Torikaze ignored him. "I only care about results. Back when the Land of Water had just established contact with Konoha, I put in a great deal of effort to make the Mizukage trust Konoha."
"Yet not long after that, that incident happened. Do you know how great Konoha's losses were?"
The Daimyo became extremely reserved upon hearing this. Clearly, facing Torikaze, a young man in his twenties found it difficult to handle the pressure.
Still, he straightened his back. "I am deeply sorry. As the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools, I sincerely apologize to you on behalf of the events of that year, Lord Torikaze. I hope you can forgive the Land of Whirlpools, and I also hope the friendship between our two nations will not be harmed."
Torikaze looked at the Daimyo and was quite satisfied with him.
Rather than blindly shirking responsibility, he had taken the initiative to bear the blame for something that had not been his fault.
That was good. Torikaze thought rather highly of him.
"Why did your father abdicate in your favor? Did his brothers start causing trouble again?"
The Daimyo felt ashamed that Lord Torikaze thought so poorly of his uncles.
Though young, he knew what had happened back then.
After all, the Land of Whirlpools was such a tiny place that there was no way to keep it hidden.
"No, no, no. It's just that my father felt his abilities were lacking. Under his leadership, the Land of Whirlpools had actually declined somewhat over the years, so he passed the position on to me."
The Third Prince—Torikaze had thought highly of him back then. Among all the princes, he alone had shown some backbone.
But after that affair, Torikaze no longer had the slightest favorable impression of him.
Although his son