His ice-blue eyes swept over the crowd before finally settling on Elder Genji. By noting the changes in several familiar faces, Mizunashi Yukikaze roughly estimated how long he had been asleep.
"So it's Senior Genji.
Honestly, I wasn't particularly hoping to see all these familiar faces again." Mizunashi Yukikaze sighed mournfully, sorrow in his eyes.
Most of the ninjas in the shrine lowered their heads in shame at the Third Mizukage's words, unable to meet his gaze.
From the moment the Third Mizukage sealed himself away over a decade ago, he had already become half a dead man.
For both him and Kirigakure, the best outcome would have been for him to remain asleep until death, because that would have meant Kirigakure had encountered no trouble it could not resolve.
Being awakened now, with only a little over a month left to live, meant that Kirigakure had run into trouble—at the very least, an enemy that could not be easily dealt with.
Seeing everyone lower their heads, Mizunashi Yukikaze sighed again. He slowly rose from the ice coffin, stepping out as he stretched his body. "I hope you only intend to make use of what little value I have left.
"Go on, then. Who needs killing? Before the Second Mizukage died, he arranged a battle with the Second Tsuchikage and perished together with him. From the moment I fell gravely ill, I had already prepared myself to follow the Second Mizukage's example."
He was very straightforward.
From his tone, the Third Mizukage clearly was not someone who liked to beat around the bush.
Elder Genji gave a bitter smile and explained, "Lord Yukikaze, Kirigakure's situation is even more dire than you imagine.
"While we do hope that you can slay powerful enemies for Kirigakure, more importantly, we want you to