Stepping onto the land of the peripheral port town of Kirigakure, an invisible pressure comes oncoming.
The air is not only filled with the salty smell of sea salt, but also mixed with rust and some kind of rotten, indescribable odor. There is no ordinary port noise on the dock, only a few porters are working silently, their movements are mechanical, their eyes are empty, as if their souls have been sucked out. Most of the shops on both sides of the street have their doors and windows closed, and occasionally some are open, which also gives off a sense of depression.
The most uncomfortable thing is the ubiquitous sense of prying eyes.
Naruto can feel that from the shadow of the roof, from behind the closed window gap, from every inconspicuous corner, there are eyes sweeping over their group of outsiders. These eyes are not curious, only numb. Watch and be vigilant. From time to time, Kirigakure ANBU teams in groups of three and two patrol by. Their steps are neat, their eyes are cold under the masks, and the daggers on their waists glow coldly under the gloomy sky, adding a bit of chill to the already depressing atmosphere.
"This damn place, even the air stinks." Sasuke lowered his voice, his brows full of disgust. He had never thought that the outskirts of a ninja village would be so lifeless.
Naruto remained silent. His perception had already spread out, taking in the structure and personnel deployment of the entire town. Order here is based on an extreme fear. Every inch of space is closely monitored, and everyone is a potential prisoner and jailer. This is an inefficient and fragile governance model that will not bring enough productivity.
At this moment, there was a commotion in the town center square not far ahead. The crowd seemed to be pushed away by invisible hands and automatically gave way to an open space.
"Let's go and have a look." Naruto said calmly and took the lead.
In the center of the square, on a simple wooden platform, knelt a Kirigakure Ninja covered in blood. His hands were tied behind his back and a rag was stuffed in his mouth, and he could only moan in agony. Two ANBUs held him down, one on the left and one on the right, while another ANBU stood in front of him and read out the charges loudly.
"... colluding with foreign enemies and leaking village information is an unpardonable crime! On the order of Lord Fourth Mizukage, I will execute you here to serve as a warning to others!"
Sasuke's pupils shrank suddenly.
He saw ANBU, who was reading out the charges, draw out a long knife. Without any hesitation, he raised the knife and dropped it. A head shot up into the sky, hot blood sprayed out, and dyed a dazzling red flower on the gray slate floor. The headless corpse twitched and fell down. The whole process was clean and neat, but bloody and disgusting.
The surrounding townspeople had no expression on their faces. There was no fear, no sympathy, not even a trace of emotion. They just watched numbly, as if they were watching a drama that had nothing to do with them. It wasn't until ANBU dragged the body away that the crowd slowly dispersed, and everything returned to its original state, leaving only the pool of blood that solidified quickly on the ground, silently telling the laws of this place.
Sasuke was stunned by this ridiculous scene. For the first time, he intuitively understood the weight of the nickname "Bloody Mist Village". This is a nickname built up by countless lives.
Naruto's voice rang in his ears, "Remember this feeling, it's precisely because you can't stand it that you have to change the world."
Naruto ignored the stunned Sasuke and walked straight to an inconspicuous ramen stall on the corner of the street. The stall owner was an old man with gray hair, feebly wiping the dishes.
"Boss, a bowl of tonkotsu ramen." Naruto sat down and tapped his fingers on the table, "Without the barbecued pork."
The old man's movements paused, and a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy eyes, but he quickly returned to his original state. He said nothing, but silently turned around and entered the simple kitchen.
Sasuke, Neji and others quietly dispersed, occupying several nearby positions where they could coordinate with each other. They seemed to be wandering around, but in fact they included the entire ramen stall under their protection.
After a while, a figure walked out of the kitchen. It was a girl who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old. She was wearing a simple kimono, with long black hair draped smoothly over her shoulders. She had delicate features, but her expression was a little timid.
It's Bai, and it's a man disguised as a woman.
Carrying a bowl of steaming ramen, he walked Earth Flow in front of Naruto with light steps and put the bowl down. From the beginning to the end, he did not look at Naruto, as if he was just an ordinary shop assistant.
Naruto picked up the chopsticks and ate calmly. The texture of the noodles was average, and the soup was a little bland, which was obviously not made with care. But it didn't matter. When he finished the last sip of the soup, he clearly saw the small note wrapped tightly in waterproof oil paper pressed at the bottom of the bowl.
He put the money on the table, turned around and left with the team. The whole process was smooth and smooth, no different from an ordinary diner.
It wasn't until he was very far away that Sasuke couldn't help but ask, "Is this the end?"
"The signal has been received." Naruto unfolded the note in his hand. There was only an address and time on it.
Late at night, abandoned shipyard.
The waves beat rhythmically against the decaying dock, making a hollow sound. The air was filled with the smell of damp wood mixed with seaweed.
Two figures were already waiting in the shadows.
"It seems you didn't encounter any big trouble on the way." Momochi Zabuza carried Kubikiribōchō and walked out of the shadow of an abandoned fishing boat, his voice as hoarse as ever. Bai followed him quietly and bowed slightly to Naruto.
"Some of the blind pirates and bandits have been dealt with." Naruto said concisely, "Tell me about the situation in the village."
Zabuza found a relatively clean wooden box and sat down, leaning the big knife to the side and making a muffled sound.
"What else, it sucks." He sneered, "Now Kirigakure is just a powder keg. Fourth Mizukage Yagura That lunatic has driven everyone to a dead end. The village is now in chaos and can be divided into three groups."
He held out his finger.
"One group is following Yagura and Genji, the old die-hards. In addition to killing people, they also think of high-pressure rule. Hozuki Clan was originally on their side, but unfortunately he was crippled by Yagura himself, and now he is half dead."
"The second group is the revolutionaries like us who can't stand it and want to overturn the table. Unfortunately, they don't have the climate and are hiding in Tibet."
"There is another group, Reformists, headed by the woman named Mei Terumi. This group of people is a bit interesting. They also oppose Blood Mist Policy, but they don't want to cause a river of blood. They always think that after Yagura is dead, they can take over the village and slowly change everything back. Naive."
Naruto listened quietly and quickly constructed the power structure diagram of Kirigakure in his mind. He suddenly asked a seemingly irrelevant question, "Bloody Mist Village, did it start from Yagura?"
Zabuza was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect him to ask this. He recalled it and shook his head.
"No. When I was young, Yagura hadn't become Mizukage yet, but the graduation exam that forced classmates to kill each other already existed. Those were the rules set by the old guy Genji. In order to ensure the 'purity' of Kirigakure Ninja, it's a nonsense theory."
"Yagura..." Zabuza's expression became a little complicated, even with a hint of confusion and unwillingness, "He was not like this when he first became Mizukage. At that time, he was gentle, friendly, and really wanted to change the village. It was because of this that I chose to follow him."
He paused, and there was a chill in his voice.
"But I don't know from which day he seemed to have changed. He became cold and cruel, even more extreme than Genji. He began to frantically cleanse all those who opposed him, and intensified his efforts to promote Blood Mist Policy, turning the whole village into what it is now. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I chose to defect."
Zabuza looked at Naruto with sharp eyes. "If this were not the case, do you think I, Momochi Zabuza, would be a rebellious ninja?"
Naruto has no answer.
His brain is running at high speed.
Can a person's character undergo such an earth-shaking change in a short period of time? From a moderate reformer to a brutal dictator?
This doesn't make sense. Unless... there's some outside force involved.
In his knowledge system, there are many explanations for this phenomenon: corrosion of Warp Daemon, Spiritual Pollution of Chaos forces, body seizing, or an extremely sophisticated mental control.
Corresponding to this world, the possibility also exists. Some kind of powerful Genjutsu that has never been seen before? A spiritual magic similar to the Yamanaka Clan? Or is it implanted with something like the Curse Mark he gave to Sasuke?
Naruto raised his head and looked in the direction of Kirigakure. The fog there looked even thicker in the night, like a giant beast that chooses people to devour.
His original goal was just to pick up a "part".
But now it seems that Fourth Mizukage named Yagura has a big problem and needs more investigation.