436 The Shimura Has Ice Release

A village somewhere in the Land of Water.

Like many other villages, the people here worked various jobs, paid sufficient taxes to the government during harvest season, and lived on whatever crops remained.

The village's location wasn't far from Kirigakure, so every now and then, ninjas could be seen nearby.

The villagers naturally showed no friendliness toward ninjas.

During the hours when all the villagers went out to work, only one household had no intention of going outside.

This household had only two people: Takeshi and his mother.

Looking at his mother lying on the sickbed, Takeshi was extremely worried. In a world where only ninjas and nobles could obtain resources, he didn't know how an ordinary civilian like him was supposed to treat his mother's illness.

All he could do was take the last bit of money from home and walk to the city to buy medicine according to the prescription the doctor had written.

The villagers could only watch the small figure go back and forth between the city and the village.

They had no intention of helping, not only because Takeshi and his mother were outsiders, but also because his mother had always been withdrawn and rarely interacted with others in the village.

"Takeshi..."

On the sickbed, Takeshi's mother softly called his name as she watched him counting the pills one by one.

"Mom..." Takeshi looked up and saw her exhausted face, along with the mixed relief and reluctance in her eyes.

"Don't be sad. Mom is just going to a faraway place, a beautiful world without conflict, without war, without discrimination or prejudice..."

She beckoned Takeshi to her bedside. She strained her thin, withered arm and gently stroked his hair.

"But before I leave, there are things I need to tell you."

Seeing the tears welling in Takeshi's eyes, she forced herself to keep smiling and softly wiped the tears that had begun to spill.

...

It took a great deal of strength for her to finish explaining everything.

Takeshi was overwhelmed by the amount of information, almost completely stunned.

She knew it was too early to tell him these things, but her body could no longer hold out; she had no choice.

The reason she told him everything was so that one day Takeshi could escape the Land of Water, go to Konoha, and receive the protection of that man.

Back then, she had approached that man for the same purpose.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated his restraint and overestimated her own importance.

It was too late to say anything now. Her only remaining wish was for her son to grow up safely and live a happy, healthy life.

"I will always love you."

After saying that, Takeshi's mother closed her eyes with deep reluctance.

Takeshi processed the information, buried his mother, then discussed farming arrangements with the neighbors.

Losing his mother at only three years old, Takeshi carried her hopes and began his struggle to survive in the Land of Water.

After renting the farmland to neighbors at a slightly lower price than the market, the thing Takeshi spent most of his time doing was secretly investigating how normal civilians could leave the Land of Water.

Although in the original story Danzō was an absolute schemer, taking refuge with him was still much better than staying in the Land of Water.

If he stayed, there were only three possible outcomes.

First: his Ice Release bloodline would be discovered, and he'd be beaten to death by enraged villagers.

Second: his Ice Release bloodline would be discovered, and before being killed, he'd be found by Kirigakure ninjas and sent to the ninja academy to participate in their mutual slaughter graduation exam.

Even if he survived by luck, he would eventually be killed by Obito, that monstrous troublemaker.

Third: escape to Konoha, reveal his identity, and be recruited into Root by Danzō. Although it was unclear whether Danzō would brainwash him, judging from the original story, he probably would.

Fortunately, Takeshi could imitate Yamato and try to get noticed by Sarutobi Hiruzen to escape his suffering.

If that failed, he could simply keep his head down until the future and find a way to connect with Naruto. Maybe he could even be like Sai, eventually becoming an official in Konoha.

Yes. The plan was perfect. The only thing missing was a way to leave the Land of Water.

...

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Takeshi survived thanks to the small bits of help from the villagers.

He often found excuses to accompany them to nearby towns, mainly to scout for escape routes.

Today was the same. He left with the villagers in the morning and returned by dusk, only to see several ninjas standing at the entrance, scrutinizing their group.

"What happened?"

The man leading the villagers spoke with a hard tone.

At this attitude, the leading ninja only frowned slightly and answered irritably,

"Enemy ninjas have infiltrated the Land of Water. Most likely the evil Konoha ninjas. If you see strangers, you should know what to do."

They had already searched the village once, finding nothing.

Waiting at the entrance was only to give the villagers a warning.

"Got it."

The villagers all nodded. They hated ninjas, but they didn't dare resist, only expressing their displeasure through their eyes.

Konoha ninjas?

Among the crowd, Takeshi was surprised when he heard that the intruder might be a Konoha ninja.

He hadn't expected a Konoha ninja to be so formidable, able to infiltrate a closed country like the Land of Water.

Unfortunately, the person had been discovered by Kirigakure ninjas, which meant he would probably be hunted down and killed soon.

Thinking this, Takeshi sighed, said goodbye to the villagers, and returned home.

Seeing the half-open door, he felt helpless but also relieved that he hadn't kept his mother's belongings at home.

The Kirigakure ninjas had clearly searched the house.

He closed the window, bolted the door, and sat by the bed, pulling out a kunai from his clothes.

The kunai was exquisitely crafted, though such a description seemed ridiculous.

It was just a killing tool, and the most basic type at that. Whether it was well crafted didn't matter at all.

After playing with it for a while, feeling bored, Takeshi looked up and saw a large shadow fall over him.

His scream never came out. The intruder covered Takeshi's mouth and nose with a large hand, preventing any sound.

Takeshi struggled with all his strength, trying to break free, but he could only see the white hair atop the intruder's head and those deep, unfathomable eyes.