After bidding farewell to Nagato and "Akatsuki", Kaguya Rei no longer concealed his whereabouts, and went straight across the border of the Land of Fire, heading towards the front line of the battle between Kirigakure and Konoha.

When he left the front line of the confrontation between Konoha and Kirigakure to search for Ryūchi Cave and Senjutsu, it was still a bleak autumn day, and now, heavy snow like goose feathers had begun to fall in many areas in the Land of Fire. There are only a few days left before the arrival of the new year.

Unlike Kirigakure, where the atmosphere is cold and solemn, and basically no one celebrates the arrival of the New Year and festivals, the residents of the Land of Fire are quite enthusiastic about celebrating the New Year.

Along the way, Kaguya Rei has seen many families preparing the supplies needed for the whole family to spend the New Year together, professional artists rehearsing for New Year performances, and shops with lanterns and colorful decorations selling goods. Rare items that are rarely seen on ordinary days...

It was as if the smoke between Konoha and Kirigakure that had not completely receded had nothing to do with their bustle.

"Don't you think this atmosphere is enviable, Terumi Mei?"

"I don't think so, because their happiness is all based on our constant defeat."

After not seeing each other for nearly three months, Terumi Mei's temperament is obviously much more mature than before, and her whole person has begun to transform into a capable and reliable strong woman. However, in contrast, her figure has become a lot thinner. , the dark circles between her eyebrows have also become particularly obvious, and she looks like she has suddenly transformed from a carefree young girl of thirteen or fourteen years old into a downtrodden, hard-working and unmarried social beast.

"……Thanks a lot."

Kaguya Rei, who had a very clear idea of ​​why Terumi Mei became like this, took out the apology gift he bought for her on the way and carefully placed it on her table filled with various logistical information and frontline intelligence.

Terumi Mei glanced at the beautiful clothes in the gift and the appetizing sweets, sighed slowly, and leaned down on the table in front of her, her eyes dull and she complained softly:

"You never told me that you would be gone for such a long time, Lian..."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't expect that I would stay in Ryuji Cave for so long..." Kaguya Rei held Terumi Mei's little hand with a low body temperature, and apologized very sincerely: "I won't do this again in the future. Something happened."

"It doesn't matter if you run away alone. At least Konoha did send out a lot of intelligence personnel to find your traces, and the pressure on the front line has also been greatly reduced... But who can tell me why the Seven Ninja Swordsmen How could such important frontline commanders be suddenly recruited to perform a mission together, and then almost be dismissed in a battle?"

Terumi slapped the table in front of her fiercely, and shouted angrily:

"Not only did five people die without getting any results, but they also exposed all the real information about our lack of command and combat power on the front line to the people of Konoha. If you hadn't left several copies of the secret medicine behind, we would have been killed long ago. He was driven back into the sea by the people of Konoha."

"There is no way. If the leadership is worse, our side is obviously worse." Kaguya sighed and said helplessly: "At best, Konoha's top leaders are just greedy for power and not enterprising. Our third generation is But he is in power solely for the purpose of completely destroying Kirigakure’s future..."

"So are you ready, Rei?"

"What kind of preparation?"

"Prepare to defeat the Sandaime."

Terumi Mei lowered her voice, stared directly at Kaguya Rei's snake-shaped vertical boy, and whispered:

"Because both Loquat Juuzang and Xiguashan Puffer Ghost have returned to the village to recuperate, I, who has the most outstanding record, have been in charge of the frontline command during this period. Although I cannot be as devastated as I was when you were here.

We pushed back all the people in Konoha, but at least we didn't let our front line continue to retreat.

In addition, with the help of the secret medicine you gave me, I seriously injured several elite jounin in Konoha. The fog ninjas on the front line are already very convinced of me. In addition, the Sandaime has done a series of things since the war started.

Wrong decision, their dissatisfaction with the third generation is constantly accumulating, so... you understand, right?"

"If you are the commander on the front line, they may not necessarily support me who is too young in the coup, but they may not continue to support the rule of the Sandaime who doesn't know the so-called guy, right?"

Kaguya narrowed her eyes and asked thoughtfully.

"No, the probability that they will support your rise to power is actually higher than you expect."

Terumi Mei shook her head and corrected Kaguya Rei's overly conservative inference.

"The last time the Sandaime took action was many, many years ago. For the village, this will help protect Kage's intelligence and sense of mystery, and it will also prevent enemies in other villages from judging what Kage currently has.

The power makes them have to be cautious when launching operations against the village..."

"But this will also prevent the new generation of ninjas in the village from intuitively feeling the power of the shadow, and therefore question the power of the shadow. Especially when among the new generation of ninjas, there is a record that can only be exaggerated.

When describing a strong person."

Terumi Mei pointed at Kaguya Rei and said with some emotion:

"Twice defeated and severely injured the yellow flash of Konoha, defeated Orochimaru among the Sannin of Konoha one-on-one, destroyed the root elite with Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo in one enemy group, and forced Orochimaru to

Maru abandoned his companions and ran for his life, and even brazenly took the body of Danzo Shimura, who was known as the 'Dark Shinobi', to the black market in exchange for money..."

"Even a child who has grown up hearing all kinds of rumors about the Sandaime will naturally think that you are the stronger one, Rei."

"that's true."

After Kaguya Rei nodded in agreement, there was a brief silence between the two. Looking at Terumi Mei's thin figure and the lingering tiredness around her eyes, Kaguya Rei took a deep breath,

Asked in a deep voice:

"Do you really don't need me to help you handle the situation on the front line anymore, Terumi Mei?"

"I've been holding on for so long, it's okay to hold on for a few more days."

Terumi Mei shook her head, her eyes firm, "Even if we can win a few games with your help, the current manpower is no longer able to control more areas... It has reached a point where we cannot allow the Sandaime to continue to sit in that position.

It’s time to go up, Lian.”

"No, if possible, I hope he can be a Mizukage for a while longer." Kaguya Rei shook her head and replied.

"Why!?"

Terumi Mei's eyes and tone suddenly became sharp.

"The number of ninjas we have cannot even hold up a larger defense area. You don't think we can win this war, do you, Terumi Mei?"

Kaguya rolled her eyes and helplessly spread her hands towards Terumi Mei:

"Since we can't win, peace talks with Konoha are inevitable. I don't want my first big thing after becoming Mizukage to be to sign the 'Peace Agreement' with Konoha...

"

"Then...the Sandaime must be allowed to bear the shame he has brought upon himself."

Terumi Mei nodded in approval.

"Then, I will go back to the village first? Although the intelligence personnel of the Sandaime should have passed the news of my return the moment I came back, I should still be able to make all preparations before the Sandaime did.

We started taking action before."

"Be careful, Rei. After all, the Sandaime is the shadow of the village, and he has been operating as the Mizukage for such a long time. No one can say how many trump cards he has in his hand. Even if you are now a sage,

It still needs to be small..."

"Terumi Mei-sama! It's not good!"

Before Terumi Mei's parting instructions were over, a chuunin responsible for delivering information hurriedly pushed the door in and shouted to Terumi Mei:

"The Uchiha clan has brought Konoha's ninjas to attack again... Uchiha Fugaku, and Shunshen Shisui, who has recently become famous, are all inside!"

"I'll be there soon..."

Terumi Mei subconsciously reached out to grab her jounin uniform, preparing to go into battle to take on Uchiha Fugaku, an opponent that was difficult for others to deal with. But before she could pick up her clothes, Kaguya Rei reached out and grabbed her.

Slender and pale wrist, and gently shook his head at her.

"I'll do it, just think of it as a warm-up exercise before the main game."

"Hmph, it's all because you've been away for so long. I almost forgot what it feels like to be able to hide behind you safely when I encounter troublesome enemies."

"I'm back now~"

The chuunin who delivered the information widened his eyes, looked at the battlefield legend in the room whom he had not seen for a long time, and called out his name in surprise and joy.

"Master Kaguya!? You, are you back?!"
Chapter completed!