Three Hotheaded Fools

Although Genji was somewhat angry, he still issued the order for the sake of the bigger picture.

Since Ao was injured, this important task fell to Mei Terumi.

She was relatively quick-witted.

Mei Terumi carried the lunchbox as she slowly entered the Mizukage Building.

With a creak, Mei Terumi pushed open the office door.

She placed the lunchbox on the broad desk piled high with documents and said coldly, "Please eat."

As she spoke, her sharp gaze swept across the entire room.

Two ninjas were frantically recording something in small notebooks.

The Mizukage, Yagura, sat in his seat in a daze, like a soulless statue.

Finally, that Uchiha brat she hated enough to grit her teeth was sitting in a chair.

He was leisurely flipping through Kirigakure's classified scrolls.

Mei Terumi immediately let out a furious roar.

"You damn brat, these are our village's classified documents! Who gave you permission to read them?"

Only then did Eiji slowly raise his eyelids and glance at her with his scarlet eyes.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he came over to her and took the lunchbox from the desk.

"The food's here. Come on, let's eat first. We'll talk after we're full."

He acted as if he hadn't heard Mei Terumi's questioning at all, casually picking up the lunchbox and distributing the food to everyone else in the room.

"Brat, are you even listening to me?"

Mei Terumi forcibly suppressed the urge to attack immediately. This brat had repeatedly provoked her bottom line.

If the Mizukage weren't in their hands, she would definitely make these damned invaders pay the price.

Only then did Eiji say unhurriedly, "We inspected these documents with the Mizukage's permission. Isn't that right?"

Yagura slowly nodded. "Mm."

Mei Terumi's head buzzed. What had she just heard?

The Mizukage had actually disclosed classified information to Konoha?

This was far too absurd.

No, the Mizukage had been controlled by an Uchiha using genjutsu.

As expected of the inherently evil Uchiha clan.

At that thought, Mei Terumi grew even more anxious.

She had to rescue the Mizukage as soon as possible, even if she had to pay a price.

Mei Terumi took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the fury in her heart.

"Brat, give the Mizukage back—"

Before Mei Terumi could finish speaking, Eiji interrupted her without the slightest courtesy.

"All right, all right. You can leave now. I'll call you again if anything comes up."

Mei Terumi's voice abruptly rose. "I said, give the Mizukage back to me."

"I said you should leave immediately. Otherwise, I'll detain you too. What do you think this is, a market where you can haggle over vegetables?"

The Three Tomoe in Eiji's eyes slowly rotated.

Yagura, who had remained silent, gave a soft cough. "Go back. I'm fine."

Mei Terumi bit her lip tightly. Just now, she seemed to have lost control of her body.

She glared fiercely at Eiji. "Brat, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

With that, she abruptly turned around.

With a loud bang, she slammed the office door shut.

After Mei Terumi left, the group quickly finished eating.

Eiji and the others gathered together and began discussing in low voices.

"Senior, what do you think?"

Kakashi and Tenzo had quickly skimmed through the documents in the office. They felt that "absurd" was not enough to describe them.

The actual number of registered ninjas, the consumption of supplies, and the mission lists did not match at all. The logic was chaotic, and the records contradicted one another.

It seemed as if several completely unrelated systems were operating at the same time. These documents had no reference value.

Tenzo nodded.

"The person controlling the Mizukage doesn't seem to be trying to take control of the village. It's more like he's deliberately causing destruction, using this crazy method to completely throw Kirigakure's administrative system into chaos."

"He probably has an irreconcilable blood feud with Kirigakure. Controlling the Mizukage isn't his ultimate goal. Using the Mizukage's identity to act recklessly and destroy the foundation of Kirigakure is how he vents his hatred."

Eiji stroked his chin. Perhaps the Masked Man hadn't deliberately jumbled up these materials.

Maybe he simply lacked the ability?

The degree of this chaos had already gone beyond the scope of poor management.

It was more like an outsider with no understanding of governance, acting recklessly on a whim and smashing a precision machine into scrap metal.

If the one carrying this out was the Masked Man, then it was indeed very possible.

Kakashi carefully placed two small scrolls containing records of certain locations and lists of suspicious individuals into his ninja pouch.

"It's not as if we gained nothing. At the very least, this proves that this place really is as dangerous as the rumors say."

Eiji stood up. "Understood. Get ready, Seniors. We're going to take a look around the village."

Tenzo and Kakashi fell silent for a moment, but still nodded.

Since they were already in the wolf's den, they might as well be hotheaded fools to the bitter end.

Kirigakure still had many unknown things waiting for them to explore.

This might be their last chance to enter Kirigakure.

After hearing this request, Yagura refused.

"Don't wander around. I can't even control many of the village's ninjas. Stay here, and I'll have them find whoever you want."

Eiji picked up Xiao Er. "We can handle that ourselves. Let's go."

Yagura sighed. He didn't know why this ninja insisted on courting death.

What kind of education was Konoha providing, anyway?

When the four of them walked out of the building, they were immediately silently surrounded by a group of Kirigakure ninjas with unfriendly expressions and wary eyes.

The air was thick with hostility and killing intent.

"The Mizukage wants to show us around the village's buildings and let us experience the local customs."

"Please don't follow us. Otherwise, I don't know what I might do."

After saying this, Eiji and the other two tacitly surrounded Yagura in the middle, forming a tight triangular formation.

Ignoring the Mist ninjas' nearly blazing gazes, they headed straight into the depths of the street ahead, which was shrouded in thick mist.

Mei Terumi and the others wanted to follow, but Genji stopped them.

His cloudy eyes remained fixed on the figures disappearing into the thick mist.

"Don't follow too closely. I've dealt with ninjas from the Uchiha clan before, so I know what kind of people they are."

"They're a group of monsters who don't fear death at all on the battlefield..."

Eiji and the others slowly walked toward their predetermined destination.

He looked around at the dilapidated surroundings. "Mizukage, look at what you've turned perfectly good Kirigakure into. It's practically a gigantic ghost town."

"Once this matter is settled, I think you should go to Konoha for some training. Learn properly what village administration is supposed to be."

Yagura looked somewhat awkward.

During the reigns of the previous Mizukage, Kirigakure's conditions had been average, but its strength had still remained formidable.

After his tireless efforts, the village was now on the verge of paralysis.

"Be serious, Eiji. Don't forget what our objective is."

Tenzo and Kakashi wore solemn expressions. Their years of combat experience allowed them to sense the danger.

Sure enough, they had only taken a few steps when the grating sound of a sharp weapon scraping against a scabbard came from the depths of the mist.

It was followed by hurried footsteps rapidly closing in from different directions.

"Mizukage, do you think they're here to rescue you or kill you?"

Yagura remained silent.

"Tsk. Looks like they're here to kill you."