The Land of Water, Kirigakure.
"We must unite, unite!" Mei Terumi slapped the desk and shouted at the Kirigakure ninja standing before her.
This scene took place after news of Gaara's abduction reached Kirigakure!
Mei knew her village's current condition all too well. If they tried to fight the Akatsuki alone, whether they would fail was not even the first concern.
Even if they succeeded, Kirigakure's losses would certainly be considerable.
Mei simply could not accept that. Kirigakure had only just set foot on the right path, and she did not want to interrupt that progress.
So joining forces with the other shinobi villages was Kirigakure's only choice now.
"We're still too big a target!"
After her subordinates left the office, Mei let out a lamenting sigh.
Of the three shinobi villages that still had tailed beasts, Kirigakure was the easiest to pick on. Mei did not even need to think to know that they would definitely be the Akatsuki's next target.
So Kirigakure had to join forces with the other shinobi villages before the Akatsuki made a move against them.
Even an alliance in name alone might intimidate the Akatsuki. At the very least, they could not let them think Kirigakure was easy prey.
Knock, knock, knock...
A knock sounded at the office door, briefly pulling Mei out of her tangled thoughts. "Come in!"
"Lady Mizukage, this intelligence just arrived."
"All right, hand it over."
Mei took the intelligence from the Anbu ninja and gestured for them to withdraw before opening the scroll to read it.
"They rescued him? So quickly?"
"The One-Tail was taken, but the Kazekage is still alive? What happened?"
After reading the intelligence, Mei had even more questions. She was starting to doubt its authenticity.
"But the Cloud Ninja sent people to help directly, and