Chapter 154: Terumi Mei's Reading Comprehension
Chapter 154: Terumi Mei's Reading Comprehension
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"Left, then right at the next intersection." Uchiha Douhuan's shadow clone strolled through this small town, while Tobi was giving directions to Uchiha Douhuan in his ear.
Soon, the disguised Uchiha Douhuan arrived at this rebel stronghold.
"Lord Douhuan, the countersign is: he says 'The water flows clear,' you reply 'Washes away stains'," Tobi whispered in his ear.
Under Tobi's guidance, Uchiha Douhuan very smoothly infiltrated the Kiri rebel stronghold.
"Captain Satake." After entering the underground stronghold, rebel members continuously and proactively greeted the disguised Uchiha Douhuan.
Uchiha Douhuan nodded to them sequentially, then asked, "Is the leader in?"
"The leader is in the office," a civilian staff member within the stronghold replied.
Uchiha Douhuan nodded, then found Terumi Mei's office within the stronghold and subsequently knocked on the main door.
"Come in," Terumi Mei's voice sounded from within the office.
After Uchiha Douhuan pushed the door and entered, he discovered that compared to their last meeting, Terumi Mei's pretty face now carried a thick layer of exhaustion, the dark circles under her eyes particularly prominent. Her desk, meanwhile, was densely covered with papers filled with text.
Uchiha Douhuan glanced sideways at the papers on the desk and found they were all about things he had done in Konoha. Below, in elegant handwriting, were Terumi Mei's own understandings of Uchiha Douhuan's methods.
In this brief glance, Uchiha Douhuan saw quite a bit. Some of this woman's speculations about his intentions were correct, some were wrong, and others simply belonged to the category of overthinking.
For example, when Uchiha Douhuan previously banqueted Shiranui Genma and the others from the Fourth Hokage's old guard, the menu used was the traditional menu from the Fourth Hokage's era. Terumi Mei felt Uchiha Douhuan's action was to evoke their nostalgia for the Fourth Hokage, thereby uniting them around his ally Kakashi. But honestly, if he hadn't seen this intelligence today, Uchiha Douhuan wouldn't even have known the menu that day had such significance.
Uchiha Douhuan inconspicuously shook his head. The current Terumi Mei was very much like a high school student obsessed with reading comprehension. But this woman probably hadn't yet realized that the business she was in was rebellion; following the book so dogmatically wouldn't get things done.
"Hmm? Jounin Satake?" Terumi Mei then looked up at the person Uchiha Douhuan was disguised as and asked, "Is there something you need?"
"Regarding matters, there's nothing particularly important. It's just that I plan to apply for more missions for our squad. We've been feeling a bit too idle lately," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Jounin Satake, I can understand your desire to contribute to the organization. However, our current scale of activity is already very large. If we increase the mission load further, Kirigakure will definitely notice," Terumi Mei stated.
Uchiha Douhuan's mouth twitched. *Sister, you've all been discovered long ago, okay? If I didn't want your Kirigakure to continue in chaos, you wouldn't even have had the chance to build this stronghold here.*
"I understand." Uchiha Douhuan nodded, then looked openly at the things on Terumi Mei's desk and asked, "Leader, what are you researching?"
"Hehe, researching our village's greatest enemy, Uchiha Douhuan," Terumi Mei said, gritting her silver teeth.
Uchiha Douhuan: ...
It seemed this disciple of his wasn't too friendly towards him.
"Jounin Satake, what is your opinion of Konoha's current Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Douhuan?" Terumi Mei suddenly asked at this point.
"Uchiha Douhuan?" The disguised Uchiha Douhuan put on an appearance of righteous indignation. "Naturally, I hate him to the bone! He killed so many of our comrades during the Third Great Ninja War! Even my childhood friends died at his hands! I only hate that my own strength is insufficient and I cannot kill him myself!"
Uchiha Douhuan easily portrayed the simmering resentment and helplessness of a middle-aged man burdened by a blood feud but unable to seek revenge due to lack of strength. This acting performance made Tobi, attached to him as a disguise, exclaim with admiration inwardly. *Truly worthy of Lord Douhuan! This acting is truly seamless!*
But Tobi didn't know that such acting skills, sought after but unattainable by some in his past life, were merely the most basic skills for a politician.
Sure enough, Terumi Mei saw Uchiha Douhuan so angry and was momentarily speechless. After a while, she finally offered some comfort: "Jounin Satake, I understand your feelings very well. As a ninja of Kirigakure, I also detest Uchiha Douhuan. However, I also feel that some of his methods are precisely what we urgently need to learn right now."
"During this period, I have gathered a lot of intelligence about him from the end of the Third Great Ninja War until he took office as Konoha's Fifth Hokage. For this, many of our spy comrades perished in Konoha. However, after looking at this intelligence, I have to admit, perhaps only by learning his methods can our Kirigakure emerge from its current predicament," Terumi Mei sighed deeply and said. "It's ridiculous, isn't it? We clearly want to make the village better, yet we have to learn the methods of our greatest enemy."
"No, Lord Leader, if this is for Kirigakure, then everything is worth it," Uchiha Douhuan said, feigning a moved expression.
"However, the deeper meaning behind many of Uchiha Douhuan's actions, I still haven't been able to understand," Terumi Mei said with a gratified smile, seeing that the person before her could understand her.
Uchiha Douhuan actually really wanted to say that most of his actions didn't actually have any deep meaning. If Terumi Mei continued to speculate like this, she wouldn't gain anything and would instead fall into the strange loop of the 'two jujube trees'.
"Uh, then Leader, what should we do now?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
"Our 'New Will of Water' slogan is already being sung throughout the Land of Water. Now, many people with lofty ideals who have realized the village has problems are willing to join us. I think it won't be long before, coupled with the survivors of ninja clans I've won over by studying Uchiha Douhuan's methods, we can soon fight our way back to Kirigakure with a clear banner and drive Yagura Karatachi from power," Terumi Mei said, her face full of hope.
Uchiha Douhuan: ...
Uchiha Douhuan sighed inwardly again and again. This woman, by analyzing intelligence and speculating on his intentions to learn his methods, could indeed only learn the superficialities.
Winning over commoners and survivors of ninja clans – was it important for the current Kiri rebel organization? Important, yes. But this woman hadn't realized the more crucial matter at all. Their most important problem now was to obtain a degree of legitimacy!
How could they directly raise a banner and oppose the Fourth Mizukage at this time? If Uchiha Douhuan were in Terumi Mei's position, the first thing he would do is declare within the Land of Water that the Fourth Mizukage Yagura Karatachi was being deceived by treacherous individuals, so the actions of these people with lofty ideals from the Land of Water were to 'Respect the Kage, Punish Traitors'. After all, both were rebellions, but 'cleansing the sovereign's side' and directly raising a banner to establish a new nation in rebellion were completely different in terms of legitimacy.
To be honest, now, as long as Uchiha Douhuan, controlling Yagura Karatachi, stepped forward and made a strong declaration, he could directly define this group's identity as a rebel army. At that time, no matter how loudly they shouted their slogans, it would be useless.
Before Uchiha Douhuan's coup, when he met Sarutobi Hiruzen, didn't he also have to bow formally?
What Terumi Mei and her group should be doing most right now is, on the contrary, to exonerate Yagura Karatachi from the Bloody Mist policy, then pin the blame for the Bloody Mist on some high-ranking official in Kirigakure whose backside wasn't clean. It was this person who deceived the Fourth Mizukage, thereby fully substantiating the legitimacy of 'cleansing the sovereign's side'. This way, no matter what Yagura Karatachi said, they could explain it by claiming the Mizukage was already controlled by treacherous ministers.
This way, when they truly drove Yagura Karatachi from power, the power in Kirigakure could also transition peacefully. This is also why Uchiha Douhuan pinned all the blame on Danzo.
However, Uchiha Douhuan wouldn't directly control Yagura Karatachi to step out and declare this group as rebels. What Uchiha Douhuan wanted was a Land of Water completely plunged into chaos. Directly defining this group as rebels would indeed increase the difficulty of their rebellion, but it wouldn't actually affect the outcome of the Fourth Mizukage stepping down in any way.
Given the current situation in Kirigakure, the people of Kirigakure had already been pushed to their limits by the Bloody Mist policy that Obito had come up with on a whim. Even without Terumi Mei, countless people who could no longer bear this policy would stand up and overthrow it. At that time, Kirigakure, after undergoing a baptism of blood, would反而 (fǎn'ér - on the contrary/instead) easily truly unite.
And this was what Uchiha Douhuan didn't want to see. Kirigakure's geographical advantage was too great; they had an entire sea as a natural barrier. Once they resolved their internal problems and another leader with even a modicum of brains appeared, if they truly grasped the essence of offshore balancing, then the Land of Fire, situated on the mainland and needing to directly face two and a half major powers (that half being the Land of Wind), would be under too much pressure.
Therefore, for Uchiha Douhuan, the Land of Water, naturally, the more chaotic the better. So, Uchiha Douhuan also didn't mind giving Terumi Mei a little guidance.
After all, Uchiha Douhuan's past life history had told him that compared to incompetent and mediocre leaders, the ones most likely to mess things up were those half-baked leaders who were like a half-empty bottle sloshing around.
"Excellent, Lord Leader! I believe we will definitely succeed! After you become the Fifth Mizukage, I believe the village will definitely emerge from the gloom of the past under your leadership," Uchiha Douhuan said excitedly.
"Satake, actually, who becomes the Fifth Mizukage isn't important. I only hope the village can become better," Terumi Mei said with a look of deep emotion.
Uchiha Douhuan: ...
Uchiha Douhuan was almost made to laugh by this woman.
Although this identity's predecessor wasn't in a particularly high position among the higher-ups of this rebel organization, merely a peripheral figure in the decision-making layer, a peripheral figure in the decision-making layer was still part of the decision-making layer! Your trusted subordinate! Everyone is doing a business with you that involves risking their necks, yet you say such things in front of your confidant, not daring to openly state your ambition to become the Fifth Mizukage. What, do you yourself not believe you can succeed?
Satake Masato's position, if converted to Konoha's Isshinkai, would probably be around the level of the current Jounin Squad Captain Nagai Seiichi. Back when Uchiha Douhuan met privately with the Isshinkai, he never shied away from his ambition to become the Fifth Hokage. As a leader, if you cannot constantly instill confidence in your subordinates, then morale will sooner or later dissipate. After all, everyone is engaged in a business with you that could cost them their heads.
In other words, only when the leader has a clear goal will the people below think about the specific benefits after success, and only then will they have the motivation to fight desperately.
Uchiha Douhuan secretly facepalmed. Initially, he thought that Terumi Mei, by studying his actions so carefully, would more or less learn something. He might need to put in some effort to lead her astray. But now it seemed he didn't need to deliberately guide her at all; he just needed to let this woman ponder blindly on her own, and then encourage her at critical moments, allowing her to fully utilize her subjective initiative, and the situation in the Land of Water would naturally develop in the direction he desired.
"Leader is righteous!" So, the disguised Uchiha Douhuan simply bowed and said.
"Jounin Satake, please don't say that," Terumi Mei stood up, helped Uchiha Douhuan up, and then said, "The future of the Land of Water and Kirigakure still needs our joint efforts!"
"Mm! I have always believed that under the leader's guidance, we will create a brand new future for the village," Uchiha Douhuan said meaningfully.
...
After Uchiha Douhuan left the stronghold, he returned to the small house from before. White Zetsu also detached from Uchiha Douhuan's shadow clone.
"How was it? Any gains?" Black Zetsu, seeing Uchiha Douhuan return, quickly asked.
"Gains were huge," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled. "Kirigakure has already found the Kage most suited for them."
"You mean that little girl Terumi Mei?" Black Zetsu asked, puzzled.
"Correct," Uchiha Douhuan said with a meaningful smile on his face.
"Then, what do we do next?" Black Zetsu asked curiously.
"Control Yagura Karatachi's side to increase the pressure. It's best to force those in Kirigakure who still have a bit of strength over to the rebel army's side," Uchiha Douhuan said frostily.
"Why?" Black Zetsu somewhat didn't understand Uchiha Douhuan's approach. Wasn't this aiding the enemy? One must know, he had invested considerable effort over the years to maintain Yagura Karatachi as a pawn.
"This current group of rebels, frankly speaking, is a huge bomb. The people joining it are the gunpowder for this bomb. And the fuse for this bomb is their half-baked leader. Since this bomb is going to explode sooner or later, for us, naturally, the more gunpowder, the better," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled.
(End of Chapter)
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