A certain training ground in Konohagakure.
Dripping with sweat, Hatake Kakashi, his trademark dead-fish eyes drooping and his face full of helplessness, looked at Tsunade, who was blocking his path.
"Kakashi, have you made up your mind?"
Tsunade crossed her arms beneath her chest, a stance that made her presence all the more imposing.
She stared directly at Kakashi without the slightest hesitation, waiting for his reply.
Kakashi scratched his silver hair with a headache-ridden look and said helplessly, "Tsunade-sama, my personal opinion and choice should… not be that important, right? After all, I'm just one man—no clan, no faction. I can't really influence many people."
But Tsunade was unmoved and went straight to the point. "Kakashi, you're underestimating your own influence. You are one of Konohagakure's elite jōnin—highly respected and extremely well-known among the younger generation."
"You think you can't influence others, but in truth, many eyes are on you—especially those in the middle who haven't yet made a decision."
She leaned slightly forward, her tone carrying pressure. "Whatever choice you make, those watching you will very likely follow your example. So today, I must ask clearly—what exactly are your thoughts?"
Kakashi: "…"
He felt like a mouse caught between the bellows, trapped on both sides.
The Third Hokage had recognized his worth early on and had always trusted and relied on him greatly.
But as for Tsunade…
Not only was she one of the mighty Sannin, more importantly, she stood on the same side as Uchiha Keizumi.
At the thought of Uchiha Keizumi, Kakashi felt even more conflicted.
He did indeed owe that man several favors, yet had never found the right chance to repay them.
And more importantly, Minato-sensei's child—Uzumaki Naruto—was now clearly getting quite close with Uchiha Keizumi and his group…
Now he was truly caught between two dead ends!
"Um… Tsunade-sama," Kakashi tried to struggle a bit, asking weakly, "Could I… remain neutral?"
Tsunade calmly, yet with an unquestionable tone, shattered his illusion. "Even if you turn me down today, that old man will soon come looking for you. When that happens, you'll still have to make a choice. Running away won't solve the problem."
Kakashi: "…"
He slowly drew in a deep breath, as if making up his mind, and said, "I… need a little time to think it over."
Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "There isn't much time. The election is only a few days away."
"…Tonight." Kakashi gave a definite time. "Tonight, I'll give you a clear answer."
Watching Kakashi turn and leave, Shizune, standing behind Tsunade, couldn't help but speak softly. "Tsunade-sama, will Kakashi really support us?"
"He seems like the kind of person who doesn't want to offend anyone… and Lord Third Hokage has always treated him quite well…"
The corners of Tsunade's mouth curved slightly in a confident arc as she analyzed, "Shizune, with the current Hokage still being that old man, the fact that Kakashi didn't reject me outright and righteously, but instead used 'I need time to think' as a delay—"
"That alone already shows that the balance of loyalty in his heart has begun to waver. He's no longer one hundred percent firmly on the old man's side."
Looking in the direction Kakashi had disappeared, Tsunade said with conviction, "When he said 'I need time to think,' in truth… he had already found his answer in his heart."
Shizune was stunned. "What answer?"
Tsunade said softly, "In the end, he will still choose to stand on our side—or, to put it more accurately, on the side of the Absolute Justice represented by Keizumi."
…
Night fell as expected.
Kakashi, as promised, went to find Shizune, who was handling documents.
Under Shizune's puzzled gaze, Kakashi spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a kind of weary complexity. "Please tell Tsunade-sama… that I will support the person I believe can make Konohagakure better. I hope Tsunade-sama won't betray that expectation."
Shizune: "!!!"
She was instantly dumbfounded, watching as Kakashi once again turned crisply on his heel and disappeared into the night.
"Tsunade-sama… really called it right!"
Shizune muttered in shocked disbelief, "Even someone like Hatake Kakashi has chosen to stand on Tsunade-sama's side… This time, it seems Lord Third Hokage truly has no chance of turning the tide."
…
At the same time, in the Land of Water, night was deep.
Under the dim moonlight and thin veil of mist.
The massive village gate of Kirigakure, shrouded in hazy vapor, loomed faintly in view.
Several figures stepped through the darkness, openly setting foot upon the territory of Kirigakure.
Among them, two wore Konoha uniforms; a fat ninja cat perched upon the shoulder of a young woman; and the other was a missing-nin from Kirigakure—one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Biwa Jūzō!
The other two were Mei Terumi and Ao.
The appearance of such a strange combination instantly set off Kirigakure's most sensitive alarms!
Almost the very moment they crossed the village's perimeter—
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…]
From all directions—from the shadows, the rooftops, the pools of water, and behind the rocks—
Countless cold gazes instantly locked onto them.
The uniforms of the shinobi from the Konohagakure Police Force, aside from the Uchiha Clan crest, naturally also bore the distinctive insignia of Konohagakure.
Every Kirigakure shinobi present could see it clearly.
If not for the fact that Terumī Mei and Ao were walking at the very front—causing the Kirigakure shinobi lurking in the shadows to hesitate for a moment—they would likely have already drawn their ninja tools and swarmed forward.
After all, having been influenced by the Bloody Mist policy for many years, Kirigakure was extremely xenophobic.
For shinobi from another village to dare set foot on Kirigakure's territory without an invitation from the higher-ups of the village, there was only one possible outcome—certain death.
At that moment...
A Kirigakure jōnin, surrounded by several Kirigakure shinobi, furrowed his brows and stepped forward. He first cast a glance full of hostility at Biwa Jūzō, Uchiha Keizumi, and Uchiha Izumi, then looked toward Terumī Mei with a hint of confusion.
"Terumī Mei-sama, may I ask what is going on here?" The Kirigakure jōnin's tone sounded cold and numb; it seemed that years of killing had made him forget most of his emotions.
While keeping his gaze fixed on Terumī Mei, he did not let down his guard. "If I remember correctly... not long ago, the Mizukage led over thirty Kirigakure Anbu to hunt down the traitor Biwa Jūzō."
"But..."
"Why is it that the ones who have now returned... are Terumī Mei-sama and Ao? And why is the very man who was being hunted, Biwa Jūzō, here as well? Why are there two Konohagakure shinobi following along?"
"What about the Mizukage? What about the Anbu? Terumī Mei-sama, everyone in the village needs you to give us a reasonable explanation."
The other party's aggressive questioning made Terumī Mei take a deep breath.
Terumī Mei glanced around. She could sense that many Kirigakure shinobi were hiding in the shadows at this very moment—even her fellow villagers were on guard against her.
Clearly, because of Biwa Jūzō and the two Uchiha shinobi from Konohagakure, many of the village's shinobi no longer trusted her.
But the problem was...
For a moment, Terumī Mei didn't even know how she should answer his question.
Was she supposed to say, in front of all these people—that the Mizukage had been killed by Uchiha Keizumi, and that she and Ao had watched the entire process from the shadows without stepping in to help?
Such behavior looked far too much like that of a rogue shinobi!
But just as Terumī Mei was at a loss for words, a cold and indifferent voice suddenly sounded from behind her. "Because the Mizukage is already dead—killed by me. It's that simple."
As Uchiha Keizumi's words fell, Terumī Mei's whole face froze, and beside her, Ao felt a chill run through his scalp.
Neither of them could have imagined that Uchiha Keizumi would actually dare to say such a thing in front of so many Kirigakure shinobi!
This...
Was this the boldness of a shinobi who had once dared to assassinate the Daimyō of the Land of Fire?
Then, Terumī Mei noticed that the nearby Kirigakure shinobi were indeed momentarily stunned by Uchiha Keizumi's words.
Under the night sky, from both the light and the shadows, gaze after gaze all converged upon Uchiha Keizumi.
"Hey! Konohagakure shinobi! What are you saying?!"
At this moment, a Kirigakure shinobi with a face full of ferocious knife scars widened his eyes, stepped forward a few paces, and demanded, "You'd better understand where you are! The Bloody Mist Village isn't a place where a Konohagakure shinobi like you can spout nonsense at will! If not for giving Terumī Mei-sama a bit of face, you'd already be a corpse right now!"
Terumī Mei: "…"
Terumī Mei wished she could kick this guy—could he not drag her into this? If Uchiha Keizumi turned his attention toward her, she didn't even know if she could withstand a single move from him.
Yet Uchiha Keizumi paid the man no mind, nor did he care about the countless hostile gazes around him, or how many Kirigakure shinobi, hidden within the village, were restlessly stirring.
At this moment, he simply began to speak on his own. "The Bloody Mist Policy of Kirigakure has plunged the entire Land of Water into extreme poverty, backwardness, disorder, and suffering... Even the moist air filled with mist here reeks of sin."
"Whether it's the Kirigakure leadership that enforced the Bloody Mist Policy, or the ignorant shinobi and civilians who supported it; or the nobles, daimyō, and shinobi clans who profited from it; or those who, amid the chaos of the Land of Water, took advantage of the disorder to commit countless unforgivable crimes…"
"They are all evildoers whose sins cannot be forgiven."