Luck and misfortune were tangled together in this vast cemetery. Misfortune was buried beneath the cold earth, while luck was the only thing still allowed to stand beneath the fading light.
After the moment of silence ended, people stepped forward one after another, placing white flowers at the foot of the tombstones. Before long, the ground was completely covered, turning the cemetery into a sea of pale white blossoms.
The funeral was finally over.
Grief flowed silently through everyone present. Even those mourning their family or friends could not stop moving forward. No matter how heavy their hearts were, life did not wait for anyone.
Walking along the forest path, Terumi Mei was unusually quiet. She was not skipping around like she usually did. Instead, she held Ado's right hand tightly, her expression dark and thoughtful.
Ado's left hand was still wrapped in bandages. The injuries she suffered that day had not fully healed yet, but aside from that, she was mostly fine.
That was only because that man had shown mercy. Otherwise, Terumi Ado's name would also have been carved into one of those cold tombstones.
Two figures appeared at the bend in the road ahead. They were standing still, clearly waiting for Mei.
The small girl spoke softly.
"Ado-neechan, you can go back first. They are my friends from the Ninja Academy."
Ado paused when she saw them.
One of them had his face wrapped in white bandages, while the other had a strange shark-like appearance. She remembered clearly that not long ago, Mei had been calling them useless and even threatened to blow them up with her Lava Style. And now they were friends?
Children's friendships really were impossible to understand.
After Ado left, the bandaged boy spoke first.
"So this is Terumi Ado that you always talk about?" Zabuza said loudly. "She doesn't look as strong as you described."
"That happened because of fighting that person."
Since that day, Mei no longer used his name. Uchiha Hayashi had simply become "that person" to her.
Zabuza's eyes lit up with excitement.
"So the rumors are true. You really met Konoha's Lightning Flash?"
Mei frowned slightly. She was already getting impatient.
"What exactly do you want from me?"
Zabuza and Kisame were not bothered by her attitude at all. Mei had always acted arrogant in the academy anyway.
"It's nothing," Zabuza laughed. "I'm just curious. How did you survive after meeting Konoha's Lightning Flash? I heard that most people who face him die instantly."
Mei let out a small breath.
"It wasn't that I escaped. He simply chose not to kill us."
Zabuza clicked his tongue and looked at Kisame.
"See? Just like I said. That's the kind of mercy only the truly strong can afford. If I ever reach that level, I might also spare the lives of a few ants on the roadside once in a while."
Being compared to an ant made Mei furious.
"I will kill that person sooner or later!"
Zabuza burst into laughter.
"That sounds nice, but you can't even defeat Kisame right now. How exactly are you planning to kill Konoha's Lightning Flash?"
Mei opened her mouth to argue, then suddenly stopped.
She could not reveal the truth about her bloodline abilities. That was something that absolutely could not be exposed.
Zabuza looked at her with clear disdain.
"You kids from big clans are all the same. Always hiding things. Afraid others will discover your secrets. Is it really that important?"
He folded his arms and continued.
"People like us are different. If we don't constantly prove our strength, we will either become cannon fodder or die before we even graduate from the academy."
This was not an exaggeration.
Under the rule of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, the Hidden Mist had already earned the name Bloody Mist. Even academy students were forced to kill each other to graduate.
If a child showed no talent, the village would not protect them at all.
Kisame nodded quietly beside him.
"I don't know what you're hiding," he said calmly, "but by the time you grow up, Konoha's Lightning Flash might already have become Hokage. How are you planning to kill someone like that?"
"Hokage?" Mei looked confused for a moment. "But my father said the Uchiha clan can never become Hokage."
Zabuza shrugged.
"I don't understand politics between villages, but I don't believe someone that strong wouldn't become Hokage."
There was even a trace of admiration in his voice.
"If someone like him lived in my village, I would follow him without hesitation. I wouldn't accept anyone else as Kage."
Mei fell silent.
Kisame noticed something strange in Zabuza's tone and asked quietly,
"So you're not very satisfied with the Mizukage?"
Zabuza snorted.
"I won't lie. I'm not satisfied at all. Who in the village actually respects him? What kind of leader is he? A baby-faced ruler with no real achievements, yet he became Mizukage."
His voice grew colder.
"And look at the policies he enforces. The Hidden Mist is rotting from the inside. If this continues, the village will destroy itself sooner or later."
Mei's heart moved slightly.
"Do you have a way to save the village?"
She was only five years old. Kisame was seven at most. Yet the three of them were already discussing the future of their village like this. It sounded ridiculous, but some people simply matured far earlier than others.
Zabuza did not hesitate.
"If the village really wants to change, there is only one solution. Kill Yagura and start a rebellion."
Mei frowned slightly.
"That's too crude. A rebellion would also hurt the village badly."
"The village is already ruined," Zabuza replied coldly. "What difference does it make now?"
Mei turned toward Kisame again.
"What about you? What do you think?"
Kisame shook his head slowly.
"I've never thought about those things. I just want to survive."
Zabuza looked dissatisfied.
"What kind of goal is that?"
Kisame stared into the distance. A thin mist slowly spread across the forest, and the setting sun reflected faintly in his eyes.
"Some sharks hatch inside the body of the mother shark before they are born," he said quietly. "Do you know what happens next?"
Neither of them answered.
Kisame continued calmly.
"They start eating each other. The moment they hatch, they fight until only one survives. The others become food."
He paused briefly.
"The Hidden Mist is just like that mother shark. We are the ones inside it. The ninja world itself is another mother shark, and our village is only one of the young sharks struggling to survive."
His voice became softer.
"And me… I just want to stay alive. I don't want to die during some meaningless mission. And I definitely don't want to die like those ordinary people, killed simply because they were standing too close to someone else's battle."
The forest fell completely silent.
Even Mei could not find a single word to respond.