Later in the next morning,

Izuna gives some instructions to Kimimaro before departing for the Terumi clan. ​​

He enters inside the Terumi clan mansion. Three people are bowing in front of Fuji Terumi.

Izuna inspects them and recognizes one of them.

'Wait… He looks like Utakata. If I remembered correctly… he is the Jinchuruki of Six-tails.'

Izuna inspects Utakata. He secretly activates his Sharingan to gauge Utakata's chakra.

Hmm…

'He is not a jinchuruki yet. Maybe he will become one in the future.'

Izuna walks over to Fuji Terumi. Fuji notices him and nods his head.

He introduces Izuna to the three shinobis beside him.

"So… the fourth member I mentioned has arrived."

Fuji points towards Izuna and introduces him.

"He is Yuito Yuki… a member of Yuki clan and ice release user. He was the one who saved Mei."

The three members scrutinize him for a second. They notice his girly appearance and lose their interest.

Izuna tilts his head in confusion at Fuji.

Fuji introduces the three of them to Izuna. He points at a spectacled middle-aged man.

"He is Harusame… one of my trusted comrades from the Second Ninja war."

Fuji points at another person with a bamboo hat.

"He is Zengetsu… another trusted subordinate of mine. Last but not the least…"

Fuji points at Utakata and introduces him.

"He is Utakata… a student of Harasume and a powerful shinobi himself. All of you will be the personal guard of Mei and secretly protect her during every mission while completing the mission. Her safety will be your priority."

All of them nod their head and bow in front of Fuji.

"You all should familiarize yourself to know more about each other's abilities."

Fuji dismisses them before returning inside the mansion.

Sigh…

'That girl is so reckless. As a father… I can't help but worry about her future. If only there was no political power struggle… then I would have found a worthy man for her and married her off… I want to see my grandchildren before my death.'

Cough… cough…

Fuji violently coughs for a minute. He wipes the blood from his mouth and enters a room.

Elder Genji is patiently waiting for him. Elder Genji raises his head and notices the taint of blood.

"Your condition is getting worse… I will call one of my medic-ninja now."

Elder Genji knocks his stick on the floor.

Swoosh…

An Anbu member immediately flickers in front of him.

"Summon Hira. Clan leader Fuji needs medical attention."

Swoosh…

The anbu member immediately flickers out from the room. Fuji turns to Elder Genji and reports.

"Elder Fuji… he surely has some skills to survive an assassin attempt from 'Night Reaper'… but I don't think the Noble clan will give in that easily."

Hmm…

Elder Genji nods his head.

"Now he is one of our men. We can't allow the noble clans to do as they please. Lady Mei's safety is our priority…"

Elder Genji looks at Fuji's conditions for a second before he continues.

"You should slowly train her to handle the responsibilities of the clan and the village."

Sigh…

Fuji rubs his forehead as he ponders.

--------------------------

Izuna scrutinizes the three people in front of him while they do also inspect him.

"I am Yuito Yuki." Izuna smiles at them while secretly inspecting their chakra.

Hmm…

'Utakata and Harasume have normal amounts of chakra. But this bamboo hat guy has way more chakra than a normal shinobi. Also… what's with that water bottle ties to his belt.'

The bamboo hat guy removes his hat and re-introduces himself.

"I am Zengetsu Hozuki… of the Hozuki clan."

Zengetsu has a tall and slender stature. He has blonde hairs styled into a pompadour. He has no eyebrows, a very thin mustache, and a triangular goatee.

Izuna notices the pompadour on Zengetsu's head and barely holds himself from laughing.

'He looks hilarious with that pompadour. Is that the reason why… he is wearing a bamboo hat?'

Zengetsu wears his hat again.

'Hmm… but to be from Hozuki clan. He must have some sort of relationship with the Second Mizukage.'

Out of his curiosity, he questions Zengetsu.

"Hozuki clan… one of the most powerful clans of Kirigakure. Even the Second Mizukage was one of the most powerful shinobi of Kirigakure."

Zengetsu nods his head as he reminisces.

"Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki was my Uncle and mentor. He was my idol, and it is my dream to become as powerful as him."

Zengetsu clenches his fists in resolution.

"So… do you want to become the next Mizukage?"

"No… I have no interest in Mizukage's position. I am not qualified enough to become a Mizukage."

Zengetsu shakes his head and denies it.

Izuna turns to the master-disciple pair. Utakata is staring at Harusame's every action like a devotee.

'This guy is fangirling his sensei.'

Harusame adjusts his spectacle with his index finger as he closely looks at Izuna's appearance. He then turns towards Utakata and assesses them with his eyes.

Shiver…

Izuna feels a shiver run down his spine.

'This pair of Master-student seems to have a quite complicated relationship.'

"So… you are an Ice Release user? It has been a while since I last saw someone with that cursed bloodline." Harusame remarks.

"Cursed Bloodline…?"

Izuna frowns as questions Harusame.

"What do you mean cursed bloodline?"

Haha…

Harusame chuckles before he replies.

"I don't want to scare you, kid… but there is a rumor spread across the village…"

Harusame pauses as he looks at Izuna's appearance.

"The male members of the Yuki clan are born with a womanly appearance because of their Ice Release Kekkei Genkai… and none of the male members survives till the age of thirty. Yes… thirty… no known male member of Yuki clan survived past that age… it was also the part of the reason why Yuki clan is on the verge of extinction."

Harusame turns towards Utakata and orders.

"Utakata… I have a task for you."

"Yes… sensei!"

Utakata silently follows Harusame. Zengetsu pats his head and walks away.

"See… you later, boy."

Izuna stares at the back of the bunch and muses.

'I guess I have some interesting days waiting ahead of me.'

He turns around the corner of the room to leave the mansion.

Bump…

He collides with someone and falls on them.

Squish… squish…

He feels a soft sensation in his hand.

'This feels good. It's a perfect size… it perfectly fits into my palms.'

Squish…

Unnghh…

Mei moans as she stares at Izuna in anger.

"If you had enough.. then would you mind standing up."

"I am sorry…"

Izuna immediately leaves his grasp and stands up.

"You have a perfect size." Izuna compliments her.

"Shut up… you pervert!" Mei blushes and immediately runs away from there.

Just now… she eavesdropped on the conversation between Elder Genji and her father. They were talking about her marriage. She bumped into Izuna while running away from the room.

'Marriage… it's still too soon for me. I have to ease some burdens of the father, then only I could think about marriage.'

The girly face of Yuito appears in her eyes.

'No… he is a pervert and also a member of the Yuki clan. I don't about the truth of the Yuki clan's curse, but I don't want to see my loved one die. Also… there is no redeeming feature in him… well… besides his face.'

Mei shakes her head and enters her room.

She takes out a picture of a woman from the closet. The woman has a similar appearance to her.

"Mother… father is trying his best to keep me happy… but I am already aware of his disease. He is trying very hard to hide it from me."

Drip… drip…

Tears fell from her eyes as she clutches the photo.

"I just want the father to live a bit longer."

Knock… knock…

"Mei… Mei…"

Fuji calls her name.

Mei immediately wipes her eyes and cleans her face.

"Come in… Dad."

Fuji enters the room and notices the picture of his wife in Mei's hand.

"So… you were spending some time with your mother. Uh…"

Mei nods her head.

"Hah… Sometimes… I also miss her. Her anniversary is coming soon… both of us will pay a visit to her grave together."

Sigh…

Fuji sighs as he continues.

"Mei… you need to take some of my responsibilities. Your father is growing old and may die someday. I need you to be capable to handle the matters of the clan and the village on your own."

"You are fine, dad… nothing will happen to you. Also… I am ready for the mission." Mei hugs Fuji.

"Ok… ok… now listen. The jinchuruki of the six-tails died mysteriously during the Third Great Ninja War. He was a close aide of Third Mizukage-sama and one member of our faction."

Mei nods her head as she listens to the explanation.

"Now… some of our men have spotted a large influx of chakra gathering at this lake."

Fuji marks a location on a map.

"We believe it to be the revival of the Six-tails. As you know, the greater the number of tails… a tailed-beast has… the more chakra it possesses. Six tails has a tremendous amount of chakra compared to the Three tails… so it took it so long to resurrect."

Fuji rolls the map and passes it to Mei.

"We believe in another month or so… the Six-tails will be fully resurrected. So, we want to capture it and reseal it as soon as possible. I have some qualms regarding the Noble clan on this matter. They are already in the possession of Three-tails… and they will try to lay their hands on Six-Tails too. I want you to oversee the process of the capture of Six-Tails with your team."

Fuji explains the entire situation to her and passes a scroll of all of her team members

"Yes… dad."

Mei nods her head and flips open the scroll to see the individuals in her team.

"Yuito Yuki."

Mei frowns as she notices the name of her team members.

'This pervert is also on this mission. Did he earned father's trust?'