"Making some little kid the Mizukage? Are you kidding me?!"
"You seriously think a child like that can handle all of Kirigakure?!"
As Hatake Satoru opened the door, a few men dressed in white—looking like they were at a funeral—stood at the entrance, yelling in anger.
Even though they were ranting, as soon as they saw Hatake Satoru was the one who opened the door, their eyes flicked away a little.
Hozuki Mangetsu, standing behind Hatake Satoru, wasn't afraid at all and peeked his head out.
As soon as they saw Hozuki Mangetsu, these guys couldn't hold back their anger. How could a kid not even half the height of Hatake Satoru become the Mizukage?
The Kaguya clan was always hot-headed and loved to fight, not to mention they were constantly causing trouble.
Even if Hatake Satoru had saved the Hidden Mist Village this time, these people would still cause a scene if they had a problem.
That's exactly why the Kaguya clan had such a bad reputation in the village.
The old master only spared a few of them during the purge because of this—he saw some value in keeping them alive.
They were hard to control, sure, but they were still useful fighters, especially now when the village was badly weakened.
The old master had no choice but to try bringing them in. Who knows—they might become part of his fighting force later.
"You're really working hard for this, huh~"
Hatake Satoru glanced back at the old master with a half-smile. The old man was forcing himself to stay calm, hands resting stiffly in front of him.
The people at the door had confused looks all over their faces.
Simple-minded as they were, they couldn't understand why Hatake Satoru was suddenly going after the old master, and they quickly shouted,
"This has nothing to do with the master! We're only speaking out for the good of the village!"
"If you're going to announce the new Mizukage today, then at least let us spar with him first."
They all showed mocking smiles.
First, they didn't believe Hatake Satoru would really make that kid fight them.
Second, if a fight actually happened, they'd go all out on the kid.
With the candidate gone, the whole process would have to be delayed.
If they could stop Hatake Satoru's plan here, they knew the old master would have their backs.
If they played it right, this could even change the outcome of the Mizukage selection. Worst case, it would just delay the succession.
Either way, they had nothing to lose.
But as they kept running their mouths, Hatake Satoru raised his hand, and a light blue mist quickly spread over them.
The air around him suddenly turned cold.
"What are you doing?!"
The old master slammed the table and stood up, shouting at Hatake Satoru's back.
Now he was truly panicking. They had considered all sorts of possibilities, but never expected Hatake Satoru to act without warning.
So noisy—worse than cicadas in summer.
Weak, aggressive, and now acting like they were standing up for the village?
And here he was, wasting time listening to the whining of weaklings.
Hatake Satoru's expression darkened. He tilted his head up slightly, looking down on them from above.
"—Who do you think you're threatening?"
"No one cares what you think, you know?"
"And to show this much hate toward a student right in front of his teacher… You've got some nerve."
Satoru couldn't be bothered to listen anymore. With a simple wave of his hand, he flung them away.
Just as he moved, bones suddenly shot out from their bodies.
But before they could even get close, they were blasted straight toward the outside wall of the Mizukage building.
"Bang!!!"
With a loud crash, several giant human-shaped holes were smashed into the wall.
Some people outside who were just watching the commotion were startled as the bodies came flying out. A few bone-covered figures lay on the ground, their skeletons shattered to pieces.
The impact had been so strong that their faces were twisted and unrecognizable.
With bones shattered and bodies crushed, they were clearly already dead.
Blood kept flowing from under the corpses, forming a small pool of red on the ground.
"Weren't these guys just complaining about the new Mizukage?"
"Looks like someone beat him and threw him out."
"Didn't the same thing happen when the Fourth Mizukage took over? They challenged him too and ended up getting tossed out."
The people gathered at the gate didn't seem surprised at all by the Kaguya clan's behavior. With all the shady stuff that clan's done, nothing they pull is really shocking anymore.
The Kaguya clan was always violent, always itching to fight strong people. It's no surprise they ended up dead.
Hatake Satoru's cold voice came from inside the Mizukage building.
"I don't like hurting our own, but if anyone has a problem with the new Mizukage—"
"Or if someone's thinking about sneaky moves or even trying to assassinate the new Mizukage, they'll end up just like them."
"Think twice before doing anything stupid."
Genji's face turned dark with anger the moment Hatake Satoru made his move, and he slumped back into his chair.
Hatake Satoru always manages to find a third option when given only two.
They gained nothing and lost everything—talk about backfiring.
"Don't just sit there. The new Mizukage was picked through the Elders' Council."
"You should show your faces too."
After shouting from the doorway, Hatake Satoru turned back to look at Ao and Genji sitting inside.
He wasn't actually treating them like elders or politely asking them to step out.
He was clearly ordering them to go out and support Hozuki Mangetsu.
That usual quiet arrogance that always surrounded Hatake Satoru was now in full display.
He rarely ever acted openly high and mighty—he usually didn't feel the need to.
But the sneaky political games being played right under his nose were really starting to annoy him.
If he wanted to keep them in line, he had to show them some real power.
If they wanted to raise objections, they'd have to get through him first.
Hatake Satoru left with Hozuki Mangetsu. Shisui grabbed his sunglasses from the table, put them on, and followed along excitedly.
He had noticed something pretty interesting.
It was the first time he'd ever seen Hatake Satoru actually show a serious expression.
"You're way too protective as a teacher, you know."
"You looked like you were about to kill Genji and the others right then and there."
Shisui leaned closer to Hatake Satoru and muttered.
"Oh? That thought definitely crossed my mind."
Hatake Satoru still had that cold look on his face, which left Shisui at a loss for words.
Then, in the next second, Satoru tilted his head and gave a bright, playful smile.
"Just kidding. Killing them all wouldn't solve anything."
"Oh right, there's a kid in the Kaguya clan I've had my eye on. Go bring him here."
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