Chapter 97: The Crying Land
Thanks to the time decided by the Hidden Rain and Hidden Sand to attack the Hidden Leaf, Kiyoshi and the others obtained a vacation of about half a month. Ice's only requirement for them was to arrive at the Hidden Mist advance base located in the northern part of the Land of Bears before February 17th. The Hidden Mist would simultaneously land in the Land of Whirlpools on February 18th, the day the war broke out.
Rain, drizzling and falling incessantly.
Kiyoshi, having completed his mission and entered vacation mode, took off his mask, used a Transformation Technique, and began walking aimlessly in the Land of Rain. Last time, he had a mission and hadn't had time to properly see this country, which was quite similar to the Land of Water in terms of weather.
After the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Leaf Village pushed the battle lines back into the Land of Rain, the Land of Rain suffered terrible destruction in various senses.
Although not attacking civilians was a principle jointly observed by ninjas throughout the ninja world, there would always be some bastards who didn't care about this at all. Coupled with the fact that the battle range between ninjas wasn't small, it was easy to affect nearby villages and towns. Thus, the Land of Rain's nightmare descended.
Although the Hidden Rain Village had an invincible Salamander Hanzo, hailed as a demigod, his power was ultimately limited. He couldn't stop all the Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf ninjas who were wreaking havoc everywhere within the Land of Rain, let alone Black Zetsu and White Zetsu secretly and subtly adding to his difficulties.
By Hidden Mist Year 36, after more than a year of war, almost the entire Land of Rain had been devastated. Refugees were everywhere, and broken walls and ruins were everywhere.
The sky was gray and gloomy. Sunlight was extremely extravagant for the people of this country. Dark clouds were everywhere. Due to the weather or the war, the air was filled with an extremely oppressive atmosphere.
Kiyoshi stopped and looked up at the sky, saying silently in his heart, "This country is crying!"
Land of Rain, a dilapidated small town near the Land of Fire.
Two thin and weak figures hid in the shadows, their eyes filled with longing for the fragrant food emanating from the market not far away.
After a long while, the boy with orange hair turned his head and glanced at the girl shivering behind him, his gaze gradually becoming firm.
The girl had light purple hair. Although her clothes were tattered, her eyes were clear and moving, like a clear spring, making one feel怜悯. Despite the hardship of life, there was no resentment or despair in her eyes.
"Konan!" the boy called softly, his voice revealing a hint of weakness. He hadn't eaten for almost three days.
"Hmm!" After a long while, the girl nodded forcefully at the boy. She knew what the boy meant. Although she didn't want to, the two of them were about to starve to death.
...
...
...
The boy was very decisive. After the girl agreed, he immediately rushed towards the market not far away. Although this small town had been invaded and plundered by Hidden Leaf ninjas several times, there was no other way; they had to survive.
The boy constantly weaved through the various stalls in the market, his agile movements showing no sign of being a child who had been hungry for three days. All that could be seen was his longing to survive.
At this moment, a shout of reprimand came. The boy's petty theft had been discovered. Without bothering to see what food he had obtained, the boy tightly hugged their hope for survival and desperately fled with various agile movements.
Run faster, run faster!!!
The boy kept cheering himself up in his heart. He knew what he would face if he was caught. Even if he wasn't beaten to death, the food he had painstakingly gotten would be taken away. Although he had been very careful, taking only a very small amount from each stall, he had still been noticed.
"Yahiko!" Looking at the frantically fleeing boy, tears filled the girl's eyes. She had already begun to regret agreeing to the boy's actions just now.
The girl mustered her courage and was about to pick up a stone from the ground to throw at the stall owners chasing the boy when a very rhythmic sound of footsteps came from a distance. At the same time, an oppressive aura swept over. The stall owners who were chasing the boy, intimidated by the aura, couldn't help but stop and tremble as they looked towards the direction of the footsteps. They were very familiar with this aura. Another ninja had visited their small town.
"Tap... tap... tap..." The rhythmic footsteps came closer and closer.
The one who came was Kiyoshi, wandering everywhere in the Land of Rain. Following the guidance of fate, Kiyoshi had arrived here.
But the boy didn't care about so much, or rather, ignorance was bliss. Taking advantage of the fact that the chasing stall owners had stopped, he hurriedly grabbed the girl's hand and fled with her.
Although they lost some food while running away, the remaining amount was enough for the two of them to have a full meal with leftovers.
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