Chapter 94: I, Your Father, am not a Gift Horse

After sealing their agreement with a kiss and briefly discussing the matter of the Kazekage’s assassination, Mei called Ao back into her office. What awaited the 44-year-old Jonin when he stepped inside was the scene of Mei, now appearing much younger, sitting sideways atop Wu’s lap as she revealed, “I have accepted Wu-kun’s proposal. We still need to hammer out the finer details, but Kiri will work alongside Konoha and the remaining villages in the future. Also…”

With Mei looking at him, Wu tossed over a 20-year peach, adding, “Mei tells me you’ve been her advisor and protector for the past fifteen years. I imagine my sudden arrival has been a little…jarring. Even so, I hope you’ll accept that peach as a gift. Once you bite into it, it will revitalize the cells in your body and extend your life by twenty years.”

Hearing Wu’s claim, Ao felt a mix of emotions that included intrigue, fear, and suspicion. He had heard whispers about the peaches and, seeing the changes in Mei, deduced Wu was telling the truth. However, what would happen to his eye if he ate such a mysterious fruit…?

Before Ao could ask, Wu admitted, “I have absolutely no idea how it will affect your eye. As it is already connected to your optical nerve, it ‘should’ be nourished along with the rest of your body. If it isn’t and ends up being popped out, I’ll put it back in for you.”

Furrowing his brows, Ao asked, “What happened to plucking my eye out and giving it to your father-in-law as a gift?”

Dismissively waving his hand, Wu retorted, “Don’t fret over the small stuff. Also, the Hyuga Clan will be merging with the Senju in the next few years, so I’ll take care of it if anyone complains. Just do me a favor and don’t go showing it off in the middle of the Hyuga Clan Compound.”

“Hmmm…”

Staring down at the pink and white peach in his hands, the aroma tickling his senses, Ao asked, “Can you give me some time to make preparations and ingest this on my own? While I trust Lady Terumi’s judgment and will continue to support her, I have a similar duty to protect this Byakugan…”

Since it didn’t really matter to him, Wu replied, “Sure, do as you please. Just be careful, as the peach will wither and lose its effects if you breach its skin. A 20-year peach is, as could be expected, exceptionally precious. You won’t be getting another if you lose or damage that one.”

Nodding his head, Ao took out a scroll from his pocket, placed it on the ground, and then unfurled it to reveal a high-quality storage seal. After storing the peach safely within, he rose to his feet and asked, “Is this the only reason you called for me? If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave you two to your…discussion.”

Before Ao could turn around and leave, Mei revealed, “That’s why I called you in here. Wu-kun has agreed to take out the Mizukage for us. We need to begin preparing our forces to ensure a seamless transition. Lord Yagura may not be a popular ruler, but his death will cause considerable unrest…”

Piggybacking off Mei’s words, Wu added, “And don’t worry. I might be the one to defeat him, but the Mizukage’s fate will be left to the resistance to decide. I am still an outsider from the peoples’ point of view, so until Mei has secured her position and made our relationship known, I will keep my nose out of your business, at least when it can be avoided.”

Nodding in both approval and affirmation, Ao replied with a firm, “Leave it to me.” before turning around and vacating Mei’s office. He still had many apprehensions about the events that had transpired, but if they could put Kiri on the path to recovery, he would bear his discomfort in silence…

With Ao departing, the smile on Mei’s face became more prominent as she turned to Wu, linked her arms around his shoulders, and asked, “Now then…where were we?”

Moving his hand from Mei’s thigh to her lower abdomen, Wu replied, “I’m not too sure, but I have a good idea where things may lead. That is unless you would prefer to wait until ‘after’ I have defeated the Mizukage…?”

Though she really would prefer to wait, specifically until after they had been wed, Mei responded to Wu’s query with a deep kiss. The peaches he had bestowed her and Ao were more than deserving of some form of repayment, so she only hesitated for a moment before breaking the vow she had taken after her involuntary operation…

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Since it would cause problems if he just killed the Mizukage arbitrarily, Wu had to wait nearly three weeks for Mei to ready her forces. While she was doing that, he focused on gathering information in and around Kirigakure, even going so far as to sneak into the Mizukage’s office.

As rumored, Karatachi Yagura was a cold, seemingly emotionless despot that governed Kiri using fear and absolute power. What Wu found curious was that, despite being a ‘perfect’ Jinchuriki, Yagura wasn’t able to sense his presence. Instead, the fairly youthful Kage was almost like a machine, spending long periods just staring off into space when he wasn’t actively talking to someone.

Though rumors asserting that Yagura was being manipulated had been circulating from the moment he ascended to the position of Mizukage, Wu was confident that was the case after observing him. Even when he was giving orders or personally executing traitors, there were no fluctuations in Yagura’s emotions. Mei had also attested to the fact that Yagura was a reasonably kind and polite boy before suddenly becoming ruthless three months after his appointment as Mizukage.

Unfortunately for Yagura, Wu didn’t care about his circumstances. It didn’t change the fact that the young Jinchuriki had killed, at the very least, tens of thousands of his people. Even if he was under someone else influence, he was the Mizukage of Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist. He had a duty to protect his people, but because of his weakness, both his village and the Land of Water had been made to suffer.

To soothe the people’s desire for vengeance, Yagura ‘needed’ to be held accountable for his actions, regardless of whether they were compelled. Things might be different if they could capture the person responsible for controlling him. Unfortunately, even after conducting a comprehensive investigation, the only thing that Wu could conclude was that the person responsible ‘might’ belong to the organization known as the Akatsuki.

As Jiraiya had been investigating the Akatsuki for years, Wu was at least familiar with the mysterious organization comprised of S-Rank Missing-nin. There was even a defector from Konoha among their ranks, the man Sasuke so desperately wanted to kill, Uchiha Itachi.

Though he had failed to locate any members of the Akatsuki directly, Wu had heard ‘many’ people discussing them in hushed tones during his stay in the Land of Water. They were ‘known’ to operate out of Kirigakure, but Wu had found no traces of their members or any bases of operation. Mei had affirmed that members of the group had appeared in the region, but their appearances were intermittent and generally ended with most of the people involved being killed.

With nothing substantial to go on, Wu could only make assumptions. So, unless a member of the Akatsuki actually appeared, he didn’t care if they existed or what they were up to. If they got in his way, he would beat the shit out of them like everyone else. For now, his priority was dealing with Yagura and ensuring Mei’s ascent to the position of Mizukage. She would be the first among his women to attain the status of a Kage, so Wu had a vested interest in her success. After all, with one Kage as a wife, the girls he was currently grooming for the position would have more confidence in becoming one themselves…

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Though most men would shiver at the thought of her going down on them, especially with her ability to expel corrosive acid from her mouth, Wu was enjoying Mei’s ‘ministrations’ quite a bit. She had been lacking in experience, but she more than made up for it with her ‘tenacity.’ She was determined to be the ‘top’ in their little relationship, so she worked nearly as hard as Tsunade to defend her ‘pride’ as a woman.

Releasing Wu’s member with a loud ‘pop,’ Mei placed her cheek against it, affectionately stroking it as she teased, “I know I’ve said this before, but you’re a lot bigger here than your height would suggest…”

With his hands linked behind his head, Wu smiled and replied, “I’d rather be well endowed than needlessly tall. Besides, once they’re beaten down and unable to stand, most men are quite a bit shorter than me…”

Narrowing her eyes in amusement, Mei kissed the tip of Wu’s glans before rising to straddle him, her lower mouth gobbling up only three-quarters of his inordinately prominent member before it was pressing a little painfully against a spot most men could only dream of reaching.

Exhaling a prolonged, visibly steamy sigh, Mei’s single visible eye briefly lost its focus as she noted, “It almost feels like you’re pressing up against my diaphragm…”