Not long afterward, news spread throughout the Shinobi World that members of Kirigakure's Assassination Squad had killed White Fang of the Leaf, an elite jōnin from Konoha.
As a veteran elite jōnin of Konoha, Shirokumo Hayama was one of the village's signature figures. Although he fell far short of top-tier shinobi like the Sannin, White Fang of the Leaf, and the Yellow Flash in terms of strength and reputation, he was still considered just below their level.
The Shinobi World itself was not very large, and every village had at least a few spies deployed in other villages. Before long, the names Uesugi Shinji, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Rin Onodera had caught the attention of the various villages' leaders. They were no longer nobodies in the Shinobi World.
This was especially true in Kirigakure. Many shinobi heard that Uesugi Shinji had taken down Shirokumo Hayama by himself during a mission, and concluded that Shinji's strength was already on par with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
However, almost no one knew that Kisame and Rin were also as strong as members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
They had only been jōnin for a short time, and had always carried out their assassination missions quietly. As a result, very few people knew how strong they really were.
When Konoha, the greatest village in the Shinobi World, received the news, its leaders were deeply shocked. Many hawkish shinobi felt that Konoha couldn't just swallow the insult and had to retaliate against Kirigakure.
However, the Hokage at the time was Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who happened to be the leader of the doves.
Not wanting to reignite the war, Third Hokage used his own prestige to force the hawks to back down, choosing to let the matter rest.
Within Konoha, they mourned the loss of Shirokumo Hayama and the others, and tried to soothe the villagers' anger.
To the outside world, they issued a statement strongly condemning and protesting Kirigakure's actions—a response that was little more than a slap on the wrist.
Although Third Hokage's handling of the situation temporarily kept Konoha from going to war with Kirigakure, it also showed the other villages how weak Konoha's leadership was. It planted the seeds for other villages to one day use the threat of war to force Konoha into submission.
The clash between Uesugi Shinji and Shirokumo Hayama on Konoha's border was merely one of the more significant events in the Shinobi World during this period. Local conflicts were breaking out everywhere. Sunagakure still hadn't found Third Kazekage or the missing prodigy puppeteer, Sasori of the Red Sands.
For a time, Sunagakure was left without a leader. Some of the village's higher-ups had already proposed bringing the retired elders Chiyo and Ebizo back to take charge, but most of the leadership didn't support the idea.
Many of Sunagakure's leaders realized that, without someone above them to keep them in check, their own power was far less restricted. They didn't want a new boss to appear so soon.
But this shortsighted focus on their immediate interests would soon bring Sunagakure a devastating loss!
Kirigakure, the Mizukage's conference room.
Only three people were in the room: the current ruler of Kirigakure, Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, an elderly, bald man, and a young female ninja with reddish-brown hair.
The bald elder was Genji, a Kirigakure elder and a key figure who had held an important position in the village since its founding. He was even older than Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki.
Because of his long service, everyone in Kirigakure respectfully called him "Genji."
Although Genji was advanced in age and no longer much of a fighter, and his authority within the village couldn't compare to that of Fourth Mizukage, his personal influence and standing were subtly greater than the Mizukage's.
The young kunoichi beside Genji looked to be under twenty. She had fair skin and striking looks, and already carried herself with the poise of a mature woman.
She was Terumi Mei, the future Fifth Mizukage and Kirigakure's brightest rising star.
Terumi Mei possessed two Kekkei Genkai, Boil Release and Lava Release, a rare gift even in the history of shinobi. Combined with her exceptional all-around abilities, this had earned her a great reputation among Kirigakure's new generation. Even a young elite jōnin like Ao, already one of the village's mainstays, was willing to serve as her deputy.
Although the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were famous and known to the major powers throughout the Shinobi World, within Kirigakure, the young Terumi Mei had already surpassed them in reputation.
Terumi Mei's impressive performance had naturally drawn the attention of Kirigakure's leadership. The one who watched her most closely was the elder Genji. He had personally promoted her to a central position in the village and was even grooming her to become Fifth Mizukage.
Although Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura looked like a boy, with a deceptively youthful face, he was actually middle-aged. It was hardly surprising that preparations were already underway to choose the next Mizukage.
(Note: Karatachi Yagura's granddaughter, Karatachi Kagura, appears in the officially authorized spinoff Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, so Yagura was clearly no spring chicken.)
Over the past year or two, Genji had also noticed some unusual behavior from Fourth Mizukage. Kirigakure's governance seemed to be taking an increasingly extreme turn. The village's policies steadily tightened their grip on the Kekkei Genkai clans, while the training of young shinobi grew harsher and more brutal.
As one of the few surviving senior shinobi in Kirigakure, Genji wanted to give Terumi Mei more influence in the village as soon as possible, so she could act as a counterweight to Fourth Mizukage, whose increasingly inscrutable actions were troubling him.
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