Terumi Mei waved her hand with a smile and said, "You don't need to worry about money. If necessary, even if Kirigakure has to enter a wartime alert state, we will fully support the upgrade path of our village's players."
Most ninja, even the Daimyo of the Land of Water, when they saw her, their first reaction was to be stunned by her breathtaking beauty and voluptuous figure.
But only the few who had experienced the coup and chose to follow Terumi Mei knew the truth:
This mature, beautiful, and powerful kunoichi standing before them was the hero who overthrew the Blood Mist regime. She was the long-awaited leader born to lead Kirigakure to greatness.
The renewed state of Kirigakure was inseparable from Terumi Mei's policies and political skill:
Suppressing the old guard, supporting the new generation of ninja, bridging the gap between civilian and clan shinobi, and even magnanimously pardoning the rogue ninjas who had attempted to assassinate the Mizukage, calling all missing-nin back home.
Chōjūrō looked at her with admiration but also with concern.
He knew Lady Terumi Mei's wish was to find a suitable husband and settle down quickly.
But the stronger a kunoichi is, the harder it is for her to marry...
Of course, that was not something he dared say aloud. If he did, he'd surely be "disciplined" by Terumi Mei's gentle smile.
"Lady Mizukage, I have a plan that could help us break into the inner castle."
A civilian player respectfully addressed Terumi Mei.
Now, within the ruins of the castle, the most powerful force was the group of over two hundred players gathered under Terumi Mei after she demonstrated her strength.
They were the main force attacking the Ghost General.
On the other side was a group of over a hundred players assembled by Mabui, the advisor from Kumogakure and secretary to the Raikage, using various methods.
As a village known for its battle-hardened warriors, Kumogakure, led by the combative Raikage, fully supported the Reincarnation Game and was willing to invest heavily.
Though Mabui didn't possess Terumi Mei's terrifying strength, she was willing to share resources and offered potions to players who joined the Kumogakure Alliance.
As for Konohagakure, the strongest village in the ninja world...
Without the Hokage's support, Asuma, even though he gained a large sum by giving up his assets, was backstabbed by the devious Danzō, who restricted the use of reward points. He could only use them on players officially registered in Konoha, meaning he couldn't recruit new forces.
This left the strongest ninja village in a tough position within the game.
Terumi Mei revealed a curious expression and asked, "What kind of plan?"
After interacting with civilians in the Reincarnation Game, she had realized they weren't as ignorant as people assumed. On the contrary, they were full of creativity, just constrained by their environment, unable to express it.
The civilian player quietly sent her a private message, revealing the entire plan…
Terumi Mei's expression turned strange. "Will that really work?" she asked.
The civilian player knelt on one knee, imitating a ninja, and replied, "I am willing to give it a try."
Terumi Mei nodded. "Alright. If the plan succeeds, I will send ninja to bring you and your family to Kirigakure. If your child has the aptitude to become a ninja, I will assign a jōnin from the village to train them."
"Thank you, Lady Mizukage!"
The civilian player, full of excitement, began preparations according to the plan and quickly charged toward the inner ruins of the castle.
Half a day later
He knelt respectfully before a Ghost Squad Leader and shouted loudly, "I am willing to surrender to Lord Ghost General! I've had enough of those damn humans' oppression. I have decided to forsake the light and embrace the darkness!"
The Ghost Squad Leader, towering nearly two meters tall, looked down at the kneeling man and nodded repeatedly. "Very well. Tell me everything you know about these humans who dare disturb the Ghost General's slumber. I, Glava, will accept your surrender."
Unlike regular ghosts, the squad leader possessed intelligence.
During their campaign to corrupt the world alongside the Ghost General, they had encountered traitorous humans before. So although he wasn't fully convinced, he was willing to give this human a chance.
A gray-black Ghost Seed was shoved into the civilian player's chest by the squad leader, fusing with his body.
The ghost's expression turned ferocious as he growled, "Now come with me to see the General. If you dare play any tricks, I can detonate the Ghost Seed at any time, there won't even be a corpse left."
"I pledge my undying loyalty to Lord Ghost General!"
The civilian player roared with all his might.
The squad leader nodded in satisfaction and led him through the internal defenses, past swarms of ghost soldiers, to the Ghost General's lair.
At that moment
The civilian player, who had kept his head down and remained silent the entire way, suddenly opened his inventory and hurled a teleportation scroll.
The Ghost Squad Leader reacted instantly, roaring, "Damn human! You dare trick me?!"
BOOM.
The Ghost Seed detonated.
Ghost flames engulfed the civilian player, instantly reducing his health bar to zero.
"Hahahahaha! I'm a forward scout of the Kirigakure Alliance! My mission was to breach your defenses, and now it's complete!"
The teleportation scroll glowed brightly within the castle ruins.
The ghost squad leader, sensing something was wrong, rushed to stop the teleportation, but was intercepted by twin blades.
"Chōjūrō, entering the fray!"
Chōjūrō gripped his twin swords tightly and, with sheer strength, slammed into the Ghost Squad Leader.
Behind him, five elite players, including Terumi Mei, attacked simultaneously, turning the squad leader to ashes in an instant.
This was a decapitation tactic.
Using the civilian player as bait to break through the ghost army's defenses, then circling behind to kill the Ghost General in one decisive strike.
If successful, the castle ruins would be completely conquered.
Behind the screen
A white-haired loli stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked. She never expected such a cunning, underhanded tactic.
Previously, world consciousnesses fighting against sources of corruption would always search for powerful hero-type characters, resilient, brave, and charging head-on. They never imagined these overlooked civilians would outperform those "heroic" chosen ones.
Though a bit dirty, it was undeniably effective.
To the white-haired girl, it was as if a new world had opened before her. The tuft of hair on her head bounced excitedly.
"Lady Mizukage, should we charge in now?"
Chōjūrō, eager for action, gripped his short blades tightly, itching to fight.
Terumi Mei shook her head. "Stick to the original plan. Set up traps around the area, then lure the Ghost General over. We'll fight him after we've weakened him as much as possible."
Chōjūrō watched as trap items were exchanged and deployed, wincing. "The trap tools in the game shop are so expensive. If we could raise a player to specialize in trap-related life skills, that would be ideal."
"I'll consider it. Let's deal with the current problem first, then bring it up in the council after the game."
Terumi Mei was still hesitant. She had submitted the prices of various materials and the resource consumption rates of life skills to the finance department for analysis.
The conclusion: to max out a single life skill (Level 10), a life-skill player would need at least 2 billion in resources.
And the annual funding from the Daimyō to Kirigakure was barely 20 billion.
A full tenth of their annual budget.
The cost was staggering, which is why the proposal was still under debate.