"I originally just wanted to take some compensation and leave."
Minato looked at the Third Mizukage expressionlessly and spoke slowly. His voice was calm, yet it carried an underlying chill that made the humid air of the Hidden Mist feel like ice. In his mind, he was already calculating the most efficient way to dismantle the leadership of this village if they continued to be difficult.
Hearing this, the Third Mizukage's expression stiffened; he could hear the wrongness in Minato's tone. It wasn't the sound of a negotiator losing patience, but the sound of a predator deciding that the prey wasn't worth the effort of a conversation.
But reflecting on it, he realized that although the other party had come to his door aggressively, they hadn't started a massacre immediately. The streets weren't yet flowing with the blood of his shinobi, which gave him a sliver of hope.
Not starting a war directly meant there was room for negotiation. He assumed that even someone as powerful as the Yellow Flash would want to avoid the geopolitical fallout of erasing a Great Village.
Instead, it was himself who had been trying to force the other party onto a moral high ground. He had tried to use politics and etiquette to bind a man who stood far above such petty concepts.
Looking at Minato's current state, how could he not understand that he had outsmarted himself? The polite mask Minato wore was cracking, revealing a void of golden light and cold indifference.
"But now I've changed my mind."
Minato clapped his hands together and then pulled his palms apart, a golden light sword appearing in his hand. The $Pika Pika no Mi$ energy hummed with a terrifying frequency, illuminating the dim office with a divine, yet murderous, glow.
"A fellow like you who loves to stir up trouble is better off dead."
"Protect the Mizukage-sama!"
Seeing Minato about to act, a Ninja cried out in alarm. The guard's hand flew to his kunai, but his muscles couldn't even twitch before the light intensified.
The Third Mizukage's heart sank. Just as he was about to respond, Minato instantly appeared behind him, the light sword in his hand slowly dissipating into shimmering particles.
So fast—
While the residual consciousness in his brain was still marvelling, the Third Mizukage's vision spun wildly, and his head fell to the ground with a thud. He didn't even feel the blade sever his nerves; the speed of the $Hiraishin$ combined with the light blade was absolute.
"Mizukage-sama!!"
Seeing the Third Mizukage's death, the surrounding Kirigakure Ninjas immediately broke into a violent commotion. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and fresh blood.
"Damned Konoha Ninja, this is going too far!"
"Kill him! Avenge the Mizukage-sama!"
"Everyone, stand down!!!"
A voice full of vigor suddenly reached everyone's ears. A bald old man leaning on a cane walked over with small steps, followed by two guards. His presence was heavy, anchored by decades of survival.
The old man looked to be about seventy or eighty years old. Upon seeing him, the previously agitated Kirigakure Ninjas immediately fell silent and cleared a path.
"Genryu—"
"Mizukage-sama, he—"
"There is no logic in this world that allows you to scheme against others without letting them deal with you. To rashly provoke a powerful enemy you cannot handle was the Third's dereliction of duty."
Genryu shook his head, defining the nature of the event. He looked at the headless corpse of his leader not with grief, but with the weary disappointment of a teacher watching a failing student.
Leaning on his cane, he moved to stand before Minato. He didn't show fear, only a deep, pragmatic resignation.
"My apologies, young man from Konoha, for the trouble caused to you."
Genryu sighed with melancholy: "I also came from the Sengoku era and had some friendship with the First Hokage. I wonder if, for the sake of the First's Face, you could leave a way out for my Hidden Mist?"
"Hidden Mist will show sufficient sincerity to compensate for your losses. Furthermore, I can guarantee that such a situation will never occur again."
"You are too polite, elder."
Minato's expression softened slightly; he was someone who respected the elderly, or at least he found it useful to maintain that image. Internally, he noted that this old man was far more dangerous than the dead Mizukage because he knew how to yield.
"I wonder what kind of compensation you intend to offer?"
"Ninjutsu probably doesn't hold much attraction for you. The only thing Hidden Mist can offer that is worth anything seems to be wealth."
Genryu looked at Minato: "What do you think, young man?"
"I'm not short on money. Can I exchange it for something else?"
Minato shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding Kirigakure Ninjas with a meaningful look. His eyes weren't looking at the people, but through them, searching for the massive signatures of chakra hidden within the village.
Noticing Minato's gaze, Genryu stepped slightly to the side: "It was my discourtesy. Your Excellency, please move to another place for a discussion."
The two arrived at a meeting room in the Mizukage building. Minato sat on the sofa and got straight to the point: "I'll be blunt, I'm quite interested in the Tailed Beasts."
"Young man, you should understand that the Tailed Beasts are the final line of defense for the Five Great Villages." Genryu shook his head slightly.
If Minato wanted secret techniques, Ninja Swords, or Bloodline Limits, he could satisfy the requests as appropriate. Only the Tailed Beasts were something he could not give away no matter what. The loss of a Jinchuriki was a loss of national power.
Fortunately, Minato wasn't after the Tailed Beasts themselves: "I only need a portion of their Chakra."
At the end of the Shippuden era, Sasuke awakened the Rinnegan with the help of the Six Paths Sage. Conversely, Naruto awakened the Six Paths Sage Mode with the help of the Six Paths Sage.
This Chakra mode requires the user to master Sage Mode and gather the Chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, plus the guidance of fate to be activated.
Minato, who possessed the Chakra of both Ashura and Indra, could theoretically not only awaken the Rinnegan but also the Six Paths Sage Mode. His internal system flickered with data, calculating the $100\%$ compatibility he required.
Since the Rinnegan had yet to awaken, Minato wanted to see if he could activate the Six Paths Sage Mode. Moreover, since the Rinnegan is an extension of the Ten-Tails' power and the Tailed Beasts' power also originates from the Ten-Tails, it might accelerate the awakening of the Rinnegan.
"If it's only a portion of Chakra—that is acceptable."
After a brief thought, Genryu agreed to Minato's request. It was a small price to pay to keep the village from being burned to the ground by a man who moved at the speed of light.
He didn't know what Minato intended to do, but regardless of what it was, he had no power to interfere.
Even if he refused, Minato could just take it by force. The corpse in the other room was proof enough of that.
"However, the Tailed Beasts are violent. Hidden Mist probably won't be able to help you much."
"It doesn't matter."
Seeing Minato's firm attitude, Genryu didn't say more and ordered people to lead Minato to find the two Jinchuriki.
"Genryu—can we really just let this matter go?"
After Minato left, the Hidden Mist high-ranking officials immediately found Genryu. Their faces were pale, a mix of terror and bruised pride.
One official was dissatisfied with Genryu's decision: "Allowing a mere brat to come to our door and kill the Third Mizukage—if this gets out, where will Hidden Mist's Face be?"
Genryu glanced at the man and said calmly: "Fine, then you go and kill him."
"I—"
The official was suddenly speechless. His bravado vanished instantly.
Me, fight Minato Namikaze? I might as well try to catch a lightning bolt with my bare hands.
"Let this matter end here."
Genryu's cane tapped lightly, making a thudding sound that echoed in everyone's hearts: "This matter was our Hidden Mist's provocation first. Even if he had wiped out Hidden Mist, there would be nothing to criticize. To be able to end it like this is already that child showing mercy."
"Pass down the order: during the period Minato Namikaze stays in the village, no one is to provoke him in any way. Any violation will be treated as treason."
"Yes!"
On the other side, Minato met the two Jinchuriki of the Hidden Mist Village. He stood in a fortified training ground, his sensory abilities mapping out the churning, demonic energy within the two hosts.
The Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails was a youth of about fifteen or sixteen, while the Jinchuriki of the Six-Tails was a woman around thirty years old.
A person's name is like the shadow of a tree.
Minato was already a famous Ninja, and having just killed the Third Mizukage, the two couldn't help but feel some apprehension upon learning he wanted to contact them.
Of course, this apprehension was mostly because neither had mastered the power of the Tailed Beasts. Since the Uzumaki Clan had not yet been destroyed and there were no sufficiently powerful Fūinjutsu, they could only move within the barriers of the Sealing Team until now.
"First time meeting you both."
Minato raised his fist, first looking at the Three-Tails Jinchuriki: "Can we bump fists?"
The Three-Tails Jinchuriki looked at Minato in confusion but still tactfully raised his fist. He felt a strange warmth coming from the blonde man, a fake kindness that felt entirely real to the touch.
As their fists touched, using his powerful Yin Release power, Minato instantly appeared within the Three-Tails' sealing space.
Inside the empty sealing space, a giant iron-grey turtle was quietly crawling before Minato. The environment was damp and dark, smelling of ancient seawater.
The giant turtle's body was covered in hideous spikes, and it also had a single eye that looked very similar to the Rinnegan. It radiated a heavy, crushing pressure that would have brought a normal ninja to their knees.
Beside it, black incantations floated in mid-air, flickering with a weak, blue light.
This was the Hidden Mist's Tailed Beast Seal. Minato glanced at it and found the sealing level to be very rudimentary, far inferior to the Fūinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan. To him, it looked like a flimsy paper door holding back a tidal wave.
"Hm? This Chakra—"
Noticing Minato's arrival, the giant turtle's huge single eye looked at him: "Brat, what is Senju Hashirama to you?"
"No relation," Minato shook his head. He stood before the massive entity with his hands in his pockets, completely unimpressed by its size.
"Then what about Uchiha Madara?" the giant turtle asked again. It sniffed the air, sensing a familiar, terrifying potency in the boy's spirit.
"Also no relation," Minato shook his head again.
The giant turtle looked at Minato and fell into deep thought. After a long time, it finally nodded slightly: "Hmm—I remember both of those guys were male. You couldn't possibly be born from the two of them."
Minato: "..."
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