Mist Village Rogue Ninja?
Sakura couldn't help but complain internally.
Rogue ninjas seemed to have become a specialty of the Mist Village.
Zabuza, Kisame Hoshigaki, Raiga Kurosuki, Jūzō Biwa...
These were all supposed to be the backbone of the Mist Village, yet they had all defected.
As a pale-faced figure walked into the central command tent, Sakura's eyes widened slightly upon seeing this person.
This person was...
Well, well, even the Fifth Mizukage had defected from the Mist Village. Truly, the Mist Village lived up to its reputation as the birthplace of rogue ninjas in the shinobi world.
As Mei Terumī entered the central command tent, everyone's gaze fell upon her.
The moment Mei Terumī saw Jiraiya, the anxiety in her heart finally subsided.
After all, Jiraiya's reputation in the shinobi world was quite formidable. Not only was he renowned among shinobi, but his fame in the literary world was also astonishing.
Even if this guy was wearing a disguise, it couldn't hide him from the intelligence networks of various factions.
"Lord Jiraiya, I am Mei Terumī."
Jiraiya stroked his chin as he looked at the woman before him, his eyes filled with a thoughtful expression.
Due to the Land of Water's isolationist policies, even the Leaf's intelligence network had difficulty penetrating it.
As for this beautiful woman before him, Jiraiya truly had no idea of her identity.
"Hmm, I heard you have some information for me?"
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Mei Terumī nodded and began to slowly explain the current situation in the Mist Village.
"Currently, the Mist Village is under the control of an invisible force."
"They plan to open a two-front war against the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth."
"In order to support the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning."
Mei Terumī's words didn't cause any change in Jiraiya's expression. He calmly asked:
"What about you?"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"What do you gain from telling me this?"
Sakura and Kakashi silently sat to the side, not speaking.
However, Sakura was somewhat surprised. Had Mei Terumī not yet overthrown the Blood Mist reign of the Fourth Mizukage at this point in time?
And it seemed she had already failed?
Hearing this, Mei Terumī let out a bitter laugh, her emerald eyes flashing with a hint of melancholy.
"To be honest."
"Due to the long-term oppressive rule of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, many elite ninjas in the village have already defected."
"However, even so, there are still many who are unwilling to abandon the village."
"But as long as the Fourth Mizukage remains in power, this situation cannot change."
"Therefore, these people spontaneously formed an organization aimed at overthrowing the Fourth Mizukage's rule."
"And I..."
Mei Terumī looked at Jiraiya, her gaze firm yet tinged with sorrow:
"Am their leader."
Jiraiya's face remained unreadable as he scrutinized the person before him:
"It seems your rebellion failed."
Mei Terumī didn't deny this. If they had succeeded, she naturally wouldn't be here.
"They had intelligence on us."
"The day before our rebellion, the Fourth Mizukage personally led a team to dismantle our rebellion before we could even assemble, completely destroying our plans."
"They had a perfect grasp of all our members' identities."
Hearing Mei Terumī's words, Jiraiya sighed slightly:
"It seems there was a traitor among you."
No, it was probably White Zetsu.
Sakura silently吐槽 (complained) in her heart.
"Yes."
Mei Terumī also agreed with Jiraiya's assessment. Otherwise, how could the Fourth Mizukage have accurately targeted each member? Clearly, they had already obtained the list of our members.
"In that case, do you want to use the Leaf's power to help you overthrow the Fourth Mizukage's rule?"
Kakashi suddenly spoke up from the side.
"No."
Mei Terumī turned to look at Kakashi.
"Currently, the entire upper echelon of the Mist Village is controlled by a single force. To overthrow the Fourth Mizukage, we must eliminate them all."
"From the current situation, this is an impossible task."
"They want to help the Wind and Lightning Alliance defeat the Fire and Earth Alliance."
"Regardless of their goals, no matter what the enemy wants to do, stopping them is always the right course of action."
Mei Terumī showed no sense of urgency, despite being alone in what was once an enemy camp. Even though her face was pale and her figure frail, she remained composed.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"
Kakashi's eyelids lowered slightly.
It was somewhat ironic.
During the Third Great Shinobi War, they had fought life-and-death battles against the Rock Village. Not long ago, he had even accepted a farewell drink from Ōnoki.
Now, here was the leader of a Mist Village rebellion, seemingly wanting to cooperate with the Leaf.
"Exactly."
Mei Terumī nodded, then continued:
"What I hope is that the Leaf can crush the invisible force controlling the Mist Village."
"And thereby force Yagura Karatachi to step down."
However, Jiraiya, who had just been reflecting on Mei Terumī's words, suddenly shifted his tone, his words becoming much sharper:
"Then what are your plans?"
"If the Leaf and the Mist go to war, many Mist ninjas will die."
"From your words, it seems you care deeply for the Mist Village?"
As the leader of the rebellion, her status, strength, and reputation were all indispensable.
If her words were true, then her strength would at least be on par with Kakashi's!
Mei Terumī looked at Jiraiya, her eyes shining with determination, neither submissive nor overbearing:
"This is a necessary sacrifice."
"If the Mist Village continues to be controlled, it will eventually disappear from history."
Mei Terumī saw things clearly. A short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one.
A festering wound on the arm that cannot be cured—rather than a slow death, it's better to cut off the arm along with the wound!
After having Mei Terumī taken away, Jiraiya watched the beautiful woman's retreating figure before turning his gaze to Sakura.
This little girl, who had been entrusted with high hopes, had remained silent the entire time.
"Sakura, what do you think?"
I'll use my eyes to see.
Sakura吐槽 (complained) silently in her heart, then spoke unhurriedly:
"Her words are indeed suspicious."
"We cannot fully believe them, nor can we completely dismiss them."
"The urgent task now is to send a message back to the village to inform the old man (Hokage) and strengthen intelligence gathering on the Land of Water."
"Set up outposts in the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Waves, which border the Land of Water."
"Then immediately notify the Rock Village to strengthen their coastal defenses."
Sakura's words made Jiraiya nod.
Given the uncertainty of the credibility of her words, this was indeed the only option.
But Sakura continued:
"However, compared to this line of thinking, I personally lean more towards believing her words."
"Oh?"
"Do tell."
Jiraiya became interested.
Sakura's eyes flickered slightly as she continued:
"She claims to be the leader of the rebellion."
"Although they failed, given her status and position, even the Mist Village's isolationist policies couldn't completely hide her."
"With a little investigation, we could easily confirm her identity."
"Moreover, a ninja of her caliber would undoubtedly be strong."
"If this were just a ploy against the Leaf, wouldn't it be foolish to hand over such a high-level ninja?"
Although she despised the Raikage's methods, there was one thing he said that made sense.
In this world, without power, you are nothing.
Ninjas like Mei Terumī are almost always the future successors of their respective villages.
Even the Leaf couldn't afford to treat such a person as a disposable pawn.
And it didn't seem like there was any purpose to using her as a pawn.
Emmmm...
Except for Pakura of the Sand Village.
"What Sakura says makes sense. If this were a deception, such a clumsy lie would be easily exposed."
Kakashi spoke calmly.
"Indeed."
Jiraiya sighed lightly. He also leaned towards this conclusion.
But he was reluctant to believe it.
If this news were true, it would mean the intensity of the war had increased once again.
"A Great Shinobi War..."
This was already a Great Shinobi War.
Involving the five great nations, with several smaller nations trembling under the blades of the great nations' ninjas, too afraid to speak.
"In that case, we should aim for a quick resolution and not let the war drag us into a quagmire."
Sakura's words were resolute.
"Once we're stuck in the quagmire, the five great nations will be too preoccupied with themselves."
"And those lurking in the shadows would love nothing more."
Sakura's words put Jiraiya on alert.
"What do you mean?"
"Is there a force in the shinobi world manipulating everything?"
This girl before him was too outstanding, so much so that even his most proud disciple paled in comparison to her brilliance.
"Yes!"
"Hidan in the Land of Rivers battlefield."
"Kisame Hoshigaki in the Land of Demons battlefield between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind."
"That sensor-type ninja in the Land of Frost who hasn't shown himself yet but has already given us a headache."
"And the invisible force controlling the Mist Village that Mei Terumī just mentioned."
"Jiraiya, don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"
Sakura's words made Jiraiya and Kakashi's expressions turn grave.
One or two could be considered a coincidence.
But with three people and four incidents all coming together, could this still be considered a coincidence?
"It seems that Itachi Uchiha was also with Kisame Hoshigaki."
Kakashi spoke gravely.
"Yes, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki both wore black cloaks with red clouds."
"Their strength goes without saying, and then there's Hidan, that sensor-type ninja we haven't seen yet."
"It's hard not to believe they're part of the same organization."
"The strength of these people..."
Sakura's emerald eyes looked at Jiraiya.
"Are all on par with the Kage of each village."
Jiraiya continued with a grave expression.
He couldn't help but think of Orochimaru.
Since Orochimaru defected from the Leaf, he had been pursuing his whereabouts.
But from a certain source, he had learned that Orochimaru had joined an organization.
However, he hadn't yet discovered the name of that organization.
But he did know that even someone of Orochimaru's strength was just an ordinary member in that organization.
This was truly terrifying.
Who was Orochimaru?
One of the Legendary Sannin, a renowned figure from the Second Great Shinobi War!
A ninja of his caliber was merely an ordinary member in that organization.
"This is..."
Kakashi's expression was heavy, and he fell silent.
A single organization influencing the shinobi world's格局 (structure)...
Was that possible?
"Since we need a quick resolution, what should we do now?"
Jiraiya wanted to hear Sakura's thoughts.
"Didn't I already say?"
"Directly attack the Raikage's home."
"But you didn't agree."
Sakura rolled her eyes at Jiraiya, somewhat exasperated.
"Uh, well..."
Jiraiya was somewhat embarrassed. Sakura's plan was too bold, completely disregarding the Daimyo's opinion, which put a lot of pressure on him.
But he had to admit, her idea wasn't bad.
If Mei Terumī's information was true, then the Mist Village could attack at any moment.
They needed to quickly deal with the Cloud Village to prevent the Leaf from being dragged into a three-front war.
It would be best to resolve the Cloud Village before the Mist Village attacked, serving as a warning to others.
"Or do you have a better plan?"
Sakura looked at Jiraiya as she spoke.
"..."
Jiraiya didn't speak, remaining silent.
After a long while, Jiraiya's brows furrowed tightly, his expression uncertain, before he finally spoke: "I'll send a message back to the Leaf, have Tsunade lead a team to guard the Land of Fire's borders in case the Raikage attacks."
Seeing this, Sakura couldn't help but smile.
That's more like it.
Strike first to avoid a hundred blows.
With a swift and decisive attack on the Cloud Village, even if the Mist Village decided to attack, they would have to weigh the consequences.
If they insisted on attacking the Land of Fire...
How many of the Mist's Seven Ninja Swordsmen would be left?
Or what could the Mist Village, without Mei Terumī, possibly use to fight the Leaf?
Rely on the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi?
Or that so-called Ao?
But according to Mei Terumī, the rebellion had already been crushed by Yagura and his team. Whether this guy was alive or dead was uncertain.
Aside from Yagura himself and Utakata, who else in the Mist Village could fight?
As for Chōjūrō?
Forget about him.
Sakura stood up and left. The大局 (overall situation) was set.
Straight to the Land of Lightning!
--
Hokage Building
Hokage's Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the intelligence report from the front lines, his brows tightly knit.
The Cloud's guerrilla tactics had been countered, but now there was news of the Mist Village preparing to attack.
This gave him a headache.
Hiruzen didn't consider having Jiraiya use the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques to extract information from Mei Terumī.
If they did that, how would the rest of the shinobi world view the Leaf?
Someone comes to you for help, and you immediately turn around and screw them over.
If Mei Terumī had secretly met with Jiraiya, there might have been some room to cover it up.
But Mei Terumī had openly entered the central command tent early in the morning, just as all the ninjas were preparing for the day's work.
Moreover, Mei Terumī herself was striking enough to leave a lasting impression on anyone who saw her.
Many ninjas had seen Mei Terumī.
This made the situation even more difficult to handle.
Fortunately, neither Hiruzen nor Jiraiya had considered such a course of action.
However, from this, it was clear that Mei Terumī was also quite cautious.
Even in choosing the Leaf, she still didn't fully trust the Leaf ninjas.
Looking at the intelligence report in his hands, Hiruzen sighed lightly, then spoke to the ANBU who had been standing in the corner:
"Send for Tsunade."
--
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