The new year brought a fresh atmosphere.
But not everyone was enjoying a peaceful New Year.
At the same time...
Far away, in the Land of Water.
Momochi Zabuza, known as the "Demon."
At seventeen...
He already possessed the maturity of someone in his twenties.
Children of the Bloody Mist Village matured early like this.
For one thing, it was because of the Bloody Mist Village's policies back then.
When Momochi Zabuza graduated, he killed all the other graduates in his class by himself.
Not only did that make him the only person to graduate.
It also caused the rules of the Bloody Mist Village to change.
After that...
There was never again a rule stating that one had to kill one's classmates, with whom one ate from the same communal pot, in order to graduate.
Then...
Had peace and better days finally arrived?
Not at all.
Although the Third Shinobi World War had indeed been one of the causes of their suffering.
But afterward...
Karatachi Yagura, the "Fourth Mizukage," had promised that once he took office, he would change the Bloody Mist Village.
Instead, he only made things worse.
He had indeed changed the Bloody Mist Village.
He had taken one abyss down another level, into yet another abyss.
Karatachi Yagura, whose power and status rested on absolute rule.
He was also a Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
More than that, he was the legendary Perfect Jinchuriki, capable of completely controlling the Tailed Beast's power.
Under his terrifying rule.
The Bloody Mist Village declined with each passing day...
The land of the Bloody Mist, dissatisfied with his rule, fell into endless civil war.
Throughout that civil war, which lasted for years.
Momochi Zabuza survived through sheer determination and came to be known as the "Demon."
One of the direct consequences of this