The Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, Joins!

Then images surfaced in his mind... Naruto being bullied and cursed as a bastard with no parents.

Minato Namikaze: I'm feeling very emotional right now.

Tobirama Senju: If what you're saying is true, then I'm feeling very emotional too.

Minato Namikaze: Second Hokage-sama, you are...?

Tobirama Senju: Because I can't make sense of it.

If the village's position was that Naruto's identity as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails needed to be announced, then Hiruzen's actions were correct.

But afterward... if the goal was to protect Naruto by concealing his identity as the Fourth Hokage's son, then Hiruzen's actions are beyond my understanding.

Hashirama Senju: Why would protecting Naruto mean not revealing that he was the Fourth Hokage's son?

Minato Namikaze: Well, because I was quite active during the Third Shinobi World War,

so I made quite a lot of enemies.

Tobirama Senju: Minato had died by then. Revealing Naruto's identity might have drawn assassins.

But Naruto's identity as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails had already been announced. Assassins would still come if they wanted to, since eliminating an enemy village's Jinchuriki was also one of the methods used by the major ninja villages.

Besides.

Even if Hiruzen used that excuse to hide Naruto's identity, then... since he was concealing it anyway, why didn't he arrange some sort of identity for Naruto?

He could have claimed Naruto was his grandson or something.

Wouldn't that have made it possible to look after him?

After all... Naruto's parents had given their lives for the village.

Minato, how old were you when you died?

Minato Namikaze: Me? I was twenty-four.

Hashirama Senju: Huh, that's so young...

Tobirama Senju: Exactly. Minato died so young, and for the village too... yet this was how the village treated his orphaned son?

Naruto said in his introduction that he had been alone since birth. That meant he had encountered the coldness of others from a very young age.

How much damage would that have done to a small child?!

Looking at it this way... what Hiruzen did truly failed to meet the standards expected of a Hokage.

Therefore.

He was unqualified to join the small group.

Hashirama Senju, Minato, Minato: ...

The other three fell silent.

Minato, meanwhile, felt completely numb.

Listening to the Second Hokage's analysis, he increasingly wondered whether his sacrifice for the village had meant anything at all. The Third Hokage had failed to fulfill every promise he had made, and his Naruto-chan... not only had to work a hundred times harder than ordinary people to learn ninjutsu, but even his quality of life was the lowest possible...

He was utterly numb.

Tobirama Senju: Minato, calm down.

Minato Namikaze: Sorry, Second Hokage-sama. I got too emotional.

Hashirama Senju: Minato, you've had it rough. Sigh...

Hashirama Senju had already sighed three times.

Originally, joining this group and learning how the Hidden Leaf Village had developed after his death had made him very happy. But now he felt... that his sacrifice might not have held much value either.

There were still so many orphans in the village.

It completely contradicted the ideal he had once proclaimed—that children in the village could grow up normally without having to fight in childhood, and that young people could live into old age.

Could it be that Madara's path had been the right one?

For the first time, Hashirama Senju doubted himself.

Just then, a new notification appeared before everyone.

[Because Hiruzen Sarutobi does not meet the requirements to join the small group, the conditions have been relaxed. One Kage will be randomly selected to join the Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Small Group.]

Everyone hurriedly focused on the screen.

Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi Joins!

The Hokage in the small group immediately turned their attention to the system notification.

[One Kage will be randomly selected to join the Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Small Group.]

Tobirama Senju: Randomly selecting one Kage... does that mean it might be the Fifth Hokage?

Yes.

That was very possible.

The First and Second were here, the Third had been removed, the Fourth was here, and Kakashi had been recognized by the Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Small Group as the Sixth Hokage.

Then...

Wasn't the Fifth Hokage the only one missing now?

[The new member will be randomly selected. Their identity will be the current Kage of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages: Kirigakure, Kumogakure, or Iwagakure.]

The system replied to Tobirama.

But Minato and the others frowned.

Minato Namikaze: So it might not be someone from our Hidden Leaf Village?

Hashirama Senju: But this group is supposed to observe that kid Kitahara Kaede. He awakened Wood Release, and his identity is unique... and now Kitahara Kaede and Naruto are on the same team, so...

The First Hokage did not continue, but the other three already understood.

It meant that if the person joining was a Kage from another ninja village, wouldn't they instantly gain Konoha's secrets?

Kitahara Kaede, who could use Wood Release, the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and an Uchiha survivor.

Those were Konoha's most confidential secrets... and now they were about to be exposed just like that.

[The system already gave Konoha an opportunity, but Konoha failed. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, does not meet the qualifications to join the group.]

[Therefore, one Kage can only be randomly selected from another ninja village.]

Fine.

Everyone could only wait silently for the new member to arrive.

So where was the new member?

Kirigakure.

"Mizukage-sama—"

Chojuro, with his close-cropped hair, carried a stack of documents over to Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi.

Mei Terumi was a stunning woman with beautiful long red hair.

Her phoenix eyes were narrow and elegant, while her features were dignified and well-proportioned.

When she smiled, she made people feel as though they were bathed in a spring breeze.

She was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

She was twenty-seven this year. Though her looks were outstanding, for a ninja, she had actually already missed the usual age for marriage.

Thus, she was always especially sensitive to words like [marriage] and [marriageable age].

Chojuro placed the documents on the desk and found that the Mizukage was asleep with her head resting on them.

"Mizukage-sama is clearly so beautiful. As long as she paid a little attention to her image, she could still get married easily," Chojuro said softly.

"Huh—"

However, Mei Terumi jolted awake as though she had just had a nightmare.

"What did you say?" she immediately asked.

"Ah... no, I didn't say anything." Chojuro promptly shut his mouth to save his life.

He felt that he had underestimated how sensitive the Mizukage was about having missed her marriageable age.

There was a reason Mei Terumi had remained unmarried: she had taken over a complete mess.

She was the Fifth Mizukage, but also the unluckiest Mizukage.

Kirigakure had suffered through countless hardships.

During the Fourth Mizukage's era, talent had withered away. Along with all kinds of poor decisions, Kirigakure had directly turned all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, whom the Second Mizukage had cultivated, into Rogue Ninja.

Although some Jonin remained now, their overall strength had greatly declined.

"These are the registration records of Kirigakure's ninja that you asked me to compile."

Chojuro handed over the documents.

"..." Mei Terumi.

"Thirty-three Jonin, sixty-eight Chunin, and one hundred Genin." Mei Terumi had a headache.

"These numbers would look pretty strong for a small ninja village, but this is Kirigakure."

The weak ninja of Kirigakure had stayed behind—they were worthless.

But all the strong ones had become Rogue Ninja.

It was not that Kirigakure lacked good prospects, but they had all become Rogue Ninja.

"I finally defeated the Fourth Mizukage and took Kirigakure into my hands."

"But... turning this around... is so difficult."

She knocked her head against the desk.

Then, she suddenly noticed a screen appearing before her.

[The Myriad Realms Chat System, also known as the Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Small Group, invites you to join. Do you accept?]

A line of text popped up.

Mei Terumi blinked lightly.

She looked toward Chojuro, only to find that he seemed unable to see it. Could she be the only one who could see it?

Then... at a time like this, of course she would...

"I accept!"

Mei Terumi was someone who knew how to seize opportunities.

She was from Kirigakure, but before her, it had been the Blood Mist Village Era. The Fourth Mizukage had taken that cruelty to the extreme.

During the Fourth Mizukage's rule, all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had betrayed the village.

Kirigakure's foundations had suffered a devastating blow.

She did not want to see Kirigakure destroyed, so she endured, found an opportunity, defeated the Fourth Mizukage, and became the Fifth Mizukage.

So now that she had discovered something so far beyond the ordinary... of course she accepted it immediately!

Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Small Group

[Welcome Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi to the Observing Kitahara Kaede Small Group. The group now has 5 members.]

[Because Mei Terumi is this group's first female member, a special title has been added.]

[Congratulations to Mei Terumi for obtaining the new title—Unmarriageable Older Single Woman!]

The scene before Mei Terumi's eyes had already changed.