After using information he had long known to frighten Orochimaru slightly and once again deepen the sense of mystery he held in the other man's heart, Rei left Orochimaru inside the experimental building where he had personally set up a sensory barrier.
Then he put on his Mizukage haori once more and arrived at the conference hall inside the Mizukage Building, which was already packed with people.
"Hm. Everyone came quite quickly today…"
Rei swept his gaze around the conference hall. After discovering that almost every jonin without a mission had arrived, he gave a relaxed whistle and sat down in the Mizukage's seat.
Seeing that he had finally arrived at the meeting venue just before the meeting was about to begin, Mei Terumi, acting as his secretary, walked behind him helplessly and spoke in a slightly complaining tone.
"Since you clearly knew there would be a troublesome topic to discuss today, could you not arrive at the meeting exactly on time, Rei?"
"Didn't I deliberately push the meeting back by an hour? Don't make it so serious. It's just a meeting no different from usual, Mei."
Listening to Rei's relaxed words, Genji, who was responsible for handling the village's daily affairs, coughed lightly and said in a somewhat helpless tone, "A matter involving the Three-Tails' revival cannot be described as a meeting no different from usual, Fourth."
"So what if the Three-Tails is about to revive?"
Rei stretched indifferently and responded without much concern.
"Kirigakure does not lack Kage-level experts right now. Why treat the Three-Tails as something so important?"
"But if we still do not select a Jinchuriki after the Three-Tails revives, Kirigakure will have two Tailed Beasts that cannot be controlled at the same time."
Juzo Biwa, who had already resigned from his position among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and was now attending this meeting merely as an elite jonin, sighed and spoke to Rei.
"Fourth, perhaps you can ignore the power of Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki, but leaving resources that could be used idle will inevitably attract malicious speculation and covetous eyes from some people. For example… Kirigakure no longer has the ability to create Jinchuriki, so why not find a way to seize Kirigakure's Tailed Beasts and turn them into Jinchuriki loyal to oneself? Things like that."
"It is not good to always view matters through the eyes of the old era, Juzo."
Rei glanced at Juzo Biwa, who had clearly been pushed out as a representative by the others, and shook his head slightly.
"I am not completely opposed to selecting Jinchuriki inside the village. After all, the power of Tailed Beasts is so strong. Leaving them alone all the time would indeed be rather wasteful… But the village's public opinion toward Jinchuriki has never changed. They still view Jinchuriki as monsters that should be kept at a distance, rather than heroes who sacrificed and contributed for the village."
"I have already placed the consequences of Jinchuriki being alienated and criticized openly on the table and analyzed them seriously with all of you, clearly and plainly. Yet not only have you failed to listen at all, you have instead intensified your efforts to guide public opinion within the village in a direction unfavorable to Jinchuriki…"
"I would like to ask everyone present this. Since you refuse to cooperate with my work, what reason do I have to risk destroying the future lives of two shinobi by making them become Jinchuriki that are no longer so necessary to the village?"
Rei's questioning voice was not loud.
But it entered the ears of every jonin attending the meeting with perfect clarity.
Most of the jonin present lowered their heads because of Rei's slightly displeased questioning. They did not dare talk back to this young Mizukage who always did things his own way.
Only a small number of middle-aged jonin who had served since the Third Mizukage's era withstood Rei's pressure and once again pushed out a new speaker.
"Sacrificing oneself for the village's interests is itself the duty a shinobi ought to fulfill. As shinobi who have sworn loyalty to Kirigakure, even if selected to become Jinchuriki, they should not develop weak thoughts such as feeling that they have been sacrificed or that their lives have been ruined… Fourth, your attitude toward subordinate shinobi is far too gentle!"
The one speaking was the enormous Fuguki Suikazan.
He had also retired from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Now, he had become the representative figure of Kirigakure's conservative faction and gathered a group of old fossils who were full of nostalgia for Kirigakure's former cold-blooded atmosphere. From time to time, they would voice criticism in meetings like this, calling some policies Rei had formulated "too soft."
"Then I have also made myself very clear, Fuguki. Cold treatment, isolation, treating Jinchuriki as monsters instead of heroes and dealing with them differently will only make their minds more sensitive and fragile. It will make it easier for the Tailed Beasts to seize their consciousness and make them go berserk."
Rei looked coldly at Fuguki Suikazan, then at Yagura Karatachi, who sat beside him and silently met his gaze.
His tone became icy as he asked, "Am I too gentle with you, or are all of you going through a rebellious phase? I have already placed a plan for selecting Jinchuriki before you. Not only did you fail to listen to a single word, you instead stood there speaking as though it cost you nothing and accused me of being too gentle and merciful?"
"Because changing people's fear of Jinchuriki is impossible, Fourth."
Yagura Karatachi, whose face remained that of an ageless young boy, shook his head and spoke in a calm tone.
"Tailed Beasts are natural disasters. Monsters. Jinchuriki are only fragile containers capable of temporarily sealing Tailed Beasts. To people without strength, how could they possibly not fear monsters and disasters walking beside them?"
"You hope that through the words of people like us, who are also afraid of the power of Tailed Beasts, those weaker than us will stop holding prejudice against Jinchuriki with Tailed Beasts sealed inside them. That is indeed somewhat too wishful."
"Yagura, if you wish to use that kind of speech to make me give up on changing the public opinion environment Jinchuriki live in, then you are mistaken."
Rei swept his gaze around the silent jonin in the hall.
Then he met Yagura Karatachi's eyes again and slowly said, "Rather than allow people to subject shinobi who become Jinchuriki to cold violence and turn Jinchuriki into unstable, uncontrollable time bombs, I would rather give up on Kirigakure's use of Jinchuriki."
"No. That is not what I mean, Fourth."
Yagura Karatachi shook his head.
Then, under the surprised gazes of the conservative jonin behind him, as well as Fuguki Suikazan, he took the initiative to stand up and pointed at himself.
"What I mean is, if we give up on selecting Jinchuriki because we are worried that Jinchuriki will suffer cold violence from the people around them, then the image of Jinchuriki in people's hearts will never change."
"What you should do, Fourth, is hand the Tailed Beasts to shinobi whose hearts are firm and who will not be easily shaken by outside public opinion. Then let them contribute to the village as Jinchuriki and change people's prejudice and discrimination toward Jinchuriki."
"The title and impression of Kirigakure as the Village of the Bloody Mist has spread through the shinobi world for a long time. But after you succeeded the position and vigorously pushed reforms, Fourth, many people, including those from the Land of Demons, the Land of Swamps, and the Land of Waves, no longer believe that Kirigakure shinobi are all cold-blooded killing machines…"
"Jinchuriki are the same. Only when shinobi who become Jinchuriki can withstand the surrounding pressure and do things that make the people around them change their view of Jinchuriki can the public opinion environment you want—where Jinchuriki are seen as heroes who have sacrificed and contributed for the village—truly appear."
After listening to Yagura Karatachi's speech, Rei fell silent for a moment.
Then, in a voice that revealed no emotion, he asked Yagura, "So, you intend to become that pioneer, Yagura?"
"Since I have said this, I naturally intend to do it."
Yagura Karatachi did not avoid Rei's gaze.
"If I push the responsibility of becoming a Jinchuriki onto someone else, this topic will only remain stuck in a deadlock where no one is willing to give ground, just like it has for the past two years…"
"After the Three-Tails revives, I will become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and carry out missions for Kirigakure as the Three-Tails Jinchuriki."
"In return, if I do indeed change some people's prejudice toward Jinchuriki, then I hope you can also select a suitable candidate, Fourth, to become the Six-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Kirigakure shinobi should not be so hesitant, so indecisive."
Yagura Karatachi's words were firm and decisive.
They carried an imposing presence completely mismatched with his short stature as they pressed openly and directly toward Rei, and toward Mei Terumi beside him.
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