For a moment, Mei's expression darkened completely.
Why had things suddenly escalated into the very outcome she wanted to avoid most?
"Where exactly did things go wrong?" Mei bit her lip tightly, the shadow between her brows refusing to fade. "The negotiations haven't even started yet, so why did Jie Uchiha's attitude suddenly change?"
She quickly replayed their earlier conversation in her mind, and before long, found the answer.
The Third Hokage.
Everything had changed the moment she mentioned Hiruzen Sarutobi.
'Damn it, how could I forget how Jie Uchiha became the Fifth Hokage?!' Realizing her mistake, Mei couldn't help but curse herself inwardly.
When Jie took over as the Fifth Hokage, Mei was coincidentally leading the Hidden Mist ninja to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
Furthermore, the Land of Water and the Land of Fire were separated by a vast ocean, making the speed of information transmission far slower than between the other ninja villages.
So, even though Mei had received specific details on how Jie ascended to the Hokage position, she had been too busy revitalizing Kirigakure and had quickly tossed the information to the back of her mind.
She never expected that such a simple oversight would cause such a massive impact today.
Ao's Byakugan had helped her immensely.
It was precisely because Ao discovered the abnormal chakra flow within Yagura's body that Mei was able to confirm the Fourth Mizukage was under someone else's control, which had ultimately sparked the Blood Mist era.
Because of this, Mei was able to overthrow Yagura's rule and assume the position of Fifth Mizukage herself.
And now, was she really supposed to hand over Ao, a loyal subordinate who had contributed so much to her cause, simply because of Jie's threats?
Thinking of this, Mei immediately shook her head. If she sold out her loyal subordinate just because of a threat, what difference was there between her and Yagura?
But what would happen if she didn't hand him over? Mei didn't think Jie's words were merely empty threats.
Her intuition told her that if she stood her ground and refused to surrender the Byakugan, this entire operation would likely go up in smoke.
As for fighting back, Mei hadn't entertained the thought from the very beginning.
After Jie ascended to the Hokage position, every ninja village investigated his past. At the mere age of ten, he had marched to war against Kumogakure, killing the Fourth Raikage and severely injuring the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.
Against a peerless genius like that, Mei didn't believe she was any match for him.
Even though she was a prodigy possessing two Kekkei Genkai, simply having dual bloodline limits was far from enough to stand in front of Jie Uchiha.
'So, I have to compromise for the sake of the plan?'
A hint of hesitation flashed in Mei's heart, but a second later, she made her decision.
"Ao, return the Byakugan to the Fifth Hokage," Mei said without looking back, her eyes fixed entirely on Jie.
"Lord Mizukage, please reconsider! It's just a Konoha ninja, let's fight him!" Hearing her words, the Hidden Mist ninja were shocked and hastily tried to persuade her.
However, Ao didn't hesitate in the slightest upon hearing Mei's order.
He swiftly undid the seal on his eyepatch and, ignoring the agonizing pain, forcefully gouged the Byakugan out of his right eye socket. Enduring the agony, he tossed the eyeball to Jie.
Seeing Ao's actions, Jie couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
As expected of a ninja who walked out of the Village of the Blood Mist, they were ruthless to others and equally ruthless to themselves. He dug out his own eye on command, not even blinking at the sheer, excruciating pain.
Moreover, Mei had so decisively ordered Ao to remove Kirigakure's only Byakugan. Even Tsunade probably couldn't match this level of foresight and boldness.
However, this also proved that whatever the Hidden Mist was scheming was far more valuable than a single Byakugan. Otherwise, why would Mei agree to Jie's demand so readily, without even attempting to flee or put up a struggle?
Therefore, Jie was absolutely certain that Kirigakure had a massive plan in motion at Kumogakure. And to ensure the smooth execution of this plan, Mei was willing to sacrifice even the Byakugan.
This only made Jie even more curious about what the Hidden Mist was truly trying to accomplish.
But now was clearly not the time to pry.
Watching the Byakugan fly toward him, Jie casually pulled a sealing scroll from his ninja pouch, caught the eye with it, and immediately sealed it away.
He thought it was better to seal it directly and ask Hiashi Hyuga how to handle it once he brought it back to Konoha.
Stowing the Byakugan safely away, Jie's expression returned to its original faint smile. He spoke calmly.
"Since you're willing to give up even the Byakugan, it seems the Fifth Mizukage has an ulterior motive for this Joint Chunin Exam. And from the looks of it, it's quite a significant scheme."
Hearing Jie's words, Mei's expression remained neutral, but in her heart, she silently raised her guard against Jie.
"Isn't the Fifth Hokage the same?" Mei replied evenly.
"You also arrived at Kumogakure without receiving an invitation. It seems Konoha isn't as invincible as the legends claim... still feeling threatened by the alliance of the three great ninja villages."
From her perspective, Jie felt that the alliance of the three great villages would pose a massive threat to Konoha.
So, he had personally rushed to Kumogakure to disrupt the alliance treaty between them. Otherwise, why would the Hokage travel such a great distance just to attend a Joint Chunin Exam he hadn't even been invited to?
Mei found it impossible to believe there could be any other reason.
After all, no one could possibly be bored enough to do something like that purely out of free time.
However, standing on entirely different levels, there was no way Mei Terumi could understand Jie's real intentions through her own assumptions alone. No matter how hard she tried to piece it together, she could never imagine that someone really could be that bored.
Still, Jie now had another objective... figuring out why Mei was so determined to involve herself in this mess.
Although they had been talking for a while, this was hardly the right place for a lengthy conversation. They were still near the border of Kumogakure, and hidden Kumo shinobi could discover them at any moment.
Even if the final result would be the same, being discovered and making a deliberate appearance were two completely different things.
So, both Jie and Mei simultaneously dropped all thoughts of casual conversation and hurried toward Kumogakure's main gates.
At Kumogakure's entrance, the gate guards were on duty as usual.
Suddenly, the Kumo ninja noticed several strangers approaching from the end of the road, all wearing forehead protectors.
"Ninja from another village?" The Kumo guard at the gate paused slightly.
He knew the village was currently preparing to host the Joint Chunin Exams, so it wasn't surprising to see ninja from other villages arriving. What puzzled him, however, was that the participants from the Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone had already arrived.
So, which village did these people belong to?
But as Jie got closer, the Kumo guard caught sight of the symbol engraved on his forehead protector. His eyes instantly widened in horror.
A shrill, terrified scream immediately echoed around the entire Kumogakure gate.
"The Konoha ninja are attacking the village!"
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