Kurosuki Raiga had two odd habits.
First, he liked to hold funerals for friends and comrades.
At funerals, recalling the past with friends, feeling the sorrow and crying, made Kurosuki Raiga feel fascinated.
Yagura's blood mist policy fit Kurosuki Raiga's special habit perfectly. He was one of the few ninja who didn't think about escaping the village.
The second odd habit was that he liked men.
Kurosuki Raiga had a wife and daughter, but because he had them, he understood that he wasn't really interested in women. He had just gone with the flow, gotten married, and had kids.
As soon as he heard about a beautiful young boy, Kurosuki Raiga got excited and waved his hand:
"No need to trouble yourselves, I'll go see him in person."
With that, he picked up his wine glass and stood up.
Seeing this, County Chief Morimura took the lead.
The four walked towards the side yard where the villagers of the Snowfall Village were being held.
It was snowing, and more than forty people sat in the open yard, covered with thin straw mats that were barely thicker than paper.
Many people were pale and their hands and feet were turning purple, obviously suffering from the cold.
Haku's family of three sat huddled together, using their body heat to warm each other. The father took off his own coat and put it on his wife and daughter.
"I'm not cold, honey, you wear it."
Said Haku's mother, she really wasn't cold.
Her body held a power colder than the wind and snow.
Haku's father put the coat on her without a word, his eyes full of concern: "No, you just got better, you can't relapse... Don't worry, we'll definitely get home."
Hearing the words "go home," the villagers, numb from the cold and hunger, had a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
"Can we really go home?"
Even the dumbest person would have guessed their fate at this point.
"We definitely can."
Haku clenched his small fists: "Big Brother Linto will definitely come and save us."
Linto.
Hearing this name, a glimmer of hope flashed in the villagers' eyes, but—
"No one can save you."
"Who says?" one villager asked instinctively.
"I said."
County Chief Morimura walked into the side yard.
He had never trained in Ninjutsu. He was short and plain-looking, and he didn't deliberately make a terrifying expression, but just sweeping his eyes around carried a shocking power. No one dared to meet his gaze, and they all lowered their heads.
The villagers didn't know what this power was.
Biwa Jūzō, who was walking behind, knew.
The power of authority.
"How enviable,"
Biwa Jūzō thought, his eyes sweeping across and quickly locking onto Haku.
He didn't need any extra reminders. He could tell at a glance that this was the beautiful boy that Sanjuan Wolf had mentioned.
Even Biwa Jūzō, not just Kurosuki Raiga, a dead gay person, was momentarily moved.
But, thinking that the boy had something between his legs, Biwa Jūzō shrugged and lost interest. He glanced to the side—
Kurosuki Raiga's eyes were shining, as if he had seen a rare treasure.
"Not bad."
He pursed his lips and said again, "Very good."
Kurosuki Raiga strode over and reached out to grab Haku's shoulder.
"What do you want to do to my child?!"
Haku's mother shouted.
County Chief Morimura scolded: "You shrew! Get out of here, don't ruin Lord Kurosuki's pleasure. This is a great honor for your family. If you serve Lord Kurosuki well, I might consider letting your family go."
"No! No one can touch him!"
Kurosuki Raiga's eyes gradually turned cold.
Sanjuan Wolf rushed over and slapped Haku's mother in the face.
"If you really want to die, I'll kill you right now!"
Kurosuki Raiga snorted and grabbed Haku's hand without explanation. Just then—
Waves of ice shot out from Haku's mother's body.
The ice forced Kurosuki Raiga back. Biwa Jūzō, standing behind, raised an eyebrow.
Bloodline ability?
It seems... not weak?
"I said, no one can touch my child."
Biwa Jūzō put one hand on Kubikiribōchō. County Chief Morimura smiled apologetically and gestured to wait a moment.
"Madam, do you know that it is a serious crime to secretly possess a bloodline ability in the Land of Water?"
Haku's mother's face was very bad. She had suppressed the power within her for too long. The sudden burst of power put a severe burden on her body. Her blood vessels, muscles, and bones felt like they were freezing.
But what really upset her wasn't her body.
It was the looks of horror from her husband and the villagers.
The policies of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, were extremely harsh on bloodline ability users.
Only a few ninja were allowed to have the power of bloodline abilities. Anyone else, especially those not from Kirigakure, would face ruthless purges if they were found to have a bloodline ability.
These purges weren't just aimed at individuals and families.
They were aimed at villages.
"If one person hides a bloodline ability, the whole village will have to pay the price. That's the rule."
County Chief Morimura pulled out a katana from a guard's waist and threw it in front of Haku's father: "But I'm naturally soft-hearted and can't stand bloodshed.
If you kill your wife and offer up your son, I'll try to find a way to suppress this matter.
After all, this is within my jurisdiction. As your local official, I really don't want to kill you."
He looked down at Haku's father and chuckled, "One person dies, or a whole village dies. You should be able to make the right choice, right?"
Haku's father picked up the knife from the ground and slowly stood up.
A group of villagers stood behind him.
The look in his eyes towards his wife was no longer caring or loving, only full of disgust. It seemed that the moment Haku's mother used her bloodline ability, she had turned into a man-eating monster.
"Dad!"
Haku shouted loudly, trying to wake up his father.
Haku's father walked up to his wife with the knife.
"Don't blame me, like Lord Morimura said, this is the rule."
He raised the knife high.
The bloodline ability, Ice Release, powerful enough to force back the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, couldn't be used against her own husband. Haku's mother stared blankly at the raised blade.
"Die, monster!"
This was Haku's father's roar.
"Die!"
This was the villager's shout.
County Chief Morimura opened his folding fan, hiding his smile, his eyes contemptuous.
Common people are common people.
Kurosuki Raiga seemed to be absorbed, a hint of sadness appearing in his eyes, and beneath the sadness was a more intense joy.
Only Biwa Jūzō clicked his tongue.
If you want to kill someone, just kill them. He was straightforward and didn't like this roundabout torture, a useless waste of time.
The cold light of the blade fell.
Boom—
The wall collapsed, and a black shadow came crashing through the wall. At the last moment before the blade fell, it cut off Haku's father's hands.
"Ahhh!!!"
Blood spurted from his arms, and Haku's father knelt on the ground, screaming.
However, no one's attention was on him. Everyone looked at where the black shadow had landed.
It was a sword without a sheath, wrapped in bandages.
A ridiculously large sword!
Kubikiribōchō was big enough, but this sword in front of them was even thicker and heavier.
After smashing through the wall and cutting off a pair of arms, the great sword's momentum didn't decrease and it was embedded deeply into the brick floor.
To be able to wield such a heavy sword would already be considered a strong person, to be able to throw it like a kunai...
Biwa Jūzō and Kurosuki Raiga looked at each other, a hint of fear flashing in their eyes.
What kind of power was this?
"Who is it?!"
They suddenly turned their heads to look in the direction the sword had flown from.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter!"
The rapid sound of hooves came from far away, like the rumble of war drums.
Linto rode galloping from the end of the street, arriving at the broken wall. He pulled hard on the reins.
The horse let out a high-pitched whinny and raised its front legs high. Linto's cloak danced behind him, dropping accumulated fine snowflakes, like quicksilver pouring under the moonlight.
Hermit Purple wrapped around the hilt of the great sword and pulled hard. The sword flew back even faster.
Linto caught it with one hand, his eyes sweeping over everyone in the yard.
"I am Linto."
"I heard someone wants to kill me?"
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