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Mei Terumi pulled her cloak further over her face, deepening the shadows.
She forced down the rising sickness in her throat and slowly straightened her body.
The sudden wave of sickness seemed to drain all her strength, and her body swayed.
Was she too tired?
She wondered.
But as an elite jonin, this level of effort was nothing.
Then... was she poisoned?
A more terrifying thought tightened her heart, and her eyes instantly turned cold...
Land of Water.
Reef Island.
This island was far from the mainland shipping lanes, named for its rough surrounding currents and dense reefs, making it impossible for ordinary ships to approach.
This was the stronghold of the Kirigakure Resistance Forces.
Over three hundred survivors struggled to live on this barren island.
Inside a crude cave, a bonfire crackled, lighting up faces that were either firm or weary.
A one-armed middle-aged shinobi carefully picked the bones from a piece of charred fish and handed it to a young boy with vacant eyes.
"Eat, Keisuke," the middle-aged shinobi's voice was gentle. "Only by eating will you have the strength to wield a kunai and avenge your parents."
The boy named Keisuke took the fish and bit into it fiercely, as if he were chewing the bones and blood of an enemy.
"Lord Nagano, do we... truly still have hope?"
The boy asked, his voice filled with a world-weariness beyond his years.
Nagano, the one-armed shinobi, was once a jonin of Kirigakure, known for his water release defensive techniques.
"Yes," he answered firmly. "Hope is in our own hands."
"And in the future that Lady Mei Terumi is fighting for us."
"The supplies she sent allowed us to survive until now."
Around them, dozens of shinobi who were wiping their weapons stopped their movements upon hearing this.
They looked up, and a glimmer of life finally appeared in their numb faces.
Village of Bloody Mist.
This cruel policy, enforced by Fourth Mizukage Yagura, had destroyed the entire Kirigakure.
Countless comrades and relatives fell in meaningless infighting.
These survivors either had their closest kin murdered or their family destroyed, bearing a hatred that couldn't be settled for Yagura.
For them, the only meaning in their continued existence was revenge!
To overthrow that puppet Mizukage and end this cursed era of Bloody Mist!
But they were too weak.
Three hundred people, many of whom were old, weak, sick, or disabled, their chakra long drained during years of running away.
And they faced the entire Kirigakure.
Each time, it was only through the information and supplies sent from the outside by Mei Terumi and Gensui that they managed to survive repeated surroundings.
"As long as we hold on!"
"We will definitely... rebuild a true Kirigakure!"
A young shinobi shouted excitedly.
Nagano looked at him, not dampening his excitement, but simply said in a deep voice. "Before that day comes, what we must do is survive."
"Everyone, cheer up! Heighten your watchfulness!"
"Yes!"
Inside and outside the cave, amidst the heavy atmosphere, their fighting spirit was not put out by hardship...
Meanwhile, Kirigakure, port.
Over a thousand Kirigakure shinobi gathered here, completely silent.
Each of them had only numbness and coldness in their eyes.
If people from Konoha saw them, they would surely connect them with the Root shinobi from before.
These people were the sharpest blades under the Bloody Mist policy, their hands stained with the blood of their compatriots.
Fourth Mizukage Yagura stood on high.
In the shadows behind him, Uchiha Obito stood, watching everything without emotion.
"The location of the rebels has been found," Yagura's emotionless voice sounded. "Target, Reef Island."
"This time, I want to see the heads of all of them."
"Eliminate all rebels, leave no one behind."
"Yes!"
A thousand voices roared, killing intent rising high, making ripples on the sea surface.
On a tall tower in the distance, Juzo watched coldly as the shinobi army below prepared to depart.
He watched the brainwashed shinobi from his own village about to slaughter another group of desperate shinobi from his own village, his eyes complex.
He hated this village.
But he also... couldn't completely let go.
"What a... completely boring act," he muttered to himself.
Behind him stood a shinobi from the Kirigakure Assassination Squad.
But his eyes were different from those numb killing machines.
His father, once a subordinate of Juzo, died in the purges of the Bloody Mist policy.
"Did you bring what I asked for?" Juzo asked without turning his head.
"I brought it!" The shinobi handed over a scroll and then said. "The rebel stronghold has been exposed."
"Yagura is personally leading the team. The army is departing immediately."
Juzo took the scroll and slowly unrolled it.
Reef Island.
A place almost erased from even sea charts.
"Is the news... reliable?"
"Absolutely true," the shinobi replied. "I personally heard Lord Yagura give the order."
Juzo fell silent.
He had no dealings with the Resistance Forces, and had even killed many of their members.
But... he thought of Mei Terumi.
That woman was among the Resistance Forces.
Their relationship was quite good.
She seemed to have truly become that man's woman!
Although he had witnessed the daimyo's ability once before, the news of him single-handedly holding back Kumogakure still startled him.
If the Resistance Forces were wiped out, what would happen to Mei Terumi?
What would the Land of Fire daimyo do?
"You."
After a long period of thought, Juzo suddenly turned and said. "Do you want to avenge your father?"
The shinobi's body trembled, and a flash of hatred instantly crossed his eyes. He said without thinking. "Yes!"
"Very good."
Juzo stuffed the scroll into his arms.
"Now, immediately, with your fastest speed, go to Reef Island."
"Tell the people on the island this news."
The shinobi looked at the scroll in his hand, then at the Kirigakure shinobi who were already boarding ships at the port, about to set sail, and a look of difficulty appeared on his face.
"It's probably too late!"
"Their fleet has specialists to speed them up. They can reach Reef Island within an hour!"
"And I... even if I run non-stop, I'll need at least three hours!"
"Then run with your life!" Juzo's voice was cold.
"If you win, you and your father's revenge might still have someone to help you."
"If you lose, then sink into the great sea with everything you hate!"
With that, Juzo's figure instantly vanished, as if he had never appeared.
The young shinobi clutched the scroll tightly, looking at the rough sea in the distance, a look of grim determination flashing in his eyes.
The next second, he transformed into an afterimage, pouring all his chakra into his feet, and sprinted towards the endless sea.
On one side, the Kirigakure pursuit squad, carrying the murderous will of a thousand people, cut through the waves.
On the other side, a messenger gambled his life and hope.
A race of life and death thus began.