Chapter 204: When the winds and clouds shift

Land of Water, Hidden Mist Village.

Nearly a month has passed since Mizunuki Ryosuke returned from the Land of Rain.

A high-level meeting of the Hidden Mist is currently being held in the Mizukage Building. Those present are both the trusted confidants of Mizunuki Ryosuke and the undisputed high-ranking officials of the Hidden Mist Village.

In the conference room, Mizunuki Ryosuke sits in the main seat as a matter of course, while the high-ranking officials of the Hidden Mist are positioned on his left and right sides respectively.

On his left hand side, seated in order, are Mist Anbu Minister Hozuki Mangetsu, White Shark Unit Captain Hoshigaki Kisame, and Jonin Squad Leader Kuroshima Morita.

On Ryosuke's right hand side, seated in order, are the Great Elder of the Elder Council, Tian Tian Yuanshi, Mizukage Guard Captain Kaguya Yuta, and Mizunuki Ryosuke's disciple, who is also the clan head of the Mizunuki clan—Mizunuki Hikohiko!

That's right, at this very moment, Mizunuki Hikohiko has become the new clan head of the Mizunuki clan.

Otherwise, based solely on his status as the Mizukage's disciple, he would not have the qualifications to be seated at this table.

Ever since Ryosuke succeeded as Mizukage and Mizunuki Eiro defected, the Mizunuki clan, in order to ease their relationship with Ryosuke, lowered their posture significantly and invited Ryosuke back to succeed as clan head time and time again.

Regarding this, Ryosuke scoffed.

Everything the Mizunuki clan did back then disgusted him deeply; now they want to turn the page with a light touch—how could it be that easy?

Therefore, regarding the matter of succeeding as clan head, Ryosuke rejected it righteously and sternly.

At this moment, Ryosuke has plenty of combat power in his hands; there is no need to make himself unhappy for the sake of the Mizunuki clan's meager strength.

He is not like Mizunuki Taki, who needed to rely on the power of the clan to sit firmly in the position of Mizukage.

Seeing that Ryosuke could not be persuaded, the Mizunuki clan had no choice but to play a "curved tactic," sending people to deliver all kinds of gifts to Ryosuke's home every day.

Not only that, the Mizunuki clan also found a large number of clansmen who had decent relations with Mizunuki Rikka to come and plead, attempting to use a "curved strategy" to win Ryosuke back.

Perhaps because he was soft-hearted, or perhaps because he did not want the clan to decline just like that, Rikka eventually could not withstand the pleas of the clansmen and came to find Ryosuke to plead for the Mizunuki clan.

Seeing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke found it difficult to reject Rikka's face, and added to that, from the perspective of the village's stability, continuing to leave the Mizunuki clan out in the cold was not the right thing to do.

But even so, Ryosuke still had no intention of taking on the role of Mizunuki clan head.

Thus, he set a condition, hoping that his disciple—Mizunuki Hikohiko—would succeed as the Mizunuki clan head.

To this, the Mizunuki clan agreed readily and painlessly.

Firstly, as Hikohiko is Ryosuke's direct disciple, Ryosuke agreeing to let him succeed as clan head was equivalent to releasing a signal of reconciliation.

Secondly, in recent years, under Ryosuke's training, Mizunuki Hikohiko has made rapid progress and has already reached the level of a Jonin. Such talent is not a bit inferior to the Mizunuki Eiro of the past and can be considered to have a limitless future.

Thirdly, Mizunuki Hikohiko himself is the son of the Great Elder and the biological younger brother of Mizunuki Eiro. Regardless of how Hikohiko himself views it, this bloodline still allowed the stubborn faction of the Mizunuki clan, as well as those who had once supported Mizunuki Eiro, to breathe a sigh of relief. Ryosuke sending Hikohiko to succeed as clan head showed that he himself had no intention of settling accounts with these Mizunuki clansmen.

No matter how you look at it, Hikohiko was an extremely suitable candidate.

Under the maneuvering of politics, Hikohiko, at only sixteen years old, became the head of the Mizunuki clan, his status ranking among the forefront of the Hidden Mist, and he simultaneously became the bond maintaining the relationship between Ryosuke and the clan.

Regarding this, Mizunuki Hikohiko was naturally grateful to Ryosuke; he also understood that without Mizunuki Ryosuke, there would be no "today" for him at all.

The people at the table, being Ryosuke's trusted backbone, naturally understood what was going on with Mizunuki Hikohiko, so no one questioned whether Hikohiko had the qualifications to appear at this table.

Besides this, it is worth mentioning that this meeting also had an "observer seat."

And the one sitting in the seat was not a person; to be precise, it was a cat, and a ninja cat at that.

"Meow~"

The somewhat bloated orange cat yawned, seemingly bored with everything that was about to happen.

Since coming to the Hidden Mist, the orange cat's figure has shown a clear trend of putting on weight, which indirectly shows that the orange cat seems to be living quite well.

This orange cat is also a cat Ryosuke is familiar with—the offspring of the Cat Country's Elder Cat Boss—Meotaro.

Ever since the connection was established between the Cat Country and the Hidden Mist, Meotaro has become the director of the Ninja Cat Hospital, as well as the Cat Country's liaison ambassador stationed in the Hidden Mist Village.

Life couldn't be more comfortable...

Everyone ignored the orange cat's laziness; after all, everyone was already long accustomed to this fellow's behavior.

Before the meeting officially began, Ryosuke first scanned everyone's faces, and then the aura on his body changed abruptly. The powerful pressure startled the dozing orange cat into standing up immediately.

Ryosuke's powerful pressure also made the high-ranking officials of the Hidden Mist feel a shock in their hearts; it seemed that during this period, the Fourth Mizukage had become much stronger again.

"Everyone, before the meeting begins."

"I can tell you all straight."

"There will be turmoil in the ninja world next; this turmoil is both a transformation and a crisis."

"I have summoned you all here to arrange where the Hidden Mist should go during this turmoil."

Mizunuki Ryosuke said solemnly. His stern tone, combined with his powerful presence, made everyone at the table respond seriously.

"Kisame, tell us your intelligence."

Mizunuki Ryosuke said to Hoshigaki Kisame on the side.

Since withdrawing from the Land of Rain, Ryosuke had ordered Hoshigaki Kisame to shift the focus of the White Shark Unit's intelligence gathering from the Land of Rain to the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.

"Yes, my lord."

"Now I will explain the intelligence I have for everyone."

Hoshigaki Kisame nodded and began to report the intelligence in his hands meticulously.

"On the side of the Sand ninja, the battle with the Rain ninja is still continuing."

"The battle between the two sides has reached a white-hot stage. Except for the commanders on both sides who have yet to enter the fray, both sides have revealed all their trump cards."

"Whether it is the Rain ninja's elite 'Hanzo's Guard' or the Sand ninja's 'Puppet Unit,' both have been committed to the battlefield."

"I am afraid it won't be long before the two sides determine a winner."

"Besides this, on the side of the Earth ninja, we have discovered that the Rock ninja have large-scale mobilization movements."

"It is just that, until now, we do not know who the Rock ninja intend to strike against."

Hoshigaki Kisame reported all the important intelligence currently in the ninja world in one breath.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes sharpened. The battle between the Sand ninja and the Rain ninja was no longer news; the key was the Rock ninja.

What exactly is the Third Tsuchikage Onoki preparing to do?

The movements of the Rock ninja could potentially cause this war to spread further.