Fuguki Suikazan and Jinin Akebino stood side by side.
Both had their heads bowed and their waists slightly bent, completely lacking the overbearing arrogance they displayed when facing other Mist ninja.
Because at this moment, the person standing before them held an extremely high status in the Mist Village.
Mist Village Elder, Genji.
Second only to the Third Mizukage.
To make an analogy, he was like Chiyo of the Sand, Danzo of Konoha, or B of the AB duo in the Cloud.
In fact, his status was even slightly higher than these people.
After all, Chiyo had long been in a "retired" state.
Danzo proclaimed himself the second man of Konoha, but he never received acknowledgment from others. And now, even Root had been snatched away by Homura Mitokado, albeit only in name.
As for B in the Cloud Village, he was still too young.
"Elder Genji!"
Genji glanced at the two.
"Lord Mizukage is extremely dissatisfied with the progress on the front lines."
"The strength of our Hidden Mist Village is much greater than that of the Hidden Sand. Defeating the Hidden Sand shouldn't have been delayed for so long. Right now, I don't want to hear your explanations. I will only ask you one thing."
"How long exactly will it take to crush the Hidden Sand?"
Fuguki Suikazan spoke first.
"Elder Genji, if we disregard costs and attack with full force, we only need one month. Our Mist army will definitely be able to reach the gates of the Sand Village."
Jinin Akebino huffed.
"Elder Genji, if I lead the team, I don't need a month. In twenty days, I can completely crush the Sand Village."
Fuguki Suikazan glanced at Jinin Akebino, gritted his teeth, and said, "Elder Genji, I only need half a month."
Ever since the Mist Village's request for the Sand to sell out Pakura in exchange for a ceasefire was rejected, Fuguki Suikazan felt that he had fallen into a streak of bad luck.
The Sand Village had clearly shown signs of agreeing, but suddenly, they firmly rejected it.
This made Fuguki feel like he had been played.
In his rage, he had assembled the ninja army and launched a fierce offensive against the Sand Village.
At the start, they indeed achieved very good combat results.
Pushing the Sand army back again and again.
To reduce the Mist's losses while crushing the Sand, Fuguki Suikazan had also seen through Konoha's intentions. Thus, he slowed the offensive, hoping to force Konoha to intervene.
But unexpectedly, Konoha had much more patience than he did.
They just wouldn't act.
Both sides were waiting.
But as they waited, things went wrong.
A major problem suddenly erupted within Konoha.
With the emergence of rumors about Kagami Uchiha, the Uchiha clan actually went down the path of rebellion. The rebellion didn't succeed, but it forced Konoha to withdraw its ninja from this front.
This meant that it was now impossible for the Mist Village to receive assistance from Konoha.
It was equivalent to waiting for nothing during this period.
Fuguki Suikazan cursed Konoha for being useless.
Meanwhile, to make up for the lost progress, he contacted a traitor from the Sand Village.
He prepared for a long, long time to target Pakura, expending a considerable amount of energy on an ambush plan.
But just as the ambush was about to succeed, Gengetsu Hozuki directly caused his plan to fall short of success.
Not only did he fail to kill Pakura, but the Mist Village also lost quite a few elite ninja.
This failure led to his command position being split in half.
Given to Jinin Akebino.
But Fuguki Suikazan looked down on Jinin Akebino.
In Fuguki's eyes, Jinin was too mediocre.
Fuguki felt that as long as he performed normally, taking back full command was only a matter of time.
But Fuguki never expected that while he was wholeheartedly preparing to deal a heavy blow to the Sand army, Jinin Akebino would be plotting to kill him from behind.
If his wife hadn't had a precognitive dream beforehand and seen the future, he probably would have been dead by now.
This forced Fuguki to stop again.
But just for stopping this once, the Mist Village directly stripped him of his title as commander.
Fuguki knew that this time, if he didn't work hard to perform, let alone advancing, he might not even have a share in the future high-level positions of the Mist Village.
Not to mention touching the position of Mizukage.
"Lord Third is too cold-blooded."
"He doesn't care about past relationships at all."
Resentment toward the Third Mizukage grew in Fuguki's heart.
He worked so hard and did so much for the Mist Village, yet now, just because he didn't do one tiny thing well—and for justifiable reasons—he suffered such severe punishment.
This was unfair.
Jinin Akebino also felt it was unfair.
Clearly, he had done nothing wrong; it was Fuguki Suikazan who was at fault, yet he received the same punishment.
"Half a month..."
Genji looked at Fuguki Suikazan.
"Tell me your plan. The position of commander will be held by Hozuki Mangetsu, but Hozuki Mangetsu will only be responsible for leading the ninja army in the charge. If your plan is good, I will make your contribution known to Lord Mizukage."
"The village will not be stingy toward any meritorious official."
Receiving Genji's guarantee, Fuguki Suikazan's eyes lit up.
"Elder Genji, my idea is this..."
Fuguki didn't speak quickly. Not only was he not fast, but he was also excessively detailed. As he spoke, he took out a map of the battlefield and conducted a simulation on it.
Fuguki had been thinking about these details in his head for a long time.
He had taken all the details into account.
It could be said that with this plan, Hozuki Mangetsu didn't need to do anything. Just by strictly following the plan's operations, they could achieve the result of defeating the Sand army.
Crushing the Sand Village would only be a matter of time.
Genji smiled and nodded.
"Not bad, Fuguki. I indeed didn't misjudge you."
"Your talent is above mine."
"Let's proceed according to your plan."
Receiving Genji's praise, Fuguki Suikazan couldn't help but reveal a smile.
Beside him, Jinin Akebino's eyes flickered uncertainly.
Even though he wasn't convinced by Fuguki Suikazan, Jinin had to admit that he couldn't come up with such a plan.
But Jinin offered a suggestion.
"Elder Genji, I don't think we need to wait until tomorrow as Fuguki said. We can start tonight."
Genji hesitated slightly.
Fuguki Suikazan said, "Tonight is too rushed. There isn't enough time."
Genji glanced at Jinin Akebino.
"Let's start tomorrow."
Then, he looked at Hozuki Mangetsu.
"Hozuki Mangetsu."
Hozuki Mangetsu stepped forward, carrying the Hiramekarei.
"Elder Genji."
"You are clear on your mission, yes?"
Hozuki Mangetsu nodded.
"Clear. I will charge at the very front. Whoever blocks me, I will kill!"
Genji nodded and added.
"As for Pakura..."
Fuguki Suikazan said, "Leave her to me and Juzo Biwa. The two of us are enough to pin Pakura down. Apart from Pakura, the Sand Village has no one else who can step up."
"Tomorrow, the Hidden Sand will surely fall!"