Recovery—easy to say, difficult to accomplish.
Shigure glanced over the current state of Sunagakure. From the very beginning, the village's shinobi had never truly been united. Under such circumstances, trying to bring the entire village back together in a short period of time was no simple task.
That said, none of this concerned Shigure.
As long as Gaara could be rescued, everything else would naturally fall into place. With Gaara's talent, coupled with his status as the Fourth Kazekage's son, ascending to the position of the Fifth Kazekage—just as in the original timeline—would pose no real problem.
Following Baki, Shigure arrived at a room inside the Kazekage Building.
He took a seat on the sofa as Temari personally brought over tea. Baki sat across from him, his posture straight and respectful.
"Thank you, Lord Mizukage, for being willing to assist Sunagakure in its time of crisis," Baki said solemnly.
"Sunagakure will never forget Lord Shigure's kindness."
He bowed deeply.
Shigure merely waved his hand dismissively.
"There's no need for formalities. This is nothing more than a transaction between us," he said calmly.
"Sunagakure offered benefits I couldn't refuse."
At those words, Baki subconsciously turned to look at Temari.
Temari stiffened slightly, her expression betraying a hint of panic. Seeing this, Shigure immediately understood—Temari had most likely agreed to the conditions on her own initiative.
"Kuji."
At Shigure's call, Kuji stepped forward from behind and addressed Baki directly.
"Sunagakure's Temari promised the Hidden Mist Village an annual supply of gold dust as compensation. That is the reason we agreed to assist Sunagakure."
The moment those words fell, Baki's expression changed dramatically.
He stared at Temari in shock.
Faced with his gaze, Temari clenched her fists and forced herself to speak.
"As long as Gaara can be saved, Sunagakure still has hope," she said firmly.
"Without Gaara… the village may not survive at all."
Sunagakure was already on the brink of collapse, split into six or seven different factions. Unlike the Hidden Mist Village, it couldn't simply seal itself off for several years, endure internal conflict, and then stabilize under a newly chosen Kazekage.
If that happened, Sunagakure would more likely tear itself apart through infighting before any resolution could be reached.
Baki opened his mouth, clearly wanting to reprimand Temari—but this was neither the time nor the place.
More importantly, he had to decide whether he could accept this agreement.
If he refused, Shigure and the others would turn around and leave without hesitation.
After a few seconds of silence, Baki finally spoke.
"Very well. I accept the conditions Temari agreed to," he said heavily.
"But I have one additional condition."
A condition?
Shigure sneered faintly but did not interrupt.
Baki continued, his voice steady.
"Since Sunagakure will be providing gold dust to the Hidden Mist Village, the Hidden Mist must guarantee Sunagakure's safety. If we're attacked by other villages, we won't be able to mine gold dust reliably. In the end, it's the Hidden Mist's interests that would suffer."
Hearing this, Shigure paused, slightly surprised.
It was a well-argued point.
Originally, he had never intended to take responsibility for Sunagakure's defense. As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Sunagakure should have been capable of protecting itself.
But Baki's meaning was clear.
If the Hidden Mist did not provide protection, Sunagakure could always claim it was under attack and use that as an excuse to suspend the supply of gold dust.
And realistically speaking, there was only one village that might attack Sunagakure at this moment.
Konoha.
The conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure had yet to be resolved, and it was entirely possible that Konoha would make a move again.
What Baki truly wanted was for the Hidden Mist to stand between Sunagakure and Konoha.
If Konoha struck again, Sunagakure's situation would become utterly dire.
In other words, Shigure was being asked to choose:
Should Sunagakure's gold dust flow to the Hidden Mist—or to Konoha?
The answer required no real consideration.
"I, the Hidden Mist," Shigure said coldly, "will block Konoha's advances."
He lifted his gaze to meet Baki's.
"You are responsible for everything else."
Shigure was no fool.
It was clearly impossible for him to act as Sunagakure's hired muscle forever.
Just this once.
Baki smiled as he nodded. The man before him was not only powerful, but frighteningly clear-headed. He had grasped Baki's intentions almost instantly—yet still refused to take the bait.
If Sunagakure could exchange a steady supply of gold dust for a protector that would permanently shield the village, it would have been an extremely profitable deal. Unfortunately, Shigure was not the kind of man who would agree to that.
Still, this transaction left room for leverage. If Sunagakure encountered danger in the future, they could always negotiate again and find a way to draw the Hidden Mist into action.
"Since you've agreed," Shigure said calmly, "then as the ninja you've 'hired,' we should move on to the real matter."
His gaze swept over Baki and Temari. At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed outside the room.
"Lord Baki!"
Kankurō rushed in. "Granny Chiyo is willing to help!"
Baki's face lit up. "That's excellent!"
"Chiyo of the Ten Puppets, hm?" Shigure said.
Baki paused in surprise. "Lord Mizukage, you know of her?"
"Of course," Shigure replied casually. "I have a basic understanding of notable shinobi from each village."
That explanation made sense. As one of the Five Kage, such intelligence was only natural.
"I didn't expect someone so young to have even heard of this old woman's name," a voice said from the doorway.
An elderly woman stepped inside, her white hair tied back, her wrinkled face stern enough to seem intimidating—until she smiled. Then, her expression softened with a strange warmth.
Shigure looked at her with interest.
Chiyo.
A veteran of the previous Shinobi World War.
Even at her age, the pressure she radiated was unmistakable.
Was she here to stand up for Baki?
Unfortunately for them, the deal had already been settled.
"Let's discuss rescuing Gaara," Shigure said, turning his gaze toward a specific direction outside the building. "Traces were found over there. Gaara was taken in that direction, correct?"
Baki's eyes widened. "How do you know?"
This intelligence had only just been uncovered. Temari certainly hadn't known it when she left Sunagakure to seek help.
Shigure smiled faintly. "Once I agreed to help, preparations were already underway. I intend to see this transaction through."
At that moment, a white pigeon flew in through the open window and landed lightly on Shigure's shoulder.
The room fell silent.
Everyone's pupils constricted.
The pigeon looked perfectly real—pure white feathers, lifelike movements. Unless someone possessed a Sharingan or comparable perception, it would be impossible to tell that it wasn't an actual bird.
"Hm. That confirms it," Shigure said calmly.
"They're still within the Land of Wind. Should we depart immediately?"
Chiyo frowned slightly, her gaze fixed on the impossibly young Mizukage before her. She had harbored doubts at first—after all, such a position should not belong to someone so young.
But now…
She could only think of one word.
Unfathomable.
(End of Chapter)
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