The rain had been falling all night and had yet to stop.
Rain poured down from the gray sky, hammering against the rubble, the broken walls, and the bodies strewn about, creating a soft yet dull sound.
The battlefield was soaked into a quagmire; every step sank into a puddle, and pulling one's foot out produced a squelching sound in the mud.
The smoke had been dispersed by the rain, leaving only a faint smell of burning mixed with the scent of blood and earth, permeating the cold, damp air.
A figure darted across the battlefield.
Fast. Light. Like a bird skimming over the water.
Every step landed in the shadows of the ruins, avoiding corners where survivors might still be hiding.
Rainwater dripped down her hair, flowed along her cheeks, and trickled into her collar, but she had no time to wipe it away.
Mei Terumī.
She crouched behind a broken wall, gasping for breath, her heart beating so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest.
Not far behind her, the girl with tea-brown hair lay unconscious, her hands bound, leaning against the ruins.
Rin.
The mission target. The Three-Tails Jinchuriki. A member of Minato Namikaze's squad.
It had been easier to capture than she expected.
Minato Namikaze was entangled with the AB combination from the Hidden Cloud Village.
That pair of brothers, famous throughout the Ninja World, one using the Lariat and the other using the power of the Eight-Tails, had held back Konoha's Yellow Flash.
She had seized the gap, launched a surprise attack, succeeded, and retreated.
Everything had gone as smoothly as a dream.
But her Chakra had hit rock bottom.
Mei Terumī followed the plan and cast the final sealing jutsu on the young girl.
That jutsu could temporarily suppress the power of the Three-Tails, preventing her from losing control during transport.
When she finished the last hand seal, she felt her Chakra empty, like a drained well.
Then she turned and ran.
Run.
Running past the ruins, through the rain, and past the traces she had left behind with her own hands.
The pursuit from behind had not yet arrived.
But it would be soon. She knew it.
Minato Namikaze would not let his team member be taken for long. That man would catch up like light, so fast that you wouldn't even be able to see his face.
This was the consensus of the Ninja World.
So she had to run faster.
The rain hit her face, cold and bone-chilling. The old injury on her knee began to ache again; every step felt like being pricked by needles.
But she dared not stop.
In the distance, Kannabi Bridge appeared faintly in the curtain of rain.
But in the end, she couldn't escape.
Four figures suddenly surrounded her from different directions, like four nails, sealing off all her escape routes.
Rain poured down from the gray sky, hitting the broken walls, the bodies strewn about, and the four people.
The Konoha Chunin forehead protectors glimmered dimly in the rain, looking particularly piercing as they were washed by the downpour.
Four.
All Chunin.
Mei Terumī gripped her Kunai tightly, her back against a broken wall, her eyes scanning from left to right, then right to left, quickly calculating all possible breakout routes in her mind.
None.
Not a single one.
Her Chakra was less than ten percent.
She could use Yōton at most twice; once that was used up, she would be completely drained.
Boiling Release would have its power halved in this weather; the rain would dilute the acid mist, causing it to lose most of its lethality before it could touch the enemy.
Taijutsu? Her alone against four Chunin?
Impossible.
She took a step back, her back pressing against the cold broken wall. Rainwater flowed down the wall, soaking her clothes, cold and bone-chilling.
"Give up."
The lead Konoha Ninja spoke.
His voice was somewhat blurred by the sound of the rain, but the tone, certain of victory, clearly pierced through the curtain of rain and fell into her ears.
"You can't escape."
Mei Terumī did not reply.
She just stared at the four people, her gaze moving from one face to another.
Those faces were blurred by the rain; only their eyes were clear, vigilant, calm, and carrying the gleam of prey.
The rain continued to fall. Hammering against the rubble, against the broken wall, against her shoulders, creating a soft yet dull sound.
She took a deep breath.
Rainwater dripped down her hair, flowed along her cheeks, and into the corner of her mouth, tasting salty.
Then she spoke.
Her voice pierced through the curtain of rain, sharp enough to tear her throat apart.
"Shinji!!!"
Those two words were ripped raw from the depths of her chest. Carrying all the words she hadn't said in two years.
Carrying those nights standing at the door asking, "How have you been?" Carrying that figure walking out of the mist, carrying everything.
It was not a plea for help.
She didn't shout, "Save me."
She just… wanted to call out.
Wanted to call his name from a distance where he might not be able to hear.
As a final farewell.
And a confession.
A confession belonging to this bloody Hidden Mist Village.
The sound of the rain swallowed the shout, swallowed the name, swallowed everything.
The four Konoha Ninjas were stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered and began to close in slowly.
Mei Terumī gripped her Kunai, leaning against the broken wall, watching the four figures getting closer and closer.
Rainwater flowed down her cheeks, past the corners of her mouth, past her chin, and dripped onto the ground.
The next second.
A blade of light split the curtain of rain.
That light came without warning, as fast as a bolt of lightning exploding out of thin air.
The curtain of rain filling the sky was slashed in two; countless raindrops exploded into fine mist in the air, spreading out.
A black figure descended from the sky and landed in front of her.
Boom.
His feet slammed into the mud, splashing a circle of water. The moment the figure landed, his knees slightly bent to absorb the impact, and then he slowly stood straight.
Drenched, his black hair plastered to his forehead, rainwater dripped down the tips of his hair, flowed along her cheeks, and into his collar.
In his hand, he held that ninja sword wrapped in white cloth.
At this moment, the white cloth was soaked through by the rain, clinging to the blade and outlining the unique, wide, and thick contour of the kubikiribōchō.
The rainwater on the blade was shaken into fine mist, scattering around him like a thin halo of light.
"I am here."
Shinji.
Mei Terumī widened her eyes.
That night, Mei Terumī had ostensibly agreed with Shinji, but she secretly ran out alone to do the mission. She did not want to drag anyone else down.
Shinji naturally saw through the young girl's intentions. He refused the mission assigned by the Mizukage and had been secretly following behind Mei Terumī.
From the moment she stepped out of the Village. From the moment she walked down that empty street. From the moment she looked back at the Village entrance.
He had been following her the whole time.
At a distance far enough not to be discovered, yet close enough to rush up if an accident occurred.
The rain had started yesterday evening and had not stopped since.
He was hiding in a rock crevice three miles from Kannabi Bridge; rainwater flowed down the rock wall, into his collar, soaking his clothes, cold and bone-chilling.
But he did not move, just watching that figure darting through the curtain of rain, watching her launch a surprise attack, succeed, and retreat.
Watching that there were no pursuers behind her yet. Watching her run faster and faster, more and more urgently.
The kubikiribōchō, wrapped in white cloth, was strapped to his back. The white cloth was soaked through by the rain, clinging to the blade, heavy and weighed down.
He did not move.
He was waiting. Waiting for the pursuers who were sure to come. Waiting for that man who was sure to come, named Minato Namikaze.
And then he saw it.
Four Konoha Ninjas surrounded her from different directions, like four nails, sealing off all her escape routes.