Mei Terumi and Ao walked silently through the rain toward the village. Both were weighed down by heavy thoughts, with countless things they wanted to say, yet neither wanted to speak first.
"Are you really going to do what that monster-what Uchiha Chisen said?" In the end, Ao, who had remained silent all this time, could no longer hold back. In terms of age alone, he was Mei Terumi's senior, but in front of her now, the elite jonin unconsciously placed himself in the position of a subordinate.
"-We have no choice." Mei Terumi's voice was utterly exhausted. It was easy to imagine the pressure she was under, willingly cooperating with a Konoha ninja who had killed over a thousand Kirigakure ninja.
Even worse, the Fourth Mizukage had also died at Uchiha Chisen's hands. Though Yagura had completely lost the people's support, the legitimacy of his position as Mizukage remained unassailable.
Yet she could not take the simplest, most direct route-avenging the previous Mizukage-to claim the seat of Fifth Mizukage. Without a legitimate claim, her words would carry no authority. Mei Terumi could already imagine how many people would step forward to oppose her.
"He's a Konoha ninja, after all. If we ask the Lands of Lightning, Earth,
and Wind for help on the grounds that Konoha is trying to annex Kirigakure-" Ao began, still unwilling to accept this. Faced with Uchiha Chisen's overwhelming pressure, he had been unable to utter a word. Now that his life was no longer in immediate danger, however, his reasonably nimble mind had started working again.
The balance among the Five Great Nations had endured to this day partly because none of the three great shinobi wars had produced a decisive victor, but also because the Five Great Nations shared a certain unspoken understanding.