Land of Water, Hidden Mist Village.
Whether the Land of Fire was hot-tempered or not was unknown, but the Land of Water was certainly very humid.
As an island nation, the Land of Water consisted of one super-large island and surrounding archipelagos. Located in the middle of the ocean, the country generally received frequent rainfall, causing the entire nation to be constantly shrouded in mist and moisture.
Predictably, the people of the Land of Water generally had excellent skin.
The Yuki Clan—a specialty of the Hidden Mist Village—was a typical example.
Not only did this clan have good skin, but their average appearance was also quite high. Even the men of this clan looked remarkably androgynous, being more delicate and "watery" than women. It was unclear if this was the reason for the decline in the Hidden Mist Village's birthrate.
Which, in turn, led directly to the Yuki Clan's extermination.
Regarding this point, the higher-ups of the Hidden Mist Village always hemmed and hawed, unable to offer any clear explanation.
After all, who among the current leadership knew what those maniacs from decades ago were thinking?
So many clans were exterminated during those years that they could simply find any random excuse to wipe out the Yuki Clan.
"Do you know the reason?"
In a corner of the mist-shrouded Hidden Mist Village, a tall young ninja holding the Land of Water Observer newspaper asked the short, sturdy, and slightly older ninja beside him.
The content he referred to was the Land of Water Observer's current educational feature, aimed at teaching the Land of Water and the Hidden Mist Village about the sealed history of a few decades ago—the truth behind the Yuki Clan's extermination.
The older ninja glanced at him, a flicker of memory in his eyes.
He had just graduated from the ninja academy back then. There were screams of fighting and killing everywhere; how could he know the reason?
However, he had heard the elders at the time say that perhaps that wasn't the only reason?
The older ninja was inclined to be suspicious, but constrained by the authority of the Land of Water Observer newspaper, he ultimately replied vaguely: "I'm not too clear either."
The young ninja lamented: "See, this is our village's original sin!"
"Original sin?"
"Yes, original sin!"
The young ninja's eyes shone brightly. "Such a powerful clan, possessing the Ice Release bloodline and infinite loyalty to the village, was hunted down and wiped out by us in the Hidden Mist. If this isn't the original sin of our Hidden Mist, what is?"
"Is that so?" the older ninja murmured softly.
He was older and had experienced many things, even war, unlike the young man in front of him who was easily misled by others.
This newspaper actually claimed the village had some sort of 'original sin'?
The older ninja felt increasingly uneasy. He disagreed; what sin did he have?
However, due to the perceived authority of the newspaper, he didn't dare refute it immediately.
He had the desire to understand that era, but the older generation in the village were nearly all dead.
Let alone the older generation, there weren't many ninjas left even in his age group.
He felt something was wrong, but he could only feel it was wrong. He couldn't find a reason to argue, and it seemed he couldn't do anything else either.
At this moment, the young ninja was still reading the paper.
He saw the photograph on the newspaper, the picture of the great 'Hero of the Mist,' Zabuza Momochi's assistant—Haku Yuki. His eyes widened.
"This face... 'Mister'? Indeed, the paper is right. The Yuki Clan truly should have been the treasure of our Hidden Mist Village."
"This great 'Mister Haku' was also a major figure, like Lord Zabuza, who was devoted to the Hidden Mist, constantly travelling and sacrificing his life for it!"
The older ninja looked at the newspaper, listening to the young ninja's muttering, and was tempted to contradict him.
He was Zabuza's senior. Although he didn't know much about Zabuza, Zabuza's reputation didn't seem as good as the newspaper claimed!
At least, it wasn't when he was in the Hidden Mist.
But...
Through the stories told in the newspapers over the past few months, it seemed that even after leaving the Hidden Mist, that person still dedicated his life to the Hidden Mist at every moment!
'Was that guy really that great?' the older ninja mumbled to himself.
His sharp eyes suddenly spotted a familiar figure approaching. He reached out and patted the young ninja, trying to warn him.
However, the young ninja was engrossed in the newspaper. "Don't bother me. I'm almost finished. Next up is 'The Struggle of Mr. Zabuza.' This is the part I save for last every day!"
"Read what?"
Suddenly, the young ninja heard a serious and slightly angry voice ring out next to his ear.
The voice was familiar!
He looked up, his eyes meeting those of the man.
"Lord Ao!" The young ninja was immediately startled and hid the newspaper behind his back.
Ao glanced at the newspaper hidden behind him. "Hand it over."
"Well..."
The young ninja tried to explain, but under the coercion of Ao's gaze, he handed over the newspaper.
"Hmph! Don't get distracted while on duty!"
After a warning, Ao merely looked at the newspaper once before holding it behind his back. Then, he ignored the two and left.
"I told you not to read during work!" the older ninja complained.
"Phew~~~"
The young ninja didn't take it to heart, only expressing deep regret. "I didn't get to see today's 'Lord Zabuza's Struggle!'"
Meanwhile.
The distant Ao, thinking about the content he had unintentionally glanced at, furrowed his brow even deeper.
In recent months, he constantly heard people all over the village discussing something about 'Zabuza's struggle history,' and Zabuza's dedication to the Hidden Mist, hearing slogans like, 'Lord Zabuza is truly great.'
Ao's political sensitivity wasn't particularly high, but he could still sense that something was amiss.
Zabuza was his junior. Although he didn't know much about Zabuza, he knew a little about the man.
Because of his limited knowledge of Zabuza, Ao couldn't judge the truth of the lavish praise the newspapers bestowed upon him.
However, he was quite familiar with that period of history.
At that time, the Hidden Mist's system forced many strong individuals to defect, and Zabuza was one of them.
Ao knew that Zabuza's reason for defecting was a failed assassination attempt on the Mizukage.
When he received this news from the papers a few months ago, Ao felt that Zabuza's actions, while correct, were overly reckless.
Unlike him, who, after extensive investigation, confirmed that the Mizukage was controlled by someone else, he then used multiple channels and helpers to resolve the problem in one go.
This was an achievement he was proud of.
As a member and senior of the Hidden Mist, Ao was very pleased to see a 'strong individual' like Zabuza potentially return to the Hidden Mist and once again become one of its members.
But the problem was—
Thinking of this, Ao pulled the newspaper from behind his back and saw that the cover was still dedicated to 'Lord Zabuza's Struggle.'
An authoritative media outlet like the Land of Water Observer was once again recounting Zabuza's 'great achievements.'
And it wasn't just this newspaper.
The Land of Waves Times, the Land of Lightning Honest Man's Paper, the Land of Fire Daily, and dozens of other newspapers were constantly helping to promote Zabuza's deeds.
Even the Ninja World Daily, the strongest and most authoritative newspaper in the ninja world, was doing the same!
Ao wasn't saying that Zabuza's past actions were insignificant, nor did he mean to diminish Zabuza.
It was just...
If this continued, the ninjas in the village would only know about 'Lord Zabuza,' and who would know about 'Lady Mei Terumi,' or even 'Lord Ao'?
After this period of contemplation, Ao had discovered the core problem.
Zabuza seemed to be leveraging the publicity from all these newspapers to scheme for something.
Perhaps even the currently vacant Mizukage seat.
Regarding the Mizukage position, Ao strongly supported Mei Terumi.
If it were a head-to-head competition, Ao didn't believe Mei Terumi would lose to Zabuza.
But!
This combination of newspapers launching an overwhelming propaganda campaign?
What kind of strategy was this?
He'd never seen anything like it!
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi