Sasuke and Rei each opened their box.
Perhaps due to some mysterious sense of fate, neither picked the wrong one. Rei opened her box first.
Her weapon... rather than a weapon, it looked more like a long whip made of countless blade segments.
After picking it up and injecting Ripple into it, the long whip suddenly went taut and straightened, becoming a jagged blade.
"According to the amount of Ripple energy infused," the weapon master explained, "it can switch between jagged blade and long whip. Its maximum attack range can reach a radius of ten meters. And when there's no need to fight..."
The weapon master motioned for Rei to strike it against the ground.
All the blade segments overlapped with each other, finally forming a rod-like stick similar to a cane, more suited for defense and concealment.
Cane, long whip, blade.
These were the three forms of this weapon.
Compared to Rei's weapon, Sasuke's was much simpler, just a straight katana, and it hadn't been sharpened.
At the weapon master's prompting, Sasuke transmitted Ripple into it.
A faint silver gleam appeared along the front edge of the blade. The old master casually tossed out an iron ingot, the blade sliced through it cleanly, cutting it into two pieces with a smooth and flat cross-section.
Sword Grandpa, in his seventies, sat in his chair with a smiling face, watching Sasuke and Rei each hold their own weapon.
Ryosuke had told him about the past of these two children.
Rei's mother was killed. A girl walking through the terrible ninja world, having an extra means of defense meant one more layer of safety.
The weapon he designed for her was made using materials from the once-famous Thunder Blade "Fang."
It greatly boosted her usage speed, and when used with Lightning Release, it increased affinity and functionality.
Sasuke, however, was different.
Rei's revenge had already been taken by Ryosuke.
But Sasuke's entire clan's vengeance, was too complex, too heavy.
The old master forged a blade with no edge because he hoped that in the future, when Sasuke wielded it, he would carefully consider, who should die, who should not. It should not be judged by the blade, but by himself.
Even if the sword was swung quickly, he should always leave himself a chance to regret.
Sasuke and Rei were inside the situation, they couldn't see Sword Grandpa's deeper intent. But Ryosuke, how could he not see it?
"Thank you." Ryosuke said sincerely.
The weapon master waved it off, "I'm just a swordsmith. Making weapons suited to their owners is my job. Besides..."
He patted Rei and Sasuke on the head.
"They're both good kids."
After saying goodbye to the Sword Grandpa, the group of five set off again, officially heading to Kirigakure. The journey was peaceful, the time itself seemed to slow down.
After leaving the area of Snowy Village, the wind and snow lessened, and the roads along the way became increasingly broad.
By the time they could see Kirigakure from afar, they were already spotting caravans and tourists coming and going.
"Huh? Wasn't Kirigakure supposed to be really closed off?" Sasuke asked.
This surprised even Ryosuke.
Kirigakure was livelier than he'd expected.
Visitors came and went, peddlers shouted from street corners, but upon closer inspection, the difference became obvious.
The guests with smiling faces, the enthusiastic vendors, seemed to all be outsiders.
No need to intentionally distinguish, under the constant shroud of mist, the locals' pale skin and gloomy eyes were the clearest signs.
Except for a few Kirigakure villagers running inns and taverns, most locals wore cold expressions, watching the tourists passing by. And even…
Ryosuke caught a flash of hatred in their eyes.
"Brother Ryosuke… these people seem a little off," Rei whispered.
Ryosuke nodded.
On the bustling streets, among the crowds, he could clearly feel the enthusiasm and madness of the outsiders, but also the numbness of the locals, and behind that numbness…
Hate.
At that moment, a boy around ten years old saw Ryosuke's group, whose appearances clearly differed from the locals. His eyes lit up and he ran over.
"Big brother, want to buy an intel book? Definitely the most detailed in the village, buy one and get a candy free."
Ryosuke looked around and found similar street vendors everywhere.
"I'll take one."
The intel boy handed him a book and also passed out a few cheap little candies to the group.
Ryosuke glanced over the book, it recorded detailed personal info and ninjutsu specialties of nearly a dozen boys and girls, even thoughtfully including a ranking from D to S-class. The last page showed a battle bracket of the participants.
Ryosuke grabbed the intel boy and handed him a bill. The kid, seeing money, patted his chest and said,
"Big bro, say the word, whether it's stealing or delivering info, I'll risk life and limb."
Ryosuke pointed at the intel book.
"What does this mean?"
The intel boy froze, "Aren't you here for the annual Kirigakure graduation ceremony?"
'Graduation ceremony?'
What kind of graduation ceremony could attract so many tourists, stimulating food, lodging, tourism, and even fueling this intel-selling business?
The intel boy explained, "Every graduation season, the ninja academy holds one-on-one matches. Only one of the two is allowed to live."
At first, it was only the locals who came to watch. Later, more and more spectators arrived. Eventually, the village organized official betting and gambling.
The tourists visiting the village came with hopes of gambling and striking it rich. And this..."
The intel boy held up the little booklet.
"...is the key to winning money."
After hearing all this, Ryosuke's group fell silent.
This was the Bloody Mist Era.
This was Kirigakure.
Graduating from ninja academy, these were basically twelve or thirteen-year-old kids.
To wipe out their emotions, to make them better tools, they were made to kill each other.
This alone was already horrifying, full of the ruling class's contempt for the humanity of those below them.
Danzo's Root selection process was the same.
But Kirigakure took it one step further.
They turned bloodshed into entertainment, normalized it, and made the entire village into participants of this sickness.
The villagers earned money through hate. In numbness, they contributed to the grandeur of the graduation ceremony.
Konan stood frozen in place. Her expression didn't look good.
Konan knew that under Obito's control, life in Kirigakure wasn't great, but as for how bad, she didn't know.
To Konan, Kirigakure only existed as a line on the Akatsuki's ledger, an occasional deposit.
Konan could accept killing thousands on the battlefield for the sake of peace, but now…
The candy in her mouth suddenly tasted faintly of blood.
Pa!
A hand slapped Konan on the back, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Konan turned and glared at Ryosuke.
Ryosuke looked ahead and curved his lips into a smile, "If it hurts, cry under the blanket tonight. For now, we've got to move. Let's wake this absurd village up as soon as possible."
Following Ryosuke's gaze, Konan saw at the end of the street stood a tall, beautiful woman.
Terumi Mei lazily extended a hand and beckoned at Ryosuke, mouthing the words,
"Long time no see."
Ryosuke strode forward.
The two were three steps apart.
Terumi Mei took a step closer, shortening the distance. She tilted her head slightly and quietly stared at Ryosuke, a faint anticipation rising in her heart.
"What will your first words be?"
Ryosuke clenched his fists, "When do we make our move?"
Terumi Mei rolled her eyes.
"Follow me."
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