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Outside Terumi Clan Estate. (20 mins ago)
Mei along with Santo and Kana were standing outside the Terumi clan's main gate. Yoshiro had already given plenty of instructions to them. He had also asked Enko and Elder Wu to accompany them in case the situation turns hostile.
"We still have 40 mins until the meeting time given by the genjutsu demon. I am nervous and excited at the same time." Santo said. He normally behaved very calmly and maturely but the genjutsu demon had really made Santo curious as to what kind of a man he is. Santo also wanted to thank the genjutsu demon for saving him and his siblings that day on the boat.
"Hold your horses, Santo...Elder Wu and Enko are yet to come. I am sure the two clan leaders Lady Asami and Lord Riko will also arrive soon." Mei said.
"What about the leaf shinobis and the spy Hideki? He is the actual person who got the invitation." Kana pointed out to which Mei nodded and said "The leaf shinobis are already ready. I told them to stay inside the clan until every one of us has gathered. I don't want anyone from the outside to know who they are. I even gave them a few mist shinobi clothes so that they can disguise as our shinobis until we reach the meeting place."
"I see you all are ready to meet the Genjutsu demon." Clan leader Asami said as she walked toward the group. Clan leader Riko was also walking beside her and there were 4 shinobis behind them. Kana and Santo guessed they must be both the clan leader's guards who follow them whenever they leave the bloodline clan territory.
Mei and the Terumi siblings bowed to the two clan leaders. Even though Mei was the same age as the two of them, she had to show them proper respect as they both were clan leaders.
Riko chuckled and said "Asami we are going to a meeting. Why did you dress up so lavishly as if you are going to meet your boyfriend or something...haha"
Mei and the others could not refute the claim that Riko had just made because he was somewhat right. Asami had really outdone herself in terms of makeup and clothes. She didn't dress up like a shinobi but like a clan leader dressed for a party
"Lady Asami you are looking really gorgeous" Mei complimented.
Asami curled her hair with her finger and said "Thank you, Mei. I wish Riko also knew how to compliment a woman properly. But I don't think anything will go inside that barbarian head of his."
"Hey..who are you calling a barbarian? I just said that we are going to meet someone who has killed hundreds of people in the past 2 weeks and you dress up like you are going to a wedding." Riko said. He had come prepared. He was wearing his jacket and utility belt.
"It seems we were the last to arrive." Elder Wu exited the Terumi clan gate.
"Where is Enko?" Santo asked.
"He has gone to inform the leaf shinobis of our departure. I was told that they were ready and should be informed when we are leaving." Elder Wu said to which Mei nodded and said "Yes..to keep their presence in the hidden mist a secret, it was a decision made by me. Now that we are all here...we can leave as soon as they come."
The group talked for a minute or two and then the gate of the Terumi clan opened again with the leaf jonins along with Hideki coming out.
"On behalf of my father and the other clan leaders I would like to thank you all that you are letting us tag along to the meet." Mei said and both the clan leaders also thank them personally to which Asuma smiled and said "This is the least we could do after the hospitality we have received from all of you and for handing over Hideki and the twins to us."
Both sides knew that the leaf shinobis were allowing this only to build trust between them. When they were asked whether they can come to the meet or not, the leaf shinobis didn't have the option to say no. Asuma, Kurenai, and Hideki still didn't know what to expect when they reached the meeting while Kakashi had some assumptions as to why Yami had taken such a public approach to delivering the letter.
Mei raised her eyebrows and asked "The twins aren't coming?"
Kurenai shook her head and said "No...we had them stay back to keep an eye on the kids. They are the curious type so we didn't want them to roam around freely."
"Kids will act their age even if they become shinobi and it is good that they have the chance to explore. In our village, under the 4th Mizukage's rule, it was hell for everyone." Asami said making somewhat of a sad face.
"That's about to change now because very soon we will defeat the Mizukage faction and turn the blood mist back to the hidden mist." Riko said while puffing his chest out proudly.
The group then left the Terumi estate and traveled through some less-known pathways to reach at the top of the mountain.
"How far are we?" Kakashi asked Hideki who was walking beside him. Kakashi and Hideki had talked for almost an hour privately and Asuma, and Kurenai had no idea what it was about. They guessed that Tsunade must have given Kakashi an additional objective which was a common thing since Kakashi used to be Anbu.
"The meeting place is just at the foot of the moutain." Hideki said.
"Why didn't we just go around the mountain? We climbed up the mountain for 15 minutes." Asuma asked to which Hideki replied "That's because there is a swamp on both sides of the mountain and this mountain along with the coast doesn't give any advantage to others so no faction makes any effort to make this place livable"
Santo who was hearing this conversation decided to intervene and said "There used to be a village around here but the Mizukage faction had massacred everyone here as they had a bloodline Kekkai genkai. After the slaughter, no villager has come here and even the merchants don't come around here. The river is rocky and unstable so even ships don't dock there."
"All in all the genjutsu demon choose a really cursed but remote place for the meeting. I wonder if he knows what this land represents." Mei said as she continued to walk.
As the whole group was walking down the mountain, midway they all stopped and became alert.
"Such a thick smell of blood. Its as if the river below has blood flowing in it rather than water." Asuma said.
"Is this because of the massacre?" Kurenai asked as she had just heard the story of the massacre.
Elder Wu shook his head and said "No...the factions make sure that no one has taken claim over the mountain or the coast. And the bloodline clans had cleaned up everything after the massacre."
Kakashi pulled out his kunai and said "This is fresh blood. We need to go down asap." Kakashi was about to run down but he suddenly looked to the side and said "Come out." He was wearing Mist shinobi clothes but he had kept one of his eyes still hidden and his silver hair.
A few people walked out from the thick jungle but they didn't look like they were going to attack. They were dressed as civilians of different parts of the hidden mist but everyone could see that they were shinobis.
"Shiro? It's you guys...what are you all doing here?" Hideki asked but then he remembered that the letter mentioned the other spies as well.
"Did you all also get the letter?" Hideki asked.
The people in front of him were the other spies that were planted in the hidden mist. But now seeing that Hideki called one of them by his real name, they all got confused.
"Don't worry...the mist shinobis and the clan leaders know who I am and who we all are. My identity was exposed a week ago and Lady Hokage sent shinobis to bail me out of the situation." Hideki said. He then went to the group and started explaining some of the things that happened.
"You guys really had that many spies in our village." Enko said in a stupor but then he realized that he had said it out loud.
Asuma cleared his throat and said "I am sure my father didn't have any intention of interfering or doing anything inside the hidden mist as long as it doesn't harm the hidden leaf."Everyone nodded as they knew this was the diplomatic answer.
"So why are you guys waiting here for?" Asuma asked Shiro.
Shiro pointed in the direction of the coast and said "Firstly because of the thick smell of blood. We weren't sure if we should go or not and then decided to wait for the remaining 4"
"4? Hideki and the twins make 3. Whose the 4th one? And where is he?" Mei asked.
"The 4th one is down there and he looks covered in blood and wounds right now." Kakashi's voice attracted everyone's attention. They saw that he had straightened his headband and activated his Sharingan.