Chapitre 248: Plans in Tandem
"What? Release the spies? what are you saying, old man? We would become a joke in front of everyone." Riko stood up from his chair and slammed his hand on the table.
The old man didn't react to Riko's anger and kept his calm demeanor and said "We are currently facing an enemy which has an entire great village behind it to provide support. The one who helped us twice is too strong for us to handle and we don't even know that person's identity so he is just a variable who could turn against us anytime. So the last option that we have left is to take help from someone who is offering it."
Riko still wasn't convinced by what the old man said but Yoshiro butted between them and said "Riko there is a thin line between bravery and stupidity. Going against an entire village alone is bravery for you but getting the entire clan slaughtered because you were too stubborn is stupidity. I will leave the decision to you."
Riko looked back at his advisor who just nodded and signaled him to calm down as well. Riko made a sulking face but in the end, he agreed and sat down.
"Sorry old man I got a little carried away and behaved unbecomingly of a clan leader." Riko apologized to which the old man laughed and said "Haha...you remind me of my brother when he was young. He was also impatient like you. Well, I know that you will learn many more things as time passes so don't fret about such things."
The old man then looked at AO and said "The incident happened last night and such a detailed report was already created and even got leaked to us? It looks like the entire thing was investigated by the hidden stone and they didn't let Moji have any control over this."
AO nodded and said "Yes...the report we got is also from our spy from the hidden stone because the hidden stone shinobis refuse to trust Moji's people because of the coverups."
"Hmph..that's one thing Moji is good at...covering up the dirty laundry of his crimes." Asami said with an ugly expression on his face.
"Elder Wu, go and make preparations to release the spies but make sure that they stay in our guest house under strict surveillance" Yoshiro ordered to which Elder Wu nodded and left the room.
"We do not know when this letter was written as the bird must have taken a few detours to come here safely. So inform all the ports in our control that there might be hidden leaf shinobis coming and to treat them as guests of the Terumi clan...no the bloodline clans." the old man looked at his advisor who nodded.
After talking for a few more minutes, the meeting was adjourned and everyone left the underground room except for Yoshiro, Mei, Santo, Ao, and Kana.
Santo and Kana had some idea why Yoshiro had told them to stay back in the room. But still to be sure Santo decided to ask "Is there you need us to do something Uncle Yoshiro?"
Yoshiro nodded and said "Yes Santo, I want Mei to be the one who will receive the shinobis coming from the hidden leaf and I want you and Kana to help her out with that. The ones coming with them are genins but I am sure that each one of them will be almost a low chunin level or else the hidden leaf wouldn't have sent them here. Unlike us, they don't use genins as cannon fodder until it is war."
This was a very proud moment for Santo and Kana as it is the first time the Patriarch of their clan had given them an official mission. And they both knew the significance of that mission.
"Leave it to us, Lord Yoshiro...We will make sure that the hidden leaf shinobis develop a favorable impression of our clans and agree to help us in our fight with the Mizukage faction." Kana said and she and Santo bowed to Yoshiro.
"Don't I have good siblings father?" Mei smirked seeing Kana like that. She loved to make fun of her and she wasn't about to let go of such a chance.
"Haha...that is right. Santo and Kana are capable and I am sure they will do well. I have a lot of expectations from the small ones as well." Yoshiro said. Kana and Santo knew that by small ones Yoshiro was talking about their younger siblings.
AO who preferred to only talk about important things decided to become a part of the conversation as he said "I have seen those two a few times. Enzo is training them pretty well. If they weren't staying in the land of forests I would have had them take the chunin exams. I am sure they would have passed."
Mei raised her eyebrows as she heard this and said "It is really rare hearing a compliment coming from your mouth AO...I may be in a genjutsu or something."
AO quickly shut up as he heard this and just gave Mei a look. He knew about her playful nature so he didn't mind it at all.
Yoshiro looked at the people around him and said "Moments like this make me forget that we are facing such a calamity." It hasn't been a long time since he had such family time but even a minute of such a conversation was enough to lighten the load of the clan's responsibilities that he had on him.
Yoshiro looked at Kana and said "I know you are still worried about that kid but it is good to see that you are able to hide it well." Kana decided not to reply and only nodded. In reality, she did care about the kid but not as much as before. She had come to understand that if she creates a weakness of her like this then the enemy will easily leverage it and next time the one who is going to be in danger could very well be one of her own siblings.
In the past few days, Mei had shown Kana the worst of the shinobi world and told her about many crimes that occur around the world. At first, it scared Kana shitless and she even cried but she knew that crying and hiding won't change the reality. If she wants to change it then she must do it herself.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a bit awkward, Mei decided to take Kana and Santo to make the necessary preparations.
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Mizukage building.
3people were sitting around a table and the entire room was silent. Jiro who had an angry look on his face was looking at the other 2. These two were none other than Priest Ji and Moji.
They both didn't say anything because they could feel the anger boiling inside Jiro.
"Lord Jiro I know we have had setbacks..." Priest Ji tried to talk but Jiro stood up with wide eyes and shouted.
"SETBACKS? YOU CALL THESE SETBACKS? SOMEONE HAS TAKEN AWAY THE HEARTS FROM UNDER YOUR NOSE AND NOW 2 BASES WERE DECIMATED IN A SINGLE NIGHT. YOU THINK THIS IS JUST A SETBACK?" Jiro shouted.
"Jiro I agree what happened is now unfortunate but the only way is forward now. We need to find out who did this. The news has spread among both our shinobis. They call him the red-eyed demon now." Moji said. He didn't let himself get submissive to Jiro because he knew that the moment he showed any sign of weakness, Jiro will start treating him like an underling.
Seeing that Moji wasn't intimidated by him, Jiro decided to set aside the topic as he didn't feel any kind of compassion for the ones who died in the 2 bases. In fact, he was happy that one of the people that the hidden stone elders sent to keep an eye on him was taken out. This could even work in his favor and he could ask for more resources and help from his village under the pretext of avenging the commander.
The only thing he felt bad about was losing those demon hearts. Jiro wanted to create an army for himself made of people with those implanted hearts. He was just waiting for Priest ji and his people to perfect the heart enough that there would be no side effects.
Jiro looked at Moji and said "Those trashes are useless when you tell them to do something but they won't shy away from naming someone who killed their own comrades."
"I have never heard of anyone possessing such strong genjutsu prowess. Does the hidden stone have any intelligence on it?" Moji asked to which Jiro shook his head and said "No...who would have thought that someone would use genjutsu as their main strength. What would some lowly illusions do to a shinobi. The trashes were just weak." he then looked at Priest Ji and asked "What happened about the plan we talked about last night? You need to come through first only then we can start with ours."
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone