Land of Water, The Hidden Mist Village.
Mizukage Building, Conference Room.
The expansive conference room was filled with five Hidden Mist leaders, all wearing grim expressions.
The Konoha leaders were as pleased as they were furious.
Originally hoping to take advantage of the turmoil to seize some gains from Konoha, they ended up with substantial losses instead.
Not only did five out of the Seven-Swords Ninja fall, but even the specially crafted valuable ninja blades could not be reclaimed; all five were captured by Konoha.
For the Hidden Mist, these few ninja blades were actually more important than their owners; you can always find new people, but how do you replace lost blades?
What left the Hidden Mist leaders speechless was that losing five out of the Seven-Swords Ninja was not even their greatest loss; they also lost a Three-tailed Jinchuriki. The Three-tails died outright, leaving them with only one Six-tailed Jinchuriki until its revival.
Moreover, renowned warriors Minazuki Kan and Hozuki Zangetsu from the Hidden Mist Village also perished on the battlefield, becoming stepping stones for Mokgetsu's rise to fame.
In comparison to these losses, the Hidden Mist Ninja Squad's losses were not as severe; Karatachi Yagura's actions effectively preserved the remaining forces of the Hidden Mist Ninja Squad.
"Let's first discuss how to handle Karatachi Yagura." The Third Mizukage said coldly, seemingly determined to severely punish Karatachi Yagura.
The other Hidden Mist leaders exchanged furtive glances, unable to quite discern the Third Mizukage's intentions.
Everyone knew that Karatachi Yagura was favored by the Third Mizukage as a candidate for Mizukage; they could not determine whether the Third Mizukage had lost faith in him or was unwilling to punish him too harshly and thus spoke up.
"Yagura has betrayed the village's trust, repeatedly making poor strategic decisions in critical moments, causing us significant losses. What will the village's ninja think if we don't punish him?" the Third Mizukage continued when no one else spoke up.
With these words, the Hidden Mist leaders understood that the Third Mizukage was not ready to give up on Karatachi Yagura and sought a formality rather than substantial punishment.
"Although the war ended unsuccessfully, Yagura still proved himself a diligent commander who successfully avoided heavy losses for the Hidden Mist Ninja Squad, preserving our strength so that we wouldn't be too passive in future engagements," the advisor considered aloud.
Hoping to avoid disagreements with the Third Mizukage over the position of the Fourth Mizukage, the advisor knew that the Hidden Mist Village was already in a poor state, and further internal strife would surely lead to decline.
Moreover, the advisor had no better candidate; among Yagura's generation, Yagura was the strongest, and his other attributes suited him to be Mizukage.
"The failures in war are not entirely Yagura's fault. Initially, we had a significant advantage; it was Minazuki Kan's defeat by Habu Mokgetsu that turned the tide against us, meaning Minazuki Kan bears a large responsibility for the war's failure," the Hidden Mist Jonin Squad Leader added.
Compared to the still-alive Karatachi Yagura, who had future potential as Mizukage, the deceased Minazuki Kan was a more suitable scapegoat.
After all, the deceased cannot be affected by a tainted reputation.
"Suikazan Fuguki and his fellows also failed in their duties," the Hidden Mist advisor added, dragging the deceased members of the Seven-Swords Ninja into it as well.
With a few words, Karatachi Yagura was deemed the MVP of the losing side, and the failures in war were entirely attributed to the incompetence of Minazuki Kan and Suikazan Fuguki.
The leadership skillfully avoided discussing Hozuki Zangetsu, not because of good performance, but due to the significant influence of the Hozuki Clan in the Hidden Mist, requiring sensitivity to their feelings.
The Third Mizukage nodded, agreeing with the leaders' statements that while Karatachi Yagura was at fault, he also made commendable contributions, with the main errors lying elsewhere.
Ultimately, Yagura's punishment was to be stripped of all current positions and reassigned to Anbu to make amends through contributions to Hidden Mist.
"The five ninja blades captured by Konoha must be reclaimed; they are valuable assets of the Hidden Mist," the Hidden Mist advisor said about the lost five ninja blades.
The strongest blades among the Seven-Swords Ninja, Shark Skin and Hiramekarei, had been captured by Konoha, and the Hidden Mist advisor could not stand it.
"Retrieving the blades is essential, but how to do so is a problem," the Hidden Mist Jonin Squad Leader remarked.
"In the current situation, we either send ninja forces back into the Land of Fire to battle Konoha and defeat them,
or negotiate with Konoha to recover the blades through a treaty."
Since the Hidden Mist initiated the conflict with Konoha, it is unlikely Konoha would return five valuable ninja blades without a reason.
At present, Konoha is engaged in multiple conflicts; if the Hidden Mist is willing to negotiate, even with certain demands that aren't too excessive, Konoha might agree.
"Launching another war shortly would be unwise; Konoha currently has high morale, whereas ours is low. Such an engagement would be detrimental to the Hidden Mist," the advisor argued.
He was firmly opposed to immediately starting another war, seeing it as laborious and thankless.
"We cannot sign a treaty," the Third Mizukage rejected the treaty proposal.
"The blades must be recovered, but not in such a humiliating fashion."
If we were to negotiate peace, then the entire incident would become an embarrassment for the Hidden Mist, having initiated a war with Konoha, been defeated, and then begged for peace and the return of the blades. The Third Mizukage did not want such a disgraceful event to occur during his tenure.