Akahoshi's voice was hoarse, yet filled with a sickly obstinacy.
"If we don't use the 'star,' the Star Ninja will grow weaker. If we grow weaker, we won't be able to complete missions we could have handled before."
"Without missions, the village will lose its source of income."
"Without money, there'll be no food, no medicine, no weapons. The people in our village will starve, die of illness, or be annexed and enslaved by other countries and shinobi villages!"
His words were like a blunt knife, ruthlessly cutting open the brutal reality of small shinobi villages struggling to survive in the cracks of the shinobi world.
"You people from the great nations' shinobi villages... you don't understand!"
"You have fertile land, abundant resources, reliable sources of missions, huge populations, and complete ninja training systems."
"You can sit back without a care and talk about the 'future,' 'health,' and 'sustainable development.'"
"But what about us?" Akahoshi's voice suddenly rose, almost into a roar.
"Our Star Ninja Village! Our Land of Bears!"
"We're trapped between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, with scarce resources and barren land. Aside from that Meteorite that gives us power, what do we have?"
"What does losing a little of our lifespan matter?"
"It's better than having no missions and no way to survive!"
"Yes, I killed that weak old fool, the Third Hoshikage!" A trace of madness flashed in Akahoshi's eyes. "But I led the Star Ninja Village back onto the right path!"
"The village's income increased, our young ninja grew stronger, and the surrounding countries and factions no longer dared to bully us so easily.
How is that not right?"
His words struck the hearts of everyone from the Star Ninja Village present like heavy hammer blows.
Some of the Star Ninja