Author's Note: Thanks for the supportive words, I'm caught up with nearly everything in IRL now. My dog lived for about 13 years, which is 3 years longer than the life expectancy for his breed. He was well-trained, was a lovable family dog, and extremely gentle with kids such as my sister's daughter. I'll miss him dearly, and might bury his ashes sometime.

On the bright side, I bought the new Overlord video game on the Switch! Escape from Nazarick! It's a fun game, though I wish it didn't crash at odd times. And season 4 began! And a Spanish reader made an audiobook youtube video of my story's early chapters!? Is this good karma for the bad stuff back in June!?

Gosh, politics is hard to write, no wonder strategy games tend to keep diplomacy with other civilizations so simple. I can only hope I did it decent enough.

Here's the Q&A:

Can a Byakugan user see through Ainz?

It's a tricky thing, let's just say there is a consequence to looking at Ainz with the Byakugan but not as severely as it would be if it was truly a divination spell. Look back a few chapters to see Hinata's accidental attempt.

Wouldn't Sasori be classified as a Lich?

By technicality, yes. Though he is already long dead by this point in canon.

Consider giving Ainz Senjutsu due to the Ten-Tailed Jinchuuriki's abilities?

As stated in prior ANs, Ainz cannot have Senjutsu, he doesn't have chakra whatsoever. As for whether or not his magic can affect a Juubi Jinchuuriki is a tough question. As it's stated they are immune to ninjutsu using normal chakra, but Ainz uses spells that use mana, a different energy source. His spells may bypass this technicality or at least spells that use elements unknown to the Naruto universe such as Holy or Negative damage types.


The Overlord of Nadeshiko

Skewed Diplomacy Arc

Chapter 18

There were dozens of possible scenarios that ran through Suzuki Satoru's thoughts about the reason behind the vacancy of the meeting room besides themselves and the Mizukage with her bodyguards. Indeed, the businessman residing in a skeletal body was trying to figure out if they'd misunderstood something from the invitation or if Nadeshiko had caused some sort of problem for the Hidden Mist Village. But as he racked his head for answers, none appeared, and Suzuki Satoru decided to take a bold move.

So, Ainz Ooal Gown took a few steps forward and sat in the largest available seat across from the Mizukage.

This prompted Shizuka to follow, taking a seat beside him, her facial expression hidden behind a mask of professionalism that he knew all too well.

"It's an honor to meet you, Lady Mizukage," Shizuka spoke up in a greeting. "Allow us to formally introduce ourselves, I am Shizuka Gown, leader of Nadeshiko Village and this is my husband, Ainz Ooal Gown."

"An honor to make your acquaintance," Ainz said.

Introductions were an important first impression for any business, especially when each party sought to make an exchange with the other. This would be a battle of words for control of the conversation, where both would try to find holes in the other's dialogue to gain an advantage. In all honesty, it was something that Satoru was quite experienced at.

He was even in a position where he was most used to, the assistant to the senior position.

A small chuckle escaped from the Mizukage's lips, "No need to be so formal, it's been quite a long time since we've exchanged words, Shizuka," The woman spoke with a positive tone, but Ainz knew that she could afford too, after all, the Mizukage was in the position of power here. "Congratulations on the marriage," She finished.

"Very well, and thank you, Lady Mei," Shizuka kept the formality while also making it more casual than before, an excellent compromise. "Are we waiting for other leaders?" She questioned the rather empty state of the room.

"No, this is it," The Mizukage said, "There haven't been any other accepted invitations from other ninja villages within the Land of Water. Aside from the clans, who most discussed matters through communication letters or had arrived prior and discussed their concerns yesterday."

In simple words, none besides Nadeshiko had accepted the invitation, and clans tied to the Hidden Mist had conducted their business the day before. This left them in a circumstance with various advantages and disadvantages.

On one end, without other villages here, it was less likely Shizuka would face resistance to any proposals they sent forth. Usually, in such a meeting with various organizations, they would all try to one-up their competition, forcing the lead company to play a weighted game to satisfy multiple opponents while still maintaining their advantages, which would force Nadeshiko to compromise.

But on the flip side, the opposite was true, there would not be any other representatives to support Nadeshiko's proposals and Kirigakure held much higher swaying power with only them to deal with.

The best action at this was to either butter up the Mizukage for a risky advantage or flat out begin with the topic of the contract from the get-go and work it out from there.

Suzuki Satoru was familiar with both, though personally favored the latter at this current moment. Nadeshiko did not have anything to bribe the Hidden Mist Village with that they could afford to lose and Ainz would not give anything YGGDRASIL related to a rival organization.

Thankfully, the Mizukage seem to be on friendly terms with Shizuka; they could use that as an advantage.

Mmh, that didn't exactly sit well with Ainz, he discarded that thought.

"I see," Shizuka gave a short reply. "We've accepted the invitation but not in hopes of not re-establishing our prior relationship, but to make changes to our villages' contract in light of new times."

She reached into her clothing with her right hand, keeping her left casually on the table in a relaxed manner. As ninja, it is always a concern for hidden weapons, especially among individuals from different villages, this casual stance spoke in a silence of no ill intent.

A scroll was retrieved and placed on the table, Ainz could identify what this scroll was. After all, he and Shizuka had spent a night going over its contents.

The Mizukage's blue-haired bodyguard walked across and took the scroll before returning it and handing it over to his superior.

Lady Mei unsealed its contents and read through it.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as she took her time going through it.

Finally, she placed it down, looked toward Shizuka, and spoke.

"This seems to indicate that you want independence from the old contractual documents tied between Kirigakure and Nadeshiko," Mei clarified.

Shizuka didn't beat around the bush, "Yes, it is stifling Nadeshiko's growth. We need a financial increase in order to renovate our infrastructure to improve our civilian's quality of life. Only a portion of our village has access to electricity," She said.

A push using humanitarian reasons, instead of other effects that a change in the documents and contractual relationship would occur, is a staple negotiation tactic.

In response to the scroll, the Mizukage's blue-haired attendant brought forth a series of papers, which were given copies on both sides of the table. Ainz recognized them as the old contract details likely brought forth for easy reference.

"My concern is related to segment four of your altered terms," Lady Mei had discarded her familiarity, her kind tone gave away to a more professional mask. She continued, "The removal of restrictions placed on acceptance of clients above certain ranks."

Her concerned point happened to be the very segment that Ainz and Shizuka wanted to pass. Currently, Nadeshiko had to relay all A and S-Ranked missions from clients to Kirigakure. These missions were not only ranked by their danger and context but also by the payment amount to the village.

Shizuka replied, "My village needs the funds from those missions, we cannot continue to honor the contract created generations ago at this rate."

As previously examined, Nadeshiko relied primarily on mission payment, like a company accepting commissions for its primary business. There was money to be had there, but it was also erratic in its payment, and having the higher clients taken by a different corporation put financial pressure on Nadeshiko.

The other forms of revenue available to Nadeshiko simply couldn't compensate given the lack of available funds to improve or add the needed infrastructure in the first place. As most funds were fed back into the village to pay for its government facilities, village-related missions, or maintenance.

A upkeep that was increasing the more the village expanded.

Ainz decided to speak, "There is an attachment to segment four. In return for easing restrictions, Nadeshiko will sign a defense pact with Kirigakure."

It had taken Ainz some deep diving into the old contractual agreement, but he learned that there wasn't any stipulation that held Nadeshiko responsible for fighting in Kirigakure's wars. Although Nadeshiko had to defend the Land of Water, there was a legal technicality that separated the Land of Water's government from the Hidden Mist Village.

It was one of the bodyguards that spoke up, the one with the eyepatch, "Nadeshiko Village should already protect our borders, what benefit is there to this pact?"

Ainz corrected him, "Nadeshiko has no obligation to protect your borders, the contract stated its position to protect the Land of Water, not the Hidden Mist Village. If another village were to declare war on you, Nadeshiko had every legal right to remain neutral in the conflict."

Shizuka nodded, having discovered this alongside him.

"The Hidden Mist is the Water Daimyo's primary ninja village," Mei said. "An attack on us should mean an attack on the Land of Water regardless."

"With all due respect, that is incorrect," Shizuka spoke. "The Water Daimyos' and current had never declared on the other Lands. It was strictly between the ninja villages that the conflicts brewed. Honestly, Ainz pointed out to me that legally speaking it wouldn't be the Land of Water invading another country in the prior ninja wars, but rather Kirigakure. So even if it managed to conquer some of the Land of Fire, for example, it wouldn't make it considered part of the Land of Water."

Of course, what Ainz and Shizuka were doing was taking advantage of the legal loopholes. Such was the fact that although the Land of Water adopted Kirigakure as its main village did not mean it was unable to hire ninjas from other countries. The Hidden Mist Village was obligated to defend the Land of Water, yet the Land of Water's government was not obligated to return the favor.

Though it wasn't like they could in the first place; the Land of Water had no federal army to speak of outside of militia or local law enforcement. This is why it hired ninjas for a more militant approach to certain events.

The Mizukage took a moment in thought, likely mulling over the benefits and disadvantages of that segment. "Very well, let's move on to another segment," She spoke.

Ainz mentally cheered, that was the hardest segment to go through. Honestly, he expected more resistance, but wouldn't take for granted this victory.

"Thank you," Shizuka said, knowing full well that the Mizukage was giving away a revenue source. "Which segment do you have further questions with, Lady Mei?"

"In light of our recent agreement with the prior segment, there will need to be some alterations to the segment detailing the benefits Nadeshiko receives in return for Kirigakure's support if you would," She wrote something down then handed over the written paper from her side to the younger, blue-haired lad, who carried it over to them.

Shizuka took it and placed it in a position where she and Ainz could both read it.

It wasn't an unexpected response, since they lost revenue from mission payment there were likely going to some changes to rebalance the scale. While a defensive pact helped, it wasn't something economical.

Ainz looked at the paper.

Yeah, he could still barely understand all that was written there.

Honestly, the only reason he managed to help along with the initial document was due to Shizuka unwittingly had guided him along. He had only a rough idea of what he wanted to be accomplished, spoke his thoughts, and Shizuka looked at him like he had said something ingenious.

Shizuka spoke, "What sort of changes do you want to discuss?"

"Nothing," The Mizukage said.

"N-nothing?" Shizuka was confused.

Ainz panicked, did the Mizukage want to remove all the previous arrangements between the two villages?

Lady Mei clapped her hand, a smile adorned her face, "That's right, all of the previous arrangements shall remain the same. Outside of what we just discussed."

"… Huh?" Shizuka drew a blank.

The Overlord quickly decided to speak up, "You wish to keep them the same, yet, it should be clear that we haven't been receiving them all in full anyhow," It was time to take a bit of a risky swing, though what he said was correct.

Nadeshiko had not been receiving the promises in benefits that Kirigakure stated in the kunoichi village's founding. On Ainz's arrival, he discovered that education was heavily outdated, food production barely making means ends, village development had slowed, public services were barely able to keep up with the population, and lacking in proper infrastructure for resource exploitation or civilian improvement; not to mention other issues.

Now, that's not to say that those problems were Kirigakure's fault, but it was stipulated in the contract that the Hidden Mist Village was supposed to help provide means to prevent those issues.

In fact, the out-of-date by three years Bingo Book in Ainz's Inventory was just one of many examples of what Kirigakure was supposed to keep updated for Nadeshiko. The fact that a possible rogue ninja, a criminal element, could waltz into the village with Nadeshiko being none the wiser due to outdated info was a gaping hole in their security.

"True, Kirigakire has not upheld its part of the contract earlier," Lady Mei stated. "Which is the reason I wish to keep these the same, instead of changing the weighted balances."

"Mhm," Ainz thought about it for a moment, it was a beneficial deal, but he wanted to see if he could pressure it a bit. "Recent events have caused a bit of a potential food crisis, I would like Kirigakure to help with this."

"Care to explain?" The Mizukage inquired. "It is due to foreign villages or some other third party?"

Does she know? Did they catch on that it was Ainz's fault? He didn't know the [Death Knight] would stay so long! He should've expected higher-lever ninja would be able to spy more accurately!

His emotions were calmed considerably by a suppressive sensation.

No, don't make such jumps in logic, there hadn't been any indication to imply those.

"Third-party, presumably rogue ninja, the Snake Sannin," Ainz answered, using the rogue ninja as a solid excuse to cover up his own misgivings. "We have dealt with the problem for now but had refugees enter our population due to a rice and fishing village being destroyed. In short, a village that aided in food production was eliminated."

"Mh, I see…" She looked thoughtful. "Then how about a dowry gift of foodstuffs delivered?"

Ainz could see what she was trying to do by presenting it as a gift instead of an inter-village trade, and in all honesty, he was glad that he managed to scourge out something.

"That is acceptable!" Shizuka finalized the deal.

"Great, I'm glad," Lady Mei responded. "Now I have a more critical discussion to speak of, so I must ask that everyone except Shizuka leave the room."

Shizuka looked at Ainz, her gaze having some sort of expectation.

Unfortunately, it was lost on him.

"Very well," He replied, then spoke to his 'wife', "I'll be nearby."

He turned and left, feeling relieved to be out of the talks any further now that their goal was accomplished.


However, not a half-hour later, Ainz watched Shizuka open the door looked at him straight in his mask then spoke with a tone that indicated an order more than a suggestion. The first time she'd ever expressed such an attitude towards the Overlord, he was caught off guard by it. He could still see Lady Mei in the prior room, waiting patiently while sitting, looking expectedly for something.

"Ainz, you are going to accept the mission that's given to you by the Mizukage," Shizuka ordered. "This is critical to our relationship with the Hidden Mist Village and the security of Nadeshiko."

"Oh- Uh- Umu, very well," Ainz responded, surprised at being given a mission. "What is this mission?"

"It's an S-Ranked Mission, speak with Lady Mei for the details, I'm heading back to the hotel, feel free to explore the village without me," Not even waiting for his reply, Shizuka left Ainz with the orders given, leaving to return to the place she'd mentioned.

"Ah… An S-Rank… This might be equivalent to a high-level quest," Ainz talked to himself, feeling a bit nostalgic as he thought about high-level quests back in YGGDRASIL. "Well, information is first, if what Shizuka said is true, then it this important, and she is my boss so I really don't have a choice here."

There really wasn't any decision to go against the CEO, though at least it was potentially interesting, Ainz wouldn't deny that he was intrigued by such a high-ranked mission.

He entered the meeting room and closed the door behind him before sitting across from the Mizukage.

She leaned forward, fingers interlocked with elbows on the table, it was rather intimidating. This was a more private meeting, and Ainz reminded himself that the Mizukage is the leader of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and as such, must be either the most powerful or one of the highest level people in the Hidden Mist.

He wouldn't discard the fact that stronger ninja than the Kage could be in the village, after all, Momonga hadn't been the strongest player in the guild despite being the guildmaster.

"Ainz Ooal Gown, Shizuka spoke highly of you, though she did stutter on anything related to the marriage," Lady Mei sighed disappointedly, much to Ainz's confusion. "What's a fellow lady to do to ask for advice on marriage…" She trailed on.

Ainz felt his emotion peak and suppressed all in the span of that last sentence.

"I'm sure you'll find someone quite suitable," Ainx replied. "You're a beautiful woman after all," He decided to compliment if only to get this particular topic over and done with quickly.

"Oh, really? Mmh, I appreciate the compliment," She seemed genuinely happy. "Maybe you'll be my best man at the wedding?"

"I believe Shizuka would like the role more," He swayed that offer off to the woman. "Speaking of which, my wife did mention you wish to hire me?" He tried to switch topics.

"Right," The Mizukage's expression changed. "Ainz Ooal Gown, I desire to hire you from Nadeshiko Village for an S-Ranked mission concerning the security of both our villages and the Land of Water as a whole."

Oh thank goodness she decided to switch conversations.

"What's the que- mission details?" Ainz corrected himself.

"This is a rather move, but Nadeshiko had supported our side in the civil war, and Shizuka places a great deal of trust in her husband. Not to mention, this now directly involves Nadeshiko considering your possession of the Three-Tails Jinchuuriki," Mei said.

So, Nadeshiko had secretly helped the coup d'etat? That made some logical sense, considering the village could have been targeted due to some misunderstanding about Bloodline Limits caused by only female births. Still, how did they figure out about the Jinchuuriki?

"Did Shizuka inform you?" He asked to confirm.

Mei answered with a passive wave of the hand, "She came clean on that quickly, but we will not steal away the kunoichi. The extraction of a Tailed Beast would kill its host, besides, the secrecy of its current host is paramount to current pressures and the mission," The Mizukage passed on a sealed scroll across the table to Ainz. "That there contains sensitive information concerning the previous Mizukage and details about your assigned mission. Normally a ninja village would never hire ninja from another, even rarely do allied villages request a team from their allies, but the circumstances of this require a different approach."

Ainz took the scroll and unraveled it. It's rather fortunate that this world used kanji and hiragana, both written languages that he could read.

His gaze settled on its content.

A silent few minutes passed.

He placed the scroll back down, folding it together.

His gauntlet rubbed his chin, his mind racing for possible answers.

The previous Mizukage, a 'perfect Jinchuuriki' as it was stated, was a controlled puppet to some third-party mastermind.

He knew that a Jinchuuriki was likely equivalent to a High Job Class, then a 'Perfect' Jinchuuriki was likely the Rare Job Class that required the previous one. And, given this was the previous Mizukage who at this meant he was likely very high level yet still fell prey to mind control effects despite having high resistance to mental attacks that the Rare Job Class gave him. This bonus passive resistance was heavily implied due to the written context the information was given.

Ainz was unsure if genjutsu, the chakra ninja equivalent to mental attacks, could affect him with his racial immunity to them. The only possibility that he could get affected by something like mind control would be through the use of a World-Class Item, but he had his own to defend against such.

Still, the implication that there was an individual out there powerful enough to do that to a Kage within their own village was a concerning thought.

And the fact that the Mizukage had also been the Jinchuuriki of the Three-Tails…

Ainz came to the realization that he just painted a massive target on a child under his authority.

Yamaiko would berate him for that.

Shizuka was correct, this mission did concern the security of Nadeshiko and her kunoichis.

"While it didn't relate to the Hidden Mist directly," The Mizukage spoke up, getting his attention. "There is also a group directly aiming for the Tailed Beasts, which now concerns your kunoichi. I am unsure if this organization is somehow linked to the mission, but I wanted to inform you and Shizuka about this threat."

"Thank you for the early warning," Ainz replied. "I'll accept this mission, do you have any leads I can work off? Any more information about this individual's abilities outside of their mental- genjutsu capabilities?" He corrected his use of terminology.

"Not much, we can narrow leads down to rogue ninjas with known genjutsu abilities, particularly someone like Itachi Uchiha, which records state had a previous conflict with the Fourth Mizukage. You might also have some luck with perhaps another Jinchuuriki, a rogue ninja called Utakata, who is the Jinchuuriki of the Six-Tails, though try not to kill him, we're trying to retrieve him. He is believed to still be in the Land of Water, but bordering the Land of Fire."

So that particular rogue ninja was in Nadeshiko's peninsula?

"If I come across him I'll try to avoid conflict," Ainz responded. "I'll look for him first then." It was far more likely to find him than to look for this Itachi Uchia person who could be frankly anywhere without any sort of hint or object to guide Ainz.

Lady Mei relaxed in her seat and spoke, "Now that the serious stuff is over, I'm interested in how you and Shizuka get along after your marriage-"

"Ah, pardon me, but I think it's about time I head off," Ainz quickly made an excuse, rolling back the scroll to her. "I'll inform you by messenger hawk if I gain any information about the mission, now I need to… Umu, I must tend to my wife!" He hastily finished.

"Oh, well, I wish you and Shizuka well, Ainz," She said.

"T-Thank you, I'll be sure to tell her you said that," He replied as he stood back on his feet and left opening and closing the door behind him as he departed from the meeting room.

Ainz Ooal Gown let loose a long sigh.

He had avoided that conversation restarting.

Thank goodness.

"Now…" He turned and started walking down the hall. "I can finally check out the local library."