For someone like that to appear at the Mizukage Building just as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been slapped by the Mizukage and thrown out of his office, and to invite them for drinks...
It was too much of a coincidence.
Suikazan Fuguki stared into Mizunotsuki Shigure's eyes for a long time.
There was nothing in them, only unfathomably deep water.
"Let's go,"
Suikazan Fuguki said.
Mizunotsuki Shigure stepped aside, made an inviting gesture, then led the way.
The four of them entered the mist one after another. The outline of the Mizukage Building was quickly swallowed up, leaving behind nothing but grayish-white, damp air.
They crossed two main streets and turned into a narrower alley.
At the end of the alley stood an inconspicuous wooden door. A small paper lantern hung from its lintel, its light faint, yet in the thick fog, it was the only guide.
Mizunotsuki Shigure pushed open the door, and the scent of alcohol mixed with the warmth of charcoal fire rushed over them.
The instant the wooden door shut behind them, Suikazan Fuguki caught the many chakra signatures permeating the air.
It was an unremarkable house hidden deep within an alley at the very edge of Kirigakure. Dark green moss crept across its outer walls, several roof tiles were missing, and blackened rafters showed beneath them.
From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a dilapidated house abandoned by its owner, one not even stray cats could be bothered to stop by.
But once they crossed the threshold, the space inside was far larger than its exterior suggested.
The walls had been reinforced with Earth Style, clean tatami mats covered the floor, and oil lamps along all four walls illuminated the entire room brightly.
A low table stood in the center of the