"Smart."
Blazing energy erupted, incinerating everything at the heart of Mist Village. As the shockwave from the Tailed Beast Ball expanded outward and the central glow gradually faded, Haseo turned his head toward the direction where the attack had come from, only to find that Three-Tails was already gone.
Whether successful or not, attacking once and then immediately vanishing—Haseo thought such action truly deserved the word "smart."
If Three-Tails had stayed put, he'd be the one in trouble—not Haseo… and Haseo wouldn't mind lighting up something even bigger than that Tailed Beast Ball.
Several Konoha ninja rushed forward first, reaching the collapsed building and quickly digging out the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
Haseo's long sword was still embedded in the jinchūriki's body. Precisely because the blade remained lodged there, the host had been unable to resist effectively.
Haseo glanced at the jinchūriki and temporarily ignored him. At this moment, the Mizukage had already been restrained by Konoha's ninja… though in truth, such restraint was practically meaningless now. Bloodied and physically damaged from having been forcefully thrown through the air, the Mizukage posed little threat to Haseo anymore.
Haseo walked up to the Mizukage and crouched beside him.
"Did you hear the noise outside? Because of what's happening right now, your ninja are growing increasingly excited. Their fight's already gone off the rails—no reason, no goal, just wild emotions running loose.
Earlier, you tried desperately to stop Kiri from facing its most shameful fate, but now it seems clear you've failed…
Ordinary ninja can get worked up, they can act on fleeting excitement, but you—the Mizukage—must always remain rational. Look at your village now, I know the losses are already irreparable, but I believe things should not go further into destruction.
This whole mess might've just been a misunderstanding. In truth, I'm not a violent person—I value humility and mercy, kindness and honesty define me, and I believe in love and peace above all else… What I did back there? Just nudged peace forward by a minute—that's all.
I think it's time for the war between Konoha and Kiri to end. What do you think, Mizukage-sama?"
While speaking, Haseo made sure to sound genuinely sincere.
"You want to preserve Kiri's intact structure, preventing it from collapsing into scattered ruins—that's why you didn't kill me," the Fourth Mizukage instantly saw through Haseo's intention.
After all, this wasn't hard to guess.
If Kiri were completely destroyed and ceased to exist altogether, the remaining Kiri ninja would become rogue destroyers—driven by vengeance, they'd definitely storm the Land of Fire and turn it upside down.
Haseo didn't want to see countless ninja turned into rogue destroyers.
Unless he wiped out every last Mist ninja—which he both couldn't and wouldn't do.
Haseo believed that Mist could endure heavy casualties but couldn't afford to lose its command structure.
From start to finish, he hadn't attempted to kill the Mizukage directly—it was always a last resort.
"Yeah, it's true. Only you can control Mist. If you die, this village might immediately fall apart… After all, Mist has gone through a very special period. The Third Mizukage had gone through a difficult time as well.
But don't despair. Although your attempt failed this time, as long as Mist still stands, after gathering strength, you can keep maneuvering against Konoha.
Where there's a will, there's a way—as long as you remain patient and rational, not ruled by emotion.
Regardless, the previous Mizukage entrusted the village to you. Surely he wouldn't want it collapsing like this, right?"
What Haseo said made the surrounding Konoha ninja look sideways with surprise… It sounded less like something a human being would say.
The Fourth Mizukage shared their sentiment—he also felt that Haseo wasn't speaking like a rational human at all.
But this didn't mean his words held no truth. If just now the Mizukage's "self-sacrifice" could eliminate Haseo, then his battle might be seen as a victory.
With Haseo gone, Mist could annihilate any Konoha invaders in the Land of Water anytime.
Such a victory would ensure Mist remained united—even if the Fourth Mizukage fell, the village would soon appoint a Fifth.
Yet now the Mizukage hadn't achieved his goal of killing Haseo. If he were to die now, Haseo would become unstoppable.
As long as Haseo kept leading Konoha attacks, Mist would fall apart and be hard-pressed to reunite again… After the Fourth, this village already lacked any strong figure capable of commanding universal respect.
"You don't want Mist to disappear, and neither do I. Since our goals align, we can cooperate."
Saying so, Haseo signaled the Konoha ninja on both sides not to restrain the Mizukage. He even personally reached out and helped the other man stand up… Only Haseo could make an offer of surrender sound so infuriating.
Looking at the village, now reduced to ruins, the Fourth Mizukage naturally felt boundless sorrow within his heart. There was no doubt—Mist had already lost, defeated by a single ninja.
Bear the burden with patience… Haseo was right again.
"I can go control my forces and declare an end to the war, but… can you truly let me leave without worry?"
This was the Fourth Mizukage's question.
Yet what he hadn't expected was that Haseo instantly gestured for him to proceed without hesitation, while signaling the surrounding Konoha ninja to clear a path immediately, not blocking him.
Haseo wasn't afraid the Mizukage would never return. This was Mist's headquarters—where else could he run?
He wasn't afraid of tricks either. The Mizukage could move freely, but the Jinchuriki remained under Konoha's grip. Mist better not give Haseo any reason to fly into a rage…
Now the issue was no longer military, but political.
The Mizukage glanced at Haseo, then really did leave from here, looking utterly defeated.
Then, the sounds of battle from the outskirts gradually began to quiet down.
Two hours later, the fighting died down completely.
The Konoha ninja regrouped, and another hour passed before the Mizukage arrived in front of Konoha's formation with four other shinobi.
Since this was about ending the war, naturally a Peace Agreement had to be signed. And as the defeated side, Mist would inevitably have to accept an unequal treaty... The aggressor always has to pay a price for failure.
Mist was definitely on the losing side—even if they managed to eliminate all the Konoha ninjas here, considering their own tremendous losses, it was still a loss.
Haseo represented Konoha to conduct preliminary negotiations with Mist.
The Fourth Mizukage had anticipated that Mist would suffer serious consequences, but when the outcome was finally revealed, its severity still exceeded his expectation.
In fact, Haseo came up with only three demands.
First, compensation for economic losses—an undeniable requirement placed upon the defeated party. However, Haseo only set the tone; the actual amount would be decided through talks between the Fire Daimyo and Water Daimyo.
Second, Mist must form an alliance with Konoha, and at the same time declare war against Iwagakure and Kumo. This second demand was acceptable too. Truthfully, Konoha didn't need anything more than Mist simply showing willingness—after today, when would they ever have strength left to wage another war?
If these two conditions seemed relatively acceptable...
Third: For the next ten years, Mist shall change its name to "Water Village," and the leader of the village is merely referred to as "Leader"—not allowed to use the title "Kage" during the validity of the agreement.
This...
It was clearly going against the system established by the First Hokage across the Ninjutsu World.
What qualifications or power did the current Mist possess to stand equal among the other four great ninja villages? If Yagura could continue calling himself Mizukage, then even Hanzo of the Rain Village could start referring to himself as the "Rain Shadow."
The logic was simple and convincing: those without sufficient strength shouldn't occupy prestigious titles.
There used to be nine planets in the Solar System, but now only eight remained.
One was kicked out for not meeting the criteria.
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