Ryosuke gave the survivors three choices. How to choose depended on their own judgment.
The survivors gathered together, whispering among themselves.
Ryosuke did not participate. He lifted a cup of hot tea from the dining table, sat by the window, and checked the battle gains from before.
Killing Fuguki Suikazan earned him 450 soul fragments. Adding the scattered Mist Village ninjas he took down, Ryosuke had gained a total of 570 soul fragments.
Once again, Ryosuke sighed, 'Killing well-known ninjas sure earned soul fragments quickly.'
After spending 400 points to upgrade Aerosmith, expanding its reconnaissance range and attack firepower, Ryosuke now had 310 soul fragments left.
Thirty draws probably wouldn't get him a five-star Stand. Even getting a four-star would be hard. Ryosuke decided to save up more, and only draw again once he had sixty pulls.
The second gain was Samehada.
This was a living weapon. Although in Ryosuke's hands it pretended to be a lump of metal, motionless, Ryosuke, who had mastered the Ripple Breathing Technique, could clearly feel the flow of "energy" inside it.
Samehada was a great blade, but it wasn't suitable for Ryosuke.
Injecting even a bit of Ripple into it made Samehada scream. Steam would rise from the blade, like it was about to be cooked.
Ryosuke planned to study how to use it. If it really didn't work, he'd just hand it to Star Platinum as a club, it could at least extend attack range.
The third gain was fame.
The minor battle during his escape from Konoha, where Itachi and Kakashi didn't die, when that got out, at most people would say Ryosuke escaped from their hands.
But killing Fuguki Suikazan one-on-one? That was something else entirely.
Ryosuke's name exploded in fame. It was only a matter of time before bounty hunters started aiming for his head.
As for that, Ryosuke's attitude was, 'bring it on.'
Soul fragments delivered to the door, how could he refuse them?
Thinking of that, Ryosuke made plans for the future.
Once the survivors were settled, he'd look for a skilled swordsmith. With Ripple as the core, he'd reconstruct Samehada.
Along the way, he would keep killing bounty hunters who came for him, collecting soul fragments, and then drawing Stands.
After escaping from Konoha, through this chain of hunts and battles, Ryosuke had become increasingly clear on the combat style of the Naruto world, and increasingly fearful of his first fight with Uchiha Itachi.
Genjutsu.
That was Ryosuke's greatest weakness.
For mid- and long-range ninjutsu, Ryosuke could still rely on Star Platinum's fast movement or Aerosmith's bullets to try and respond.
But once caught in Genjutsu, Ryosuke had a hard time getting out.
Always depending on Star Platinum to "poke" himself awake, this method only worked against basic illusions.
Against Itachi, Yūhi Kurenai, and other Genjutsu specialists, in a one-on-one with no teammates, it was nearly impossible to break free.
After killing Fuguki, Ryosuke's battle style was no longer a secret. Enemies would definitely start targeting his weakness.
Ryosuke had to find a way to draw a Stand that could resist illusions, or at least had autonomous movement, so even if he got caught in Genjutsu, it could help him fight back.
"The road ahead is still long." Ryosuke sighed and took a sip of the hot tea.
———
The cruise ship sailed on, stopping from time to time, with people disembarking now and then.
Before they left, Ryosuke took valuable things from the ship and gave them as travel funds.
The survivors bowed respectfully to Ryosuke, then departed on unknown, anxious journeys.
Rei stared blankly at the sea horizon. Ever since her mother died, she seemed soulless, barely said a word for hours.
Instead, the usually aloof Sasuke was now circling around Rei, occasionally performing ninjutsu or breathing techniques to grab her attention and keep her from sinking into grief.
Feeling Ryosuke's gaze, Rei slowly stood up, lowered her head, and came to Ryosuke, "Brother Ryosuke… do I have to go too…"
Ryosuke looked at Rei, then glanced at Sasuke's worried face. He reached out, took an orange from his chest, and handed it to Rei.
"Are you willing to come with me? It might be dangerous."
Rei took the orange, her eyes turning red, and nodded hard.
Her mother was dead. Her father had passed long ago. When the Mist ninja captured them, they killed her grandfather.
Rei had lost all her family.
"Then come with me."
Four hundred people, Ryosuke couldn't protect them all.
One little kid, he could still handle that.
In this vast world, for the two of them to meet again, perhaps it was fate written by the heavens.
Fewer and fewer people remained on the ship, until the final group, those who decided to build a village.
This last group was about 160 people, men and women. They stood before Ryosuke.
The leader stepped forward, bowed ninety degrees, and spoke loudly, "My lord, we have no way to repay your life-saving grace. If you ever need us in the future, please give the word. Though we're not ninja, we still have strength to help you."
Ryosuke patted his shoulder, met the gazes of the survivors, "Safe travels."
They departed, holding the map Ryosuke had drawn, heading toward a barren land to start their own village.
Now only Ryosuke, Sasuke, and Rei remained on the ship.
Sasuke leaned on the railing. The once-lively ship was suddenly quiet, he felt a hollow emptiness.
"Will they… succeed?"
"They definitely will."
Ryosuke looked at the backs of the survivors disappearing into the forest, "People… can't be unlucky forever."
———
Fuguki Suikazan, dead in battle.
The sword Samehada, taken.
The Fourth Mizukage, selling his country's people.
Each one of these, taken alone, was a world-shaking scandal for the Land of Water. Together, they were like a nationwide earthquake.
Especially that last one.
Years ago, before ninja villages even existed, ninja operated as family-based mercenaries.
Anyone who's ever worked knows how unreliable outsourcing and temp labor can be.
Back then, a daimyo only needed to pay a little money to hire ninjas to kill each other.
Later, under the guidance of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, the ninja villages were established. Tailed beasts were distributed, treaties were signed with the daimyos, and the system changed from outsourcing to a one-on-one responsibility system between country and village.
For the first time, ninjas had a formal system.
The Mist Village, having enjoyed the benefits of that system, the Land of Water's resources, budget, and official legitimacy, was now expected to fulfill its corresponding duties.
To protect the country. To defend its people.
This was the most basic duty of a ninja village, and the foundation of its existence.
———
Now, the Fourth Mizukage had broken that core treaty, broken that trust.
The daimyo of the Land of Water urgently summoned the Fourth Mizukage, directly questioned him, and demanded accountability.
Mei Terumi waited outside the meeting building, arms folded.
At this time, she was just past twenty, full of youthful charm, her features lively and beautiful, with the energy of a young girl.
Beside her was her old teammate Ao, wearing a single-eyed eyepatch. Beneath it was a Byakugan he had claimed from the battlefield.
"What do you think the daimyo and Lord Yagura are discussing?" Ao asked.
"Will Lord Yagura… be removed?"
Mei Terumi said, "Don't you have a Byakugan? Just look at their lips and you'll know."
Ao scowled, "How could I use a ninja technique on Lord Mizukage and the daimyo?"
Mei Terumi shrugged. She always thought her old teammate was too rigid.
She leaned against the wall, avoiding the scorching sun, "It's just mutual compromise and benefit exchange, nothing more."
The daimyo of the Land of Water was indeed furious.
But not because Yagura sold citizens like livestock.
He was angry because this kind of incident, which would stir public outrage and shake his rule, why did it leak out?
He was angry because Yagura made money and didn't share it with him?
Ao was stunned, "You think… they'll split the loot?"
"Don't make it sound so dirty. With those two, how can it be called splitting loot? It's sharing profits."
Mei Terumi snorted, "Probably a 30/70 split."
Ao was stunned, "Lord Yagura only gets 30%?"
Mei Terumi smirked, "The 70%... that's the daimyo's."
Ao couldn't understand. Putting aside right or wrong, Yagura caught people, built the trafficking network, did all the dirty work, and only got 30%?
And even that 30% depended on the daimyo's mood?
Lord Yagura was basically begging?
If even the Mizukage had to beg, then what were they, his subordinates?
Ao felt a mix of emotions and went silent.
After a moment, Mei Terumi spoke again, "That man called Uchiha Ryosuke, according to intel, he abandoned the Uchiha name and now calls himself just Ryosuke… what exactly is his purpose? Rescuing 400 people from cages, killing Fuguki Suikazan?"
'Was it Konoha pulling strings behind the scenes?'
'A connection to some other organization? Or a personal vendetta against Yagura and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?'
Ao thought for a moment and said, "Couldn't it just be… he wanted to save people?"
Mei Terumi looked up at the clouds rolling across the sky.
Was there really someone so simple in this world?
Creak!
Two large wooden doors slowly opened. The daimyo of the Land of Water gently fanned himself, lifted his chin, half-squinted his eyes, nodded lazily and arrogantly to the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, then stepped into his palanquin and left.
Yagura was handsome, short, and thin, like a young teen. It was hard to connect him to the infamous perpetrator of the Bloody Mist.
He looked down at the gathered ninjas.
"Mei Terumi."
Mei Terumi strode up the stairs, stood before Yagura, and knelt on one knee.
The doors behind them closed with a creak, leaving only the two of them inside.
"Lord Mizukage."
"I assign you a secret mission, go kill Ryosuke."
"Huh? Me?"
"Is there a problem?"
Mei Terumi's eyes flickered. She responded, "No. I accept the order."
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