So Heartless

The girl who, in Huan's memories, had always stayed alone in the village—introverted and withdrawn—was gone. She had broken free from the prison that was the Kusanagi Clan.

The one now before her was powerful and mysterious, with restrained confidence in her eyes.

Seeing that Yura had no intention of answering,

"Did you come here to take revenge on the Kusanagi Clan?" Huan said. "Are you looking for me because you want Hero Water?"

"So, will you leave the Hero Clan and come with me?" Yura responded.

Huan slowly shook her head and said firmly, "I will not leave the village. This is the treasure Father protected with everything he had."

"You..." Yura narrowed her eyes and said dangerously, "Want to try dying once?"

"Then let's try it." Huan stared at Yura and said slowly, "That way, you'll never obtain Hero Water. The method and location for opening that barrier are known only to my father and me."

That was why the matter was so troublesome.

Yura looked at Huan with interest and said, "Let's stop bargaining. As shinobi, let's make a deal the shinobi way. I'll help you resolve your hatred, and you'll pay me with Hero Water."

"First, I need to confirm something." Huan said solemnly, "Will you harm the village?"

"At a time like this, you still cling to a village like that." Yura said. "Don't tell me you're one of those idiots who believes the God of Shinobi's rhetoric?"

Huan shook her head and said, "I can give you Hero Water. It is not some precious thing. Without the God Tree's output, it is nonrenewable. If you intend to leave the village, I can continue supplying you with Hero Water for a long time afterward. That is my bargaining chip."

"What do you mean?" Yura asked.

A cruel, crazed smile curled across Huan's lips as she said, "As Father's daughter and the head of the Hero Clan, dying as a hero is the mission and responsibility I was born with. I do not mind dying as a hero."

Yura nodded and waited for her to continue.

"But I absolutely cannot tolerate being used and fooled, dying a meaningless death."

"The Hero Clan was originally a clan that sheltered others. We took in civilian orphans displaced during the Warring States Era, taught them the skills to survive, and united against enemies to protect our homeland."

Huan gritted her teeth as she said, "With what Senju Hashirama did, the Warring States Era ended. To survive, our clan had no choice but to join forces with three demons! They were completely different from us! The most terrifying thing was that our clan was gradually contaminated by the ideals of those three clans."

Yura nodded. The Kusanagi Clan was an exceptionally cold-blooded clan. If they could be so easily moved, they would not have slaughtered the Hero Clan throughout the long years of the Warring States Era.

"After tasting power, many clansmen no longer identify with the Hero Clan's ideals."

"Hero Water is strength meant to protect everyone, not strength meant to send everyone to their deaths!"

"Father's death was meaningless," Huan said. "When they captured the Seven-Tails, I watched with my own eyes as the four clans forced him to drink Hero Water. Besides that, vast quantities of Hero Water were forcibly distributed, causing the deaths of many innocent shinobi in the village. If this continues, Hero Water will become standard battle equipment for every Takigakure shinobi, turning into poison that takes lives!"

"How could I not hate them?"

Yura's eyes lit up as she summarized, "So you hate Senju Hashirama too?"

Huan froze, then nodded and said, "Idiot! What God of Shinobi? He is a complete idiot! Otherwise, I would never have agreed to the plan to assassinate the God of Shinobi!"

So you had a part in that stupid plan too. Yura clapped her hands and said, "Exactly. Great minds think alike. But even if Hashirama dies, the Shinobi World will not return to the Warring States Era. The moment the God of Shinobi dies will be the moment a shinobi war begins."

At those words, Huan's breath caught.

"The village's strategy is correct. Actively preparing for war and increasing strength is the consensus of the Five Great Villages."

Huan shook her head and said, "Takigakure's location and concealment mean that as long as we steadily defend our territory and provoke no faction, we can safely weather any shinobi war. On the contrary, actively involving ourselves in the current conflicts of the Shinobi World is the path to self-destruction."

You're right. Amegakure was exactly that—its excessive expansion invited the vigilance of the Five Great Villages and led to its own destruction.

Yura clapped her hands and said, "You really are smart and clearheaded. But placing your hopes in an enemy's mercy is far less important than strengthening yourself."

"There is no point arguing about that. I agree with your thoughts, but I absolutely do not agree with what the village is doing." Huan said in a low voice, "While Father was alive, he could still keep them suppressed. After he died, my seniority was too low to convince others. Over the past year, the village has steadily weakened my power, and I have lost control over the Hero Clan. I have become increasingly powerless, able only to watch the village charge headlong toward a future we do not want. At some point, I may quietly die in some unknown corner."

Huan glanced at the corpses of her two companions and said, "If you had not suddenly appeared, I would have died on the road already."

Yura smiled faintly. "So there are others in the village who know where Hero Water is."

Realizing she had let something slip, Huan clenched her teeth and insisted, "No! Absolutely only I know!"

"Let's say only you know, then." Yura smiled faintly.

Huan let out a breath of relief and said, "As someone from the village, you should have felt it too. The village is gradually becoming a monster that devours everyone's lives. In only three short years, more people from my clan have died than during the Warring States Era! How ridiculous!"

"No..." Yura shook her head and said, "I can't feel that. Those are things only you higher-ups would know. Lower-ranking shinobi, like Senior Kakuzu, would still foolishly return to the village."

In the future, if a mission failed, the first reaction of shinobi from the Five Great Villages would probably be to defect on the spot.

At the mention of Kakuzu, a complicated look appeared in Huan's eyes. "Regarding the mission to assassinate Senju Hashirama, I am sorry."

"Have you had contact with Senior Kakuzu?" Yura asked.

Huan shook her head. "No. My people did not have time to rescue Kakuzu."

"So..." Yura said thoughtfully, "Mochizuki Gen was one of your people too?"

Huan gave Yura a deep look and said, "Lord Gen supports what I am doing."

Yura clapped her hands. That explained all the doubts she had noticed in the village recently. It was also the key to how Kakuzu had been able to slaughter the village higher-ups so completely.

Yura looked at Huan and said, "We have talked enough. Let's get to the point."

After taking a deep breath, Huan fixed her bright eyes on Yura and said, "I am afraid you would not dare harm the village."

Yura nodded, smiling faintly. "It's a convenient matter."

"Good." Huan said, "Yura, I ask you to help me slaughter every last one of the village higher-ups, those rotten and filthy old relics from the Warring States Era!"

"Enough nonsense. Give me Hero Water," Yura said.

"In the village's name..." Huan said in a deep voice, "I hereby issue you one final mission. S-rank. The payment is Hero Water. From this day onward, the village will destroy every record of you!"

Looking at this seemingly rustic village girl, Yura said, "You truly are worthy of being called a hero... You really know how to make something sound pretty. I accept."

Poor Kakuzu was still being kept in the dark, played in the palm of the village's hand. Once this was over, the village would no doubt brand him a missing-nin, though it would not send anyone after him.

With the deal settled, Yura released Huan from her restraints.

The instant she regained her freedom, Huan did not check her injuries. Instead, she stared intensely at Yura and said, "You escaped alive from the God of Shinobi, faked your death to deceive Kakuzu, and infiltrated the village for so long. You must be incredibly strong. Yura, if it were you, you would surely do better than I did."

Yura waved a hand and laughed. "No, no, no. No need to be modest. A terrifying woman like you is rare even in the Shinobi World."

Huan's breath caught. Then she shamelessly continued, "Yura, can you stay in the village? Stay with me?"

Yura shot Huan a sidelong glance and snorted.

"Are we that familiar, Huan?"

"So heartless," Huan said. "After all, I tested your chakra nature, taught you the Three Basic Techniques, and even treated you to a meal. Earth Spear is very useful, isn't it?"

This woman had naturally latched herself onto her.

Disgust flashed through Yura's eyes.

"What a heartless woman..." Huan muttered, pitifully indicating her injuries for Yura to see.

"Shut up, terrifying woman." Yura smiled faintly.