Hatake Satoru left Hozuki Mangetsu near the Mizukage building. Genji and Ao would probably have to come down and give some sort of speech soon.
What happened just now should've been enough to give everyone a clear message.
They shouldn't be causing any trouble during the Mizukage selection now. Satoru didn't feel like wasting more time there.
So many people had tried to become Mizukage, it was like a field of grass that never stopped growing.
"Is that kid really that strong?"
Shisui understood now. Even though the Kaguya clan had caused Hatake Satoru a lot of trouble, he was still calmly bringing in a child.
Most likely, that kid was strong enough to catch his attention.
"Oh, well, something like that."
"After all, he was also locked up like a living weapon."
Hatake Satoru rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking at the messy remains of the Kaguya clan's territory not far away.
Right in the middle of their land were two deep holes, as if someone had drilled through the ground with giant drills.
From a distance, the holes looked like a pair of dark, empty eyes.
"You're looking for that Kimimaro?"
As soon as he heard that description, Shisui realized who he meant.
During the big fight earlier, whenever the Kaguya clan started losing, they'd all start yelling for Kimimaro.
It made him sound like some kind of tool they only brought out when needed.
But from beginning to end, Shisui hadn't really noticed where that guy was.
"Yeah, he's about the right age to start school now, isn't he~?"
"Learning the basics is important too. Without any education, a living weapon will just end up as another Kaguya-style idiot."
Hatake Satoru pointed with a finger and laughed cheerfully.
There were so many ridiculous things in that sentence, Shisui didn't even know where to begin. He choked a bit and shook his head helplessly.
"Still, they're human weapons, not disposable tools..."
"Not for long. I already told Mangetsu to start sorting out the missions that look like death traps."
"Just send them out right away~"
Hatake Satoru answered without hesitation. Of course he had already planned for this.
He even had Hozuki Mangetsu deal with the problem right after taking over as Mizukage.
Sending out these reckless people could help build up the new Mizukage's reputation.
It would also help settle some of the inner conflicts.
After all, Genshin still hadn't let go of his obsession with the Kaguya clan—might as well shut that down for good.
"You really don't waste time. First thing you do is have him give the order."
Normally, whether it's the Mizukage or the Hokage, things don't get decided by one person alone.
There are always elders and other high-ups helping discuss things. Even though they're village leaders, they can't decide everything by themselves.
But Hatake Satoru completely flipped that system—he basically got rid of the elders entirely.
Genshin went from being a village elder to more like an assistant or secretary.
The Mizukage's position suddenly became a full-on one-man rule.
Or maybe a two-man rule shared between Hozuki Mangetsu and Hatake Satoru—either way, the student and teacher were practically one unit.
"When there are too many people with the same level of power, yeah, maybe you get more opinions."
"But I hate making decisions with too many people involved. It's just annoying."
"I'm not Sarutobi Hiruzen. I don't need a crowd of people to approve or reject everything I do."
Hatake Satoru curled his lip and made a face at Shisui.
He was clearly throwing shade at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had let Danzo handle Shisui's situation without question, along with his own father's matters.
Then the two of them looked ahead at the ruined land of the Kaguya clan.
After the battle, Hatake Satoru had blasted out two huge craters, each seven or eight meters deep.
Just filling those holes would take longer than the time it took to ship the Kaguya clan away.
There weren't many of them left. Some were fixing up houses, others were trying to fill the holes.
But since everyone was busy, no one even noticed Hatake Satoru and Shisui walking right in.
As they made their way into the clan's land, the two looked around curiously.
"…There are so few people, it should be easy to find him."
Shisui looked around. All he saw were big grown men—he didn't spot a single person shorter than 1.5 meters.
The Kaguya clan was already this small in number. Shouldn't Kimimaro be out here helping too?
"Weapons that are used get put back where they came from. He's definitely not out here—he's still locked up."
"Wanna make a bet? Loser buys lunch."
Hatake Satoru grinned at Shisui and confidently held out his hand.
"Bet with you? Please. The moment you said that, I knew you already found him."
Shisui laughed, slapped away Satoru's hand, and pushed him to the side.
"Eh—can't believe you figured it out! But yeah, I did find him."
Hatake Satoru had found the spot behind the Kaguya clan leader's house, near the mountains.
Together, he and Shisui each grabbed one side and lifted a hidden door that blended almost perfectly into the grass.
A strong damp smell rose up from below, mixed with something strange and musty that tickled their noses.
They both jumped down through the hidden door. On both sides of the underground tunnel were spare candles.
Further in, a half-burned candle flickered on the stone wall.
Hatake Satoru and Shisui looked at each other, then walked deeper without taking the candles.
The closer they got to the candle, the clearer the sound of something sharp scraping against the wall became.
Someone was carving hard into the stone—metal clinking sounds echoed through the whole underground chamber.
They were so loud, they nearly covered up Satoru and Shisui's footsteps.
"It wasn't even my fault. Why did they lock me up again?"
"I thought I was allowed outside now?"
A childish voice muttered in the darkness, full of complaints—and a bit of hurt too.
To be honest, in a place this dark, hearing that kind of voice made it feel like a horror movie sound effect.
As soon as Hatake Satoru and Shisui stood in front of the cell, the carving and muttering suddenly stopped.
The whole basement fell into dead silence.
Although the cage was covered with sealing tags and other stuff, a big padlock was clearly hanging on the door.
Hatake Satoru couldn't tell if this thing was actually sealing Kimimaro or just locking him in.
Shisui picked up a few messy sealing tags to take a look, then flipped through some of the nearby ones.
"This place really was sealed before, but it's not working anymore."
"Probably broke when they let him out last time."
Just as Shisui reached into his pocket to get some wire to pick the lock—
A pair of pale green eyes suddenly leapt out of the darkness, staring hard at both of them.
"Who are you?!"
"Ahhh!!!"
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