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Again, the smoke of cooking fires rose, the twilight illuminated the land…
But it wasn't cooking smoke. The Hidden Mist Village, true to its name, was always shrouded in a mist that was sometimes thick and sometimes thin.
As dusk approached, and the sky was gradually losing its light, under the watchful eyes of Mei Terumī's squad, Konoha's envoy, the renowned ninja, Shiraishi Haori, finally arrived at the Hidden Mist Village.
"Another fortified village…"
This was Haori's first impression of the Hidden Mist. The ability to wage war was undoubtedly the biggest task and function of ninjas and ninja villages. This was naturally reflected in how the villages were built.
Although every village was different, they all basically placed a high value on defense. Among the Five Great Shinobi Countries, only Konoha seemed to have been established on a vast plain with no natural defenses.
A long time ago, Konoha had indeed had that kind of confidence. After all, they had several ninjas in their village who could take down a whole village by themselves.
The Hidden Mist was built among rugged mountains, forming a ring around the foot of the mountains. The architectural style was mostly vertical, cylindrical buildings. These buildings were built at different heights based on the terrain, with stone walls surrounding key areas. The village's entrance was a giant culvert.
Relying on the walls to prevent enemies from infiltrating was impossible. The key was the protective barriers that were set up layer by layer, using the walls as a reference point – various kinds of barriers were standard equipment for every ninja village, whether it was one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries or a smaller ninja village.
Speaking of which, Haori was definitely the kind of ninja who was incredibly good at sneaking around. He had only been involved in the Shinobi World War for a few years, and he had already snuck around all the Five Great Shinobi Countries except for Kumogakure.
As for Kumogakure, he hadn't been there, but he had left an unforgettable impression on them in the Land of Lightning… If all the ninja villages could exchange information about the "White Fang," they would find that it was better to call him the "Shit Stirrer." No matter where something big happened, there was always this Konoha ninja around.
Because Haori had secretly arrived at the Hidden Mist, he didn't choose to enter the village from the front. Instead, he chose a hidden entrance.
There, Mei Terumī opened the barrier, and the five of them entered the Hidden Mist.
"You've arrived at the Hidden Mist. Now you can hand over the Hokage's letter."
After entering the Hidden Mist, Mei Terumī's group wouldn't naturally take Haori, an enemy national, wandering around. They took him directly to a certain building.
After reaching this first destination, Mei Terumī turned around and said this directly.
Haori blinked at her request. Was she treating him like a fool, or was she the fool? If he were to hand over the Hokage's letter like that, he could have just given it to them when they first met. Why would he go all the way to the enemy's lair, risking his life?
"My mission is to meet the Mizukage, and then hand over the Hokage's letter."
Haori repeated his mission. No matter what, he needed to see the Mizukage. Want to take it from him?
What level of official was Mei Terumī? If she wasn't the village leader, she wouldn't have the authority to see the Hokage's letter. It had the Fire Country Daimyō's seal on it.
Because of the special seal, Haori didn't know what was written on the letter. Theoretically, it could have said that Kirigakure could freely kill the White Fang.
But Haori was confident about this. He wouldn't suffer the same fate as Yashamaru.
Mei Terumī clearly clicked her tongue. Haori's answer wasn't unexpected.
Haori ignored her reaction. What good was a sneer? Even if she spat on the ground, he would ignore it. Because her request was unreasonable.
"Then, please rest here for now, Konoha envoy. I will report this to the Third Mizukage immediately. We will decide when the meeting will take place."
The decision seemed a little domineering, but since Haori had entered the Hidden Mist, in Mei Terumī's eyes, he was already a fish on a cutting board. There was clearly no need to forcibly take anything.
Haori didn't have any doubts about her arrangement. He walked directly into the building, not seeming to be worried about any ambush inside. His steps were very confident.
In reality, he was fearless. No matter what the Hidden Mist wanted to do to him, no matter what their attitude was towards him as an envoy, whether he lived or died, they would still have to give him the opportunity to meet the Mizukage.
As a Konoha envoy, he would naturally be restricted in his movements. Not to mention that the arrival of the Konoha envoy was a secret matter. If Haori could move freely in the Hidden Mist, he could gather information more professionally than a professional spy. For example, if he had a few days, he could probably figure out the general situation of the Hidden Mist's barriers. If he had a few more days, he might be able to design a large-scale jutsu to break those barriers.
But that was a matter of technique. If he wanted to violently break the barrier, he could do it now.
...
Three days passed peacefully. During that time, Haori stayed in a certain room, quietly waiting.
Mangetsu Hōzuki and Kisame Hoshigaki guarded the door, and a Byakugan was monitoring from further away – because of Haori's initial actions, they clearly didn't want the Byakugan to be in a place where he could see it or touch it.
Haori expected this. He wasn't pretending to be calm. He was truly calm.
Finally, on the third day, he got the opportunity to meet the Mizukage.
Someone who could become a Kage would definitely not lack the courage to meet an envoy from another ninja village in his own home. Worried about assassination? There were Kirigakure people all around. What was there to worry about? Haori was more worried that they would use a broken cup as a signal.
Under the guidance of Mangetsu and Kisame, Haori arrived at a place in the Hidden Mist that was similar to a ninja assembly hall. He met the rumored, rather mysterious, Third Mizukage.
In this rather spacious indoor area, there were five people in front of Haori. The Mizukage was in the front, slightly forward. The other four were standing on either side of him, slightly behind.
All five of them were in high positions. They could look down at Haori.
"The Mizukage is in the center? The other four are high-level officials like advisors? But… creating this kind of pressure right away?"
Haori didn't care about this kind of thing. He wouldn't be intimidated by their aura.
In his perception, although there were more ninjas in this situation than just the Mizukage plus four advisors, plus Mangetsu and Kisame, seven in total, there were also ninjas guarding them in secret, but the number was still within an acceptable range. It wasn't too exaggerated.
Mei Terumī wasn't here? Actually, she was here, but she was just hidden.
Should he try to assassinate the Mizukage? This thought came and went in an instant.
Unfortunately, in the current situation where they needed to negotiate peace, Konoha couldn't kill the Mizukage. They had to keep him alive. Otherwise, if Kirigakure went crazy, who would make the decision to negotiate peace?
Besides, was this person actually the Mizukage?
Did he really think that the White Fang couldn't see through his lost soul, couldn't guess his eye color?
Haori's perception abilities were sometimes very clumsy, but they could also play a role beyond expectations in certain situations.
And now, certain situations were completely exposed to his perception.
---
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