Mei Terumi's Empathy

Fourth Raikage A panted like an enraged bull, then spun toward his ever-composed secretary.

"Samui! Draft a new regulation for me, right now! Starting today, every ninja in Kumogakure ranked Jonin or above—

"Their marriages and romantic relationships must be closely monitored! Set up a registration and review system! Thorough background checks before marriage, regular assessments afterward! We can't give Konoha—or spies from any other village—another opening like this! Do you hear me?!"

Samui adjusted her glasses and nodded without expression. Her voice was as calm as ever. "Yes, Lord Raikage."

"I'll begin drafting the regulations immediately. Every elite ninja's personal relationships will be kept under controlled surveillance to prevent anything like this from happening again."

Her pen was already flying across her notebook.

Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi leaned languidly against the window, a cup of black tea in hand. But she wasn't looking at Kirigakure's misty waterways. A complicated emotion lingered in her eyes.

She watched Yor, the powerful, capable Kumogakure kunoichi on the Canopy Screen, flounder over her age and "marriage" to the point of proposing in public to a man she had just met.

She watched Yor light up at being called "beautiful," sink when she thought he already had a family, then regain hope upon learning he was a "single father."

Mei Terumi let out a soft breath and drained her lukewarm tea. A bitterness that matched her mood lingered on her tongue.

"I know exactly how she feels," she murmured, her voice unusually weary and resigned.

She was Mei Terumi. She possessed two Kekkei Genkai, Lava Style and Boil Style. Strong and politically astute, she had single-handedly ended Kirigakure's era as the Village of the Bloody Mist and led it toward revival.

To the world, she was the powerful, beautiful, confident Mizukage.

Yet even she