"To be honest…"
Mei Terumi glanced at the convoy ahead, where various supplies were being checked, then looked back at the brand-new jonin uniform Rei Kaguya was wearing. Her tone carried a faint trace of resentment.
"I'm really not used to seeing you dressed like a jonin."
"What's there to get used to?" Rei Kaguya rolled his eyes, unable to understand where Mei's comment had come from. "Hasn't my character setting since childhood always been genius? Is it strange for a genius to become a jonin earlier than everyone else his age?"
"The problem is probably that I never imagined the opportunity for you to be promoted to jonin and become famous across the shinobi world would be fighting that Minato Namikaze from Konoha."
Mei sighed. Her voice carried a mixture of unwillingness and helpless acceptance that she could not catch up to him.
"That is a monster who forced all of Iwagakure to submit with his strength alone. If I had been the one to face him, I probably would've lost my life without even realizing it the instant my focus slipped."
"True. If he did something like this, your beauty would perish, and your life would be over."
Rei casually gestured across Mei's slender white neck, then shook his head emotionally.
"Compared to your ability to cause mass destruction, your defensive ability isn't much different from an ordinary shinobi without a Kekkei Genkai."
"I'm sorry I can't take hits like you," Mei snapped, slapping Rei's hand away. "But even if I had the chance to exchange Kekkei Genkai with you, I don't think there's any chance I'd want to."
"Because you think tearing yourself into a bloody mess while fighting doesn't look good?"
"No. I just don't think I have the courage to fight without clothes."
Rei glanced at Mei's well-developed, curving figure and nodded with deep regret—no, deep agreement.
Then, before the atmosphere could turn strange, he coughed lightly and changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen really are worthy of being the elite force under Lord Third. It hasn't even been that long since we officially declared war on Konoha, yet they've already pushed the front line into the Land of Fire and stabilized it…"
"Otherwise, how would they be qualified to become members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?" Mei, like every shinobi born in Kirigakure, showed enough respect and admiration for the name Seven Ninja Swordsmen. "They're legendary shinobi who once conquered a small nation overnight with only seven people…"
"But the next battles won't be that easy."
Rei sighed and spoke faintly.
"Konoha's counterattack should be starting properly around now. The only question is who they'll send to the front as commander this time… Orochimaru of the Sannin? Or Jiraiya? Or perhaps Minato Namikaze, whose injuries should be almost healed?"
"Ah, about that. Before you returned from the Land of Whirlpools, Lord Third already received intelligence from our spies hidden in Konoha."
Mei, who had remained in Kirigakure during this period, made full use of her advantages as an Anbu and reported a name that left Rei rather surprised.
"She seems to be called Kushina Uzumaki. The spies aren't too sure about her exact identity, but they confirmed that she is an experienced female elite jonin. She performed well in the previous wars against Kumogakure and Iwagakure…"
"Wait. That's all the intelligence the spies sent back?" The corner of Rei's eye twitched. "Her name is Kushina Uzumaki. When the spies wrote that name down, did nothing come to mind?"
"What… what should have come to mind?" Mei was puzzled by Rei's sudden dissatisfaction. "The spies said she seems to be Minato Namikaze's fiancée, and that when she was young, she was once kidnapped by Kumogakure. There's a high chance she's a descendant of the Uzumaki clan taken in by the Land of Fire… Isn't that already plenty of information?"
"Haah…"
Rei let out a long breath. He felt a considerable degree of despair toward this world's intelligence system.
"Then let me ask one thing for now… Surely Kirigakure's intelligence system hasn't failed to grasp even the name of Konoha's first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, right?"
Faced with Rei's remark, which could already be considered a provocation, Mei first took a deep breath and told herself not to argue too much with Rei, who often spoke without thinking. Only then did she answer with a trace of resentment.
"How could we not know that? The name Mito Uzumaki, wife of the First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, carries enough weight that merely saying it aloud can make people who lived through that era feel its significance."
Rei looked at Mei expressionlessly, even with a hint of pity, as she still failed to realize what was wrong. He continued asking.
"Then let me ask you. Has Mito Uzumaki passed away?"
"Probably before the Third Shinobi World War began… Eh?"
At this point, even Mei, who had been more or less assimilated into the same type of person by Kirigakure's intelligence system, began to realize something was wrong.
If Mito Uzumaki had passed away before the Third Shinobi World War began, then how did Konoha deal with the Nine-Tails after losing the Jinchuriki who controlled it?
That was the strongest existence among the nine Tailed Beasts. If they simply left it alone, the Nine-Tails would absolutely take brutal revenge on Konoha, which had imprisoned it for so long.
But the spies Kirigakure had planted in Konoha had never sent back any intelligence about the Nine-Tails running wild.
That meant the Nine-Tails was still under Konoha's control.
Then only one answer remained.
Konoha had already obtained a new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Although they had never used his or her power in any foreign war, such a Jinchuriki's existence was both certain and necessary.
"Kushina Uzumaki… is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Mei swallowed. Her voice trembled slightly as she asked Rei, whose expression remained calm.
"Not bad. At least you're not stupid enough to need me to say the answer outright…" Rei pressed his fingers to his brow with a headache and said speechlessly, "Your performance has truly made me feel rather disappointed in the village's intelligence system, Mei Terumi. Such an obvious issue, from the spies collecting intelligence to the Anbu intelligence analysis team to Lord Third himself, not a single person noticed it…"
"I-I'll report this intelligence to Lord Third right now!"
Mei's pretty face flushed red. Almost instinctively, she turned to run toward the Mizukage's office building.
Rei sighed, stepped forward, grabbed Mei's small hand, and forcefully pulled her back. His gaze grew deep as he looked into her eyes and asked faintly.
"And what will happen if you tell Lord Third? Other than Lord Third himself, does the village have any shinobi who can contend with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? If not, then what meaning does reporting this intelligence have aside from shaking morale? Can you make Lord Third personally take the field and join us in facing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
"Also, how do you plan to explain the source of this intelligence? Say that I analyzed it from the Anbu intelligence you relayed to me? Wouldn't that be the same as slapping Lord Third and everyone in the intelligence analysis team who failed to notice this across the face? I don't want to offend the most important intelligence department among our colleagues before I even set foot on the battlefield."
"Then… then what should I do?"
Mei became somewhat at a loss.
She looked at the Kirigakure colleagues standing beside the convoy, completely unaware as they excitedly imagined the war, then looked back at Rei, who still wore a disdainful expression, and murmured worriedly.
"That's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki… Even if we were only fighting a wild Nine-Tails, we would at least need all Seven Ninja Swordsmen gathered together and every shinobi on the entire front line assembled for a faint chance of victory. A Jinchuriki who can control the Nine-Tails' power with their own intelligence would only be countless times more terrifying and powerful than a wild Nine-Tails…"
"Leave it to me. As long as she appears on the battlefield, I'll be the one to restrain her movements."
Rei smiled and reached out to hold Mei's hand.
Through that gesture, he passed his warmth and strength to her while speaking in a low voice.
"But…"
"Don't worry. I know my limits… Besides, don't worry too much about Kushina Uzumaki using the Nine-Tails' power without restraint. If my guess is correct, she should have quite a few concerns when it comes to using that power."
"Why?" Mei took a deep breath and looked at Rei's confident face with a gaze asking for guidance.
"Our spies have been hiding in Konoha for so long, yet they have never heard any news about a second Jinchuriki besides Mito Uzumaki. That means the fact that Kushina Uzumaki is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has been hidden as a secret by Konoha's higher-ups."
Rei analyzed calmly.
"Why hide it? Deceiving other nations' intelligence agencies and leaving behind an unknown trump card is one purpose. Another reason is probably to prevent her living environment from becoming too harsh."
"You should also know what ordinary shinobi think of Jinchuriki, people with Tailed Beasts sealed inside them, Mei… Someone who has lived for a long time without being treated like a monster, rejected, and discriminated against will not willingly expose how different they are from ordinary people unless forced into a last resort. They will not willingly make themselves into a monster feared by others again."
"So as long as we don't push her or her companions into a desperate situation, she should not take the initiative to reveal her Jinchuriki power to resolve a crisis. And if she doesn't use the Nine-Tails' power, then her strength is probably just that of a somewhat stronger elite jonin. She won't be too difficult to deal with."
"In conclusion, to protect everyone, we must slack off more."
Rei looked into Mei's emerald-green eyes and said very seriously.