Gaining a Foothold

Changing the Bloody Mist Policy was not something that could be done overnight. Though the policy was extremely cruel, it had to be said that this very cruelty had tempered Kirigakure's shinobi, maintaining their high degree of elitism and militarization.

If the Bloody Mist Policy had been nothing but internal attrition, then even if the Mizukage had insisted on it, there was no way it could have been implemented. It was precisely because the policy was genuinely effective in some respects that Kirigakure had begun enforcing it in earnest.

But the Bloody Mist Policy had always been like walking a tightrope, and Obito, who controlled the Mizukage, was filled with hatred for Kirigakure. Rather than maintaining a balance, he had pushed it desperately further, naturally wreaking no small amount of havoc on the village.

By the later stages, the accumulated problems had become impossible to reverse. With Karatachi Yagura, the Mizukage, constantly making things worse, even those in Kirigakure with vision found it exceedingly difficult to bring about change.

This time, Suikazan Fuguki had only been able to easily strike at the entire Bloody Mist Policy because the revelation that Karatachi Yagura had been controlled by Genjutsu presented such a perfect opportunity. Otherwise, even if he became the new Mizukage, changing it would not have been easy.

The first thing Suikazan Fuguki did after becoming Mizukage was ease the relationship between the village and the bloodline clans. In terms of bloodline inheritances, with the Yuki Clan, Kaguya Clan, and Hozuki Clan, Kirigakure's foundations were second only to Konoha's. If Obito had not recklessly meddled, Kirigakure would never have fallen to the bottom among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

However, even if the Yuki Clan had not been completely exterminated, its members had scattered far and wide throughout the Water Country, concealing their identities and not daring to show themselves.

As for the Kaguya Clan, those people were built differently from Ordinary Ninja. Every last one of them was more unhinged than the Uchiha. The Uchiha were, at worst, merely obsessive, while those people were rabid maniacs with no intention of reconciliation whatsoever.

Only the Hozuki Clan, having once produced a Mizukage, had the closest ties with Kirigakure. They had merely been ostracized for now. Once Suikazan Fuguki showed his willingness to reconcile and assigned the Hozuki Clan a share of authority, the clan quickly returned.

In the original story, only Hozuki Suigetsu remained of the Hozuki Clan, and Kirigakure had only pursued a policy of suppression and weakening against them, never truly carrying out any plan to exterminate the clan. That was because the Hozuki Clan had never had many members to begin with—not even a hundred.

A few dozen Hozuki Clan shinobi had little impact on the distribution of Kirigakure's interests, so naturally there was little resistance to their return.

For the time being, Kirigakure's transformation still required time, and many problems remained to be resolved. No major results could be seen in the short term, but even so, the atmosphere throughout Kirigakure had begun to change.

The shinobi walking the streets gradually stopped rushing about in haste. Beyond the essential shops for food, clothing, housing, and travel, several new shops had appeared in Kirigakure, and some smaller clans had returned. The entire village was beginning to turn for the better.

After nearly half a month of busy work, Suikazan Fuguki finally put Kirigakure's various affairs in order and also adjusted the village's upper-echelon structure.

Although Karatachi Yagura no longer served as Kirigakure's Village Head, he was still a Jinchuriki after all, so he retained a position among the higher-ups. It was roughly equivalent to a Konoha Hokage advisor. In other words, he could offer a few suggestions and have some say when the Mizukage was weak, but if the Mizukage was strong, he was merely decoration.

Because of the mistakes he had committed in the past, Karatachi Yagura basically said nothing regarding Suikazan Fuguki's measures. That saved them some trouble.

Then there was Kisame, Suikazan Fuguki's confidant, who had now become a member of the Kage Guard and was clearly being groomed as a key figure.

Of course, with Kisame's mind, he could basically forget about ever becoming a Kage. But as the strongest tool for a role like head of the Anbu, he was more than qualified.

The main reason Suikazan Fuguki valued him was that the man not only possessed a shinobi's character, but was also far from weak in strength.

Mei Terumi likewise received the position of head of the Jonin Corps, while Ao became the leader of the reconnaissance unit. These promising young talents who had begun to emerge were now entering the upper ranks, and with a cadre of Subordinates beneath him, Suikazan Fuguki had initially secured his footing as Mizukage.

Inside a large office in the Mizukage Building, Kirigakure's Jonin had gathered together.

"Another meeting? What mission are they assigning this time? Are we going to war with Konoha?"

"Maybe we're going after those bone freaks from the Kaguya Clan! Those bastards jumped around the hardest during the Bloody Mist Policy and killed who knew how many comrades. The Fourth Lord was magnanimous enough not to pursue the matter, yet they still dare push their luck?!"

In the office, Mei Terumi touched up her makeup with a small mirror while listening to the surrounding discussion. In the end, she shook her head.

"You're overthinking it. The Kaguya Clan is still part of Kirigakure, after all. Unless they openly rebel, the current Lord Mizukage cannot possibly move against them."

"As for dealing with Konoha, that would be an even bigger matter. At the very least, we'd have to wait until we signed a ceasefire agreement with Sunagakure. We can't hastily fight on two fronts right now."

That was right. Kirigakure and Sunagakure were still hostile toward each other and had not signed a ceasefire agreement. Of course, the actual scale of fighting between them had already become quite small.

After all, the Ninja World War had effectively come to a true ceasefire. This situation could only be considered a regional conflict, much like how Konoha and Kumogakure had yet to sign a ceasefire agreement, yet only engaged in small-scale shinobi clashes.

But even small-scale armed conflicts could develop into full-scale wars between shinobi villages, especially when the opposing village exposed a weakness. If Kirigakure confronted Konoha at such a time, it was difficult to say whether Sunagakure would seize the opportunity to strike Kirigakure hard.

"Sunagakure can't hold on any longer. Remember the condition we proposed before? That Kazekage of Sunagakure has agreed to it!"

A shinobi with a face full of scars gave a cold, sinister chuckle and spoke.

"What condition?" Mei Terumi froze briefly before suddenly realizing. "Pakura? Has Sunagakure gone mad? They're willing to sacrifice even a powerhouse second only to the Kazekage in their own village?!"

"You said it yourself—she's only second to the Kazekage. I heard that the Fourth Kazekage rose to his position partly because he was the Third Kazekage's disciple, along with quite a few political factors."

"In truth, whether that Kazekage could even defeat Pakura, that Scorch Release User, is questionable! Given that, why do you think the Kazekage made this choice?"

The scarred shinobi grinned as he explained.