The next morning.
Hidden Mist Village was shrouded in morning fog. The entire city was blanketed in thick mist, with the occasional dim light flickering on and scattering through the haze.
Early in the morning, Kagura carried a basin of clean water and stood upright beside the Mizukage as he wrung out a towel with the water Kagura had fetched and washed his face.
"It's been a long time since you fetched water for me like this," the Mizukage said with a sigh. "So? Have you been getting along well with those people from Konoha Village?"
"Very well."
"That's good."
"Boruto gave me a reason to wield a sword and made me resolve to protect the harmonious peace we have now!"
"I've also remembered what I originally wanted. Lord Chōjūrō, I want to take the test for Hiramekarei!"
The Mizukage listened to everything he said with a solemn expression, then smiled. "I see. That's wonderful."
The Mizukage slowly approached him. "Before you were born, an unprecedented upheaval occurred in the Shinobi World. That war was both brutal and painful. At the time, the Allied Shinobi Forces had to sacrifice a full fifth of their shinobi to obtain the peace we have today."
"So...?"
"So the peace we have now did not come easily. It needs to be protected, and we must always remember the pain brought by war," Kagura responded.
"And they all believed that the future lay in the hands of the young. That is why I entrusted Hiramekarei to you.
Together with the departed predecessors, bear the future upon your shoulders!"
He handed Kagura the key to the ninja blade vault. Kagura accepted it solemnly, his gaze firm.
On a mountainside within Hidden Mist Village stood a group of buildings. As Kagura pushed open the door, a sliver