"Capture that old woman alive!"
The sound from the loudspeaker made the barbed wire mesh vibrate and hum.
Chiyo's legs went weak, and she almost knelt on the dry grass.
She ripped off the cumbersome gray-black robe she was wearing, leaving her in only a single layer of clothing underneath.
She simply tossed the canister of compound poison gas, which she was so proud of, aside next to the pile of dirt.
Purple smoke was still hissing out of the jar.
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
Chiyo's voice cracked. Her old, rheumatic legs left a trail of afterimages as she scrambled back.
Fifty elite Sunagakure soldiers were routed, abandoning their armor and weapons.
Nobody cared about gas masks; they just rushed into the woods like madmen.
Behind me, the flamethrower emitted a dull hum.
A pillar of eerie blue fire pierced the darkness, engulfing the two slower Sunagakure.
The screams didn't travel far before they were burned to two charred remains. The air was filled with the stench of burnt meat.
Chiyo dared not look back.
One of her straw sandals fell off. She stepped barefoot on the gravel, and several cuts were pierced on the sole of her foot.
Like a stray dog, she led her remaining troops and fled towards the Land of Wind in the dead of night.
The scene changes.
Northwestern border of the Land of Fire. Black Rock Coal Mine Area.
Midnight.
Deep within the third basement level of the mine, the air is thick and viscous.
Coal ash floated in the air. Inhaling it felt like swallowing a handful of sand; my throat tightened.
Water seeped from the cracks in the rock wall at the top. Water droplets fell into the puddles below, making a monotonous dripping sound.
A dim miner's lamp hung on a wooden stake. The bulb was covered with a thick layer of black coal ash, making the light faint.
Hiruzen Sarutobi huddled in an abandoned, blind alley.
He was as black as charcoal from head to toe.
The tattered Mabui had long since become just a few strips of cloth, barely hanging on his shoulders.
His face was covered in black coal sludge, leaving only a pair of bloodshot eyes that darted about in the darkness.
He held his breath.
My ear was pressed against the cold rock wall.
"Ta-da!"
The sound of tapping on the rails came from above. It was the signal for the overseers to change shifts.
The heavy sound of leather boots gradually faded into the distance along the main alleyway.
Hiruzen a sigh of relief.
His chest heaved violently. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing against his neck, which was covered in black mud.
He lowered his head, using the faint yellow light.
The right thumb digs into the nail bed of the left thumb.
The crevices under his fingernails were filled with coal dust and hard mud.
He flicked it forcefully, splitting a piece of his fingernail and drawing blood.
The ten fingers are connected to the heart. He gasped in pain, the veins on the back of his hand throbbing.
He pulled out a thin, blackened wire by force.
This is something he's been grinding bit by bit on stones in the waste pile over the past two weeks.
Hiruzen bent over.
A heavy iron shackle, as thick as a thumb, was fastened to his left ankle.
The skin on my ankle had long been worn away. The ulcer was stuck to the rust and had formed a thick layer of black scab.
He inserted the wire into the lock of the shackles.
Close your eyes. Slowly rotate the wire with your fingers, guided by feel.
The keyhole was rusted, making it very difficult to press. The wire cut a deep groove into his fingertip.
He gritted his teeth and tightened his fingers little by little.
"Click."
The lock cylinder made a faint sound.
Hiruzen his breath and gently twisted his wrist.
"Thud."
The heavy iron lock popped open.
The shackles fell onto the cinder floor without making a loud noise.
Hiruzen let out a long breath.
The moment his legs regained their freedom, he collapsed and sat down hard in the black puddle.
Water splashed onto his trousers. He ignored it.
He stared at the shackles, his teeth grinding together.
Coal mining.
He, the Sarutobi young clan leader of Shu Shiraishi, was thrown into this godforsaken place where there is no sunlight.
Like livestock, they swung a pickaxe for fourteen hours a day.
The blisters on my fingers kept bursting, scabbing over, then bursting again. I could barely straighten my back.
He didn't want to die here, and he was even less willing to spend his life as a miner.
That madman, Shu Shiraishi, turned Konoha into a cold and ruthless mechanical monster.
The various clans were treated like beasts of burden. The Akimichi Clan was forced to do manual labor, Uchiha were treated like vicious dogs.
Even that old consultant, Mitokado Homura, was so exhausted that he vomited blood in the second-floor alley the day before yesterday.
The old man was whipped so badly by the overseer that he rolled on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.
Hiruzen stood up, supporting himself against the rock wall.
I need to get out.
He stared intently into the darkness deep within the alleyway.
Go to the capital. The daimyo must still have some remaining samurai troops and funds.
The daimyo needs ninjas, and a legitimate Hokage to keep Shu Shiraishi in check.
Or go to Iwagakure.
Tsuchikage Ōnoki is a smart man and would never allow Shu Shiraishi's tyranny and those iron lumps to grow too powerful.
As long as we can borrow troops, as long as we can lure the main army to the gates of Konoha.
He can overthrow that dictator and bring Konoha back to its former glory.
Hiruzen crept along the wall, creeping forward like a mouse.
Avoid the searchlights sweeping back and forth in the main alleyway.
He turned into a narrow ventilation shaft.
This is connected to the surface ventilation fan. All the exhaust gas in the mine is drawn out from here.
The passageway was a one-meter-wide sheet metal pipe.
It was covered in red rust. The rivets at the joints were sticking out, like rusty blades.
He used Hiruzen four of his limbs to climb inside.
Rust stained his hands, and the rough pipe walls scraped against his knees.
The pants wore out quickly. The skin rubbed against the rusty iron plate, leaving bloody streaks.
He gasped in pain, but didn't stop moving.
Using both hands and feet, they desperately climbed upwards.
The fan has a strong airflow.
The strong smell of coal smoke was forced into his nostrils, choking him and bringing tears to his eyes.
He desperately tried to suppress his cough, his face turning bright red.
Halfway up.
A large, fat black rat suddenly darted out from in front.
The rat rammed its head into Hiruzen's hand and bit him.
The sharp teeth broke the skin.
Hiruzen in pain, but dared not utter a sound.
He grabbed the rat by the neck with his left hand and squeezed hard.
The rat's bones were broken, and it died limply.
He casually tossed the dead rat behind him and continued crawling forward.
His heavy breathing echoed from inside the metal pipe.
There was also the rustling sound of clothes scraping against metal.
It took more than half an hour to climb.
An iron fence appeared ahead. Beyond the fence was the black night sky.
Hiruzen frantically grabbed the iron bar.
The fence had been in disrepair for years. He shook it hard twice, and the screws at the bottom came loose.
He kicked open the iron fence.
"Bang."
The iron fence fell into the grass outside with a dull thud.
Hiruzen emerged from the pipe opening.
It tumbled and landed.
He plunged into a patch of waist-high weeds.
The cold dew on the grass instantly soaked his coal-dust-covered face, chilling him to the bone.
He took deep breaths.
A fresh night breeze. No smell of coal ash. No pungent smell of excrement.
It carries a faint scent of earth and pine needles.
This was the first time in half a month that he had breathed the air of a living person.
Hiruzen lay prone on the grass, his hands gripping two handfuls of wild grass tightly.
My eyes stung, and two streams of tears mixed with the black mud flowed down my cheeks.
Two obvious tear tracks appeared on her face.
He survived. He escaped.
He slowly got up.
My legs were still a little weak from kneeling and crawling for so long.
Stand up straight.
This is a dense forest. The mine's searchlights swept across the hillside hundreds of meters away, but couldn't reach this blind spot at all.
A half-moon hung in the sky.
The pale moonlight cast shadows across the woods.
Hiruzen looked up at the moon.
The cold wind blew through his thin, tattered clothes. He shivered.
He looked down at his hands, which were covered in mud and blood.
There were bloody holes on the back of his hand from rat bites.
Clench all ten fingers into a tight fist.
The joints made a cracking sound.
"Build."
Hiruzen gritted his teeth and squeezed out a single word from the deepest part of his throat.
His face, covered in coal dust, was contorted with hatred. Blood seeped from his gums, and his mouth tasted salty and metallic.
Your tyranny has come to an end.
He glanced back at the Black Rock Mine in the distance.
That was a cannibalistic hell.
It is the tomb of all the dignity he had in the first half of his life.
"I will definitely return with a great army."
Hiruzen lowered his voice and slammed his fist hard against the trunk of a pine tree next to him, shaking down a few pine needles.
The pine bark scraped his knuckles.
"Save Konoha!"
After uttering that harsh statement...
Hiruzen gasped.
He was about to turn around, lift his right foot, and prepare to flee into the dense, impenetrable forest.