[Naruto, Anime Timeline]
By the sea, a household of ordinary fishermen.
A husband of about thirty years old, dressed in coarse hemp clothing, was leaning against the front of the house with a face full of worry, looking at his young son playing and frolicking by the sea not far away.
Yesterday, he went out to sea to fish and accidentally got caught in a storm. Although he luckily escaped with his life, the fishing boat sank into the ocean.
That was the tool his entire family relied on to eat, how could it be lost?
Now that it was lost, what should he do?
At this moment, he fell into deep entanglement.
The expensive price quoted by the shipyard made it impossible for him to afford a new boat. As for making one himself, even the simplest small boat.
Sorry, that was also not allowed.
This sea area had long been monopolized by the wealthy merchants behind the shipyard. They set the rules and standards, not allowing privately-made boats to sail at sea. One must uniformly use the style from their company.
If the patrol team from the shipyard discovered someone sailing a private boat, not only would the boat be confiscated, but they would also face a heavy fine, an amount even higher than buying a new boat.
The man didn't know what to do anymore.
If he couldn't go out to sea, he couldn't make money to support his wife and son.
Although his livelihood on the sea was already very bitter, with all kinds of checkpoints where fishermen had to pay a toll at each one, such layers of exploitation meant that even with a boat full of fish, what was left in hand was not much.
But no matter how bitter or tiring, at least they could still live, right?
And now?
To go out to sea and fish, he needed a boat, but to buy a new boat, he needed to go out to sea and fish to earn money.
Everything seemed to have fallen into a dead cycle...
At this time, the man's wife also came out, face full of worry, and came to his side, anxiously saying, "There's no more rice at home, hurry and think of a solution."
The man's eyes were lifeless, "I know, I understand, you've said it many times already, but I have no way, don't push me."
The woman gave a bitter laugh, "Forget it, we can't let our son go hungry, if not, I'll go sell myself."
"Smack!", The man slapped the woman, roaring, "Don't you dare, you're not allowed to go anywhere, stay at home. I'll handle everything else."
At this moment, the man seemed to be making some kind of decision.
The woman covered her face, shouting, "What's the difference? You want to go sign that slave contract from the shipyard, the one that requires you to hand over ninety-nine percent of your catch."
"How is that different from me selling myself? If I go sell myself, at least our family still has a future. But if you go, there's no future at all!"
The man looked pained, suddenly hugging his head and sobbing.
"Stop saying it. It's all my fault. As a man, I can't even protect you both."
At this moment, the little boy who had been playing by the sea had unknowingly run back.
His face was full of confusion, he didn't understand why Dad and Mom were fighting again?
He only pointed toward the sea and said, "Look, there are so many big boats coming over from there."
The couple's attention was immediately drawn, and they couldn't help but look in the direction their son pointed.
Then, they saw in the distant ocean, many densely packed black dots, it was a fleet of large ships riding the wind and waves.
These large ships were heading toward the nearby coast, soon revealing their fierce and domineering hulls.
The man saw this and couldn't help but feel envious. If only he had one of those ships too...
He saw that the sails on these ships were all flying a flag—a flag with one big word on it, the large word "忍" ("Nin" / "Shinobi").
Usually, the shipyard's patrol boats, so arrogant and domineering, immediately kept their distance from these large ships, not daring to get close at all.
The husband gave a bitter laugh and mocked himself, "So the rules set by the shipyard merchants only apply to people like us."
"I thought that in this sea area, as long as it's not their ships, they would board and fine whoever they wanted."
The wife rolled her eyes at the husband, saying angrily, "Just by looking, you can tell these are from the Five Great Nations. How would they dare touch them? So many ships,.looks like there's going to be war again."
The husband muttered, "Yeah... war again. I wonder if food prices will go up again. If the Five Great Nations are so mighty, why don't they manage our lives on regular days?"
The wife fell silent for a moment, then finally said, "We are just ants. They never set their eyes on us."
"Even if they see and hear our stories, they'll pretend like they didn't."
The husband's expression instantly turned indignant, "War? Let them fight if they want to. Best they all die, including the shipyard merchants!"
At this moment, the child beside them clutched his belly and innocently looked at his parents, "Dad, Mom, I didn't eat breakfast. I'm hungry."
Immediately, the two of them no longer cared about those ships.
Survival was all that remained in front of their eyes...
———
[Meanwhile, Inside an Unknown Dark Cave]
Yakushi Kabuto was staring with satisfaction at several coffins laid out before him. The coffin lids were already open, revealing the true faces of the people inside.
They were members of Akatsuki. In the past, each of these people was a top-tier powerhouse in the shinobi world.
This batch of Edo Tensei resurrected products was Kabuto's most satisfying creation apart from Uchiha Madara.
He whispered, "I wonder what Obito is doing, so many days have passed without contact."
"And once war starts, it won't stop. It's about time to send you all onto the stage."
After speaking, he was about to awaken this batch of people. However, at that moment, the space beside Kabuto twisted, and three figures appeared.
One was Uchiha Obito. The other two were small in stature like children, and both wore white masks.
Kabuto saw this, pushed up his glasses, and said, "You've finally come."
The small masked Obito asked curiously, "As a sage, do you really still need those glasses?"
Kabuto's eyes flashed.
"Of course I do. Thank you for the gift you gave me. It's the best present I've received recently, even better than what Lord Orochimaru gave me."
The Young Obito spoke, "As long as you like it. We came to check how things are going on your side. Didn't expect to see so many familiar faces."
Kabuto looked at the Edo Tensei Akatsuki squad beside him and couldn't help but sigh, "Back then, they always operated in pairs, yet there was no trust between them. It was full of loneliness."
"And now after death, at this moment, they've all gathered together."
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