The Land of Hot Water also had its own shinobi village. Hidan from the Akatsuki originated from it—Yugakure—but he was the only one ever shown.
Right now, Rokuro's Konoha strike team was hiding inside the ruins of Yugakure.
Looking at the broken, half-collapsed structures around him, Itachi's expression twisted with confusion. After a long moment, he found Rokuro—who was busy cooking.
"Was Yugakure destroyed by Kumogakure?"
"…Huh? Young Master, why have you been coming to me every day just to ask questions? I'm busy, okay? And it's not like we're close—why should I be your personal encyclopedia?"
Rokuro shot him a full-force glare, then carried the freshly cooked braised pork into the mess hall—the only building still in decent shape.
A few days earlier, they had attacked another Kumogakure supply ship. They wiped out the escort squad, seized a mountain of food and ninja tools—so much that Rokuro's sealing scrolls ran out of space. They had to burn the excess.
Now the team was eating meat every day, living more comfortably than when they were in Konoha. Other than lacking a permanent home, they were practically enjoying life.
Itachi followed him into the mess hall. As everyone ate, he repeated his question.
The other Uchiha weren't as impatient as Rokuro. After all, Itachi was the clan head's son and one of the new generation's prodigies. Their fondness for him ranked second only to Rokuro.
"Yugakure wasn't destroyed solely because of Kumogakure," one Uchiha began. "About ten years ago, it was called the Village of Fighters. They weren't as big as the Five Great Villages, but they had plenty of elites."
"But later on, the daimyo of the Land of Hot Water decided that since his country was built on hot-spring tourism, he didn't need that many shinobi. So he started cutting their funding. With that, the new generation stopped developing. The veterans saw their pay dropping and left the village to find better money."
Another Uchiha added, "I heard lots of Yugakure shinobi became regulars at underground bounty houses. Some even joined cults. When you cut funding to that point, the village goes from a fighter village to a 'we forgot war exists' village. So when Kumogakure invaded, they couldn't fight back at all. Absolutely pathetic."
Listening to the clan's recounting of Yugakure's fall, Itachi once again felt the crushing weight of reality.
Rokuro picked up a piece of braised pork and spoke casually:
"Having strength but refusing to use it is completely different from having no strength at all. The daimyo of the Land of Hot Water couldn't even understand that. Their destruction is purely self-inflicted. Their country sits between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning—wedged between two superpowers. Small nations like this should be strengthening their military to survive."
"But this daimyo went the opposite direction. Truly impressive, in a twisted way. If Yugakure had kept its old strength, they could have resisted long enough for the Land of Fire to intervene. Their territory might've survived. Instead, the Land of Lightning conquered them in just three days. A perfect example of 'one incompetent general kills a thousand soldiers.'"
The Uchiha all nodded in agreement. But for Itachi, the impact was far deeper.
Because everything Rokuro said contradicted Shisui's teachings—the worldview Itachi had been raised on:
Power creates war.
War creates hatred.
Hatred creates more war.
A cycle of tragedy.
Shisui always believed the Uchiha were cursed because they were too strong.
Itachi used to believe it too. He even fantasized that if he had been born into a small clan—or even as a civilian—he might have lived happily.
But after coming to the Land of Hot Water, he realized reality was the opposite.
The civilians here had zero power. They endured Kumogakure's oppression and slaughter like insects—unable to fight back, unable to flee.
Even Yugakure's shinobi—those not quite civilians but still weak—were nothing before the might of the Cloud. They could only run, tail-between-legs, protecting no one and nothing.
Two worldviews crashed violently in Itachi's mind, battling for dominance. What terrified him most was that Shisui's teachings were losing—and he was starting to feel proud of being an Uchiha.
That thought scared him to the core.
While Itachi spiraled into his mental storm, Rokuro summoned the entire strike team and unfurled ten small sealing scrolls.
"Most of you here are my seniors. Normally I wouldn't be qualified to say this. But we're in a dangerous situation—we could all be wiped out at any moment. If each of you becomes even a bit stronger, our chances of survival rise greatly."
"Little Rokuro, are you planning to reveal our Uchiha clan's secret arts?"
"Hah! Uncle Tajima, don't joke. I don't even know the clan's secret arts. Even if I wanted to teach them, I couldn't. And secret arts are difficult—no one could master them quickly. Besides, secret arts are powerful mostly because of their surprise factor. Once opponents know the trick, it's not hard to counter."
"Then these scrolls are…?"
Everyone stared at the scrolls. Given Rokuro's known combat skills, many assumed they were advanced sealing techniques.
"These aren't jutsu at all—not even sealing techniques. They're the foundation of whether a shinobi becomes strong: chakra Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation. Everyone knows that many powerful jutsu are only strong because they integrate these two."
"If you all master them, even the simplest C- and D-rank techniques can become devastating."
"Most importantly, they improve technique, not consumption. You get stronger without burning more chakra. This is the fastest way to raise our team's combat power."
Before anyone could reply, Rokuro unsealed the ten scrolls: five masses of chakra—Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning—rose into the air. Each element had two scrolls: one for Shape Transformation, one for Nature Transformation.
Shinobi approached the chakra of their own attribute. As they examined it at close range, comprehension flickered in their eyes.
Itachi watched the crowd surrounding Rokuro and finally understood what it meant to win hearts. Even he—despite all his inner turmoil—felt an involuntary pull of admiration for Rokuro.
The kind of admiration usually reserved only for a village leader.
"…Is Rokuro doing this intentionally to win loyalty? Or is he doing it unconsciously? If it's the latter… that's terrifying. Shisui… the Third Hokage you admire so much… might be completely overshadowed by Rokuro in just a few years."
END OF CHAPTER
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