"Put away your weapons. Turn the ship around, head for the Land of Whirlpools." Terumi Mei decisively gave the order.
"Yes."
"I do not want to see too many people on the deck." Ryun looked coldly at the group of Kiri ninja before him.
"Everyone, into the ship's cabins." Terumi Mei commanded again.
Ryun said, "My wife is a little hungry."
Hearing this, Terumi Mei bit her lip. "Fine, I will prepare food and wine for you, sir."
Ryun said, "My legs are a bit sore."
Terumi Mei gritted her teeth and remained silent.
"Who was it that said they would send us comfortably to the Land of Whirlpools? I really hate people who go back on their word." Ryun subconsciously frowned.
"Fine. I will massage your legs, sir." Terumi Mei said, her eyes red with humiliation.
Kushina said, "Huh."
"Never mind. Go massage my wife's shoulders instead. She just slept for a few hours, her back and waist are probably sore now." Ryun drank his wine, looking helpless.
"Was it really that bad, carrying me for a while, walking a bit further? Stop being so sarcastic."
"And you dare let another woman massage your legs? Do you believe I will teach you a lesson?" Kushina glared at him threateningly. She still remembered him saying her face was big earlier.
Watching the two of them banter affectionately, Terumi Mei felt a strange discomfort in her heart. She did not understand why such a powerful, dominant man would allow his woman to be so presumptuous. Not only was he not angry, he doted on her so much.
'Is this love.'
On the deck, Terumi Mei, having been force fed this display of affection, first felt a bit envious, but gradually, she began to feel jealous.
It was not like that red head was much prettier than her. How did she get so lucky? Someone carries her when going out, someone accompanies her to visit graves, someone even feeds her when she eats.
They were both women. They both had beautiful long hair reaching their waists. They both had long legs, slim waists, and ample chests. Why did that red head get such a man, while she, Terumi Mei, remained single?
Time passed quickly. The troop transport ship sailed much faster than a regular ferry. The group soon reached the waters near the Land of Whirlpools. Finally, they traveled up a large river towards the original site of Uzushiogakure.
"Leader."
Inside the ship's cabin, an older jonin sought out Terumi Mei.
"What is it?" Terumi Mei lowered her head and asked quietly.
The jonin did not speak. Instead, he took out paper and pen and wrote a line in front of everyone. "I do not think he will let us go easily."
Seeing this, Terumi Mei was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously pointed towards the deck outside. The jonin nodded clearly.
Terumi Mei was silent for a moment, then her lips moved, forming silent words. "Reason?"
The jonin quickly wrote on the paper.
"I participated in the battle that destroyed Uzushiogakure. That red haired woman is clearly of the Uzumaki clan. Their purpose for this trip is to visit the graves at Uzushiogakure. We might have walked right into their sights."
The more this jonin thought about it, the more afraid he became, and the more he felt this was possible.
He was not the only one on this ship who had participated in the destruction of Uzushiogakure. Many citizens of the Land of Whirlpools had died by their hands.
The common modus operandi for ninja was burning, killing, and looting. They typically left no survivors wherever they went.
When he saw that red haired woman tonight, he felt very panicked. Although Kushina clearly did not recognize them as among the perpetrators, the way Ryun looked at them was terrifying. It felt like they were already dead in his eyes.
After reading the words written by this jonin, Terumi Mei's face instantly became extremely grim.
"Should we fight him?" This was another sentence the jonin wrote.
Terumi Mei immediately shook her head with a serious expression. She used silent speech to say, "Fight, and we die."
After saying this, she took the paper and pen and wrote.
"I cannot gamble on whether he will kill us or not. Right now, the ship has just left the open sea. We should evacuate this ship in groups. As many as can escape should escape first. After abandoning the ship, regroup in the Land of Waves."
"Jonin leave first, then chunin, then genin. The ship's crew and I will stay until."
Before Terumi Mei could finish writing this sentence, everyone saw her suddenly stop her pen.
After three seconds of silence, she completely erased that sentence and then wrote. "The younger ones escape first. The older ones stay until the end."
Once these words were written, everyone looked at each other somewhat bewildered.
"Follow orders. Have people jump from the stern. I will go outside to stabilize those two. You all, escape now."
After saying this, Terumi Mei did not wait for everyone's reaction. She took a deep breath, calmed her emotions, and decisively walked out of the cabin.
"Nana."
On the deck, Ryun called out softly.
"Huh?" Kushina lifted her head from his embrace, puzzled.
"The ninja who slaughtered your village back then, do you remember what headbands they wore?" Ryun asked with a serious expression.
Hearing this, Kushina's face froze, then she began to recall that terrifying, bloody memory.
"They did not wear headbands. But some ninja had serrated teeth, some had dark skin."
"Serrated teeth represent Kirigakure. Dark skin is more common in Kumogakure."
"Anything else? For example, short ninja in red vests? Or ninja dressed like beggars with cloth wrapped around their heads? Or any familiar Konoha ninja?"
Ryun asked unhurriedly.
Not far away, Terumi Mei, who heard these words, instantly had a drastic change in expression. Goosebumps and cold sweat broke out uncontrollably all over her body again.
"I was very scared back then. My mother hid me in a cellar and went to lure the enemies away. Those are the only features of those beasts I could see. I do not know any more than that." Kushina shook her head and said truthfully.
After saying this, her face also could not help but turn a few shades paler, showing how great the psychological shadow from her childhood was.
Hearing this, Ryun's eyes showed contemplation, then he reached out his arm and pulled Kushina back into his embrace.
"Since we have come to this Land of Whirlpools, and we cannot bring proper offerings for the memorial, let us use these Kiri ninja as living sacrifices. It can be considered a token of my heartfelt intention from me, a son-in-law of the Uzumaki."
As Ryun spoke, a group of young Kirigakure ninja had already jumped into the large river. After landing, they did not dare to pause for even a moment. They picked a direction and ran for their lives.
When she heard Ryun intended to use them as living sacrifices, any hope in Terumi Mei's heart vanished. The next moment, she quickly formed hand signs and used her Kekkei Genkai.
"Lava Style: Dissolving Jutsu."
A massive amount of viscous, strong acid was spat from Terumi Mei's mouth, instantly forming a sky-covering, sun-blocking formation that pressed down upon the two people on the deck.
Seeing Terumi Mei's attack coming, Ryun did not even bother to dodge. The two were easily completely covered by the large amount of acid.
"Run."
Terumi Mei suddenly shouted loudly. Everyone from Kirigakure inside the cabin was startled by this loud cry.
After giving this final command, Terumi Mei decisively used the Body Flicker Technique to jump off the ship. Then she rapidly fled at high speed towards the direction of the Land of Waves.
Right after using her jutsu, at the last moment, she saw black flames erupting from beneath the thick acid. Immediately after, she saw a huge object forcefully pushing open her acid.
She had no time to see what that thing was. Her mind, besides reminding her companions in the cabin to escape, was occupied only with how to flee quickly.
After she had run a short distance and looked back, she saw a giant, semi bodily demon god silently standing on the large river, its hands continuously forming seals without pause.
As the Susanoo's hand seals were formed, the surrounding large area of river water was instantly and forcibly drawn towards it.
Terumi Mei, straining her body to its limits, forcibly used multiple Body Flicker Techniques in succession. She quickly overtook the first group of young ones who had jumped ship. The small group scrambled desperately to flee forward for their lives.
Behind them, the river water reached a height of a hundred meters in an instant, and the terrifying water level was still rising rapidly. The original large ship seemed to have turned into a small leaf on the water. The vast flood, carrying the ship and several dozen Kiri ninja, rushed straight towards a desolate graveyard.
That place was precisely the old site of Uzushiogakure.
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