Kurenai looked at the two men beside her and shook her head as she said "I can't believe that you guys aren't worried about Yami as I am. We can't just leave him to his summoning animal and it is not like the animal is a toad or slime like the sanins who we trust. I don't remember anyone in the shinobi world having a bat as a summon."
Asuma held her hand and made her sit in front of her and said "Kurenai we are worried for Yami and I do agree that except Yami no one else has a bat as a summoning animal but at this point in time there was no option that Kakashi had. Lady Tsunade will also try to find out on her end."
Asuma convinced her for a few more minutes until both the genin teams came. Ino and the others asked many questions about the monster and Yami but the leaf jonins successfully deflected all the questions.
For the next two days, the entire hidden mist was extremely chaotic as things slowly started to settle down. Kakashi and the others weren't informed anything officially but they heard the civilians talking about a lot of things like the one who proclaimed himself to be the Mizukage, Moji was killed by one of the people he himself had brought to the village. The ones from the Mizukage faction who tried to go against the bloodline clan leaders were either killed or imprisioned at the moment.
Surprisingly, there was not much talk about Jiro and the stone shinobis that had taken part in the war. The bloodline clans had announced that the official summary of what all conspired for the past few days would be announced before the weekend.
Kakashi already had Hideki and the other spies leave the hidden mist. A letter explaining everything was already en route to Lady Tsunade. Since there was no one blocking the ocean between the hidden mist and the Land of fire, Kakashi knew that the letter would've reached Tsunade by now.
2 Days after the war finished, Santo and Chojuro came to invite them for dinner meeting the same night. Only the 3 jonins were invited to the meeting. Asuma understood that this must mean that the clan leaders want to decide on the story that they are going to tell the hidden mist.
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Terumi Mansion (8pm)
All the clan leaders were sitting at the round table along with the 3 leaf Jonins. The mood wasn't gloomy but it wasn't too celebratory as well. Outside the mansion, the civilians were celebrating the end of the rule of the Mizukage faction.
Mei, Santo, Kana, and the others were all standing to the side. It had been almost a minute but none of the bloodline clan leaders said anything and were just looking at each other. Yoshiro was also one of them. He had bandages on his forehead and shoulder. Other clan leaders also had some injuries but nothing too serious.
Seeing the awkward silence, Kakashi decided to break the ice "You guys look somewhat stressed...Don't tell me we have to fight another war."
Riko who was drinking wine almost choked on it "Cough, cough"
"We apologize for calling this meeting abruptly. You all have already done so much for our village and its people." Yoshiro said.
Asuma nodded and said "We know that we can't let everything that happened here to get out. We understand if you must change a little of the narrative."
A sigh of relief escaped everyone's mouth as they heard that. The tension in the atmosphere suddenly lowered quite a bit when Asuma said that.
"So what are you all planning to tell everyone?" Kakashi asked looking at the clan leaders.
"Firstly talking about the cultists then we will publicise their acts of kidnapping and killing that they have done in the past few weeks but we can't let the topic of those demon hearts leak out. The last thing we need is someone trying to replicate it or even try to find it in search of power." Yoshiro said.
Asuma nodded and said "I think that would be the right decision. We will also keep things quiet on our end and even try to find out their weakness or way to detect it."
"I am glad that you understand. As for Moji, we wanted his death to be done by our hands but Priest Ji beat us to it and shinobis have seen Moji die so there is no use thinking over it. Next would be Jiro...We know that he has done countless things but he is still backed by the hidden stone. Since he had stone shinobis with him, the hidden stone didn't deny their involvement and has requested fo Jiro and their shinobis to be sent back to the hidden stone alive." Yoshiro said and then looked at the old man who just nodded.
"We have decided to agree to their request but not without some compensation." Yoshiro said.
"Hmph...compensation...We should have killed them as we did with those cultists." Riko muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I guess Riko isn't too fond of the hidden stone." Kakashi said in a joking tone.
Asami put her hand on Riko's shoulder to calm him and said "For what Jiro has done, we should have killed him and hi shinobis but we can't afford to go head-on with the hidden stone. We are already weakened due to this war and can only rely on the compensation we get from them. One thing that we had to accept for this was never to mention Jiro and Priest Ji in the same sentence."
Kurenai didn't understand what she meant so she asked "Huh? what do you mean? Wasn't he who brought the cultist here in the first place?"
Asami nodded and said "Yes, but if word gets out that the stone shinobis didn't just interfere in another village's politics but also join hands with a cult, things could take a bad turn."
"So the entire cultist thing will be blamed onto Moji...which won't just let Jiro and his men go scott-free but also create hatred among the people of the hidden mist for the Mizukage faction cementing your hold more." Kakashi said. Everyone was shocked to hear the direct and precise conclusions that Kakashi that drawn.
"As expected from Kakashi of the Sharingan. You are right. To stabilize the village we will have to do it. We will also hide the fact that so many of hidden leaf's spies were in the hidden mist. We will only say that we requested help from the leaf and they provided us with it by first sending the genjutsu demon and then 3 seasoned Jonins." the old man said.
"So you have decided to reveal Yami's name as well?. Even though it will attract everyone's attention, it could be a good foundation for both our village's alliance." Kakashi said.
"But won't that put a target on Yami's back. I am sure that the hidden stone will try everything in its power to get Yami. After all, Yami has killed more stone shinobis than anyone in this war. He even destroyed their bases and stole supplies." Mei asked pulling everyone's attention toward herself.
Mei stepped back a little thinking that she had overstepped in the meeting but then Riko spoke in her support "I agree with Mei. The kid has done more in the entire war than all of us combined. If that happens, I am sure the Tsuchikage will put him in the bingo book. What would Yami say of us when he finds this out."
Kakashi chuckled as he heard that and said "No need to worry Miss Mei and clan leader Riko...This was bound to happen one day or another. We were all ready for it. As for what Yami would say..." Kakashi then looked around at everyone and said "Come at me."
"That kid is really something else...haha...I am glad that the hidden mist isn't his enemy. I hope you will let us know when you hear back from him. We all are genuinely worried for him. As for the monster, we haven't come to a decision yet. We would like your advice in this matter." Yoshiro said.
Kakashi and Asuma looked at each other and whispered something. After a few seconds, Asuma said "I would like you to spread the word that the leaf jonins along with the bloodline clan leaders injured the monster and forced him to retreat."
"WHAT??" Riko said as he stood up. He had thought of many possible answers but this was none of them.
Yoshiro was confused by this and asked "Can I ask you why?"
"The monster used his last remaining chakra to blow itself up so there is no evidence that he was killed on the battlefield. On the other hand, if word is spread that Yami killed him then he would not only attract the hidden stone's but the hidden cloud's attention as well. They have suffered from the monster and the only reason they have been at bay this whole war is that they are busy investigating." Asuma said.
Asami nodded and said "So you want to keep the monster threat looming over their head and also keep Yami's true power a secret?"
"Yes...Although I doubt anyone would believe that a 10 yr old dealt with the monster." Kakashi said as he smiled at Asami.
(Things have settled down and we have our chapters as teenage Yami on my Patreon along with a few new skills he is picking up. Do subscribe to my Patreon to know more.)
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