After the Fourth Mizukage succession ceremony ended, the first thing Kaguya Ren did was open up access rights to Hyuga Makoto—the one who carried Hyuga main-family blood.
Of course, in order to ensure sustainable "draining the pond," Ren didn't crank the workload to the maximum right away.
But watching the first five kunoichi granted usage rights—laughing, cheerful, carrying their boxed dinners as they walked into the room—
Ren still couldn't help but observe a single second of silence for Hyuga Makoto's kidneys.
Across from him, Terumī Mei—dragged back from the front lines only days ago and promptly seized as Ren's secretary—rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.
"That's enough, Ren. Don't act like you weren't the one who ordered him turned into a tool for spreading the Hyuga bloodline…"
"It's just polite mourning," Ren said without even looking up from the document he needed to stamp as the new Mizukage. "I've got no personal experience in this area. Things like 'there's no field you can't plow, only oxen you can exhaust'—I've only heard them secondhand."
"And if everyone keeps saying it, what's wrong with me feeling sorry for the only large piece of livestock in our village right now?"
Mei's lips pouted as she huffed.
"Hmph. If the Fourth Mizukage so much as hints at it, you'll have twenty beautiful kunoichi standing in your room tonight, staring at you with doe eyes, begging to bear your children. You believe me?"
"If you don't mind," Ren replied dryly, "you can spread that rumor."
"W-what do you mean, if I don't mind?! Y-you—you—!"
Mei short-circuited.
Ren didn't even glance up.
"Your position is my private secretary. Learn to help me handle what you can decide on your own instead of getting sour in my face about how I could become Kirigakure's number one 'piling driver' if I wanted."
Then, expression unchanged, he smoothly shifted the topic.
"Enough. We're too young for that anyway."
"Have you thought about what I asked earlier, Mei?"
"You mean…" Mei's expression grew complicated at once, voice steadying. "The idea of partially releasing the chakra nature ratios that form bloodline limits?"
Her green eyes fixed on Ren's, serious as a vow.
"Why did you suddenly think to ask me this, Ren?"
"With how you treated the Hyuga and Uchiha… if you wanted to spread our clan's Boil Release and the Yuki clan's Ice Release, wouldn't it make more sense to encourage our clans to marry into others?"
"Because your bloodline limits aren't like the Hyuga and Uchiha," Ren said. "Those are dōjutsu—organs. Yours are chakra nature combinations."
"And that means they can be analyzed. Replicated."
As he spoke, he formed seals for Wind Release and Water Release.
Mei's eyes widened.
Ren extended a hand toward her.
"Ice Release: White Coffin."
A biting chill burst from his palm.
In an instant, the air crystallized—transparent, deep blue ice forming and spreading to seal Mei inside.
At the current rate, Mei could've yawned, stretched, and still had time to flicker away.
But she stood there, frozen in disbelief as the ice swallowed her—her body trembling from the stabbing cold.
"You see?" Ren said calmly as the coffin thickened. "I only grasped the method by accident during training—combining wind and water and elevating them into Ice Release."
"Compared to the Yuki clan, my speed and power are nowhere near theirs."
"But it's the same thing."
"Real Ice Release."
Mei could barely breathe.
Ren's hand slid through the growing ice and rested on her shoulder—solid contact, undeniable.
The cold was real.
The technique was real.
Mei—who had sparred with more than a few Yuki clan shinobi during her ANBU years—slowly opened her mouth inside the frozen shell.
"…Release."
The White Coffin dissolved and vaporized, vanishing into the air of the Mizukage's office as if it had never existed.
If she hadn't lived it, Mei would never have believed it.
Ren poured her a steaming cup of black tea and handed it over.
"Want something warm? My chakra carries natural energy now. When I use Ice Release, the temperature-draining effect is probably even stronger than the Yuki clan's."
Only then did Mei realize how stiff her body had become, how dull her reactions felt. She accepted the tea awkwardly, sipped once, and exhaled—slow, shaken.
"When did you start thinking about turning our bloodline limits into learnable power?" she asked, emotions tangled.
Ren's reply was casual—almost conversational.
"Back in the Academy."
"When the teacher talked about the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, dying with the Second Hokage… and then mentioned the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki."
"Not related by blood, but still capable of using a kekkei tōta even stronger than a bloodline limit—Dust Release."
From that moment, Ren said, he'd wondered:
If even kekkei tōta could be taught…
Then why couldn't kekkei genkai—power beyond ordinary shinobi—be spread to the jōnin who met the requirements but lacked the correct ratios?
Mei let out a weak laugh.
"You've been thinking about things that would make people's jaws drop since you were little."
Her body finally warming again, she lifted a hand and lightly punched his shoulder—then leaned close, lips near his ear, voice lowered.
"But bloodline clans are stubborn. And greedy."
"If you demand they hand over their secrets without equal—or greater—compensation, then even if they don't dare resist you openly… they'll hate you to the bone."
"And they'll look for a way to retaliate."
Ren didn't answer directly. Instead, he tossed the responsibility back with a question.
"Your chakra natures are Fire, Earth, Water… and Lightning, right, Mei?"
"Yes," Mei said, tilting her head, eyes narrowing as she tried to guess his angle. "So?"
"Then are you interested in learning Lava Release?" Ren asked smoothly. "Fire and Earth, elevated."
"Or Magnet Release?" he continued. "Lightning and Earth, elevated."
"And if I gather enough research material… I might even be able to develop another kekkei tōta—one distinct from Dust Release's Wind-Fire-Earth—and teach that to you as well."
Mei snorted, laughter slipping out of her.
Then she went soft against him, leaning her weight into his chest, trying—and failing—to keep her voice steady.
"You're drawing too many big pies, Ren. If you can't deliver… you'll get bitten back hard."
"You can just tell me whether you'll give it or not."
Mei fell silent for a long moment.
Then she spoke, measured and careful—exactly like Mei.
"I can give you the Lava Release ratio I personally control."
"But the Terumī clan's Boil Release… no."
"If you can't produce results and need to 'convince' people, then at least there'll only be one victim who comes to demand an explanation."
Ren laughed softly and wrapped an arm around her slender waist.
"Not bad. That's exactly the kind of temperament worthy of becoming Mizukage."
"For the personal sacrifice you're making for Kirigakure's development, Mei… I'll compensate you with everything I've got."
"Spare me," Mei murmured, eyes closed, cheeks hot where Ren couldn't see. Her voice was deliberately indifferent—transparent as glass. "If you can fulfill even half your promises… that'll be the best compensation."
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