Mirai's brows drew together slightly. Though it was only intuition, he had a feeling that something unknown lay behind the Third Mizukage's unexplained one-year disappearance.
The issue did not lie with the Third Mizukage himself, but with something closely connected to him.
He could not use chakra or sense anything right now. Otherwise, he would have been able to detect what was different about the current Third Mizukage.
Bearing the village's hopes as though they were a faith, the Third Mizukage stood silently atop the Mizukage Building. Below him, the hidden civilians and Mist ninja all wore smiles, some even shedding tears.
From the few words those people had exchanged earlier, he could roughly understand the mindset of Kirigakure's civilian ninja.
"Everyone has been worried during this time. I left the village to deal with some matters, which is why I had not appeared for so long..." the Third Mizukage finally said.
He had revealed no real information with those words. They sounded more like an excuse, at least in Mirai's opinion.
But to civilians and many ninja, the Mizukage was supreme. Whatever he said was the truth.
"The Mizukage has worked hard!" many people shouted.
The Third Mizukage atop the Mizukage Building seemed quite pleased upon hearing this.
The next moment, he suddenly opened his eyes. They were an exceptionally sacred pair of eyes, yet from afar, Mirai caught a trace of cold light within them.
"After more than a year of experience, I have had many thoughts. So next, I will reform the entirety of Kirigakure!"
The civilians and numerous Mist ninja below were stunned by his declaration.
Mirai's pupils contracted slightly. He had originally found the Third Mizukage strange because, aside from him, none of Kirigakure's other higher-ups had appeared.
That alone was somewhat unreasonable, especially considering