"As you've gathered, we operate as mercenary organizations based in hidden villages," Sakura explained first, deciding that if a peaceful resolution was possible, talking couldn't hurt. Since the other side wanted mutual understanding, engaging seemed reasonable. "Our villages hold power equivalent to that of the nations themselves."
"Villages of mercenaries?" Ranke looked at the three shinobi with surprise. "Equivalent to nations? Then why don't you simply replace them?"
"Because we essentially function as outsourced military power," Sakura said with a helpless shrug. "The Daimyo pay us, we provide military strength, but we aren't directly controlled by them. That's the status quo for most countries on the shinobi continent."
"Interesting," Ranke nodded. "I never imagined such a national structure existed."
"Now it's your turn," Sakura prompted. "What's the story with the Theocratic Nation, Naelkui, and this 'Ikarus' you mentioned?" Sakura felt it necessary to understand everything she could about these overseas powers. They possessed long-range seafaring capabilities; who knew when they might turn their attention to the shinobi continent? If it were just a matter of technology, based on what she'd seen, the major hidden villages could likely hold their own. But their ability to use the Stone of Gelel complicated things significantly.
"Naelkui was an empire that existed three hundred years ago. The Theocratic Nation was their enemy," Ranke stated, pausing briefly. "And we… we are the revolution."
"Revolution?" Sakura looked at Ranke with fresh surprise. This overseas faction was certainly full of twists.
"Yes. Or perhaps you could call us revolutionaries," Ranke said nonchalantly, fiddling with a lock of her long hair. "Three hundred years ago, the Naelkui Empire used the Stone of Gelel to rule the Red Continent..."
"Wait!" Sakura suddenly cut Ranke off. "Where did you say? The Red Continent?"
"Yes. Why? Have you heard of it?" Ranke didn't seem bothered by the interruption, looking perplexed by Sakura's shocked expression.
"No. Please, continue," Sakura said, forcing herself to regain composure and pushing aside her internal questions for now. Red Continent? Back on Red Island, Chief Soga had mentioned that their island had broken off from a 'Red Continent' a thousand years ago. Could Ranke be talking about the same place? Or was it just a coincidence, a similar name…?
Ranke gave Sakura a long, searching look before continuing. "The Naelkui Empire used the Stone of Gelel to dominate the Red Continent. Their harsh laws and exploitation of the common people eventually gave rise to an opposing force – the Theocratic Nation."
"Many opposed Naelkui – commoners, farmers, merchants, people from all walks of life. The Theocratic Nation grew rapidly, leading to a long period of war. Ultimately, Naelkui was destroyed by the Theocratic Nation, which then took its place, ruling over the Red Continent."
"And what about you?" Sakura asked instinctively.
"Be patient," Ranke said, licking her lips. "The Theocratic Nation began its rule, which lasted three hundred years. But like any ruling class, they eventually succumbed to corruption. They inherited everything from Naelkui, including their methods. The Theocratic Nation used the Stone of Gelel to perform many cruel experiments on the populace. And so, we arose – Ikarus. Most of us here are victims of the Theocratic Nation's persecution. We gathered around our master to create the Ideal Nation."
"Is that so? And everyone besides you and your master has been turned into those mindless soldiers outside, I suppose," Sakura scoffed coldly.
Ranke shook her head, a flicker of regret in her expression. "They wouldn't have lived much longer anyway. Those contaminated by the Stone of Gelel die quickly. We are simply allowing them to make one final contribution to the Ideal Nation."
"Contamination?" Sakura frowned. "What does that mean?"
"While the Stone of Gelel grants incredible power, using it comes at a price," Ranke said, her gaze shifting away from Sakura towards the window. "People who have long-term contact with the Stone of Gelel are stripped of their emotions, thoughts, and memories. As time passes, their entire bodies naturally disintegrate."
"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Ranke stared out the window, her expression a mixture of pain and barely suppressed fury. "The Stone of Gelel doesn't just appear out of nowhere. It's a crystalline substance processed from a certain type of ore. The first person to refine it was named Gelel, hence the stone's name."
"Processing the Stone of Gelel requires manual labor. The Theocratic Nation was originally born partly out of rebellion against Naelkui forcibly conscripting commoners for this very task. And yet, in the end… the Theocratic Nation went down the same path as Naelkui. My parents… they were conscripted, forced into prolonged contact with the Stone. They just… dissolved. Skin, muscle, organs, bone… as if they had never existed…" Ranke's voice seemed choked, and her eyes grew moist.
"So you're no different from the Theocratic Nation, just using victims to create soldiers instead," Sakura finished Ranke's thought bluntly.
Sakura maintained a calm facade, but inwardly, her thoughts churned. The side effects Ranke described – the disintegration, the loss of emotion and memory – sounded disturbingly similar to two strange experiences she'd had: one after returning from Red Island, and another after her duel with Hanzo.
After the Red Island mission, she'd had a dream where she existed as pure consciousness in a forest, without a physical body. Upon waking, her emotions had felt strangely muted for a time, though her memories remained intact.
The second time was during her coma after fighting Hanzo. Another dream, another forest, again existing only as consciousness, without form. That experience had been even more intense than the first. When she woke, her emotions had felt temporarily stripped away again, and her memories were fragmented, leaving her passively receiving external information.
She hadn't dwelled on those bizarre incidents, dismissing them as isolated occurrences with no lasting ill effects. But Ranke's words now brought them sharply back to mind. Could there be some connection…?
"Those people were already dying, victims of the Theocratic Nation's atrocities! They would have disintegrated anyway!" Ranke retorted, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She turned back to face Sakura directly. "The Theocratic Nation only fell two years ago! There are still many victims like them. To build the Ideal Nation, what's wrong with allowing them to contribute their last remaining strength? Besides, they consented."
As if they could disagree when they barely have minds left, Sakura thought cynically. Just taking orders, believing whatever you tell them. It figures. Where you stand depends on where you sit. When victims become perpetrators, their hypocrisy often runs deeper.
"Then why can you use this power without suffering the side effects?" Sakura asked aloud.
"I can't use it," Ranke replied flatly.
"But when I attacked you… wasn't that the Power of Gelel you used? You even said afterwards that you used it," Sakura pressed, confused. She was sure she remembered correctly.
"Hehe," Ranke chuckled lightly, spreading her hands in a placating gesture. "When I said we can use the Power of Gelel, I meant Ikarus can utilize it. I never said I personally could! As for the power I used against your attack… I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about that."
Liar! Absolute liar! Sakura could practically see the falsehood in the woman's eyes. Just like the old sayings went – the prettier the woman, the better the liar. Karin had already sensed the unique energy emanating from Ranke herself. Anyone else might have been fooled, but this evasion told Sakura something important: the Power of Gelel was common knowledge among them, like Chakra was in the shinobi world, but its specific applications and personal abilities were guarded secrets, like specific jutsu.
Ding-dong.
The elevator on the other side of the room chimed, and the aroma of cooked food wafted out.
"Let's eat," Ranke said, rising from the sofa and walking towards a large dining table.
Sakura eyed the delicious-looking dishes being laid out by servants, swallowing hard. She hadn't eaten anything since morning and was indeed hungry.
Grrrrowl~~~ Karin's stomach rumbled loudly. Even Neji looked tempted. However, none of the three moved. Clearly, none of them shared Naruto's straightforward, charge-ahead approach to food. Naruto probably would have been digging in already.
"Relax, the food isn't poisoned. I'll be eating with you," Ranke stated, directly addressing the unspoken concern hanging in the air.
Hearing this, Sakura nodded to Karin and Neji. "Let's eat. We'll need our strength, whether we end up fighting or not."
Karin and Neji followed Sakura to the table, and the three took their seats.
"Speaking of which," Ranke said, taking a delicate sip of red wine, "shouldn't you tell me what power you use?"
"Chakra," Sakura replied while sampling the food. It had a completely different flavor profile from anything on the shinobi continent, but it was quite tasty. "We call it Chakra. It's an energy we cultivate through training."
"Chakra," Ranke murmured thoughtfully, not pressing further.
After they had eaten their fill, Ranke addressed the trio. "You can rest here for a while." Without waiting for a response, she turned, entered the elevator, and vanished.
"What do we do now?" Neji asked once Ranke was gone. As a team member, he had remained silent throughout the exchange, partly because the situation was beyond his experience, and partly because seeing Sakura come to rescue them had solidified his acceptance of her leadership role on this mission (even though Sakura's primary motivation had been Karin, Neji wasn't aware of that nuance).
"For now, we rest and recover our strength," Sakura said, gazing out the window at the endless ocean. "Unless our safety is directly threatened, we should avoid confrontation."
As things stood, they needed Ikarus to get back home. Sakura doubted they could simply walk on water all the way back to the shinobi continent. Currently, they had no direct conflict with Ikarus; their goal was the Naelkui legacy. As for their interest in Chakra… well, that was potentially beneficial. Chakra users were commonplace back home. As long as they didn't provoke Ikarus, they likely wouldn't be harmed.
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