On the border of the Land of Hot Water, in the Hidden Cloud Village camp.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of moisture and sweat, as well as the smell of blood that seemed to have soaked into the very soil.
Inside a tent, it was dim, with only a single lamp casting a halo to drive away the darkness. A group of Hidden Cloud ninja was resting, either lying or sitting on makeshift beds on the ground. The flickering light illuminated their weary faces, making them alternately bright and dark.
No one spoke. Only the sound of heavy breathing, the occasional turn, and almost inaudible sighs filled the air.
Tomorrow, they would have to return to the battlefield.
This thought was like a heavy shackle weighing on the heart of every Hidden Cloud ninja.
A sense of war-weariness spread like a plague in the air, silently gnawing at their will.
Just then, a figure on a sleeping mat in the corner suddenly sat up.
"Hah! Hah!"
Like a drowning man being pulled out of the water, he gasped for air, his chest heaving violently. Beads of cold sweat soaked the hair on his forehead and trickled down his pale cheeks. His bloodshot eyes were filled with an inexpressible terror, and his pupils trembled with fear.
The nightmare!
It was that nightmare again!
In his dream, he was back on the scorched earth stained with blood. He heard deafening explosions, the bloodcurdling screams of dying comrades, and the dull thuds of kunai and weapons piercing flesh! He saw the wide, hateful eyes of those who were about to die, countless pairs of eyes staring at him as if to drag him into hell! In the end of his nightmare, he saw him again—the figure who appeared in the thunderclouds, holding up lightning, and he saw his comrades who had been turned to charcoal and the Hidden Leaf ninja who were closing in on them…
"Nuruui… Nuruui!"
A low, concerned voice spoke next to him. As if he hadn't fully escaped the nightmare, Nuruui's eyes were vacant and unfocused as he slowly turned his head.
Looking at his comrade's familiar face, his mind gradually cleared, but his body began to tremble, and he couldn't make a sound.
Because he remembered.
Tomorrow, he really would be returning to the front lines. Everything he had experienced in that nightmare would happen again.
The thought of it made fear, like a cold snake, tightly coil around his heart, making him feel suffocated.
He hadn't always been like this.
He had once been an elite Hidden Cloud chunin. He was young, passionate, and not afraid of death. He was proud to be on the battlefield, killing enemies for the glory of the Hidden Cloud Village! Every charge and every bloody battle filled him with excitement!
But the war had lasted too long.
So long that he couldn't remember how many people he had killed.
So long that he couldn't remember how many familiar comrades had fallen beside him, turning into cold corpses.
So long that every time he left the battlefield, the deafening sounds of combat, the sight of flying flesh and blood, and the despair and hatred in the eyes of his dying comrades and enemies appeared in his dreams.
Those scenes were like maggots on a rotting bone, gnawing at his nerves day and night!
His prideful courage was worn away with each close brush with death.
His boiling passion turned cold and numb with each comrade's death he witnessed.
Until that day, when "Hyuga Kawa" appeared and utterly destroyed everything.
Witnessing hundreds of Hidden Cloud ninja turn to charcoal in a single attack...
Witnessing Lady Samui, their commander, fall to her knees and wail in agony…
Witnessing Lady Yugito, the Two-Tails jinchuriki, shriek helplessly...
From that day on, Nuruui's heart was left with only a deep-seated fear of Hidden Leaf ninja and a profound disgust and despair for this endless war and slaughter.
He didn't know when the war would end.
He only knew that every day on the battlefield, he could become one of the countless unclaimed corpses.
"Nuruui, are you alright?"
Seeing Nuruui's paper-pale face and unfocused eyes, the Hidden Cloud ninja frowned and reached out to pat his shoulder.
However, just as his hand was about to touch Nuruui,
"No! I don't want to!"
Nuruui flinched back as if he'd been bitten by a poisonous snake. His hoarse low growl was distorted by fear, and his eyes burst with a near-frantic terror and refusal! "I don't want to go to the battlefield anymore! I want to go home! Yes, I want to go home!"
He kept muttering, then violently threw off his blanket and stumbled to his feet. He ignored the shocked and worried looks of his comrades and the questioning stares of the other awakened ninja. Like a madman, he staggered out of the crowded tent!
The cold rain instantly soaked his thin clothes. The chilling cold made him shiver, but it could not extinguish the fire of fear in his heart!
I can't go!
I can't go back to the battlefield!
I will die!
I will definitely die tomorrow!
And so, a crazy idea, like a weed, grew wildly in his crumbling mind!
Run!
Leave this place!
Leave the front lines!
He stumbled and ran through the camp, the rain blurring his vision, and he charged toward the command tent in the center of the camp!
"Stop! Nuruui! What are you doing?"
From outside the tent came the anxious shouts of Hidden Cloud ninja, accompanied by others trying to stop him.
But Nuruui was deaf to them. Fear had completely consumed his reason. Like a cornered beast, he used his last bit of strength and violently pushed aside the heavy tent flap!
The inside of the tent was brightly lit and warm.
The Hidden Cloud front-line commander who had been sent to replace Samui was a stern-faced jonin with a scar. At the moment, he was sitting at a crude wooden table, using the lamplight to carefully study a map laid out before him. The map was covered with markings representing enemy and friendly positions. Next to it was a transfer order stamped with the Raikage's seal.
Nuruui's sudden intrusion broke the silence of the tent.
The Hidden Cloud jonin instinctively looked up, his gaze falling on Nuruui. Seeing his subordinate soaked, pale, with unfocused eyes, trembling violently like a frightened bird, he imperceptibly frowned. He knew Nuruui, since there weren't many Hidden Cloud ninja who specialized in Earth Release. But the Nuruui he remembered was not like this.
"Nuruui." The Hidden Cloud jonin's voice was low, with an undeniable authority. "Intruding into the command tent, you..."
Thud!
Before the Hidden Cloud jonin could finish, Nuruui's knees gave out, and he fell heavily to the cold ground! He looked up at the jonin, rain and tears mixing on his face, his eyes filled with pleading and undisguised terror.
"Sir, I beg of you!" Nuruui's voice was hoarse and trembling. "Please transfer me to logistics. To the transport team, the medical squad, anywhere, as long as I don't have to go back to the front lines!"
Hearing this, the Hidden Cloud jonin's gaze instantly turned cold. He looked up at the crowd gathered outside the tent and had already made his guess. He knew, of course, that the war had dragged on for too long, and more and more Hidden Cloud ninja in the camp were growing weary of it. The fact that Nuruui was able to barge into his tent was not necessarily just a test by the others. Nuruui was only doing what others were afraid to.
But for that very reason, he couldn't be allowed to succeed. Otherwise, if he opened this door, the morale of all the Hidden Cloud ninja would crumble.
"Nuruui."
The Hidden Cloud jonin slowly rose, looking down at Nuruui, who was kneeling at his feet and shaking like a leaf.
"Here," his voice was completely flat, a chilling coldness in its calmness, "there are no positions for deserters."
"No, no! I'm not a deserter, I just... I just..." Nuruui shook his head incoherently. "I, I really can't do it! I will die! I will definitely die!!"
Fear, like a tsunami, completely engulfed him. In his crumbling mind, an even more frantic and desperate thought emerged.
Get injured!
As long as I'm injured, I can go home!
As long as I'm a casualty, I won't have to go to the battlefield!
The moment this thought entered his mind, it took over all his senses.
So, Nuruui violently drew the ninja blade from his waist, the blade glinting with a cold light under the lamp!
Under the slight contraction of the Hidden Cloud jonin's pupils, and under the gaze of the Hidden Cloud ninja outside the tent, Nuruui tightly gripped the hilt with both hands, a frantic look in his eyes, and with all his strength, he brought the blade down on his own hand!
Pshhhh!
The sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone rang out. Hot blood instantly gushed from his severed hand, splashing onto the cold ground, onto the Hidden Cloud jonin's pant leg, and onto Nuruui's own face, which instantly twisted and turned paper-white from the intense pain!
"GAHHH!!"
Nuruui let out a heart-wrenching scream. The immense pain made his vision go dark, and his body trembled as if his bones had been removed! But he fought through it, not falling down, and instead, he looked up at the Hidden Cloud jonin with his bloodshot eyes, a twisted, sickly smile on his face:
"S-sir, I'm injured. I... I can't go to the front lines anymore. I can go to logistics now, right? Right?!"
His voice was fragmented by the pain, filled with a pitiful plea and a hint of hope. Blood gushed out, staining the ground beneath him.
Inside and outside the tent, there was a deathly silence.
Only Nuruui's heavy, painful gasps and the "drip, drip" of blood hitting the ground echoed like a death knell in everyone's hearts.
The Hidden Cloud jonin looked at the severed hand on the ground and at Nuruui's bloodless face, which was pale from blood loss and pain. The shock in his heart slowly turned into rage.
"Have you said enough?"
His tone was frigid and cold as he looked at Nuruui and said, word for word, "If you've said enough, go get it bandaged!"
"And then, return to your squad and prepare for tomorrow's battle."
"In our Hidden Cloud Village, there are only heroes who die in battle, not cowards who run away!"
This statement completely crushed the last faint flicker of light in Nuruui's eyes. The madness, hope, and pain instantly solidified and turned into pure despair.
Why? Why...
I just loathe this pointless death. I'm just sick of this endless war and slaughter.
I don't want to be a hero. I just want to go home.
Finally, Nuruui slowly lowered his head, and the despair in his eyes gradually turned into "hatred."
The Land of Water.
As the only one of the Five Great Nations to consist entirely of islands, its territory is spread across a vast ocean, with major islands surrounded by countless smaller islands and reefs.
The terrain is complex and varied, including jagged coastlines, deep fjords, dense forests, and rugged mountains. This terrain serves as a natural barrier and a perfect place for ambushes, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Heavily influenced by the ocean, the climate is humid and rainy, and it is shrouded in thick fog year-round, making visibility extremely low. This unique natural environment is a significant reason why its ninja village is named "Hidden Mist."
Due to its island nation status, it has very little contact with other countries. To a certain extent, this has shaped its unique culture and relatively isolationist policies.
This isolationist policy was most strict during the Third Mizukage's reign and was later overthrown by the current Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, and others.
However, a few years after becoming the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi's gentle nature also became unpredictable. Not only did he revive the Third Mizukage's isolationist policy, but he also began to purge the kekkei genkai clans who had once followed him, turning the Hidden Mist Village into the "Village of the Bloody Mist."
Even the graduation exams at the ninja academy were no longer a demonstration of ability but a brutal massacre between classmates, turning into a stark shura field that completely extinguished any remaining warmth among the ninja.
The ninja of the Hidden Mist, like cold weapons with their edges dulled and their souls removed, were left with only numb murderous intent and absolute obedience to orders.
The Kaguya clan, an ancient family known for their kekkei genkai "Shikotsumyaku" (Dead Bone Pulse) and their fanatical battle lust, naturally swayed in the bloody storm of the Hidden Mist Village. They feared the blades of Yagura and the Anbu ninja, yet their innate belligerence and madness made them unwilling to lay low.
At the same time as the turmoil in the Hidden Leaf Village's Uchiha clan, the even more fanatical Kaguya clan was also preparing for a rebellion.
In the Hidden Mist Village, deep within the Kaguya clan's compound, in a dungeon.
There was no dense fog here, only a darkness heavier and more despairing than any fog.
In this dead silence, a small figure was curled up in a corner. He appeared to be less than ten years old, with long, dry, straw-like gray-white hair. His clothes were old and thin, and his skin was pale and bloodless, with blue veins visible beneath. His gray-white eyes held none of the innocence and cheerfulness of a child; there was only a bottomless, still-water-like emptiness and numbness.
Screech! Screech!
He tightly clutched a pale, hard bone and used it to carve on the rough stone wall. The stone powder fell in a shower, making a grating sound.
He was carving a face.
A blurry face.
He didn't know whose face it was; he was just carving by instinct, as if it could drive away his loneliness.
He had forgotten how long he had been locked up here.
He didn't know why he was being held here.
He only remembered that his name was Kimimaro.
He wasn't even sure if his surname was "Kaguya."
Because the looks his clansmen gave him were filled with a deep fear, as if he were a monster that would devour people. There was also a strong greed, as if he were a priceless treasure.
But there was never a shred of warmth.
"Monster..."
"Weapon..."
"Shikotsumyaku..."
These were the words he heard most from his clansmen. He didn't understand their meaning, but he could feel the coldness and distance they contained.
Clang! Rattle!
A heavy metal scraping sound broke the silence of the dungeon, followed by the harsh screech of an iron door being violently opened.
The rusty iron door was roughly pulled open from the outside.
A blinding, cold light pierced the darkness, instantly dispelling the shadows in front of Kimimaro and stinging his eyes, which were accustomed to the dark.
Kimimaro subconsciously raised his arm, covering his eyes with his worn sleeve, and carefully opened them to look at the entrance.
A tall figure stood in the doorway, casting a large silhouette against the light, completely enveloping Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro."
The person's voice was cold, their tone holding an undeniable command and a hint of an almost imperceptible fanaticism: "It's time to use you!"
Kimimaro was startled by this. He slowly lowered his arm, trying to adjust to the blinding light. His gray-white eyes stared intently at the figure in the doorway! And from those empty, numb eyes, an inexpressible excitement and longing surged forth.
Use me?
They need me?
The sense of being "needed" drove away the loneliness in Kimimaro's heart, making him ignore the cold, commanding tone in the person's words.
"Need me... for what?" Kimimaro's voice was hoarse.
"As a weapon." The Kaguya clan member looked down at Kimimaro, and a crazed smile slowly spread across his face. "Fight for our Kaguya clan!"
"Don't think about anything. Just kill all the Hidden Mist ninja who appear before you!"
"Kill... all of them..."
Kimimaro repeated the words blankly. He didn't understand what this meant. He only knew that someone needed him. Someone needed his strength.
So, he took one last look at the unfinished face carved on the stone wall, then turned without hesitation and followed the tall figure, stepping out of the dungeon that had imprisoned him.
In his palm, a sharp, pale bone spike silently pierced through his skin, slowly growing out.
He wasn't afraid of death or darkness.
He was just afraid of being treated as useless, abandoned in a forgotten corner.
As long as he was needed by someone, as long as he had a purpose, even if he was just being used, death didn't matter.
This was Kimimaro's "obsession."
The Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water...
In this world of constant war and conflict, there are countless hatreds and obsessions like these, and tragedies are unfolding in every corner at every moment…
"The constant death and wailing of war, the pain and hatred with nowhere to go…"
"These are the fuel for our growth."
In the Hueco Mundo, which exists separately from the ninja world, 'Kage' sat on his stone throne and looked down at the three figures kneeling on one knee, all with different appearances, and spoke.
"Go forth."
He slowly stood up, his shadow-like robes billowing and swirling. He said with a smile, "And announce our existence to the world."
As his words fell, the space in front of 'Kage' was torn open like a curtain.
Then, he took a step forward.