Miwa Masayo sighed with emotion.
"So strong, yet you deliberately hid yourself, staying unknown until now… that must have been hard."
"For the sake of freedom, hardship is worth it. If I became famous, as an Uchiha, there's no way I could take a C-rank mission and just leave the village."
"True, meow… even without fame you've already clashed with Root twice. If you were well-known, who knows how much trouble there would be."
"Konoha is so scary…"
Uchiha Yoru rubbed Miwa Masayo's head and said:
"You're wrong. Konoha isn't scary."
"I actually started planning to defect when I was four. But after gathering intelligence, I realized that Konoha is already the safest place in the entire ninja world. Even for an Uchiha, it's the safest."
"Outside the village… that's the real hell."
He let out a deep sigh and pointed at the four captives.
"Each of them is overflowing with killing intent. Clearly, they've just seen blood."
"Masayo, think about the direction they came from, and you'll know who they killed."
Miwa Masayo fell silent. After a long while, she slowly asked:
"The villagers of Nine Forest Village? But… Sand ninja shouldn't have any reason to kill them, right?"
Yoru sighed.
"Masayo, the only ninja you've interacted with are Konoha ninja, so you've formed a misconception."
"Konoha ninja are well-trained. Even Root ninja need a reason to kill—like me being an Uchiha, or interfering with their mission."
"But ninja from other villages aren't that civilized. Their reasons for killing can be completely unreasonable."
"Or rather… ninja don't need a reason to kill. Not killing is what requires a reason."
Yoru pointed at the leader of the Sand ninja. His crimson Sharingan spun as he asked:
"Tell me, why did you kill those villagers from the Land of Rivers?"
The Sand ninja answered blankly:
"Lord Hayano Keisuke ordered the massacre. We followed orders and killed."
"What's this Hayano Keisuke's background? Why do you think he gave that order?"
"Lord Hayano Keisuke is the son of Lord Ebizo. His mission wasn't completed—he failed to find the Third Kazekage. He might have been in a bad mood and wanted to vent."
"We just happened to encounter those lowly civilians… so we killed them."
"A massacre… just to vent… happened to run into them… so you killed them…"
Even though he had already expected this answer, Yoru still felt suffocated.
The anger and killing intent in his heart surged wave after wave.
Humans are not grass or trees—how could they be without emotion?
It had only been a few days since he parted from the villagers of Nine Forest Village. Their faces, their voices, their conversations with him were still vivid in his mind.
The village chief thanking him on behalf of everyone… trying his best to give him proper compensation…
Those living, breathing people—gone.
Hayano Keisuke killed them just because he was in a bad mood.
Right now, Yoru was in a very bad mood too.
He also wanted to kill.
Miwa Masayo shared the same intent. With a soft "meow," she leapt down from his shoulder and started walking south.
"Let's go. We're heading to Nine Forest Village, meow."
Yoru didn't bother packing anything. He simply took a few pieces of equipment and followed the tabby cat.
"This ninja world is bad. Very bad. For most people, it's no different from hell."
"Before, I had no ability to protect myself, so I could only hide in Konoha to survive. Now I have enough strength to protect myself, but I can't tolerate evil happening right in front of me."
"It feels like someone kicked me in the chest—I'm furious."
There was no doubt—this kind of emotion would greatly stir the restless mind monkey.
But Yoru didn't suppress it.
Because right now, the best way to deal with it wasn't suppression—
It was release.
His gaze gradually sharpened.
"I don't yet have the power of the First Hokage to change the entire ninja world…"
"But I do have the power to make my thoughts flow freely today."
"So… I'll change a little bit."
As the man and the cat jumped down from the dam, the four Sand ninja on top suddenly burst into flames, turning into four blazing torches.
The intense pain broke them free from the illusion, but they still couldn't escape the earth binding their legs.
They screamed, struggling desperately to save themselves.
But with their tendons severed, they couldn't use ninjutsu. Even with a vast lake beside them, they could only be consumed by the flames, little by little, until they turned into drifting ash.
"Hayano Keisuke… killing people just because you're in a bad mood, huh?"
"I'm in a bad mood too."
"So… I'm coming to kill you."
…
While traveling, Yoru and Masayo exchanged information about their target.
More accurately, Masayo kept asking questions.
Since she normally didn't care, she knew almost nothing about other ninja villages. She didn't even know who Ebizo was.
Yoru was stunned.
"You seriously don't know Ebizo?"
"Never heard of him, meow. I only know the Third Kazekage and Chiyo. No one else."
"Ebizo is Chiyo's younger brother. One of the top five puppet masters in the Sand Village. A major figure."
"And you still dare to kill his son, meow?"
"Nine Forest Village was wiped out by that bastard. For three hundred kilometers within the Land of Rivers, this place is now a complete no-man's land."
"Here, force is the only rule."
"Just like that idiot said—kill them if you want to."
"Why can Hayano Keisuke say that? Why can he do that? Because he's strong."
"Now that I'm stronger—why can't I say it? Why can't I do it?"
"What about his father, meow?"
"Ebizo's status in the Sand Village is comparable to Danzo in Konoha. But in a no-man's land, his authority means nothing."
"After killing Hayano Keisuke, I'll spend a bit more effort to clean up the traces. No clues left."
"How would Ebizo ever know it was me?"
"He's not coming here anyway."
Yoru knew himself well.
If Ebizo really appeared, he would immediately retreat and settle this matter in the future.
Clearing one's mind is important—but trading one's life for it isn't worth it.
After all, who doesn't have a few regrets?
Two hours later, Yoru and Masayo followed the river and arrived at Nine Forest Village.
Or rather—what used to be Nine Forest Village.
Now, it had become a foul-smelling field of corpses. Everywhere were heavily decomposed bodies, crawling with maggots.
With just a brief inspection, Yoru could tell—the villagers died horribly.
There were six to eight attackers.
They clearly had the ability to kill instantly, yet they deliberately targeted the abdomen and limbs, preventing escape.
Entrails spilled out, and the villagers were left to die slowly in unbearable agony from blood loss.
The one who gave the order deserved to die.
And those who carried it out—
Were also damned.
After their inspection, the two immortals silently memorized every corpse.
They did not bury the villagers.
Instead, they used memory as their grave.
After a moment of silence, they followed the traces left behind by Hayano Keisuke—
And headed west.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL