Looking at the earthshaking changes before him, Suigetsu involuntarily slipped into those less-than-pleasant memories.
Back when he had been getting by in Kirigakure, this place never saw sunlight all year round, and the thick mist reeked of blood.
The population had been pitifully small, yet the Mizukage in charge had not been quite right in the head, spending every day carrying out purges and killings.
The ninja had lived in constant fear. All it took was some ridiculous charge slapped on them, and their heads would roll.
But now, that suffocating sense of oppression had vanished completely.
In its place was a thriving vitality and energy, like the rising morning sun.
The stark contrast stirred a feeling in Suigetsu that he could not quite describe.
"What? Satisfied with how Kirigakure looks now?"
Sasuke's cool voice rang out beside his ear. Suigetsu jumped and hurriedly wiped that provincial look off his face.
He curled his lip and stubbornly refused to admit it. "Tch, it's all right, I guess. Just a tiny bit better than the hellhole it used to be."
Beside him, Karin pushed up her glasses and mercilessly called him out. "You call this a tiny change?"
Even the normally taciturn Jūgo could not help remarking, "I've traveled to so many places, but Kirigakure looks even more prosperous now than Konoha in the Land of Fire."
Sasuke nodded slightly, his gaze complicated. "True. To pull off a transformation like this in such a short time, you have to give that guy credit for his methods."
Jūgo gave an honest smile. "We have to thank Sunagakure for contributing that gold dust too. That was hard cash backing them up."
After all, building infrastructure burned through money. Without that windfall, even if Kirigakure had wanted to undertake major development, they could not