Double Step

Mei Terumi had gone from wanting to fight to the end to finding a way to negotiate with Kumo, Seimei, and Suna, despite her strong reluctance to the idea proposed by the Kirigakure Council.

It wasn't that she didn't want to keep fighting; she simply COULDN'T keep doing so if she wanted the village to still exist when everything was over. Even if somehow they managed to resist and drive them out of the Water Country at this point, they would be a piece of meat that Konoha wouldn't hesitate to try to bite.

Fortunately, their choice for Hokage was more complicated than expected and resulted in the promotion of someone well-known.

Kakashi Hatake as the Fifth Hokage, a ninja undoubtedly recognized by all, and with the people supporting his leadership, like the Nara clan, he won't be easy to deal with in the future.

If there's even a future to talk about...

Her people were tired, sick, hospitalized, hungry, demoralized, and poorly equipped. They didn't anticipate that facing two large groups at once would be so costly or that the few members of Seimeigakure would cause so many problems.

The reports were becoming increasingly overwhelming, and their numbers were dwindling at the speed of light compared to the few losses they had achieved in this time.

Even if she came up with an idea for everyone to leave them alone, Kirigakure would take at least thirty years to return to the starting point she encountered after Yagura's Blood Mist. Then it would take another ten to twenty years to recover their state before the attack.

But the idea that they could spend fifty years recovering in peace and without worrying about anything was as ridiculous as saying that people live on the moon.

(Well... technically, there are no people living there now after what happened. Unless you count Kaguya, but more than living, she's sealed. So... let's continue.)

"Do we have any news about our proposal?" Mei looked at Ao and crossed her fingers for a positive response.

"There's still nothing," Ao replied, shaking his head. "None of the six messengers have returned yet, which doesn't bode well for us."

Mei bit her thumb's nail as frustration built up.

Were they really going to cut everything off at the root? They were too ruthless!

(Cough Uzumaki Cough)

Ao watched as the Mizukage immersed herself in her thoughts again and sighed, moving to prepare some tea. The last leaves they had weren't really that good, but they should suffice to help clear their heads.

"Has the Council or any of the other monitored ones made any suspicious moves?" Mei asked when the aroma of freshly brewed tea awakened her.

"Besides trying to snatch some scarce supplies from each other with technicalities or subterfuges, they've been behaving honestly," Ao replied. "Well, as honestly as those vultures are capable of."

If it weren't for the shortage of people, which made everyone present necessary, they might even have committed some "accidents" to take things for themselves.

"How did we get to this point?" Mei let her hand fall on the table. "If I had only had three, no, maybe two years, it would have been enough to consolidate the village properly. By then, even if we were in the same position, it wouldn't be so easy for them to take our things."

"Things rarely go as we expect," Ao left the cup and the steaming teapot on the table and stood to the side.

"Thanks, Ao," Terumi said as she poured the hot liquid into the cup and held it for a moment to warm her hands. "Don't you fancy a bit?"

"I'm good," Ao denied with his stoic expression. "I don't like this brand of tea much; they can't extract all the essence, and it leaves a bitter aftertaste."

"I see," the Mizukage brought the tea to her lips and tilted her head back.

At the same time, Ao revealed a subtle mocking smile.

Hmm? I would swear the bottom of the cup has a...

A gut-wrenching scream sounded in the Mizukage's office, and several jonins rushed to see what was happening, only to find Ao rolling on the floor covered by the acidic mist that Terumi had exhaled through the corroded hole at the bottom of the tea cup.

They watched as "Ao" ended up losing his life and transforming into some kind of monstrous white man.

"You should study better the people you try to replace," Mei tossed the cup to the floor disdainfully. "Ao loves bitter tea, although personally, I never understood why."

"Mizukage-sama?" one of the jonin asked in a puzzled tone as he approached Mei.

"Find the real Ao; I want to know if he's still alive, and if not, recover the body and the Byakugan he has if possible," the Mizukage ordered. "Also, take this... thing, for them to study. I want to know what it is, where it comes from, and how it managed to impersonate Ao without anyone noticing until now!"

"Understood!"

Mei nodded and turned to sit back at the table. She still needed to sort out her thoughts when...

Suddenly, a dangerous premonition surged in her heart, and when she turned around, she only had time to see the jonins who came to her office pounce on her holding kunais in different forms before they sank into her body.

"Success!" one of the jonins shouted before changing his expression. "This is bad!"

An explosion sounded when Terumi's clone burst into a magma eruption that killed her attackers. Mei appeared in the office and examined the bodies without getting too close to them.

"At least this time they were human," she said to herself, annoyed by the two consecutive attempts on her life. "I guess some people are getting too impatient; I don't think those messengers will come back."

Mei was very aware that some people in the village were scared or tired enough to think of alternative ways to end this conflict in their favor. And ending the Mizukage would be the equivalent of a checkmate on the board.

"I should have left with Ameyuri back then; sharing a man like that with my best friend doesn't seem like such a bad idea now..." Mei sighed genuinely regretful as she recalled the sweet atmosphere between the couple. Too bad that possibility no longer existed.

She had to stay until the end and would most likely lose her life, or she could find a way to escape and live hidden for the rest of her life.

New identity, new hairstyle, new style of dressing, and... maybe getting a good man would be easier if she decided to start from scratch.

Hey, it sounds better the more she thinks about it.

No more murders, no more signing documents, more free time...

She also had a good amount of money to live worry-free for the rest of her life comfortably.

But she doubted if she could go unnoticed; after all, she was too beautiful...