I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"Forgive my bluntness, Lord Mizukage, ten million is far too little. Even if Konoha provides some resources, it will probably only be enough to build one school. The subsequent investment will be much greater." Even Asuma, who had little experience teaching students, felt that the Mizukage's idea was a bit outrageous.

It's no wonder the Mizukage couldn't do the math. Ever since the Second Hokage promoted ninja academies, other villages have rarely followed suit. The Hidden Mist Village's academy was basically an assassin training camp, and the investment was completely different.

"Does it really cost that much money?" After listening to Asuma's explanation, Mei Terumi finally understood. Konoha has always valued education. At first, it wasn't apparent, but as more and more outstanding ninjas graduated from the Ninja Academy, many people who seemed to have no talent gradually began to shine. In the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha even took turns fighting against the other four villages.

This constant stream of talented individuals made Mei Terumi extremely envious. Kirigakure was currently experiencing a decline in talent; some had died, some had fled, and some had betrayed the village. If things didn't change, Kirigakure would become increasingly weak.

Mei Terumi looked around, saw the somewhat hesitant members of Kirigakure, bit her lip, and finally made a decision, "No matter how difficult it is, we still have to do this. It's for the future of Kirigakure."

The Mizukage had already made his decision, and the other Kirigakure ninjas didn't say anything more. There were almost no people in Kirigakure who could think clearly anymore. If they were asked to fight, they would just charge forward mindlessly. It was better to leave this kind of mental work to the Mizukage.

Seeing that the group from Kirigakure all had expressions that said, "Mizukage, you decide, we have no objections," Mei Terumi couldn't help but rub her temples.

"There's one more thing, Mizukage-sama..." Asuma could tell that the people from Kirigakure were all useless; none of them had any opinions to offer. They could have just told Mei Terumi directly.

Mei Terumi frowned slightly. "What else is it? Isn't the money enough?"

"Hmm... Actually, I've been watching your village's training sessions these past few days." Kirigakure has definitely been planning to build a ninja academy for a while now. The village has already chosen a location, but many things haven't started construction yet, and even the training grounds are just a random empty spot.

"Your village's teaching methods... how should I put it? I feel something's not quite right... Ye Lan!" Asuma, unsure how to describe it, called out to Ye Lan, who had been slacking off. He knew this kid was much smarter than him, and he would definitely be better at describing it than he was.

Ye Lan was lost in thought when he suddenly heard Asma call him. He looked at him with some confusion. "Hey buddy, I'm just going through the motions. What does this have to do with me?"

Seeing Ye Lan's bewildered expression, Terumi Mei suppressed her urge to get angry, constantly reminding herself that the other party was a guest and she couldn't get angry. Her twitching lips revealed her inner turmoil.

Asuma glared at Ye Lan, then awkwardly smiled at Mei, before leaning close to Ye Lan's ear and briefly recounting what had just happened.

After several battles fought side by side, Asuma had developed considerable trust in Yelan. Yelan's actions in covering the rear had increased Asuma's goodwill towards him, and in addition, he had previously saved Kurenai. Asuma no longer considered Yelan an outsider.

After listening to Asuma's account, Ye Lan ignored Mei Terumi's questioning gaze and spoke directly.

"What he means is that your teaching methods are wrong. Schools are places for nurturing students, not for training subordinates." Ye Lan described Asuma's imagined situation in the simplest terms. Seeing that Terumi Mei was still somewhat puzzled, Ye Lan continued.

"This method of training subordinates can produce a number of elites, but most people will become mediocre. Training students is not just about teaching them ninjutsu and improving their physique. The most important thing is to promote the ideology and help them develop feelings for each other, whether it is teacher-student relationship or friendship. These seemingly insignificant things can sometimes unleash unimaginable power at crucial moments."

Ye Lan knew to stop there and didn't go on and on. Just like in his previous life, an army with willpower and an army without willpower were two completely different things. Konoha had always promoted the Will of Fire, which he looked down on, but it was undeniable that this thing really worked. Too many children who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy had become cannon fodder because they possessed the Will of Fire.

If Konoha could unleash its full potential and exchange it for one or two Chunin, it would be an even greater profit. It was thanks to this that Konoha withstood the repeated bombardments from the other four ninja villages and won the war.

After listening to Ye Lan's explanation, Asma couldn't help but give him a mental thumbs up. Why hadn't he thought of that? It was definitely the right decision to bring Ye Lan along.

Mei Terumi pondered for a moment, but didn't dwell on it too much. Konoha did have experience in this area, and it was truly rare for someone as young as Uchiha Yoru to have such insight. After asking her a few more questions, she ended the topic.

"The school's problems are mostly resolved, Lord Mizukage. I still have some personal questions." Seeing that they had finished talking, Ye Lan raised some thoughts. Asuma, who thought it was about to end, looked at Ye Lan in disbelief. Wasn't he just a moment ago so indifferent? How come he's the one with the problem now?

Shikamaru, who had been listening to the conversation from the back, looked thoughtful. Having just been promoted to Chunin, he hadn't had a chance to speak yet; his presence here was merely a formality.

"Hehe, young man, feel free to ask me any questions. As long as I know the answer..." Mei Terumi said with a smile, covering her mouth with her hand.

"What I want to ask is, what happened between Kirigakure and Akatsuki?" Ye Lan had always been curious about Akatsuki's motives for attacking Kirigakure so fiercely. Perhaps the answer could be found in the woman in front of him.

"I'm sorry, this concerns the privacy of Kirigakure, and I cannot answer that." Mei Terumi, who had just been smiling, suddenly changed her expression and said with a serious face.

"Lord Mizukage, you should know that Konoha and Sunagakure have also formed an alliance, right?" Ye Lan was not surprised. The more Mei Terumi acted this way, the more complicated Akatsuki's actions in Kirigakure must have been. He simply mentioned Sunagakure.

"Jonin Nightfall, what are you doing? Are you threatening me?" Mei Terumi's voice had turned cold. The relationship between Kirigakure and Sunagakure was not good. Konoha was allied with both villages at the same time, fearing that they might join forces to fight against the other.

"Ye Lan!" Asuma, covered in sweat, stepped forward and grabbed Ye Lan. If the people of Kirigakure were truly angered, it wouldn't be easy for them to leave.

"Lord Mizukage, please don't get agitated. That's not what I meant. I meant to say that information about Akatsuki, Sunagakure, and Konoha is publicly shared." Unaffected by the tense atmosphere, Ye Lan casually uttered a piece of information that made Mei Terumi's expression change.

"I also encountered Akatsuki's operations twice, and their targets were the Nine-Tails and the One-Tails, respectively."

Chapter 71 The Land of Blood Mist

"Are you telling the truth?" Mei Terumi was no longer calm and stood up. She only realized her loss of composure when Ao started to remind her.

“I won’t lie about something like this, and one of the people who targeted the Nine-Tails was a rogue ninja from your village.” Ye Lan didn’t mind revealing this information to Terumi Mei; as long as he achieved his goal, he didn’t care how much he said. Asuma came to Ye Lan’s side at this moment and tugged at his sleeve, saying…

"It's not really appropriate for us to proactively tell Kirigakure this kind of information..." Asuma said this because Kirigakure and Sunagakure are different. Their alliance is more like a declaration of non-aggression. Since the Jinchuriki was captured by Konoha, Sunagakure's alliance has reached the level of a military alliance. Kirigakure cannot achieve this level of alliance.

"The main reason is that I didn't expect to run into the Akatsuki when I came here, and the man with the Rinnegan is very likely the leader of the Akatsuki." Ye Lan made this judgment not only because of the strength of the Heavenly Dao, but also because of his attitude of calling himself a god. How could someone like him be willing to be someone else's subordinate?

"Rinnegan? Are you sure you're not seeing things?" Mei Terumi had never met Nagato and didn't believe that such a legendary thing could exist.

"That's right, the one who intercepted us was the one with the Rinnegan, and the one who killed the Frost Ninja was a man wearing a vortex mask," Ye Lan described the situation at the time.

"Does that person wearing the vortex mask have a Sharingan?" Unexpectedly, Mei Terumi directly described Obito's appearance, which made Ye Lan even more convinced that the person had an extraordinary relationship with Kirigakure.

Seeing Ye Lan nod, Terumi Mei sighed and said, "It seems I really was too late back then."

Ye Lan didn't respond, waiting for Terumi Mei's decision, wondering if she would tell him what had happened in Kirigakure.

"Ao." Mei Terumi looked tired as she called to her assistant. Ao quickly stood up and went to Mei Terumi's side to listen carefully. "Pass on my orders: no one is to come near this house. Everyone else, get out."

"Lady Terumi Mei, do you really want to..." As a very traditional ninja, Ao's thinking has always been rather old-fashioned. How could he talk about such a family scandal with outsiders?

"No need for further words, I have plans..." Ao's opinion had little effect, and seeing that she couldn't stop Terumi Mei, she led her people out of the room.

Seeing this, Asuma looked at Shikamaru, who was still sitting behind him, and told him to leave the room. In the end, only Yoru, Asuma, and Mei Terumi remained in the room.

"Now that everyone's gone, it's time to get down to business." Mei Terumi looked at the empty room and felt a sense of relief.

"I presume you two are familiar with the Village of the Bloody Mist?" Seeing the two nod, Mei Terumi was not surprised. As a Jonin, she would know about the internal situation of other countries. The Village of the Bloody Mist was, to some extent, famous throughout the ninja world.

"Actually, what you've heard about the Village of the Bloody Mist is far from the truth. Under the Fourth Hokage's rule, the village implemented the Village of the Bloody Mist policy, which not only fostered an elite system in training ninjas, forcing them to kill each other, but also sent even the elite Jonin to carry out various dangerous missions, where failure meant certain death."

Many of the village's high-ranking officials were dissatisfied with this policy and frequently clashed with the Fourth Mizukage, who ultimately killed them all.

Ye Lan had come to Wuyin to carry out intelligence gathering missions when he was ten years old, and he had some understanding of Terumi Mei's descriptions, but he did not reveal it. He did not want his previous mission to increase Terumi Mei's vigilance towards him.

"What hurt Kirigakure the most was that the ninjas of the bloodline clans were dissatisfied with the Fourth Hokage's actions and even joined forces to rebel, plunging the village into internal strife. At that time, Shimo was the Fourth Hokage's right-hand man, controlling most of Kirigakure's ANBU. With the Fourth Hokage being a perfect Jinchuriki, they quelled the rebellion with little effort."

The perfect Jinchūriki—Ye Lan finally remembered what he had overlooked. The Fourth Mizukage, being a Jinchūriki, was definitely one of Akatsuki's targets. As a former confidant of the Fourth Mizukage, Shuang probably knew more than he imagined. No wonder the other party went to great lengths to kill Shuang; it was all to eliminate any potential threat.

Mei Terumi continued without pausing, "Actually, I had some suspicions about the Fourth Hokage back then. I was somewhat acquainted with him before he became Mizukage, but after becoming Mizukage, he seemed like a completely different person, until one day Shimo found me and Ao..."

Mei Terumi paused for a moment, as if recalling the past, "I'm still a little surprised that he found us, and what he said startled Ao and me."

Mei Terumi looked at Yoru and Asuma with a hint of amusement and said, "You should be able to tell that one of Ao's eyes is the Byakugan he acquired on the battlefield. Shimo asked Ao to use the Byakugan's abilities to observe the Fourth Hokage."

"Both Ao and I found it hard to believe that the Fourth Hokage's confidant could say such a thing, until he told us..." Mei Terumi suddenly looked at Yoru with a strange look in her eyes.

"The Fourth Hokage was actually controlled by a man with Sharingan all along. The policies of the Blood Mist Village were not his own will at all. The reason why Kirigakure is in this state today is because of that man wearing the vortex mask." Mei Terumi gritted her teeth. The only person who could make her lose her composure like this was the mastermind behind it all.

Countless heroes of Kirigakure perished because of this calamity, and those bloodline clans left not a single seed for them. Now, there are no bloodline ninja left in Kirigakure.

“No, that’s not right.” Ye Lan frowned and looked up at Mei Terumi. “The Sharingan does have the ability to control tailed beasts, including the One-Tailed Beast, but the perfect Jinchuriki is an exception. That man’s Sharingan alone cannot do it.”

What Ye Lan was still concerned about was why the man wearing the vortex mask only showed one Sharingan eye, and even the Mangekyou Sharingan only showed a kind of intangibility ability, as if the other eye was completely unusable. Perhaps it was simply unusable, otherwise Ye Lan would definitely have seen a new Susanoo that day.

"I don't understand this ability either, but it's just the truth. If it weren't for the discovery by the Frost Ninja, Kirigakure would have continued to implement the Blood Mist Village's policy, and I wouldn't have become the Fifth Mizukage."

Mei Terumi didn't go into the details of that mission, and only briefly mentioned what happened afterward. She was more concerned about the information about Akatsuki.

If it weren't for the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha, there would only be two Uchiha left now. Mei Terumi wouldn't easily trust Konoha; she even wondered if Konoha might be behind the Fourth Hokage.

However, upon closer reflection, the Nine-Tails' rampage occurred in Konoha more than a decade ago, and the Uchiha clan was wiped out five or six years ago. At that time, Kirigakure was under the control of the Fourth Mizukage. If the Uchiha clan members of Konoha had controlled the Fourth Mizukage, then the Uchiha clan would never have been wiped out, and in extreme circumstances, they might have even fled to Kirigakure.

"It's too early to draw any conclusions, but one thing I'm certain of is that the man is a member of the Akatsuki, and the Akatsuki's goal is to capture the Tailed Beasts. The Fourth Mizukage is their target. Besides, Jonin Frost definitely knows something. This time, when we were attacked, they were after him."

"As for Shimojo no Utsunobu, I'm sorry..." Mei Terumi sighed helplessly. "After the incident, he didn't say much and became very silent. This time, I just wanted him to go and clear his head, but it turned out to be our last goodbye."

This is really troublesome. So, the only way to bring him back is through the Impure World Reincarnation? It seems that Ye Lan making the mistake of leaving Shuang's blood behind was the right decision.

"Actually, there's something I haven't mentioned, and I feel it's still quite important..." After learning that the purpose was to obtain the Tailed Beasts, Mei Terumi decided to reveal this information.

"The Fourth Hokage's death was somewhat sudden, so at the time we didn't have a good way to seal the Three-Tails. In a sense, the Three-Tails no longer existed. We could only wait three years for the Three-Tails to be resurrected."

As expected, Ye Lan suddenly realized. He had never understood why Akatsuki had suddenly disappeared. If he hadn't come to Kirigakure this time, he would never have seen them at all. They seemed to have vanished from the ninja world as well. The unexpected death of the Three-Tails forced the organization to wait another three years.

Even if we gather all the other tailed beasts now, we'll become the target of everyone's attacks. It's better to wait until the Three-Tails is resurrected before taking action. That way, we can collect all the tailed beasts before the other villages have a chance to react.

Don't think this is impossible. Each village keeps the matter of the Tailed Beasts strictly confidential. When their own village loses a Tailed Beast, they will never ask other villages for help. Instead, they will do their best to hide and solve the problem themselves.

Mei Terumi did this from the beginning; even after signing an alliance with Konoha, she wouldn't reveal such a thing. It was only through Ye Lan's exchange of Akatsuki's information that they learned of the Three-Tails' death.

"It seems they will go into hiding again." Hearing Ye Lan's words, Terumi Mei was not stupid. She knew that the other party's goal was the Three-Tails, and she would definitely not act rashly at this moment.

"So when the Three-Tails is about to be resurrected, that's when Akatsuki will act." Mei Terumi stroked her lips. At that time, no matter who tries to harm the Three-Tails, she wouldn't mind letting them taste the effects of Lava Release.

Chapter 72 Seven Kills

Ye Lan then chatted with Mei Terumi about information regarding the Akatsuki members. Each member was no ordinary person, and they also unexpectedly learned about Kisame Hoshigaki's whereabouts.

"This guy took the village's Samehada sword and disappeared without a trace. So he joined Akatsuki too." Mei Hoshigaki Terumi's face was full of displeasure when she mentioned Kisame Hoshigaki. Samehada, one of the seven ninja swords, has unique abilities. If the user is in sync with it, they can greatly enhance their strength. Also missing from the scene were the Executioner's Blade and the Lightning Blade.

Fortunately, the Thunder Blade has now returned, and the whereabouts of the Executioner's Blade have been revealed by Ye Lan. As long as the Samehada Blade is regained, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen can be re-established.

Ye Lan and Asuma also agreed with Mei Terumi that the two villages would share information about Akatsuki with Sunagakure, since it involved tailed beasts, a nuclear weapon, and they could not be careless.

After finalizing everything, Ye Lan and Asuma bid farewell to Mei Terumi. Once they returned to the village, their mission would be over, though they had paid the price with the lives of two Konoha ninja.

"Are we going back to the village soon?" Sasuke had almost recovered and was having dinner with Ye Lan at a restaurant in Kirigakure. Although it was a restaurant, there were not many customers, and the owner was not as enthusiastic as in Konoha. After that chaos, it was unknown how many years it would take for this village to recover.

"It'll probably take a few more days. Ino and the others haven't fully recovered from their injuries yet. Asuma, Shikamaru, and the others still need to discuss some details with the people from Kirigakure." Ye Lan frowned as he looked at the food on the table, which consisted mostly of fish and seafood. Eating this kind of food every day made him miss the food from Konoha.

"Um... I've made up my mind." For Sasuke, food is fine as long as it's not too bad and can fill his stomach; he's not picky about food except for sweets.

"I want to cultivate the kind of natural energy you mentioned."

Ye Lan picked up a glass of water and drank it all in one gulp. Then, looking at Sasuke's calm expression, he was somewhat satisfied. Although he didn't say it outright, he still wanted Sasuke to learn this power, at least to reduce the side effects of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Then come with me." Ye Lan put down her cup, turned and left the restaurant. Sasuke followed her.

Ye Lan arrived outside Kirigakure. The Kirigakure ninjas did not stop or question him, presumably because Mei Terumi had greeted him. Not long after, Ye Lan stopped in an open space.

Ye Lan turned around, pulled out a scroll from somewhere, and handed it directly to Sasuke. Sasuke took it with some confusion and asked a question.

"Is this a cultivation scroll?"

"No, this is a summoning scroll from the Swift Falcon clan. I made it myself. I'm the only summoner in their clan right now. Now, add your name to it." To cultivate natural energy, one must first have a summoning beast that has also trained alongside them to look after them. Once Sasuke makes this choice, he will hand the summoning scroll to Sasuke.

"Thunder Falcon? The same kind of big bird as last time?" Sasuke's eyes lit up. Such a summoning beast was hard to come by; there were only a handful of people in the ninja world who possessed one. And today, Ye Lan had been entrusted to him.

"Don't be too happy yet. Even if you drain all your chakra, you still won't be able to summon Po Jun. Right now, the only things you can summon are other Swift Thunder Birds. But it should be enough to help you train your natural abilities." Ye Lan poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

Furthermore, spirit beasts also have their own temperaments. Even if they summon a spirit beast to help someone they don't approve of, it doesn't necessarily mean it will.

Sasuke didn't care too much. Even if he couldn't do it now, it didn't mean he couldn't do it in the future. As long as he signed the contract, he would have an extra trump card in the future. He directly opened the scroll and signed his name.

"Alright, try summoning whatever you can. Don't hold back, use as much chakra as you have." After Sasuke signed his name and pressed his handprint, Ye Lan put away the scroll. This kind of thing must be kept safe; it might become a family heirloom in the future.

"Summoning Jutsu." Sasuke had seen the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu many times, and with his Sharingan, he had already copied them. However, he hadn't been able to use them because he didn't have a suitable summoning beast. Now that he had signed the contract, he bit his finger and pressed it to the ground.