Mangekyō Sharingan… and Wood Release.
Mei wasn't unfamiliar with those words.
If anything, she knew them too well.
That was why, when Ren linked the mission's failure to a Konoha shinobi who possessed both, the pressure crushed her so hard she nearly suffocated.
"Konoha…" Mei whispered, trembling as she leaned heavily against the scarred tree behind her. "They've already raised a monster like that?"
Her eyes flicked to the blackened blood still trapped in the tree's old wounds, then back to Ren—whose gaze held no lies.
Mei hugged herself tightly, voice shaking.
"Then what was it all for?"
"The people we sacrificed… the feelings we threw away…"
"All the effort we made to grow stronger—so we could one day seize land, fix the Land of Water's shortages…"
"What were we doing?"
She swallowed hard, and something bitter spilled out.
"Were we just… propping up the village's pride with cruelty?"
"Pretending we haven't already fallen out of the great nations?"
Ren stepped closer and patted her shoulder, his voice low and steady.
"That's what it means."
"If the route is wrong… then the harder you push, the farther you get from success."
Mei's shoulders shook.
Ren's hand stayed there, firm.
"Now," he said softly, "do you understand why I said what I said… and why I brought you here, Mei?"
"I don't," Mei said.
Ren blinked. "…Huh?"
Mei kept her head lowered, voice small, stubborn, and a little too raw.
"You idiot."
Ren stood there, awkward for once.
Mei exhaled shakily and muttered, "Learn to read the room. At a time like this… shouldn't you be showing some 'manly spirit' that gives me hope?"
Ren stared, then answered at once, with utter sincerity.
"My fault."
That blunt acceptance—so like him—pulled Mei back from the edge. She pressed a palm against her chest as if steadying her heartbeat, then looked up with a faint spark returning to her green eyes.
"…You said a lot just now. My head's still spinning."
"But thinking back—when you talked about failing the mission… you didn't sound afraid of those two monsters at all."
Ren whistled lightly. "Because I beat them up."
Mei's gloom cracked.
"I knew it." She punched his shoulder once, a little too hard, and looked away as if embarrassed by her own relief. "If you came back, ate dango like nothing happened, and dragged me out here to say treasonous things… there's no way you'd do that without confidence."
Ren smiled and bumped her back.
"Then I'll ask again. Do you understand now?"
Mei caught his fist and, petty as ever, dug her nails into the back of his hand—leaving crescent-shaped marks.
"I think I do," she said slowly. "You want to stage a coup before the Third declares war on Konoha. Replace him. Cancel the plan to enter the Third Shinobi War."
Ren stared at her.
Then he clicked his tongue.
"Still not even close."
Mei: "…What?"
Ren flicked her forehead.
"Seriously, did the shock scramble your brain?"
"Think about it. Mist hasn't fought a large-scale war in ages. So long that every shinobi in the village has stockpiled emotions that only a brutal war can drain."
"And now Konoha—exhausted from fighting multiple fronts—sits right there."
He looked at her sharply.
"Do you think most people in this village will carefully investigate Konoha's remaining strength, assess risks, and decide calmly whether to declare war?"
"…Or will they see a once-in-a-lifetime chance to carve fertile land out of Konoha—and rush in without thinking?"
Mei's jaw tightened.
"…The second."
"Exactly." Ren spread his hands.
"Then it's simple."
"From top to bottom, the village wants war. So whether the Mizukage wants it or not, he has to answer that demand."
"But that war against Konoha?"
Ren's voice dropped, cold and certain.
"We can't win it."
"The gap is too big. The moment Namikaze Minato is freed from the Lightning and Earth front…"
"It becomes a one-sided slaughter."
Mei's eyes widened.
Ren's smile turned sharp, almost mocking.
"And the reason Mist is this weak? That's the fruit of the Third's wrong policy."
"If I take power through a coup now… what happens?"
"I become the one who inherits his mess."
"I become the one who carries the blame when the war fails."
Ren shrugged.
"I'm not interested in doing something that stupid."
Mei's eyes narrowed. She was finally following.
"So your plan is—"
Ren lifted his right hand toward the dark sky, fingers curled like a claw, eyes burning with a wild gleam.
"After the war ends in total defeat…"
"I return as a hero of the battlefield."
"And I impeach the Third for gross failure."
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world—
"I take the position of Fourth Mizukage."
Mei's breath caught.
Ren's grin widened.
"The Third—representing the blood-mist ideology—and the stubborn fools who believe in him… fall with the defeat."
"And the new generation that fought, bled, and killed on the front lines—yet couldn't carry the village alone…"
"Replaces them."
He looked at Mei, and something fierce and hungry flashed across his face.
"Then we rebuild Mist—correctly."
"Tell me, Mei."
"Is there a better script than that?"
Mei stared at him, then whispered—
"A failed war means a lot of people die, Ren."
Her voice shook.
"Even if you have to watch comrades die in front of you… you don't care?"
Ren's body stiffened.
Slowly, he turned back.
And the smile he wore this time was ugly—woven from bitterness and self-mockery.
"I'm a demon who graduated by killing my best friend."
"That kind of pure hero who saves everyone…"
"I stopped being qualified to become that a long time ago."
Mei stepped closer, clumsy and unsure, and took his cold left hand in hers.
Their fingers interlaced.
"Yeah," she whispered. "I guess so."
People born in the Bloody Mist…
Who among them had the right to stand in the light and save everyone?
Ren gazed up at the sky—black clouds pressing down, storm on the verge of breaking—and spoke softly.
"War's coming soon."
"Live, Mei."
"And when I challenge the Third… when the knives come for my back…"
"I want to see you behind me."
Mei lifted her bangs, revealing her right eye—rarely shown—and studied his profile.
"Just your guard?" she asked quietly. "As someone who holds both Lava Release and Boil Release… I have my pride too."
Ren snorted. "Yeah, yeah. I know you're 'a woman who'll become Mizukage.'"
He closed his eyes, voice lazy and sharp at once.
"Don't rush it."
"After I drag Mist back onto the right road… I'll leave you a chance to challenge that seat."
Mei's lips curved faintly.
Ren, still holding her hand, let himself sink into that brief, fragile peace.
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