"..."
Genji did not answer immediately. Instead, he fell silent, lost in thought.
He, the Third Mizukage, and the late former Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, had all been followers of the First Mizukage. Since their youth, they had been comrades who knew one another inside out.
Unlike the late Hozuki Gengetsu, however, the Third Mizukage had a rather extreme temperament. Having lived through the Warring States Era, he held an extraordinary loathing for anything "weak."
In his view, weakness was the original sin behind everything in the ninja world.
"Your proposal is too extreme, Third."
Genji shook his head. Although he did not explicitly say so, his attitude made it clear that he did not support the idea.
The Third Mizukage drew a deep breath, his expression turning serious.
"Genji, I'm thinking of the village's future. The ninja villages of every nation are strengthening their military forces in their own ways. If our Hidden Mist Village keeps clinging to outdated traditions without reforming, those villages will easily leave us behind."
"There's nothing wrong with tradition. At the very least, the policies the First and Second left behind haven't deteriorated to the point where they no longer suit the village. If the day comes when reform truly becomes necessary, the people below us will come up with those ideas and put them into practice without needing your approval as Mizukage. We can help things along then."
Genji felt that a steadier approach would be better.
He acknowledged that a system could not remain unchanged forever. But while Kirigakure's progress under the First and Second Mizukages' policies might have been slow, it had at least remained stable.
That meant the policies of the previous two Mizukages were still providing the cohesion that drove the Hidden Mist Village forward.
As long as the village