Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Working in the darkness, serving the light
Chapter 108: Working in the darkness, serving the light
Bang!!
In an old house rented by refugees, the door was suddenly pushed open, making an overwhelming and harsh sound.
"Ah! You..." The woman lying on the bed in the house woke up instantly, looked at the man who opened the door in a panic, and said in shock, "Aren't you a worker? Why..."
"Smelly bitch, stop talking nonsense!"
But before the woman could finish her words, the man breathed heavily over in three or two steps. Under the fearful gaze of the woman, he reached out and grabbed her collar, and growled: "Quick! Pack your luggage! And the money and food I stole..."
"We are going to Amegakure Village now. We will leave immediately. If we don't leave, it will be too late!"
The man's eyes were bloodshot, looking crazy and anxious.
"Why...why? Let me go first...what's the hurry..."
Looking at the man's ferocious and terrifying face, the woman struggled to ask him: "We finally got here in exile, and we were lucky enough to meet that kind and generous man. We have only been stable for a few days and you are leaving?"
"Bah! He's so generous!"
The man spat on the ground, and then cursed: "If he is really generous, he should just open the warehouse and stockpile grain like Hanzo-sama did. Why do I need to work and learn how to be a blacksmith?!"
"And they are actually building a cemetery and the Heroic Spirit Monument. That mysterious kid must have hidden evil intentions. When I send the information here to the daimyo and Hanzo-sama, will I need to work hard to earn money?"
It seemed that his voice was too harsh, and the sound of a baby crying could be heard from the swaddled bed.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
"Tsk! I'm so annoyed!" The man looked irritated, turned to look at the baby and yelled, "Why are you crying! Stop crying! I should have killed you when you were born!"
As soon as these words came out, the struggling woman seemed stunned for a moment, and then her whole body suddenly became quiet.
The fear on that face gradually faded away, and she looked at his husband expressionlessly, as if she were looking at a complete stranger. There was only indifference and calmness in those eyes.
"You..." Looking at the woman's expression that had never appeared before, the man paused for a moment while he was constantly cursing.
Under that indifferent gaze, his body trembled subconsciously.
But soon, he came to his senses and became angry at her. He opened his eyes wide and yelled, "You witch! What's with that look in your eyes?!"
After saying that, the red-faced man took out a kunai from his arms, placed it across the woman's thin and slender neck, and stared at the woman's face with fierce eyes.
But he did not see the fear and waves of death that he expected from that expressionless face.
"Are you crazy, woman..."
A chill flashed in the man's eyes, but before he could finish his words, he saw the woman slowly raising her arm and holding the sharp kunai blade, as if she was worried that the blade would hurt her.
"Hoho." Seeing the woman's movement that seemed to be frightened, a smile finally appeared on the man's face, "Do you know how to be obedient now? You..."
But the woman's next action immediately stopped the man's words.
Poof!!
The palm that was originally just a virtual grip suddenly tightened, and there was an instant sound of the blade cutting flesh, and blood slowly flowed out of the woman's palm.
"Although Nagato-sama has told me a long time ago that you have different intentions..."
Under the man's stunned gaze, the woman turned her head to look at him and said calmly: "But I didn't expect that you were no longer satisfied with petty theft, and actually tried to leak information to the enemies outside."
"Too bad you won't get another chance."
After that, the man saw that the dense veins quickly crawled from the woman's arms to her palms, and the skinny arms under the coarse clothes instantly became a bit thicker.
"You..."
Seeing this, the man's pupils shrank instantly, and he subconsciously wanted to pull out the kunai.
But he felt an unshakable force. The thin woman who had been submissive and beaten and scolded at will suddenly seemed to have turned into a stone weighing on him.
The next moment, the power poured out from the woman's palm.
Kaka! Click! !
The rough, mass-produced kunai made a harsh sound.
The blade instantly shattered into countless fragments, disintegrating in mid-air and splashing around, scratching the man's stunned face, and blood flowed from the wound.
The stinging sensation also woke up the absent-minded man. He opened his eyes in disbelief and shouted in horror: "How could..."
Boom! !
Before the man could shout out loudly, the woman hit him in the head.
"Uh-huh!"
The man's face instantly made a terrifying sound. He screamed, his brain was shaken and his eyes were blackened. His eyes were soaked with blood flowing from his forehead. He unconsciously stumbled back a few steps and let go of the woman.
At this moment, in his blurred vision that had not yet recovered, a fist hit him.
Under instinctive tendencies, the man subconsciously turned his head, but suddenly felt a ringing in his ears.
Bang! !
The woman's finger bones hit the wall with a crisp sound, and the blood on her skin was soaked and flowed from the cracks in the wall.
Several cracks were made in the wall behind her. Although she did not hit the man's head as expected, the splashed gravel penetrated his eardrum.
"Ah!!"
The severe pain made the man scream, spitting out a mouthful of saliva with blood and teeth, and his leaky mouth slurred: "You crazy woman! What the hell are you doing..."
"Sorry, I was lucky enough to gain this power not long ago. I am not yet able to control it skillfully."
The woman pulled out her fist with all the flesh on it, and after apologizing expressionlessly, she aimed the second punch without hesitation.
Bang! !
This punch hit the man's bleeding face firmly, knocking his entire body back against the wall, causing him to raise his hands to grab the woman's arm.
The woman didn't give him another chance to leave any last words. She punched him three more times without blinking, crushing the hard skull with one punch after another.
Poof! !
The last punch created a cavity in the man's brain, directly punching through the entire head, and a blood-red rose bloomed on the wall.
When the woman pulled out her bloody fist, her whole head was already covered in blood and flesh. The body hung on the wall like this and slid off the wall little by little, leaving only a trail of blood.
"..."
Looking down at the unrecognizable corpse, relief flashed through the woman's calm eyes, as if she had solved the nightmare in her own nightmare with her own hands.
At this moment, a slight cough suddenly sounded in the dead silent room.
"Cough."
The coughing sound was very soft, but it made the woman's body tremble, and she suddenly came back to her senses and turned her head to look.
In the shadow at the end of the corner, a black figure stood there.
Feeling the tremor originating from the depths of her blood, the woman knelt down on one knee without hesitation, lowered her head respectfully and solemnly and said, "Nagato-sama!"
The figure walked out of the shadows, with a cold face. The black bandage still covered his eyes, but it made the woman feel a chill, and her drooped head dropped a little lower.
"Congratulations, you are free."
After Nagato said these words, the woman felt the atmosphere relax and suddenly heard a whistling sound.
Looking up, she saw a box being thrown towards her, and she subconsciously caught the box.
"Open this box and officially join us, but before joining, remember our principles."
Nagato's expression was cold and he said calmly: "Work in the darkness and serve the light."
To work in the darkness and serve the light?
Hearing this, the woman's face became a little more thoughtful and puzzled, but facing Nagato's cold gaze and looking at her daughter who was gradually quieting down, hardness and determination gradually appeared in the woman's eyes.
"yes."
She slowly lowered her head and opened the white box.
There was a completely white mask and a set of black hooded robes.
Looking at the familiar scene in front of him, Nagato's face became a little more profound, and he murmured silently: "Plow in the darkness, serve the light... Everything is empty, everything is allowed."
Yes.
What he just said was only the first half of the sentence.
Work in the darkness and serve the light. All things are empty and all things are allowed.
This sentence was what his elder brother once said to him, and it was not some unintelligible words. However, his elder brother did not explain it to him. He just hoped that he could understand it on his own.
Until now, Nagato still cannot understand the second half of the sentence. He can only insist on practicing the first half and regard it as Akatsuki's code of conduct.
"Brother." Nagato frowned and thought to himself, "What do you mean?"
———
At the same time, the unfinished end of the city was located on the edge of a rapid river.
This is the ferry crossing for City of Dawn's river transport, and it is still in an undeveloped area.
"Wow!"
Looking at the rough houses stretching to the east, Yahiko opened his mouth in surprise and said in surprise: "The last time I came here, it was still a wasteland. Why are there dozens of more houses?"
He felt that every time he would go out, he would find new changes.
Kumokawa ignored him, just looked at the crowd gathering in the distance and walked towards them.
Those people were wearing tattered clothes, some even wrapped in linen blankets, standing or sitting under the eaves to take shelter from the rain.
A handful of seven or eight men were still by the river, with their upper bodies naked and hunched over, carrying reins. The other end of the reins was connected to a wooden boat.
"Hi! Hi yo yo! Ho hi!"
They lined up neatly, carrying stiff ropes on their backs, limping forward, shouting hoarsely and earth-shattering chants: "Drag, drag! Drag, drag, drag! Hi! Hi yo yo!"
The river wind danced wildly with the cold air, and the reins left vague blood marks on their bodies, but those men could still deal with it calmly.
The sound of trumpets echoed far away.
"They..." Looking at the scene in the distance, Konan asked blankly, "Who are they?"
Yahiko, who was always noisy, was silent for a long time this time.
"Trackers." He whispered, "They are trackers."
Trackers refer to those who make a living by pulling fibers. His father who passed away was also a tracker.
Hundreds of boats compete in the Kingdom of Rain. Whenever the boat is sailing against the current or encounters dangerous shoals and bad water, once the boat runs aground, trackers must work together to pull the boat.
The harsh and special environment of the Kingdom of Rain means that it is destined to be unable to grow a few grains of food.
Common people without special skills must and can only rely on fiber-stretching to survive.
It should be the profession with the largest number of people, and they are also the people at the bottom.
Under the timid or wary gazes of the trackers, Kumokawa walked up to them with a smile.
"Lord..."
Seeing Kumokawa and the others walking out of the city, the leading tracker stood up.
The gray-haired man in his forties or fifties bowed his body and said with a humble and respectful smile: "We have no intention of occupying the house. We will leave now. We will leave now. Please don't mind."
After that, he waved to the trackers behind him, put on his bamboo hat, and hurriedly left the house sheltered from the rain.
"Hey, don't leave in a hurry."
Kumokawa, however, smiled and narrowed his eyes, took out some rice balls from his bag, handed them to the leading tracker and said, "I don't mean to drive you away, I just have some questions to ask you."
Gudong! (Swollow sound)
The leader of the trackers was a little shocked. Looking at the steaming rice balls, he swallowed subconsciously.
But in the end, he still looked away, with a humble smile on his face again, and said respectfully: "Sir, if you have any questions, just ask, there is no need to do this..."
But before he could finish speaking, Kumokawa broke off a piece of the rice ball and ate it, then stuffed the rest into his arms and said in a serious tone: "Stop talking nonsense, once you say something, You can't go back! I mean what I say"
Aki, who was following Kumokawa, didn't know his intention, but still helped to talk: "Lord Kumokawa is the Lord of this city. He single-handedly eliminated the bandits entrenched here, and now he is sheltering thousands of people. "
"Don't worry, there's nothing on you that's worth plotting against you."
The tracker was stunned for a moment, looked at the rice balls in his arms, and immediately stood in awe, and thanked him solemnly: "So you are the Lord of this city. I have always heard them praise you in various ways from the merchant ships passing by."
"Thank you for the treat, sir! If you ask, I will tell you everything I know! We have been practicing fiber-stretching for generations, so we are very familiar with this place."
Hearing this, Kumokawa did not ask in a hurry, but helped the tracker up.
"Don't just stand here stupidly."
Kumokawa naturally took the tracker's arm, then came to the eaves where other trackers gathered, and sat down next to the stunned trackers.
"Speaking of which, I have an elder who is a seafarer."
Kumokawa took out a few more rice balls and said with a smile while eating.
After that, Kumokawa began to tell them about Tsuyu's experience. As for whether it was a fabricated story or a true story, they couldn't tell at all.
Because these poor trackers have only heard of the "sea" but have never seen the sea with their own eyes.
Hearing Kumokawa tell some interesting and strange things, the vigilant trackers also gathered around without realizing it, munching rice balls while exclaiming in surprise.
Yahiko and Konan just looked on in confusion, watching Kumokawa gradually get involved with the trackers.
After they were completely familiar with each other, Kumokawa asked naturally: "You are coming from the capital, right? There should be more work there. Why did you come here?"
Hearing this, the tracker, who had lost his guard, shook his head and sighed: "It was okay before, but not now."
"Yes." Another tracker said with the same emotion, "A few years ago, when life was relatively stable, there was so much work to do in pulling fiber, and merchant ships came every day."
"But now there are fewer merchant ships doing business. We often have no work for days. Many of us can't fill our stomachs."
"Isn't it because of those bandits from the Kingdom of Wind? They just borrowed roads and robbed wherever they went. All the nearby villages were robbed, and I don't know how many people became refugees!"
Another skinny tracker looked angry and blurted out: "The daimyo is also a waste, he doesn't care at all, and that Musashi, the leader of Amegakure, is also an incompetent waste..."
At this moment, before he could finish his words, Kumokawa asked abruptly: "Where is Hanzo? What do you think of Hanzo?"
As soon as these words came out, the noise of the trackers suddenly stopped and fell into a strange silence for a while. They all chose silence in a tacit understanding.
"...Lord Hanzo, we have heard his slogan to drive out the ninjas from the five major countries. He is a good person and his starting point is good."
The leading tracker was silent for a moment, and finally showed a bitter smile and said frankly: "But the ninja is not engaged in production. He wants to start a war. Where will the money and food come from? Of course it will come from ordinary civilians."
"Unless we also become cannon fodder, we will still be exploited by him."
"It's even more miserable than the current situation."
(End of chapter)
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