“Kumogakure must pay!” Lady Megumi shrieked, her fist balled and slammed against my centre table.

My council convened in my Tower office and I sat with them as Junichi served tea and listened in by my side. My desk was cluttered and brimming with reports from the front, but the most important reports rested in the hands of Lord Funato and Uncle Aoto.

I shouldn’t have been so surprised to read Junko’s reports and even less so when Fuguki’s corroborated it so aptly but here we were, six months into my reign and already another Hidden Village was looking for trouble.

Uncle put the report aside and shook his head as he cringed at Lady Megumi, “Oh it’s not that bad, Fuguki says he got there in time to stop them from stealing away with her. Only one casualty, the Genin Sakai, clanless but he served well, ensured not one escaped Fuguki’s Kabutowari.”

Uncle seemed quite satisfied with that fact, “And besides, Yagura-sama sent her team there on what I’d call a basic retrieval mission, they weren’t meant to encounter Kumo-nin but they did and she put a stop to them without a single Jounin to supervise, I say you should be proud.”

Lady Megumi’s scowl only deepened as she waved his comments away, “Not that, Rina has only done what was expected of her; her mission. Kumogakure on the other hand has to pay dearly for daring to meddle so freely in the Land of Water without our permission!” She slammed her fist again, rattling the table and spilling Lord Funato’s tea much to his annoyance.

The old man picked up what was left with a similar scowl and sipped, “Permission? Well, I suppose you can assume Kumo would seek such but we all know no one plays by the ‘rules’ until they’re caught. The shinobi Hoshigaki-dono has captured will surely be renounced in order to clear their names.”

I sighed and massaged my temple at the thought of Kumo cutting the cord on their own shinobi to prevent us from escalating the conflict, it was surely one way they’d get away with what they’ve done, what they’ve attempted. I know well Kirigakure has done much the same in the past. Covert missions don’t always stay covert after all.

“I can’t say I blame them.” I said, causing Lady Megumi’s eyes to widen. I shrugged as I sank into my seat, “Think about it, Kumogakure has watched the Land of Water tear itself apart, kill off powerful Bloodline clans one after the other whereas they are a sea away thirsting for a taste of such bounty of power. Who knows how long they’ve been working in the Land of Water, stealing away Bloodline clans ship by ship, saving them from our ignorance.”

My chair quickly grew uncomfortable and I sat up to drain my cup of tea which Junichi promptly refilled, “And there’s the Daimyo’s war, it’s no surprise to see them fighting on Baron Tetsuya and Watanbe’s side. Kirigakure has dragged its feet in entering a war that long precedes my tenure as Mizukage.”

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I snorted and motioned for Junichi to add some more sugar as the plain taste appalled me, “Just imagine what would have become of us if we never uncovered this scheme. A Daimyo indebted to the Raikage, a Land of Water devoid of strength. A puppet of a country, all our doings uncovered by Kumo, perhaps even Kirigakure would be dismantled.”

My council fell silent at my words and it angered me even more so than Kumogakure’s opportunistic gall. I glared at them all, even Uncle as I was not ignorant that he held his own foolish biases, “Do you lot see now? How other villages gain strength, power! How they rise to champion the shinobi world? Tch, I can’t stomach the idea of daring to escalate this any more than it’s gone already.”

Lady Megumi’s fists trembled but she held her tongue where Lord Funato did not, “You mean…you don’t intend to respond to this affront?” the old man’s eyes were wide open, his wounds from the assassination attempt well healed.

I shook my head, “It’d be an embarrassment to let this get out. If they’ve been working under our nose since Sandaime-sama, since the Daimyo’s war begun…hell it makes sense now why Baron Tetsuya would dare go against the Daimyo at all, unstable succession or no.

No, I will not let the world know Kirigakure failed to notice its clans being stolen away or another Hidden Village enabling a civil war against our Daimyo. I will not be made laughingstock.”

Uncle glanced solemnly at his fellow councillors and asked the question on each of their minds, “What shall we do then?”

I breathed out a heavy sigh as I calmed my growing rage at Kirigakure’s continued porosity, “You will all continue to do as I say. The best response to Kumogakure is silence, they will not hear from their shinobi or us and this damned civil war, it’s about time I put an end to it.”

Lady Megumi stuttered, “Uh- wh- surely you don’t intend to go out yourself!”

“Hozuki-dono is right, this is a mere civil dispute, it is not worthy of your personal presence!” Uncle concurred but I shook my head at them.

I emptied my cup again, letting the searing heat steal my attention from the boiling rage, “Umehebi and Tsurugashima remain the only obstacles, the war is long overdue for an end with our involvement anyhow. It’s about time I taught my apprentice something, so I will teach him how to end a war.”

Lady Megumi looked appeased at the mention of Mangetsu but in truth there was far more to my intent than simply showing the boy how to break the back of a rebellious island. While my training in Fuuinjutsu was progressing nicely, it would be some time before I could safeguard Kirigakure against the enemy lurking in the shadows.

Even now I worried Zetsu was listening in to this meeting and would spread the knowledge of Kirigakure’s absolute failings to the Daimyo. Imagine that, after demanding two islands from the royal he comes to discover Kirigakure hadn’t even known his enemies were funded by a shinobi village. I shuddered at the thought of Princess Hanako confronting me with such damning information, I’d have to make some concessions no doubt.

Zetsu’s existence and his obvious activities against Kirigakure filled me with an anxiety Fuuinjutsu couldn’t hope to guard against, at least not in time. Not even my plans for a village wide barrier fuelled by Bijuu Chakra was seeing much progress, even with Harusame at the head of the research for it. There was only one thing that could ease my fears now.

Senjutsu Chakra. It was time I unwrapped Uncle’s inauguration gift.