After walking a few steps, Iwamine turned her head slightly to look at the blind old man who followed.
"You're coming too?"
The blind old man's exact name was unknown, it seemed his name had a "city" character in it, so people just called him City Blind.
"Of course I'm coming."
City Blind pointed at his eyes, "My eyes are blind, but my ears still work. You need a sensory-type ninja."
He really was a sensory-type ninja, with excellent ability.
It was just that in his younger years, someone stabbed his eyes blind, and later his ninja village drove him out, leaving him to wander until now.
After leaving the village, in order to find someone to take care of his daily life, City Blind spent two hundred bucks to buy himself an ugly wife.
In his words, since he couldn't see anyway, the uglier the more cost-effective.
Iwamine nodded.
Tonight everyone's life hung by a thread. As long as one had made the resolve, she wouldn't reject their help.
The operation began.
One by one, cloaked figures walked through the underground pipes, following the plan to stick explosive tags at designated spots, and one by one, explosions thundered through the underground space.
The explosions weren't large in scale. Iwamine had no intention of causing a massive terrorist attack, she only made sure just enough of the barrier's markings were damaged at key points.
"They're moving."
Iwamine, City Blind, and three other ninja and samurai teammates hid in the shadows, under the protection of ninjutsu, avoiding the search of rushing samurai.
Those samurai hurried straight toward the direction of the explosions.
After they left, Iwamine shed her concealment, looking at their distant backs and said, "Looks like we guessed right. This barrier and its managers were all set up in a hurry."
Samurai managing barriers, this itself didn't make sense.
Besides, if the barrier had been arranged long ago, they could have buried it completely underground during the road construction. Using the underground pipeline "wiring" method like now was abnormal.
The group kept circling around patrol samurai, heading toward the core area.
In the silence, City Blind suddenly spoke, "Teacher Iwamine, Kirigakure… is it really that good?"
"Of course."
Iwamine said seriously, "I found 'happiness' there."
Hearing this, the others became interested.
"Teacher Iwamine, what is your 'happiness'?"
"My happiness…"
Iwamine was silent for a moment, then smiled gently, "Maybe it's being able to help more people."
City Blind shrugged, "My 'happiness' isn't that lofty."
"My greatest dream used to be finding a Uchiha, and swapping for a pair of Sharingan."
"Then I could carefully see what kind of state my ugly wife at home was ugly in."
"And now?"
"Of course it's broken."
City Blind said, "After hearing Uchiha got exterminated, I cried for three days... watch out!"
Three hidden ninjas leapt from the shadows. Thanks to City Blind's warning, the group had braced themselves early, and finally managed to kill them.
But when they saw the forehead protectors of the attacking ninjas, everyone froze.
"Never seen this symbol before… what village is this?"
City Blind took the forehead protector, his calloused hands felt over it, and gave the answer, "Sky Ninja Village."
"You young ones probably never heard of it. A small village that basically disappeared back in the Second Shinobi World War… didn't expect Gorin City to be tied with Sky Ninja Village."
Saying this, City Blind crouched down, feeling over the body of the Sky Ninja. Soon he fished out a small stone-carved pendant, his wrinkled face showing a smile, "My ugly wife loves these little trinkets."
They pressed on. The deeper they went, the more enemies they met. Even with companions doing their best to draw away attention, casualties still grew out of control.
One by one, teammates fell under the blades of the Sky Ninja troops.
At the end, only Iwamine and City Blind were left. But their sacrifices weren't meaningless, they had reached the barrier's core.
A thick, overwhelming stench surged from the core.
All the negative emotions of the city, gathered here by the barrier, were pouring out.
What should have been imaginary emotions, under extreme concentration, had been given form, flowing like semi-transparent, murky black water.
Countless streams of black water poured into a massive pit, running down the pipes below, flowing to unknown places.
"This is the barrier's function."
City Blind couldn't see, but under sensory ninjutsu he could clearly perceive just how terrifying this torrent of negative emotions was.
"Just like mining ores or oil, they're mining us, for our 'emotions'!"
"But… why?" City Blind couldn't understand.
Ore was material, oil was energy.
What use were negative emotions?
Surely those pot-bellied officials hadn't really invented some kind of 'new energy'?
"No matter what it is, it's not a good thing."
Iwamine pulled a camera from her backpack, snapping over a dozen shots.
This was the barrier's core, the inscriptions were clearest here, enough to serve as evidence proving what was happening beneath Gorin City.
Beep! Beep!
A shrill alarm rang out.
About thirty Sky Ninja troops burst from side corridors.
In their hands were searchlights, beams of harsh light falling onto Iwamine and City Blind.
"Damn! We're screwed!"
City Blind cursed, but his hands were quick, drawing a kunai to fight.
Suddenly, something was shoved into his arms.
A camera.
"Go."
Iwamine said, then turned to charge at the barrier's core.
City Blind understood her meaning.
Against thirty flying enemies, if they both tried to run, they wouldn't escape. Someone had to attack the formation's core that the Sky Ninja troops valued most.
A diversion.
As a scout and sensor, plus blind, City Blind wasn't as suited for combat as Iwamine, who carried four discs able to swap out different ninjutsu, almost like a mini Kakuzu.
Rationally, it made more sense for Yasuko to hold them off and City Blind to escape.
But City Blind knew, this choice had nothing to do with rationality.
Before rushing toward the enemy, he heard Iwamine's whisper,
"Go back. Your wife is still waiting for you to come home."
City Blind bit his lip hard, clutching the camera, sprinting out while shouting, "Boss lady! On holidays, I'll lead everyone to honor you at the shrine!"
Iwamine's lips curled into a smile.
She grabbed her cloak, lifted it high, and amidst the Sky Ninja's encirclement, her slender figure leapt and dodged, finally reaching the barrier's core above the pit.
She flung out her backpack. Inside, it was filled with explosive tags, enough to blast the barrier sky-high.
"Explode!"
The blast's shockwave and flames shattered the barrier, spreading out, like a fiery fist smashing the ground, erupting into the sky.
"Bastard!"
The Sky Ninja soldiers roared. From their waists they drew kunai, dozens flying at her like rain.
But she… didn't care anymore.
The people of this city would know the truth. Whether Sunagakure, Kirigakure, or Ryosuke himself… filth was still filth. Once exposed under sunlight, there would always be someone diligent enough to step in and clean it.
Through the cracked ground, a beam of moonlight fell.
Looking at the moon, Iwamine suddenly recalled the earlier conversation with her squad.
She had lied.
Her happiest moment wasn't helping others. It was that night, in her tavern, clinking glasses with Ryosuke, hearing him call her "Teacher Iwamine."
How she wished… she could hear it once more.
"Teacher Iwamine!"
The voice seemed to come from heaven.
"Do people hear hallucinations when they die?"
Iwamine slowly closed her eyes.
She didn't want to see herself pierced by kunai.
"Teacher Iwamine!"
Ryosuke roared.
Iwamine opened her eyes. From the cracks in the earth, Ryosuke's figure appeared as if by magic.
He was breathing hard.
Ryosuke had long sensed faint tremors underground. After tracking them, he learned of Yasuko's plan.
But to avoid exposure, those drawing attention on the outside didn't know where the core area was.
Ryosuke had to search slowly. Finally, the barrier-shattering explosion pinpointed the exact spot, letting him activate time-stop and arrive immediately.
The Hermit's purple tendrils shot out, blocking all the kunai, then wrapping tightly around Iwamine.
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
Suddenly, torrents of murky black water surged from the broken barrier, swallowing Yasuko, pouring endless negative emotions into her mind through her skin.
Her vision was slowly covered by darkness.
But through the translucent filth, she smiled sweetly at Ryosuke.
Just like when they first met.
"Goodbye, Mister Ryosuke."
Iwamine whispered.
Rip!
A hand pierced the foul water, golden flames burning away the darkness, dispelling all the negative emotions.
Ryosuke reached out to her, "No goodbyes."
"I came to take you home."
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