They either refused to take sides or had no intention of joining the fight. But judging by past precedent, once the first two groups settled who won, this silent majority would quietly obey the victors.
"Have you lost your minds, Kukulin?!" Despite having considerable support, Ao had no desire to fight. Instead, he shouted at Kukulin in shock and fury, "The village is fighting for its very survival! How long are you going to keep this up?!"
There might have been only a few dozen people behind Kukulin, but almost every one of them was a mainstay of the village's fighting forces. Those who were not Jonin were seasoned elite Chunin.
Before last night, Kirigakure might barely have been able to absorb such a loss given its size. But losing these fighters now would leave the Land of Water's standing as one of the Five Great Nations hanging by a thread.
Worse still, eliminating Kukulin's group would inflict heavy casualties on the people behind Ao as well. At that point, never mind preserving Kirigakure's standing-it might even fall below Kusagakure and Amegakure!
Kukulin's expression stiffened slightly under Ao's rebuke. Ao did not want a fight, but neither did he want to burn bridges at a time like this.
If things really were as dire as Ao claimed, he might end up becoming the man who doomed Kirigakure!
While Kukulin found himself unable to back down and Ao hesitated for fear of the consequences, Mei Terumi braved the rain and reached the temple where Genji lived.
Just as Mei Terumi had expected, Genji had already returned to the temple. What she had not expected was to find more than a dozen injured Ninja receiving treatment there, in addition to Genji and his guards.
"Genji, I would like to ask you-" Mei