"How do you plan to help?"
Mei Terumī lifted her head, met his gaze, and sighed as if resigned to her fate.
"The simplest way would be to find a suitable jinchūriki for you."
Natsume idly tapped his fingers against the table as he spoke. "I have several good ninja back home."
Both the Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan were capable of becoming jinchūriki.
Setting the Senju aside for now,
The few surviving members of the Uzumaki clan were all under the command of his subordinates—
Like Ena Uzumaki, Karin Uzumaki, and Suinako Uzumaki.
"No way."
Mei frowned as she replied. "The jinchūriki must be a ninja from Kirigakure."
If the ninja was provided by Konoha Village, then whose village would that jinchūriki truly belong to?
Even though she trusted Natsume, there was absolutely no way the other high-ranking officials in Kirigakure would ever approve such an absurd idea.
"Alright, alright, I kind of expected that answer."
Natsume shrugged his hands dismissively.
Truthfully, he didn't really care about the jinchūriki issue—he just wanted to gain some destiny points.
Since Mei refused, maybe he could pick someone from Kirigakure instead.
"Well, why did you even bring it up?"
Mei responded with slight exasperation, casting him a sideways glance.
Her beautiful face looked even more touchingly pitiful now.
"Heh, you just look kinda cute when you make that face."
Natsume tilted his head slightly, teasingly replying.
"Can you act serious for once?"
Mei gritted her teeth, asking through clenched lips. Her lips had turned deep red from biting—quite... enticing.
"Alright, alright, let's get serious."
Natsume quickly smiled and said. "Actually, a jinchuriki's physical constitution isn't a huge issue. As long as the sealing technique is strong enough, that should be fine."
Mei's expression softened.
That was indeed a decent solution.
Since the Land of Whirlpools' destruction, the best sealing techniques naturally belonged to Konoha Village.
"How about Zabuza Momochi?"
Natsume casually blurted out. "He looks strong enough—at least more muscular than Ao or Haku."
"What about me?"
Mei Terumī raised one eyebrow and asked.
"You've got a nice build, but I don't think your body's strong enough."
Natsume answered after giving her an evaluating once-over.
Mei couldn't help but stomp her foot slightly.
Though she appreciated the compliment on her looks, the rest of what he said annoyed her.
"Hmph. You're just guessing? What do you know?"
"Fine, how about we spar one day?"
Natsume immediately caught onto her words and replied without thinking.
"…"
Mei paused momentarily before her face slightly flushed. "Pervert!"
Hearing those two sudden words from her mouth, Natsume felt momentarily confused.
But soon he realized what she meant.
"This isn't some inn in Konoha!"
He hadn't expected that in just a few years, Mei would transform from an innocent girl into a full-grown woman.
Ahem. Well, not exactly a mature woman yet—
After all, she hadn't gotten married.
"I meant sparring."
Natsume stretched out his hand and pinched her cheek.
"Me too… I meant sparring too."
Mei instinctively tried to slap his hand away but pulled back.
She quickly turned away, voice tinged with embarrassment.
"Your face is burning red."
Natsume cupped her face in his hands.
Mei Terumī had nowhere to escape. With wide eyes, she looked straight at him—her face flushed, panic plainly visible beneath a hint of shyness.
Still, she defiantly shot back beneath his teasing gaze, "I'm… just feeling a little hot. I'm not blushing… not at all."
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
From this, one could easily guess the true feelings hidden deep inside the Mizukage's heart.
Natsume lowered his head and gently bit her lower lip, murmuring, "Your mouth doesn't seem that tough now."
Mei Terumī didn't understand what he meant at first, needing a few seconds to catch on.
Then came the fury. She pushed him away with both hands, hard.
Immediately, Natsume leaped off the Mizukage's office desk.
Mei Terumī stood up, her ears burned crimson.
Her face flamed with anger as she snapped, "You can leave now! I don't want to see you today!"
"Does that mean you'll miss me by tomorrow?"
Natsume gave a knowing look.
"No way!"
She balled her fists and shouted, "That's not what I meant—not even close!"
"Alright then."
Sighing, Natsume replied, "If the Mizukage truly doesn't wish to see me, I shall take my leave."
With a blur, he vanished into thin air.
Mei Terumī's heart skipped a beat. Words rose to her lips, but she swallowed them back.
After a moment, regret flashed across her face as she bit her lip.
Yet soon after, she remembered where Natsume had kissed her.
She instinctively covered her face.
A complex mix of emotions surged within her.
"Is the Mizukage savoring the memory?"
A sudden voice made Mei Terumī freeze.
Her face instantly flushed bright red—like a steaming maiden.
"I'm not some pervert! Why would I savor anything?!"
Mei Terumī pretended to be angry, trying to hide how flustered she was.
"Was your lipstick orange flavored?"
Licking his lips, Natsume asked casually.
"Drop dead!"
Mei Terumī nearly exploded, glaring at him with killing intent.
"If I'm dead, obviously I won't be able to help you anymore." Natsume shrugged, asking, "When do you plan to switch the jinchūriki?"
Mei Terumī sighed helplessly, placing a hand on her forehead.
She wanted to get angry, but couldn't find the strength.
It felt like she was completely wrapped around his finger.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "In a while, after the Fourth Mizukage passes away."
Under normal circumstances, extracting a tailed beast would result in the jinchūriki's death.
Trying to replace her before then would basically be murder.
Oh…
Yagura Karatachi had indeed made mistakes—but he had been controlled.
If Mei Terumī had really been that ruthless, she wouldn't have waited until now.
"Hn." Natsume nodded slightly and said, "Here—this is for you."
"What is it?"
Looking at the bracelet he offered, Mei Terumī couldn't help but blink in surprise.
Was this… actually a gift?
"You can use it to contact me."
Natsume took her wrist, slipped the bracelet on, then held her hand.
Mei Terumī stiffened.
As she hesitated whether to pull away, a surge of chakra flowed through her body.
He explained everything about the Heavenly Network Log-in Device.
Mei Terumī blinked in surprise.
This item seemed surprisingly convenient.
"It's got tons of functions. If you ever get bored, feel free to play around with it."
He smiled and released her hand.
The Heavenly Network isn't inherently dangerous, as long as Kaguya otsutsuki doesn't have ill intentions.
After all, using chakra—what some might call "paying"—is completely voluntary. Everything has to be earned through missions. And the rewards are top-notch.
For Mei Terumī, the Heavenly Network was basically a massive online marketplace.
"What if I leaked those techniques?"
"Everything has a price."
Natsume said nonchalantly, "If you can actually pay the price, even if you do leak them, it's really not a big deal."
Mei fixed her gaze on him, searching his expression for any sign of deception.
The jutsu offered in the Heavenly Network shop were almost every technique from both Sunagakure and Konoha. If one could exchange for all of them, the consequences could be catastrophic.
To put it simply, it could bridge a decade's worth of power deficit for Kiri.
Still, as Natsume had said, the cost of obtaining them was astronomical. But still, there was hope.
"You're awfully confident."
Mei thought about it for a moment before finally settling on that explanation. Given Natsume's strength, even if those techniques were leaked, it wouldn't matter much. After all, no one could defeat him anyway.
"I guess so."
Natsume didn't deny it.
What Mei didn't know was that his confidence stemmed from Kaguya otsutsuki. No jutsu could have any effect on her unless someone used Sage Arts. Plus, Kaguya otsutsuki herself was the server for the Heavenly Network, and she had some contingency plans in place.
Every player who logged into the Heavenly Network had their soul bound. One purpose was preventing identity fraud. The second? Well, as for that… those who knew, knew.
With Kaguya otsutsuki's abilities, pulling something like this off was child's play.
The Heavenly Network was easy to get into, hard to get out of. But then again, as long as one didn't provoke Kaguya otsutsuki, everything would be fine.
"Remember that guy we talked about earlier?"
Natsume suddenly asked.
"You mean that bastard who controlled the Fourth Mizukage?" Mei snapped back to attention, anger creeping into her voice. "Of course I remember!"
"According to my investigation, he's joined an organization and may target the tailed beasts." Natsume warned, "You'll need to tread carefully when that time comes."
In the original story, San had gone wild. But now, because of his interference, it remained in Kirigakure.
Switching Jinchuriki was when the tailed beasts were at their weakest. It was entirely possible that Akatsuki would send people here.
"I understand."
Mei's eyes sharpened, her expression showing total trust in his intel. After all, there was no reason for Natsume to lie to her.
"To be honest, I've meant to ask you for a while now—was he a ninja from your Konoha village?"
Mei pondered for a bit before asking, "And back then, was your approach toward me also related to him?"
"It did surprise me a bit that you waited this long to ask." Upon hearing this, Natsume smiled slightly. "He does have some connection to Konoha, but now he's just a rogue ninja."
Mei slightly pursed her lips.
She hadn't asked sooner mainly because she was busy and couldn't find the right time. And secondly, she owed him so much it felt awkward to raise it.
Now that Natsume had brought it up himself, she simply followed along and asked.
"That's it?"
Mei couldn't help but ask, "Specifically, who is he?"
"I don't know either."
Natsume shrugged and said, "He claims he's Madara Uchiha, but come on, who'd believe that?"
"Obviously not."
Mei studied him closely for a moment but couldn't find any trace of deception.
She could only give up.
"There's nothing else. You may leave now."
Mei took a deep breath before saying, "Also, don't just pop back in and scare people like that."
"I helped you so much—what about my reward?"
Crossing his arms, Natsume asked, "Would the mighty Mizukage really welch on the payment?"
Mei immediately fell silent.
She suppressed her inner panic and asked, "What do you want?"
"Now, now, Mizukage… what would you like to offer me?"
Natsume's gaze landed on her lips.
"You really are a creep," Mei muttered.
She blinked, staring at him, slightly furious.
"I didn't say anything at all," Natsume said, sounding somewhat wronged.
Mei clenched her teeth in anger.
After a brief pause, her delicate face leaned close to his.
Before she could make a move, Natsume had already taken the initiative,
Turning an ordinary kiss into a passionate duel of tongues.
Mei responded rather clumsily.
She only pushed him away when she could no longer breathe.
Her chest rose and fell as she gasped for breath.
"You…"
Her smooth skin flushed pink as she looked at him.
Correspondingly, her lips had lost their rosy hue, turning slightly pale.
Surprisingly, she didn't seem angry.
"Thanks for the hospitality," Natsume said with a smile.
Three thousand words. P.S. Yesterday's Chapter 216 (Kurenai Yuhi's Lap Pillow) was delayed over ten hours due to moderation. Readers who haven't checked it out yet can go back and read it.
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