In some corner of this world stood a village forgotten by time, shrouded in a chilling mist. Whether day or night, it seemed forever blanketed in dense fog.
This village had once prospered. As one of the Five Great Villages, Kirigakure had at least once been powerful, but now it had become an abandoned ghost town.
Most of the houses in the village had collapsed, with only a few ruined structures still vaguely visible. Their doors and windows were smashed to pieces, as though someone had struck them with tremendous force.
The strangest thing about this village was its residents.
These residents did not look like real people. They had no thoughts or consciousness of their own, as if they were under someone else's control. No matter what anyone said to them, they showed little reaction.
When no one gave them orders, they would sometimes act according to their own inclinations, but no one should expect them to do anything worth mentioning.
These ninjas always wore indifferent expressions, as though they did not care about their own circumstances at all. Their eyes held no emotion—no joy, sorrow, or anger—and were as hollow as empty shells.
Sometimes, when one approached them, one would discover that their pupils were not black, but deep blue, like those of some creature from a mythical fantasy.
When one investigated this village's history, one would find that it had not originally been like this.
It had been a thriving village where people lived happily. At least, it had remained normal after the Bloody Mist Village era. But one day, a mysterious man arrived, calling himself a "messenger" and bringing a new religion. He claimed that this religion would ensure people never felt pain or suffering again. As long as they obeyed his instructions completely, they could