In Naruto: Reborn with Talent

The Mizukage shrugged and continued in his pace. "The last thing I want to ask you about is the attack on Iwagakure." As he finished that sentence, silence fell on the room, all of them just waited for someone to start with impassive faces. The more the silence went on, the more disgruntled the Mizukage became as he was slowly understanding the duo, by being quiet, was saying they had nothing to do with it. But somehow that was hard for him to believe. The stunt was... flashy. Too flashy to not be the work of Rei and Konan. They usually make such a blizzard that it can count as terraforming or some unforgettable spectacle. A hidden village being invaded by small monkey imitations of the Third Hokage... yeah, that was EXACTLY what he would expect from them, hence his narrowed and suspicious gaze.

When the silence still didn't cease even after a while, Mizukage's eye twitched and he decided to start the conversation. "So you have really nothing to say about that?" He asked suspiciously but both Rei and Konan just wordlessly shook their head in the exact same motion. A motion that SCREAMED it was prepared beforehand. "Right." He commented dryly. "I heard the Tsuchikage got quite embarrassed..." He tried another tactic. "Something about... being made a clown of?" He inwardly hoped this would get a reaction but to his relief, it was exactly the same as after he asked about Amegakure. 'Thank God! At least my ninjas are sensible enough to not invade an enemy village and go two versus thousands by themselves! Not to say about publicly humiliating the most stubborn old geezer with the ability to hold grudges even beyond the grave itself!' He thought as his shoulders slumped in relaxation. 'I am sorry for doubting you! Now I can rest assured that my ninjas are not that suicidal!' He sniffed and resisted a joyful tear that made Rei kinda awkward. ​​

"Anyway," The Mizukage did a sudden turn in his mood. "what exactly was the scroll that stored the daughter of the noble? I am not aware that living things can be stored." His eyes narrowed at Rei. Hiding one's skills was natural for a ninja but there were exceptions. It was the village's law that any seal-maker had to register. The amount of people capable of creating even something as simple as explosive tags was alarmingly low so for the sake of enough supply during war-time, the registration was mandatory for them.

Rei inwardly frowned. He was aware of the law but didn't really care. 'Damn... Looks like from now on, I will have to order my clones to use henge when buying chakra ink.' He thought. While it was quite suspicious that the ink sales weren't managed by the village but after a bit of probing, he found out Kiri uses special octopuses to produce it and is one of the biggest sellers of chakra ink in the Elemental Nations so there is over-abundance of it. Nobody really cared for a thing they had a lot of.

He smiled disarmingly at the S-rank killer who earned his high ranking with his ability as an assassin. It was time to do some damage control so he beamingly answered. "It's ingenious, isn't it, Mizukage-sama!? Last time we," He gestured to Konan, "were in the capital, we found out that Biri-Biri company is selling those!" Rei inwardly chuckled at the sour look of the Kage as he said this.

Biri-Biri company. The Mizukage was aware of them. One of the more 'international' companies originating in the Land of Water. A company so perfect for covert operations in other lands... And yet, he was unable to make use of them which soured his mood every time he heard of them.

Rei knew the ninja in this world wasn't ONLY about the direct approach. No... they did plant spies in merchant companies and did various underhanded tactics through them. Even economic destabilization wasn't that far-fetched. Many skirmishes near the borders actually started because of those. And it was usually the companies that took the blame when it came to light. That's why not many 'international' ones actually existed in the world. There were caravans, there were trading companies but any production or innovation-oriented companies were usually focused on their own country to avoid these things. Hence, the big technological disparity of this world.

Rei surmised this will be the reason for the starvation of Suna later on as they would just have nobody to buy from despite actually having the money for buying. Once the Daimyo was against you, the merchants would not want to trade with you due to fear of attracting his ire... and just like that, the village was cut from their lifelines and food supply. For a village without many merchants and IN an infertile desert, that was a disaster.

To make his company avoid the fate of being forced away from the international scene due to some idiotic schemes of old senile men, Rei ordered the first big work was to 'introduce' the electronic appliances to various Daimyo's. That's why when the company entered the Mizukage's or any other Kage's ears, they were powerless as the company had 'protection' of the Daimyo. Rei wouldn't allow the company to fully enter a country in which they didn't have this proverbial shield. These old schemers were utterly unable to interfere with them. As time went on, the company became more and more important for various countries... bringing even more economical gains than entire hidden villages which made them even MORE untouchable by the Kages and invaluable to Daimyo's who usually cared mostly about their own pockets. By now, the company was an internationally acknowledged 'neutral' zone for the ninja world. That's why it was only now Rei wanted Karubo to push for becoming number one. They just had enough clout for it right now.

"Ugh... this... Biri-Biri company... is selling those?" The Mizukage scrunched his face in deep regret, not even attempting to hide it from Rei and Konan who barely held back smirks. Nobody was aware of their status as owners of the company and they knew why the man was so regretful. The company originated in his own country so him being unable to make them work for him... it was a deep cut in his own pride and it wouldn't be far from the truth to say he became a secret laughing stock of other Kages.

"Yes!" Rei beamed, gleeful at the expression of the man. "They have better storage seals with thrice the capacity of current seals of Kiri while being capable of storing and preserving even food!" He exclaimed, making the Mizukage's eyes go wide, only to pale a second later when he realized they were an 'international' company... Storing food was common but preserving it for a long time? Something like that was unheard of. The implications... Rei didn't care about Mizukage's internal struggle and continued. "Even their paper tags are cheaper but more effective than the standard ones!" He said. By now, he was basically giving a sales pitch without his target even knowing it. "I am sure the company will be an indispensable part of the next shinobi war..." Rei trailed off, his smirk widening as Mizukage's face plainly showed his shock. "Don't give me that look. It is obvious even now where the shinobi villages are heading. Ten years tops and we are in another war." Rei rolled his eyes at the sheepish leader in front of him.

It was subtle. But it was obvious once one started to look deeper into what was happening in the world. The villages were gearing up. Sure, they were gearing up even in peace-times since they were basically a militaristic force but right now, the recruitment and weaponry-making was in full swing. It started with Iwa and Kumo... but the others quickly caught onto them and also started doing it. Even without his foreknowledge, Rei knew it was coming. The death of the third Kazekage would be a trigger... but it was far from the real cause. Kumo and Iwa wanted revenge on Konoha. Suna wasn't yet in dispute with their Daimyo and wanted to get fertile lands for the Land of Wind. Konoha wanted to keep their wealth and pride of being the winner. And Kiri wanted to... whatever. Rei didn't really know what the Mizukage had in mind for the upcoming 'event' but he knew the man was basically preparing a stage for it. They were Kiri, so they would act like Kiri. Most likely some blitz attack of sorts. It was just so stupid. The Land of Water didn't need lands. They were an island nation and every island in its vicinity belonged to it. They didn't NEED to join the war on the mainland. Yet, Rei knew they would be joining and had no idea WHY.

But the Mizukage just stubbornly stared at Rei, letting him know this topic was not something he would open right now. Rei could only sigh in exasperation as the man wasn't really denying it but was utterly refusing to be forthcoming with information. Five years... That's how long it would take for the third war to take off. And Rei was already peeved he had to deal with that shitstorm right now.

'Looks like it's time to progress Mei's training and think about contingency plans.' He hummed to himself. "Well, since I am clever enough to see I am not gonna get anything out of you, are we excused?" Rei asked the man who nodded. He turned around, took Konan's hand, and was about to leave when he heard the last stern statement of 'his' Kage before he closed the door.

"Keep it to yourself. Some things are better to be kept secret."