"Mm, so tasty~!"
In Amigasa Village, Tama held freshly roasted meat, her mouth greasy as she ate.
The villagers of Amigasa Village also got a share. They set up a bonfire in the night and experienced the long-lost feeling of their stomachs being filled with food.
Just a bit of meat made these old, weak, women, and children, dressed in ragged clothes, feel as if it were a holiday.
Perhaps, according to the overseas calendar, today was actually the boundary between 1517 and 1518 in the Sea Circle Calendar.
By the reckoning of these overseas people, it was indeed the new year.
"I didn't expect big sister could make roasted meat taste like this. I thought it might be poisonous!" Tama, tired from playing, ran back to Sakura's side holding a rib bone.
'Poison?'
'My cooking is poisonous?'
The pink-haired girl sitting before the bonfire drinking her homemade sake had several veins popping out on her forehead.
She put down her sake cup, raised both hands, cupped Tama's face, and quickly rubbed it.
"Was it this mouth? Was it this mouth that said that? How can such cold words come out of a mouth that's over thirty degrees?" Sakura's eyes were wide with anger, flames seeming to spurt from her throat.
"Now, now, Sakura-nee. Children say the darndest things!"
Ace tried to insert himself between the two to save Tama.
"Un... ugh ugh ugh, I'm sorry." Tama struggled. "I didn't mean big sister's cooking!"
As she played with Sakura, Tama explained to him.
Radiating outward from the weapons factory centered on the winter island of Ringo, the water resources of the surrounding areas had been polluted by the toxic wastewater discharged.
Animals and plants that drew from these water sources accumulated toxins in their bodies, causing those who ate them to also be poisoned, with severe cases risking death.
Kuri had originally maintained some environmental protection because it housed the food production base for the Flower Capital.
But with the increase in factory orders in recent years, the pollution had further spread, causing the soil around Amigasa Village to also be gradually contaminated.
The wild boar Tama had been chasing had also escaped from a semi-polluted area. She had already prepared herself for the possibility of being poisoned after eating it.
After all, chronic toxins could be endured for a while, but a few days of hunger could kill you directly. These starving people knew which was more important.
"Tch!"
With a thud, a small crater appeared beneath Ace, who was sitting by the bonfire.
His fist was deeply embedded in the ground, fine dust mixing with smoke as it slowly rose. "This is completely driving people to despair!"
"Yes, yes, that's right!"
Tama seized the opportunity, quietly slipping over to Ace's side, hugging his arm, and looking at him with pleading eyes. "So, big brother, will you let me join you?"
"No. If you want to be a pirate, you have to be strong enough!"
Ace's anger completely dissipated when he saw Tama's clever expression.
If a child this young could maintain a steady mind and move forward in such an environment, he, as an adult, couldn't afford to be worse than a child!
"That's such a sly thing to say. Big brother won't give a standard. You're just tricking a kid, right?"
Tama put her hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks, and stuck her tongue out at Ace.
"How about this!" Ace turned his head to the side, toward Sakura.
The clear moonlight cascaded down her delicate little face. The sake she drank trickled down her fair skin. Her bright, beautiful pink hair was spread out, dampened by the alcohol and sticking to her pursed lips. The whole person exuded an ascetic-like charm, contradictory yet real.
His gaze moved from bottom to top, from her long, slender legs wrapped in black velvet stockings, to her tight white inner shirt outlining the graceful curves of her waist, finally stopping at her slightly raised, disappointing chest.
The boy withdrew his regretful gaze and showed a wicked smile: "When you grow up to be a 'bewitching' kunoichi, we'll come take you out to sea!"
"A bewitching kunoichi, huh? I understand!"
Tama's eyes lit up after hearing this. She brought her hands together and formed a hand seal. "Nin, nin!"
"Pfft! Cough cough cough..."
The sound of violent coughing came from the side as sake went down the wrong pipe.
Under Sakura's near-murderous gaze, Ace grabbed his cowboy hat, put it on his head, and ran into the crowd.
Sakura chased after him, and Tama laughed beside them.
Everything looked so beautiful... if only it weren't for those ninjas hiding in the dense forest, their murderous intent chilling.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three ninja in sleeveless kimonos, with mesh undershirts covering their skin, rushed out from the shadows.
The bombs and shuriken they threw destroyed the central bonfire and the surrounding buildings. Fire spread instantly.
Then the black-clad ninja following behind them surrounded all the villagers from three directions.
"You bastards! How dare you steal food from Peach Farm!"
The ninja at the lead, with fluffy hair and a scroll in his mouth, stepped forward and scolded the surrounding villagers.
"No, my lord, that's not it. This was hunted from the wild..."
A villager carrying a meat steak approached the ninja with the scroll in his mouth, trying to explain, but the kunai coated with Armament Haki cut through his chest and his voice together.
The fragrant meat steak was knocked to the ground. Blood spread through the soil, gradually soaking it.
"Uncle Tasaburo! No!"
Seeing the man cut down, Tama covered her mouth and fell to the ground.
"Hmph! Even if it was hunted from the wild, it is still Orochi-sama's property."
The ninja with the fluffy hair showed a ferocious smile. "You sinners who stole from the national treasury! I, Kazekage, will carry out your execution!"
With that smile, Kazekage's body became transparent, and his presence also vanished. Only a sliver of silver-white cold light remained in the air, arcing straight toward the weeping Tama.
"Ugh!"
Witnessing the blade rapidly approaching, Tama closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her face.
Clang!
A strong wind swept by. The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed through the burning village.
The kunai, which had been aimed at Tama's head and coated with Armament Haki, had its tip pressed against the girl's lower abdomen, unable to advance further.
"Kazekage, is it? You seem to have a very dangerous name!"
Cherry-pink hair fluttered in the air. Sakura's green eyes narrowed, and it seemed dark thunder was surging within.
The girl, her body exuding a fierce aura, lightly raised her hand and formed a hand seal before the man's eyes.
—Wood Release: Higanbana Birth!
"Impossible! This kunai is coated with Haki!" Kazekage's widened eyes were filled with blood vessels.
When a gentle breeze blew, a wisp of elegant floral fragrance lingered at his nose.
Unbeknownst to him, the surrounding flames had already been extinguished. A pure white sea of flowers spread across the entire village. Petals danced in the wind. Everything was so quiet and beautiful.
But...
Kazekage's vision began to blur. He clutched his own neck, as if trying to squeeze out whatever was obstructing his breathing.
But in places his naked eyes could not see, his lungs and respiratory tract had already aged completely, failing to the point where they could no longer support even basic respiration.
His brain felt suffocated. Under its survival instinct, it secreted adrenaline, and his heartbeat accelerated, sending more blood to his pulmonary arteries.
Pfft!
A large mass of blood plasma burst from Kazekage's mouth and nose. His eyes lost their luster, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
Sakura stepped over Kazekage's corpse as if stepping over a dry twig, showing no emotion. She placed her hand on Tama's head.
"Don't cry. I'll tell you a secret. Actually, big sister is a ninja too~"