Kirigakure.
Ninja Hospital.
"Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!!!"
The Third Mizukage turned his head sharply as he felt the surge of heat in his chest, spitting out a mouthful of thick blood that stained the already filthy bedsheet.
Elder Genshi, standing beside him, let out a sigh and patted the Mizukage's back, his voice filled with sorrow.
"Mizukage, you should rest."
"Cough, cough! Cough, cough!! It's fine!!"
The Third Mizukage gave a faint smile—one that seemed both proud and resigned.
"I know my own body. I don't have much time left."
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with a tissue, he picked up a pen and continued reviewing documents.
"I'm too sick to do much else. This is all I can still handle."
Genshi sighed again but didn't press further. He knew his old friend had already resolved himself to die.
The Mizukage had stopped taking his medicine and refused treatment from medical-nin.
He wanted to die on his own terms.
Genshi reached into his sleeve and pulled out a few letters, spreading them out in front of the Mizukage.
"What's this?"
"Letters from our Fourth Mizukage, sent from the Village of Artisans to the head of the Karatachi Clan."
The Third Mizukage's expression clearly asked—why are private letters in your hands, old man? And why are you showing them to me?
"The clan head read them and passed them on to me. I read them, and now I want you to read them."
Genshi dragged a chair over and sat by the bedside, waiting for the Mizukage's thoughts.
The Third Mizukage quickly skimmed through the letters.
Yagura's writing was simple and straightforward. Just from the tone of his words, the Mizukage could vividly imagine that mischievous little brat standing in front of him, grinning as he tried to get a reaction.
The contents weren't particularly important—mostly complaints about how he was enjoying free food and lodging in the Land of Artisans, while also griping about how terrible things were over there.
The first few pages were just casual greetings to his family.
But on the last page, Yagura had scrawled out some rather reckless ideas:
"Hmm, it'd be great if we could bring these artisans over to Kirigakure. They can't stay in the Land of Artisans much longer anyway. If we take them in, we can expand our weapon-making industry. Their ninja tools sell like crazy!"
"Honestly, I don't want Kirigakure getting involved in the Third Great Ninja War. While those four nations are busy fighting, we should be making money in the shadows—selling iron to those who need iron, weapons to those who need weapons, and supplies to those who need supplies. Once we get rich, we can solve 99% of our problems!"
"Stay low, make money, don't act recklessly~"
"Too bad it won't work. Just like the Third said, those other villages won't let us off that easily. Ugh, what a pain."
A long silence followed.
Genshi finally spoke. "This kid thought this far ahead."
"Yeah."
The Third Mizukage picked up his pen and wrote a single word of approval on the letter before signing his name beneath it:
Approved.
Handing the letter back to Genshi, his gaze was sharper than it had been in the past month of illness.
"Genshi, make it happen."
The elder took the letter. "I've already sent people to make contact with the artisans."
This mission—this country—was something the two old men had chosen for Yagura.
It was the first step in their long-term plan.
"Good, good. Thank you."
His emotions had surged too suddenly, leaving him exhausted. The Mizukage lay back down on the bed, drained.
Genshi sighed. "Mizukage, get some rest. I'll take my leave."
"Haha... Alright, Genshi."
The door to the ward clicked shut.
Lying in the white hospital bed, the Third Mizukage slowly closed his weary eyes.
If you want to watch from the shore, first, you need to disappear from sight...
...
Ding! Funds received: 80 million ryo!
Ding! Funds received: 58 million ryo!
Yagura wouldn't see this money for now. It was first transferred to Kirigakure, where the village would take its cut before sending him his share.
For the sake of his own survival, the bald-headed chairman of the Tsuchimikado group prioritized paying these two bounties before handling any other financial matters.
Yagura met with the company's secretary, along with representatives from several other mining conglomerates. These leaders all expressed their deep "sympathies" for Tsuchimikado's predicament.
Their sympathies came with wide, knowing grins.
In the past few days, the Village of Artisans had recalled all their ninja and even taken hostage the families and executives of various groups. News of this spread across the desks of the company heads.
For Yagura, this was good news—it significantly increased the chances of an agreement between the major mining companies and the Village of Artisans.
From the start, both sides had been deadlocked over the negotiation venue.
It wasn't until the Daimyo of the Land of Artisans intervened that they finally agreed to meet in a government facility in the capital.
Yagura didn't attend the first negotiation.
He didn't think it had anything to do with him and turned down the secretary's invitation, opting to sleep in his hotel room instead.
When he woke up, he wrote a letter home to Kirigakure and mailed it off.
Returning from the post office, he ran into the secretary—who, unsurprisingly, reported that the negotiations had failed.
The mining tycoons refused to back down and threatened the Village of Artisans, demanding the immediate release of their hostages.
On the other side, the Village of Artisans was filled with hot-blooded warriors and old veterans. Enraged by the ultimatum, they declared that they would rather fight to the end than surrender!
Things nearly escalated into an all-out brawl at the negotiation table.
It was only through the efforts of government officials and secretaries from both sides that the meeting was brought back under control.
Of course, after two hours, the first negotiation ended in failure.
Neither side was willing to make concessions. What was there left to discuss?
Both sides went home to rest, agreeing to try again the next day.
The secretary relayed the message: "Lord, the executives have specifically requested your presence at tomorrow's talks."
Yagura didn't need to think too hard to know the real reason.
He was there as a bodyguard. Nothing more.
"Me? Why would I go?"
Biting into an apple, Yagura waved him off. "Did you forget how many Artisans I've killed? My presence would just make things worse. Do they even want to negotiate?"
The secretary gave an awkward laugh.
Yagura didn't mind if things dragged on. He couldn't return to Kirigakure yet anyway, so this was just a free vacation with unlimited food and drink.
As he expected, the negotiations lasted over twenty days, with more than ten heated debates—each lasting from morning to night.
Despite minor compromises, no final agreement was reached.
Still, this period became a rare moment of peace for the Land of Artisans.
Without interference from Artisans, the mining companies resumed operations, rushing orders, pushing logistics, and recovering losses.
Meanwhile, the artisans smelted stolen iron ore into ninja tools and sold them abroad for a huge profit.
Yagura clicked his tongue. If they had done this from the start, things would have been much simpler.
Yet, despite everything, tensions only worsened.
Seeing the other side profit hurt more than suffering losses themselves!
Truly, why was everything in the Land of Artisans such a mess?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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