The thought of killing her; aftermath

Two afterward.

Mizukage's Office.

"Lord Mizukage, this is the damage report and repair plan for the First Training Ground and surrounding buildings." An Anbu knocked on the door and Earth Flow.

Since that battle, Mei Terumi's reputation has soared again. Some ninjas who were previously dismissive of her have now completely abandoned their past arrogance and are genuinely respectful and courteous to her.

Even the ruthless and cold-blooded Mist Ninja Anbu, whose methods were originally the most ruthless, have changed their ways.

The Anbu left the report and departed. The Fifth Mizukage took the report, flipped through a couple of pages, and then set it aside.

It's certainly exhilarating to unleash wave after wave of massive Ninjutsu during a fight.

But cleaning up the mess afterwards is much more troublesome.

From the slight furrow in her brows, it was clear that this was a rather troublesome matter. This wasn't something that could be easily repaired with Earth Release. Those iron stones, specially selected as targets for Ninjutsu, were originally indestructible and had withstood years of Ninjutsu attacks without a problem, yet they were destroyed by the Ninjutsu of two women. Replacing them would take a long time and a lot of money!

The surrounding buildings looked as if they had been blasted by a powerful Wind Release, almost leveled by the aftershocks!

Fortunately, there were no houses nearby; otherwise, it would have been dangerous if others had been injured.

Putting her headache aside for now, Mei Terumi sat in her office chair, lost in thought for a while, before suddenly remembering that she had invited the envoy from Konoha over for a talk.

"Perfect timing, I should go out for a walk!" She blinked, picked up the Mizukage, put it on her head, and walked out of the office; in the exhibition room next door, Sakura Haruno had been waiting for a while, and was now looking with great interest at the various artifacts in the room that recorded the history of the Mist Ninja.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. These past two days have been busy handling the follow-up matters, and we haven't had a chance to talk in detail yet," Mei Terumi said with a smile. "It's too stuffy in here, why don't we go for a walk, and talk as we go!"

"A leisurely diplomacy?" Sakura Haruno smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright."

The two walked out of the Mizukage office building.

Mei Terumi was lost in thought. She was taking a walk, but she walked quickly without saying a word. In no time, she brought Sakura Haruno to the training ground where the previous two battles had taken place.

For some reason, Mei Terumi hasn't sent anyone to repair the site yet; the large crater on the ground remains, but the remains, ninja tools, and other traces of the battle have been cleaned up.

At the edge of the deep pit were dilapidated buildings, and a little further on was a residential area. If she hadn't held back a lot of power during that battle and hadn't gone all out like she did against Orochimaru, she might have destroyed half of Kirigakure!

Nevertheless, the aftermath of the battle still caused enormous destruction.

This was Sakura Haruno's first time fighting in the city center, which was completely different from fighting in the wild.

Looking at the devastated scene, Sakura couldn't help but feel a deep sadness. Konoha's population density was even higher. If a Kage Level ninja were to recklessly run into the heart of Konoha and cause chaos, tens of thousands of people would likely be killed or injured! As for the kind of high-density concrete jungle that the Uchiha envisioned, like the cities of her previous life, that would be even more unimaginable.

Mei Terumi stood on a rock that rose from the ruins; it was Taiseki left behind by her Lava Release escaping.

A gentle breeze caressed Mei Terumi's face, tossing her long, smooth, and beautiful hair. She slowly closed her eyes, as if enjoying the caress of the spring breeze.

"Sister Sakura Haruno." The Fifth Mizukage took a deep breath and turned to Sakura Michi at the foot of the rocky mountain.

"Hmm?" Sakura looked up.

"You know what," she said calmly, "During the battle, I once thought about killing you and the Grand Elder along with the others."

Sakura Haruno was momentarily stunned and instinctively took a step back.

Mei Terumi 'Mei Terumi straightforward words surprised her a little, leaving her somewhat at a loss for words and unsure how to respond.

"Are you... joking?"

Seeing the girl's sudden fright, Mei Terumi smiled gently and said, "I mean no harm, don't be nervous."

She blinked and continued, "However, this idea really existed. Sister Sakura Haruno, you're so strong, and so young. You might become even stronger in the future."

Sakura Haruno pursed her lips and listened silently to what she had to say.

Mei Terumi spoke, she gracefully descended the rocky hill, saying, "The threat posed by the Suikazan Clan is nothing more than a minor ailment. Even without your help, we can deal with them on our own in time. It's your existence that's more worrying. I feel that even I, in my current state, might not be confident of defeating you."

"You're not even fifteen yet, you have a lot of room to grow. I'm almost thirty, my strength is nearing its peak, and there's not much room for further growth." She walked up to the girl, hands on her hips, and said, "If you're like this now, in a few years, you might defeat the entire Mist Ninja!"

"Should I take this opportunity to kill you?" Mei Terumi stared intently at Sakura Haruno.

This seemingly delicate and beautiful woman, while smiling charmingly, uttered such murderous words.

Her level of danger is comparable to her level of beauty.

Sakura Haruno remained silent. She had calmed down and looked back calmly into Mei Terumi's eyes. Those eyes, also emerald green, were clear and bright, seemingly ready to fight, yet revealing no murderous intent.

"Haha, I didn't scare you!" Mei Terumi smiled. "And I can't, I absolutely cannot, kill you. If I really did that, what difference would there be between the Kirigakure under my rule and the Bloody Mist Village era? Such Mist Ninja, even if they eliminated a future threat, would only be courting their own destruction. Besides..."

Sakura Haruno nodded. "Indeed, it is precisely because we believe that Kirigakure has changed that we took the initiative to contact you."

The name "Sakura" is really just something that sounds nice.

The initial contact between Konoha and Mist Ninja stemmed from their response to the threat posed by Mist Ninja. They wrote to them, marking Konoha first contact. At the time, Tsunade and the others were unaware that the secluded Mist Ninja had quietly undergone changes.

Later, after learning from the messenger's report that they were moving towards peace and openness, Kakashi's elite team was sent to contact the Mist Ninja and establish contact.

As for trusting Kirigakure... if they truly trusted them, they wouldn't have sent Sakura Haruno there; she's Kage Level fighter.

But at least one thing is true: Konoha and Mist Ninja are gradually transforming from sworn enemies into nations capable of peaceful coexistence.

In general, Konoha does believe that Mist Ninja is changing itself.

Mei Terumi understood the meaning behind her words.

"Seeing you made me realize that Mist Ninja has been out of touch with the times and the ninja world for far too long; it's fallen behind." She sighed. "For too long, we've spent too much time killing each other, destroying one foundation after another of the village's foundations— the Yuki, Kaguya, Hozuki, and other ninja clans, and the inhuman, mutually destructive graduation exams... to the point that Mist Ninja's strength is now depleted, and we're facing a generational gap."

Mei Terumi said with a hint of helplessness, "In the entire Kirigakure, there aren't any young ninjas of your caliber—and I'm not that greedy—there aren't even any young ninjas two levels below you!"

"You're too modest, Mei Terumi- neechan," Sakura said with a smile. "Isn't Chojuro already very powerful?"

"Him? He's still far from it!" Mei Terumi spoke to her loyal subordinate. "Kuro has always dreamed of inheriting the name of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, so I gave him the Twin Blades Hiramekarei I had captured. It's a reward for his courage and spirit of sacrifice! I hope these swords can somewhat make up for his lack of strength."

"He also has a Chōjūrō, who's quite young but also a good kid, worth nurturing. There's also Hamaru, Hinawata, and so on." She smiled brightly as she spoke of the village's new generation, "Of course, they're still far inferior to your Konoha's new generation."

"When these children who weren't harmed by the Bloody Mist Village policy grow up and take over my mantle, the Mist Ninja will regain its former glory and become a powerful ninja village full of light, peace, and openness once again." Mei Terumi gazed ahead with longing in her eyes, speaking with deep emotion.

At this point, the Fifth Mizukage stopped, suddenly realizing that her only audience was Konoha ninja, and gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I almost forgot, you're not Mist Ninja."

"It's alright, I understand the Mist Ninja's desire for revival and rise," Sakura Haruno said. Her homeland in her previous life had climbed out of the lowest point, where everyone bullied it, and its revival efforts had not stopped until before she transmigrated. So, of course, she could empathize with the Mist Ninja's feelings...

Mei Terumi seemed a little surprised. "Can you understand? Hasn't Konoha always been the strongest country in the Shinobi World?"

"Huh?" Sakura Haruno was taken aback, her eyes darting around before she quickly said, "Ah... even Konoha has its embarrassing moments!"

"Alright..." Mei Terumi accepted the explanation. Although it was far-fetched, Konoha was indeed very weak for a period of time after the Nine-Tails Incident and the Uchiha Incident. Even Orochimaru was able to invade it. In recent years, it had been biding its time and gradually improved.

The Fifth Mizukage didn't dwell on these minor details, and said solemnly, "In short, until then, I must protect them and prevent them from being harmed by the Suikazan Clan or those ill-intentioned people like Akatsuki."

"Our Mist Ninja against and elimination of Akatsuki is not just for revenge, but also to protect our Kirigakure. This is our future goal and guiding principle."

Mei Terumi spoke solemnly with a serious expression.

Sakura Haruno stepped forward, staring directly at her for a long while before saying, "Then, I, Sakura Haruno, Jonin Konoha, hereby authorize the representative of Konohagakure of the Land of Fire to formally submit an application for the establishment of friendly diplomatic relations to Village of Kirigakure Land of Water."

Mei Terumi nodded solemnly and said, "I, Mist Ninja, the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi Village of Kirigakure of the Land of Water, accept the application from Konohagakure of the Land of Fire to establish friendly diplomatic relations."

They both stepped forward and grasped each other's hands.

They held hands tightly.

"Now you can give me the real letter written by Tsunade, right?" Mei Terumi smiled slightly.

(Second update! Guaranteed update/There will be another update around 10 PM, this volume will end tomorrow.)

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