Outside Kusagakure, in the Land of Grass, before dawn on August 8, Konoha Year 38.
Akaseki led twenty-one Chunin to the outskirts of Kusagakure—
"Grass Flower really intends to be ruthless this time. They're all comrades from the same village, too..." Ranwu's tone held both contempt and helplessness.
Her contempt was naturally directed at Kusagakure's infighting, but she also found the tragedy unfolding before them hard to bear.
Kusagakure had two major factions: the dovish Grass Flower and the hawkish Grass Fruit. The two had been locked in a bitter struggle for years—
"Quietly forming factions is one thing, but their factions actually have separate names now. How is that any different from splitting into separate houses? There's absolutely no difference," Akaseki said, shaking his head.
Nonō: ... She turned to look at Akaseki, who had inexplicably stressed that particular word.
Still, Akaseki had a point.
Even in Kumogakure, where the infighting had culminated in the Raikage's assassination, the doves and hawks had never given themselves separate names. Taking different names meant they were no longer even trying to conceal the split.
"That's true. When we met those three Kusagakure Genin during the Chunin Ninja Exams, I remember the one named Mui was a Grass Flower Genin. The other two, from Grass Fruit, ostracized him—and even openly disparaged him in front of outsiders. Their conflict was already out in the open," Ranwu recalled.
Akaseki shook his head. "No, Mui belonged to Grass Fruit. The other two were from Grass Flower. Grass Flower still held power in Kusagakure at the time."
"Huh? Was that how it was?" Ranwu blinked. She genuinely couldn't remember.
It wasn't really a matter of having a bad memory. First, she hadn't made any particular effort to remember. Second, the innocent Ranwu still instinctively favored the "doves,"