[River Country Border]
This place borders the Wind Country, and the few pieces of land here are a transitional area.
On one side, the land gradually turns yellow, eventually becoming desert.
On the other side, the land gradually becomes brown stone, eventually becoming mountains and forests.
Led by Uchiha Norihiko, a group of 30 Uchiha clansmen appeared here.
These Uchiha clansmen were all carrying large bundles and bags.
Inside were all kinds of daily necessities.
Storage scrolls were still relatively expensive, not everyone carried one with them.
Norihiko observed the terrain all around and located a relatively large mountain hollow.
"Let's settle here first. We'll rest here for now. Observe if there's better terrain nearby, and look into the water source problem."
"Yes!"
These Uchiha clansmen were all skilled. They quickly split up, surveyed the terrain, and searched for water sources.
Norihiko's shadow flickered, and a figure slowly emerged from it.
"Clan leader," The one who appeared was Rengoku's clone.
"Looks like you've arrived," Rengoku observed the topographical features all around.
"Give me the map."
"Yes."
Norihiko took out the map and then pointed at it, "Clan leader, this is our position."
Rengoku examined the map closely, then drew a line along the border of Wind Country.
"These are the places you need to search. I've already told you the main topographical features."
"The biggest characteristic among them is a distinct underground palace complex."
"Your personnel are few, so search slowly. The conditions here are a bit tough. In about one to two months, I'll have other clansmen come to rotate with you."
Norihiko glanced at the marked area on the map. It was indeed very large. With 30 people, it would take at least a month or two to search it all.
"We will complete the clan leader's mission without fail!"
Rengoku nodded, "If anything comes up, call me again."
Then his whole body seemed to melt, merging back into Norihiko's shadow.
———
[Kirigakure]
When Rengoku's clone was sending Kimimaro and the others off, his speed was slow, but on his own way back, he was much faster.
After all, he could shadow slip. Once night blanketed the land, the whole world became his domain.
Rengoku wore the tailed beast cloak, swaggering into Kirigakure.
After all, nothing proved one's identity better than a tailed beast cloak.
"Mizukage-sama!"
"Mizukage-sama!"
"Mizukage!"
Rengoku had transformed into Yagura's appearance, so all along the way people were greeting him.
After all, their Mizukage had just gone out once and brought back 1.5 billion in funds for the village.
It greatly alleviated urgent needs, so people were quite impressed with Yagura.
Rengoku didn't pay much attention to these people and quickly arrived at the Mizukage's office.
Yagura was reviewing documents, Terumi Mei assisting at his side.
Looking up and seeing Rengoku return, "Why did you take so long?"
Rengoku spread his hands, "Not really that late, the timing is just right."
Yagura waved Terumi Mei over, "Mei, bring him the materials regarding the Kaisui Merchant Shop and merchant ships."
Terumi Mei stood up, took a stack of documents from the cabinet behind, and handed them to Rengoku.
She felt a bit strange, Mizukage-sama's clone was too odd. It was like two separate people with two minds.
Wearing Yagura's face, Rengoku accepted the documents.
The Kaisui Merchant Shop was essentially run by people from Kirigakure who had gone out to do business.
They generally traveled back and forth between the Land of Porcelain and the Land of Rainbows, reselling mineral materials and earning the price difference.
Though each ship only made three or four hundred thousand in profit, the shop always sent out six ships at minimum each trip.
Adding it up, they still made about 20 million per trip.
Although affected by tides and storms, the round trip took just over a month, but the advantage was safety and stability.
The Land of Porcelain was located behind the Land of Lightning.
The mineral transport ships were round-nosed, chubby-bodied vessels with poor wave resistance.
Since minerals were heavy and ships moved slowly, the safest route was coastal sailing.
So they needed permission to pass through the Land of Lightning.
Although Yagura had earned 1.5 billion this time, on the return trip from the Land of Porcelain, the merchant ships of the Kaisui Merchant Shop were detained at a port in the Land of Lightning.
The reason was supposedly that the Kaisui Merchant Shop's ships were carrying contraband.
In reality, there wasn't much cargo on the Kaisui ships, they had already offloaded minerals from the Land of Rainbows.
The return trip was supposed to bring back other goods to the Land of Water.
Since Mizukage was covering the Uchiha's retreat, the merchant shop's shipowners didn't dare purchase cargo, and wanted to leave quickly.
But the local authority had already discovered that the Kaisui Merchant Shop had a Kirigakure background, so both ships and crew were detained.
The message was simple, they were waiting to see how Kirigakure would react.
Because in the past, Kirigakure was no match for Kumogakure. When ships were detained, they usually paid all kinds of fines or exorbitant transit fees.
This time, it seemed they were testing whether Kirigakure's attitude toward their merchant fleet had changed.
Rengoku finished reading and asked, "Have the people from the Kaisui Merchant Shop returned?"
Terumi Mei shook her head, "They're still on the ship. There's no danger, but the situation is not good."
"Let's go, we'll go together."
Rengoku knocked on Yagura's desk.
Yagura looked up, "Isn't it enough for you to go alone?"
Rengoku shook his head, "They're testing our attitude."
"If we want the Land of Water's merchant ships not to be extorted in the future, we must go personally. After all, this kind of thing will happen again."
"You arrange things inside Kirigakure."
Yagura thought briefly and stood up, "Terumi Mei, call a high-level meeting."
"Yes!"
———
A short while later.
In Kirigakure's office, the village's top officials had gathered quickly.
Rengoku even saw the now-recovered Juzo Biwa and Zabuza Momochi. However, the Executioner's Blade was now in Zabuza's hands.
In contrast, Juzo was using an ordinary sword.
Yagura had just secured a great deal of investment for Kirigakure, and with his Mirror Clone, his strength now far outclassed everyone in the village. His prestige was at a peak.
Everyone also saw the appearance of two Yagura, and faint pride showed on their faces.
After all, Kirigakure's situation wasn't good. The more strong individuals they had, the more stable the village would be.
"This meeting is mainly about the long-standing oppression of our Land of Water's merchant ships..."
Rengoku didn't have Yagura's memories, so he quietly listened to him speak.
As Mizukage, although Yagura had been controlled for many years, his thinking was still intact. He had likely already thought about Kirigakure's future path.
Now that Rengoku had arrived, he started making plans.
The first step was to free the Land of Water's merchant ships from all sorts of unreasonable fees.
To ensure the country would no longer be disadvantaged in maritime trade.
Of course, the simplest way to do that was to show strength.
"...From now on, I will be away from the village for a long time. Village affairs will be handled by Terumi Mei."
The Three-Tails was a tailed beast of the water attribute, no one could stop two Three-Tails together.
Yagura was a Mizukage who genuinely wanted a better life for the people of the Land of Water. So he boldly delegated authority to Terumi Mei.
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