Elder Genji let out a barely perceptible sigh. Ultimately, it came down to a lack of strength. If the Hidden Mist Village could produce a God of Shinobi like Konoha's, why would they ever worry about the threat of a mere two Tailed Beasts?
Mei Terumi also noticed Elder Genji's worry, but in her view, the most urgent priority right now was getting the Hidden Mist Village back on track.
Only by completely ending the influence of the Blood Mist and letting the Hidden Mist Village return to normal could they cultivate more talent and strengthen the village's overall power.
Therefore, she continued her report. "Elder Genji, there is one more matter..."
Genji raised his drooping eyelids with considerable difficulty, looking at Mei Terumi, who had performed exceptionally well during this upheaval. "Is it regarding the handling of the Blood Mist faction?" he asked.
Mei Terumi was not surprised by Genji's foresight.
After all, this elderly elder had lived through far too many years, and his eyes had witnessed too many strange and bizarre things.
She nodded. "Yes. How should we handle Fuguki Suikazan, Zabuza Momochi, and Kisame Hoshigaki, who are members of the Blood Mist faction?"
This question was actually quite complicated.
Whether it was Fuguki Suikazan, Zabuza, or Kisame, they had all once been the backbone of the Blood Mist faction.
This was especially true for Fuguki Suikazan and Zabuza.
The former was a loyal dog of Yagura Karatachi and the second-in-command of the Blood Mist faction, having helped the Fourth Mizukage execute countless inhumane missions.
The latter was equally infamous within the Hidden Mist Village, as he was the cruel monster who had murdered all his classmates during the graduation exam. Relying on his cold blood and ferocity, he was known as the Demon.
By comparison, Kisame Hoshigaki, who served as Fuguki Suikazan's deputy, did not have an overly bloody history yet.
Though it wasn't much better either.
Yet, despite being the backbone of the Blood Mist faction—individuals who should have been strung up and judged after the Reform faction's victory—they had collectively chosen to defect during this battle. They helped Mei Terumi and the others fight Yagura Karatachi and purge the remaining Blood Mist faction in the village, greatly reducing the Hidden Mist Village's losses during this upheaval.
Consequently, handling these individuals required extreme caution.
If they were treated as heroes of the reform, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the ninjas and villagers who had once been victimized by them.
If the punishment was too severe, it would fail to acknowledge their contributions in this battle.
Of course, the most important factor was that the Hidden Mist Village's military strength was severely lacking right now.
If they moved against all three of them at once, it would likely cause massive losses.
"What are your thoughts?"
Instead of answering Mei Terumi's question, Genji asked her back.
Mei Terumi had already thought about this problem before coming, so she answered crisply, "From what I know, Zabuza has always been dissatisfied with the rule of the Blood Mist faction, which is why he was planning to overthrow Yagura's regime. Back then, slaughtering his classmates was merely to force the higher-ups to change that bloody examination method..."
"Although his methods were a bit radical, his intentions were good, and under those circumstances, there was no way he could have done any better."
"Therefore, I believe we can announce that Zabuza was an inside agent we embedded within the Blood Mist faction, and everything he did was merely to conceal his identity. As for the citizens he harmed, we must actively provide compensation and have Zabuza personally visit their homes to apologize and atone for his sins."
Elder Genji nodded slightly, raising no objections to Mei Terumi's arrangement.
Seeing that the elderly elder before her did not object, Mei Terumi continued, "As for Kisame Hoshigaki, he hasn't been with the Blood Mist faction for long, nor has he committed any overly brutal acts himself. He also contributed significantly to this battle, so I believe we can have him join the Anbu, serving as an example of making amends through service."
Genji nodded once more.
"And then there's Fuguki Suikazan..."
When mentioning this name, Mei Terumi's tone suddenly grew icy.
Under Yagura Karatachi's leadership, Fuguki Suikazan had clearly committed too many atrocities that sparked public outrage, to the point where even his merits from this rebellion could not offset them.
"Given that Fuguki Suikazan usually committed countless evil deeds, I hope to make an example out of him as a representative of the Blood Mist faction, bringing him out to warn others and appease the anger of all the ninjas and villagers."
Mei Terumi's voice gradually calmed down, while Genji did not immediately give his answer.
After a few minutes, he finally spoke with a trace of weariness, "I am already old, and the future of the Hidden Mist Village will depend on you young people."
"For the stability of the Hidden Mist Village, I will handle all village affairs in my capacity as an elder for the next few years. Afterward, I will personally select the next Mizukage."
Genji's cloudy eyes suddenly grew bright as he looked at Mei Terumi.
"Do not disappoint me, Mei Terumi."
Mei Terumi could roughly guess the meaning behind Elder Genji's words to her. Even though she was usually calm, a spark of excitement could not help but rise in her heart at this moment.
"Yes, Elder Genji."
Genji nodded in satisfaction, then gently tapped his cane. "Regarding the handling of those few individuals, proceed according to your wishes."
With that, he added casually.
"Make Fuguki Suikazan's death look a bit cleaner."
Hearing this, Mei Terumi's expression also returned to calm.
"Yes."
The Hidden Mist higher-ups could not discard their allies right after they served their purpose, but since Fuguki Suikazan had committed so many evil deeds, dying at the hands of angry villagers was always acceptable, right?
Thus, that very night, a crowd of furious villagers attacked Fuguki Suikazan's home.
Fuguki Suikazan, who had slaughtered fiercely on the battlefield, was killed by the angry villagers in his sleep.
At the same time, Zabuza's true identity was made public. He was actually a spy who had painstakingly embedded himself within the Blood Mist faction, enduring years of cold shoulders and insults just to deliver a fatal blow to the brutal Yagura Karatachi at the critical moment!
In an instant, Zabuza transformed from the brutal Demon and executioner into a great hero of the Hidden Mist Village. Furthermore, he personally visited the homes of all those he had harmed to apologize and atone one by one.
The families of the victims also accepted Zabuza's apologies and praised him greatly.
The remaining Kisame Hoshigaki had his merits and faults offset, joining the Anbu to become an ordinary Anbu ninja.
All other remaining members of the Blood Mist faction were liquidated one by one.
The entire Hidden Mist Village remained busy for more than half a month before the blood mist looming over the village was completely swept away, restoring absolute clarity!
The highly respected Elder Genji came out of retirement to temporarily assume the responsibilities of the Mizukage and handle all affairs of the Hidden Mist Village before the Fifth Mizukage could be elected.
Immediately upon taking office, Genji assembled a new leadership core.
The main members included Mei Terumi, the Byakugan Killer Ao, the Shinobi Sword Prodigy Mangetsu Hozuki, the Demon Zabuza, Ameyuri Ringo, and the Hidden Mist Monster Kisame Hoshigaki.
That's right, Kisame Hoshigaki was also counted among the high-level members.
The reason was none other than his sufficiently powerful strength.
At this moment, the Hidden Mist Village was in desperate need of development, so any force had to be taken seriously, let alone a powerful force like Kisame.
It was just that on the surface, Kisame remained an ordinary Anbu ninja.
After completely purging the Blood Mist faction within the village, Genji held the first high-level meeting without losing a moment.
Assisted by Mei Terumi, the elderly Genji slowly took his seat, then gently tapped his cane against the floor, speaking hoarsely:
"Everyone present is young and serves as the vital pillars for the future development of the Hidden Mist Village. I called you here today hoping we can pool our wisdom to discuss the path of development that best suits the Hidden Mist Village. Everyone can speak freely."
Perhaps due to his age, after speaking such a long paragraph, Elder Genji's tone had noticeably weakened. He closed his eyes directly, waiting for the others to speak.
Having just sat down, Mei Terumi stood up again, taking charge without hesitation.
"My recommendation is to immediately abolish the Land of Water's policy of isolation, restore economic and trade relations with the shinobi world, and accept mission requests from other countries to restore the Hidden Mist Village's economic situation."
Over the years, due to the Hidden Mist Village's Blood Mist policy, the entire Land of Water had been in an extremely isolated state.
The surrounding waters were completely cleared, banning any outsiders from entering the Land of Water, including merchant caravans and tourists from other nations.
Meanwhile, the Land of Water itself was a humid island nation, shrouded in mist year-round with scarce sunlight, meaning its food production was insufficient. It required large purchases of food and other supplies from other countries.
However, under this policy, once a merchant caravan from another country approached the Land of Water, they would be driven away or even killed by the Hidden Mist. This directly resulted in no caravans daring to approach the Land of Water, severely impacting the Land of Water's international trade.
Consequently, prices within the Land of Water skyrocketed, and with the Hidden Mist Village in a constant state of internal strife and political instability, the residents' income shrank drastically.
The volume of missions from other nations had dwindled almost to zero, and the ninjas' income was also heavily affected.
Most importantly, the Hidden Mist Village had run out of money.
A village without money meant it could not provide sufficient resources to its ninjas, which would greatly affect the growth speed and peak potential of the Mist ninjas, thereby leading to a decline in the village's overall strength.
It was precisely out of consideration for this aspect that Mei Terumi proposed the strategy of opening up the Land of Water.
This proposal naturally received the support of Mangetsu Hozuki and Ao, since they belonged to the same faction as Mei Terumi in the first place.
However, this proposal met with opposition from Zabuza.
"I do not oppose opening up the Land of Water, but the timing of the opening is open to debate."
Zabuza offered his own insight and recounted the recent events that had occurred in the shinobi world to everyone.
"From what I know, the shinobi world is not peaceful at the moment. Months ago, Konoha suffered a terrifying attack from the Jashin Religion, resulting in the death of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and heavy losses."
Under Obito Uchiha's control, these newly appointed high-level officials of the Hidden Mist were truly entirely ignorant of what had happened in the shinobi world in recent years.
Therefore, when they heard the news that the Third Hokage, the man known as the Shinobi Professor, had died under the attack of the Jashin Religion, they still displayed immense shock.
Zabuza ignored their shock, because in his subsequent account, there were plenty of shocking matters to come.
"Afterward, Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village formed an allied force to march on the Land of Rivers and subjugate the Jashin Religion."
"After the allied forces defeated the main force of the Jashin Religion, the Hidden Sand Village backstabbed Konoha, wiping out over a thousand Konoha ninjas in one fell swoop and severely injuring Jiraiya, one of the Sannin."
"Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Land of Lightning also launched an attack on the Land of Fire. The Raikage and Konoha's new Hokage, Danzo Shimura, clashed several times without a decisive outcome, but the Land of Lightning's troops are still advancing."
"The Land of Earth has also launched an offensive against Konoha by way of the Land of Grass. Although they haven't officially declared war yet, it is only a matter of time."
"The Land of Wind is busy absorbing the spoils plundered from the Jashin Religion, temporarily holding off on attacks, but that probably won't last much longer either."
Zabuza recounted the major events that had recently transpired in the shinobi world in one breath, leaving everyone in a cold sweat.
"To think that so many things have happened in the shinobi world during our period of isolation..."
Mangetsu Hozuki let out a breath, looking somewhat shaken.
Mei Terumi fared slightly better, turning to ask Zabuza, "So, Jonin Zabuza wishes to wait until the shinobi world stabilizes again before beginning foreign trade?"
It had to be said that Zabuza's proposal made a lot of sense.
After all, the shinobi world was currently a chaotic mess. If the Land of Water blindly opened up now, it might attract the covetous eyes of other nations. It would be better to watch the changes from the sidelines, perhaps even reaping the spoils as a bystander.
However, doing this also presented a problem...
"If we do that, how will the Hidden Mist Village's financial situation be resolved?"
Mei Terumi furrowed her brows slightly.
She wasn't targeting Zabuza; finance was indeed the most thorny issue facing the Hidden Mist Village right now.
The Hidden Mist Village controlled by Tobi could afford to ignore development, but Mei Terumi could not. She had to make the Hidden Mist Village powerful so that they would not be threatened by others.
Mei Terumi did not wish for a similar situation to happen ever again.
The others also began to debate, since money was a paramount issue that concerned everyone.
To this, Zabuza also provided his answer.
"The Daimyo."
"The Daimyo?"
These two simple words struck everyone's hearts like a bolt of lightning. They stared in horror at Zabuza, who had spoken those words, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Even Genji, who had been keeping his eyes closed, could not help but open them at this moment, quietly sizing up Zabuza.
"That's right, the Daimyo."
The corners of Zabuza's mouth curled up slightly as he tossed a stack of documents onto the table.
"During the previous Mizukage's tenure, a massive amount of the Hidden Mist Village's benefits were funneled to the Daimyo's estate. These are all the pieces of evidence I have gathered over the years."
"Therefore, my recommendation is to take advantage of the current turmoil in the shinobi world, when others have no time to look elsewhere, and while the Land of Water is still in an isolated state, to cut through the knot quickly and force the Daimyo to stand completely on the Hidden Mist Village's side."
Zabuza's words were already very explicit. Forcing the Daimyo to stand on the Hidden Mist Village's side meant that they were going to control the Daimyo!
The moment these words were spoken, the breathing of everyone present could not help but grow heavy.