At a port in the Land of Water.
Shinji had never imagined that Mei Terumi would saddle him with a huge problem just before he left.
Remember how Konoha had sent a few people to Kirigakure to go through the motions, for the sake of its reputation-or rather, to avoid giving anyone grounds for criticism?
It was one thing for them to coast through the whole affair, but even when the Cursed Spirits attacked the village, not one of them had shown his face. That was going too far.
Mei Terumi and the members of Kirigakure's Elder Council were deeply dissatisfied and could no longer stomach it.
And seemingly aware that they were unwelcome, or perhaps too ashamed to stay any longer, they had taken the initiative to tell Mei Terumi they were leaving.
Mei Terumi had gone along with it and agreed, but she could not simply swallow this insult.
On top of that, she did not trust these people at all. She suspected that after returning, they might fabricate a story and turn the blame on Kirigakure instead of telling the truth, so she planned to send a few people along with them to Konoha to inform the Hokage about the major Cursed Spirit attack on Kirigakure-and lodge a complaint while they were there, to vent her anger.
However, after looking around and finding no suitable candidates, she had simply sent Hozuki Mangetsu as her representative.
Hozuki Mangetsu could now be considered the strongest person in all of Kirigakure apart from the Mizukage, and he was the only presentable representative they had left.
But there was a problem: they could not afford anything happening to Hozuki Mangetsu again.
It was not that Mei Terumi insisted on suspecting Konoha, but Orochimaru had appeared in the Land of Water and