There was no way to hide it.
And no need to hide it.
The image of Linto carrying the corpse of Kisame, followed by a grand procession of four hundred people, moving forward in the firelight, was burned into the hearts of the Mirage City residents.
They were leaning on their windows, hiding behind door cracks, carefully observing.
Land of Water is really small compared to other countries, plus water transport is easier than land transport, so the cities are closely linked.
The people of Mirage City gradually recognized familiar faces in the crowd.
"Nitta! What are you doing here?"
"Brother Uesugi? What happened to your injury?"
"Oh dear! Sister Matsudaira, you... come in quickly, come in quickly, I'll bandage you up!"
Some people came out of their houses, wanting to pull familiar relatives and friends into their homes for treatment and healing.
The survivors who had just escaped the nightmare did not go over.
Having experienced torture, they were more awake than others. Once they went, they would be bringing disaster to these helpful relatives and friends.
The group continued to follow Linto's steps. As they moved forward, the citizens of Mirage City and spies from other organizations asked about the whole story.
Exclamations came from the ranks from time to time.
By the time the grand procession of four hundred people reached the port, nearly half the city knew about the actions of the Fourth Mizukage and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and how Linto miraculously defeated Kisame.
Linto found the official Land of Water ship docked at the port.
It was a yacht more than thirty meters long, specially used to receive lords and leaders of various countries.
Linto kicked open the railing and led everyone onto the ship.
"Stop! Don't move forward! Ouch—"
Seven or eight samurai tried to stop them, but Linto kicked them all into the sea, one by one.
The people of Land of Water were sold as goods by their own ninja village, and now they are being compensated with a ship...
It's not too much, right?
Four hundred people, who have been dealing with the ocean and ships since birth, found sailing as easy as breathing. After a little exploration, they started this overly luxurious passenger ship.
"Woo—Woo—"
The steam whistle sounded.
"Don't leave!"
The Mirage City officials finally arrived in a hurry, their clothes unbuttoned, their big bellies protruding, their faces flushed red, shouting:
"Don't leave! Come back here!"
Seeing the ship sailing further and further away, the person in charge of Mirage City fell to the ground and cried loudly.
With such a big thing happening in the city he managed, his political life was basically over.
...
The AeroSmith circled in the sky.
At first, there were a few ships following behind secretly. After Linto controlled the airship Smith to blow up their ships, there were no more pursuers.
After a night of sailing, everyone finally began to relax.
They really escaped.
"Ding-a-ling!"
The bell rang.
A young man ran up, full of smiles, with a smudge of grease on his lips.
"The food is ready! Come eat!"
Four hundred people came to the dining hall, where several large buckets were placed in front of them, filled with dishes they had never seen before.
"These are the ingredients prepared for the nobles, right?"
Someone laughed: "To be able to eat what the lord eats in this lifetime is worth dying for."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped by the person next to him.
"Don't say unlucky things."
That person also felt that he was wrong, and giggled foolishly, drooling over the food.
Everyone was very hungry, but when they saw Linto standing by the window, everyone silently lined up.
The first person to get food swallowed, the hunger driving him, he couldn't wait to stuff the food into his mouth immediately, but he restrained himself.
He carefully walked to Linto's side.
"Sir, you eat first."
Linto glanced at him.
He understood that the other person was not handing it over out of flattery or respect, but from gratitude for last night.
Linto did not refuse this kindness, nodded with a smile, took it, and walked to Sasuke and Momo, who were sitting in the corner, and handed the food to Momo.
"Eat something."
"Brother Shou, I'm not hungry..."
Linto nodded and said, "I know you're not hungry, but whether you want to take revenge, investigate, or haven't figured out what you want to do, you need time to think... You need to survive first."
Momo silently lowered her head.
Linto handed the food to Sasuke. Sasuke patted his chest, giving Linto a reassuring look.
One by one, the meals were delivered into people's hands. They chewed heartily, some even shedding tears, wiping their tears while carefully and thoughtfully tasting the food.
"Look!"
Suddenly someone exclaimed.
Following his finger, everyone saw—
From the end of the sea horizon, the rising sun shone over.
The yacht had excellent lighting, and the sunlight shone on the glass, emitting a subtle rainbow of light.
So beautiful.
So, sunlight is so wonderful?
They haven't seen the sun in a long time.
Since being locked in cages, they have been accompanied by darkness, filth, and stench, and thought they would never be able to sit in the sun again in a relaxed mood and feel the warmth of the light.
And they were able to enjoy all of this because of that man.
Everyone looked at Linto's back, their eyes full of longing.
After everyone finished eating, Linto turned around, pulled a chair, sat opposite them, and said, "Regarding your future paths, I'll share my thoughts."
Hearing that it was related to the future, everyone knelt down and straightened their backs.
"The first path is to go home."
Linto said, "Some of you are residents of the Land of Water, and some are visiting relatives from other places. If you want to go home, I can dock the ship on the shore."
A small group of people in the crowd nodded.
Even if the Land of Water is ruthless, if they return to the Land of Fire or the Land of Earth, they would not go to the trouble of hunting down one or two civilians.
"The second path is to go to Konoha and seek political asylum."
"Konoha... political asylum?"
Many people questioned, the term was too unfamiliar to them.
Linto nodded slightly.
Various countries and ninja villages are openly and secretly fighting against each other. The Land of Fire and the Land of Water often have friction.
Sending them to Konoha, with the means of the Third Hokage or Danzo, they would definitely be treated as models for attacking Kirigakure, recruiting talents, and attracting people.
They can live safely—at the cost of sacrificing some freedom.
After listening to Linto's description, many people were tempted.
"The last path is to build your own small village."
Many places in the Hokage world are still large areas of jungle and wasteland. With enough effort and the right tools, a group of people can build a small village in a few months.
On his way from Konoha to the Land of Water, Linto saw many suitable places.
Once the fields are reclaimed, they will settle down in a year or two.
Three paths, corresponding to three different futures.
Everyone was silent for a moment, and a man raised his hand.
"Sir, I want to follow you."
Hearing this, many people looked up and said in unison, "Sir, please allow us to follow you."
"No."
Linto said, "After killing Kisame, Kirigakure and the Land of Water will definitely not let me go. If you continue to follow me, it will be a danger to you and to me."
Linto is not yet strong enough to protect a group of people.
"Sir, but it was clearly... they did wrong, you saved us, correcting this mistake, why would they come to catch you?"
Hearing this question, Linto was silent for a moment.
After a long time, he looked at the rising sun outside the window and sighed softly:
"Yes, why?"
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