative total of 3,964 ninja with their own ninja registration numbers. Fifteen years ago, that number was 3,157."
"Kirigakure did not participate in the Second Shinobi World War. In other words, during more than ten long years without war, the number of new ninja Kirigakure added was not even one thousand.
"After excluding shinobi who died on missions and those who retired due to injury, illness, age, or personal reasons, the number of active ninja Kirigakure could mobilize before the war was at most around two thousand."
"T-Two thousand?"
The Daimyo of the Land of Water revealed a shocked expression.
"Only that many?"
"Right now, there are probably only around thirteen or fourteen hundred left."
Rei Kaguya sighed, took out another intelligence scroll, and said in a low voice,
"The number of medical-nin Kirigakure currently possesses is only fifty. Among them, two are jonin, nine are chunin, and the rest are genin who have only just entered the field… Under the premise that some must remain in the village, the number of medical-nin who could head to the front line was only thirty… Thirty medical-nin placed on such a large battlefield. How many people could they possibly save?"
The Third Mizukage lowered his head.
Genji shook his head and turned his gaze away.
Even the Daimyo of the Land of Water, who had previously wanted to persuade Rei Kaguya to continue the war, was completely unable to speak in the face of these unbearable numbers.
"Our national strength… has already declined to this extent?"
"That's right."
Rei Kaguya spread his hands and said with frustration and helplessness,
"In this situation, even if I alone can blow up the entire Konoha Village, we do not have enough ninja to take over the foundation Konoha leaves behind.
"If we insist on taking into account both the benefits of the Land of Fire and the Land of Water at the same time, then we can only expand our ninja recruitment without limit, disregarding origins and seizing every talented child in sight to train them as shinobi.
"In that process, how many spies and scouts from other villages would slip in? How many Konoha remnants with revenge in their hearts would lurk among them? And what would happen to the lands under our rule after they and those missing-nin ravage them? I should not need to spell it out, right?"
The Daimyo of the Land of Water nodded stiffly.
"Likewise, if we defeat Konoha but do not take over the Land of Fire, then we would simply be making wedding clothes for Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure. We would be handing them a gift that allows them to grow even stronger for nothing."
Rei Kaguya clapped his hands together and concluded,
"So we must now make peace with Konoha and stop this war, which can no longer bring either side any further benefit. Then we must shift all our energy to domestic construction and reform.
"While reforming the Ninja Academy and Kirigakure's industries, clans with Kekkei Genkai or special secret techniques, such as the Hozuki, Terumi, Kaguya, and Yuki clans, will all work hard to have children! Without enough shinobi loyal to Kirigakure, am I supposed to rely on myself alone to rule the entire shinobi world?"
"Um, Rei-kun?"
The Third Mizukage opened his eyes and asked cautiously,
"Did you not also capture a genius from the Uchiha clan? Are you not considering leaving behind his bloodline? Or are you planning to return him as a bargaining chip for peace talks with Konoha?"
"I will definitely leave behind and begin researching the Uchiha bloodline, but…"
Rei Kaguya stared speechlessly at the Third Mizukage.
"That brat Shisui is only nine years old. Even if I drug him, would he even have that ability?"
"Y-Yes, that is true…"
Just as the Third Mizukage was feeling awkward over his brainless remark, an Anbu responsible for security suddenly pushed the door open and entered. He spoke to the four people inside.
"Lord Third, Lord Rei, good news! Jonin Ao's squad captured a careless Hyuga clan ninja on the battlefield and successfully brought him back to the village!"
A Hyuga clan ninja?
Captured alive?
And brought back to the village?
Rei Kaguya and the Third Mizukage exchanged a glance, then asked the Anbu who had come to report in unison,
"What gender!? How old!?"
"Ah? Ah?"
The Anbu being questioned froze for a moment, then said somewhat helplessly,
"M-Male. Less than twenty years old, I think… Is that very important intelligence?"
"Very important. Extremely important."
Rei Kaguya lightly tapped the documents on his desk with his finger and answered in a pleasant mood.