Land of Waves, Great Hope Bridge.
This magnificent structure, spanning the strait and connecting the main island of the Land of Waves with the land of the Land of Fire, had just been completed not long ago. It lay across the sea like a sleeping dragon.
But at this moment, dozens of ragged civilians, carrying their families and simple luggage, were moving with difficulty towards the Land of Fire.
Among them were elderly people leaning on wooden sticks, women holding crying infants, children clutching their parents' clothes, their eyes filled with fear and confusion.
Everyone's face was etched with exhaustion, their steps heavy, as if burdened by an invisible weight.
Suddenly, the refugees at the front stopped in their tracks.
Their eyes widened in terror, their bodies trembling involuntarily.
In the very center of the bridge stood two people.
A man and a woman, wearing long black coats with red clouds that flapped loudly in the sea breeze. The red cloud patterns on them looked like coagulated drops of blood.
The man was crouched on the bridge surface, his right hand gently stroking the concrete floor, his eyes closed as if sensing something.
He had black hair, a handsome but pale face. Deep tear troughs extending from the sides of his nose to his cheekbones made him look more weathered than his actual age.
When he opened his eyes, three black tomoes slowly spun in his crimson pupils.
The woman stood to the side, arms crossed, glancing at these refugees with interest.
She looked young, her dark red hair fluttering in the sea breeze, a blade of grass in her mouth, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth.
Most notable were the two short swords crossed on her back. The blades were long and slender, shimmering with a pale blue metallic luster, the hilts wrapped in non-slip bandages.
Konoha's S-Rank Missing-nin, Uchiha Itachi. Kirigakure's S-Rank Missing-nin, Ringo Ameyuri.
The refugees were too frightened to move.
Although ordinary people didn't know what this attire represented, the forehead protectors undoubtedly marked these people as Ninja-sama… dangerous individuals not to be trifled with by commoners.
Now they're stuck in the middle. As the two clearly troublesome Ninja blocking the way ahead, and the increasingly chaotic situation in the Land of Waves behind, as the conflicts between the Daimyo, nobles, and the Red Star Alliance were intensifying daily, with several armed clashes already occurring.
Many of these ordinary civilians who didn't want to be caught in the war had chosen to flee the Land of Waves.
Itachi stood up and brushed the dust off his hands, his Sharingan calmly sweeping across the bridge.
Under the ultimate perceptive power of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the remaining battle traces on the bridge were as clear as words written on paper.
"These are Zabuza's traces." Itachi's voice was calm, betraying no emotion.
"Combined with the bloodstains of Aoi found in the Land of Waves' villages earlier, both of their deaths were normal combat deaths. Their opponents were very strong, at least multiple Jonin. Their bodies were likely taken away by Konoha's Ninja."
Ameyuri yawned, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth: "Oh? So you've confirmed how they died?"
Itachi nodded, his gaze still fixed on the bridge: "Remnants of Lightning Release and Water Release Chakra remain at the scene, high in concentration, indicating both sides engaged in intense Ninjutsu clashes. But what was truly fatal—"
"Is here." He paused, pointing at a barely visible dark red stain on the bridge surface.
"A large amount of blood, and a faint odor of internal organs… that's the unique smell after organ rupture. Zabuza was likely sliced open by some kind of sharp weapon in the end, dying from massive blood loss."
As an elite Ninja who had participated in the Third Great Ninja War and performed countless high-risk missions in Konoha's Anbu, Itachi knew the combat styles and causes of death of Ninja like the back of his hand.
Coupled with the Sharingan's almost microscope-like observational power, he could reconstruct most of the battle's details within minutes.
Ameyuri sniffed upon hearing this, her tone carrying a hint of disdain: "That waste Aoi can die for all I care. I never liked him anyway. Relying on that Sword of the Thunder God and some Konoha intelligence connections, he actually thought he was someone important."
As she spoke, she subconsciously touched the two replica Ninja Swords on her back.
She had ordered these from top-tier craftsmen in the Land of Iron at great expense. They were made of special Chakra-conductive materials to maximize the effectiveness of her Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
But after all, they were replicas, far inferior to the authentic Lightning Blades: Kiba.
"But Zabuza couldn't even escape?" Ameyuri raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"That guy assassinated the Fourth Mizukage and got away clean. If he couldn't beat some Konoha's Ninja, how did he not even have a chance to flee?"
Aoi's acceptance into the Akatsuki was more due to the Second Hokage's heirloom, the Sword of the Thunder God, and his intelligence connections within Konoha.
Back when the Akatsuki was still in hiding, Aoi, as a spy directly recruited by Nagato, had provided the Akatsuki with considerable intelligence regarding Hanzo of the Salamander.
After Pain took control of Amegakure, he promoted Aoi to Jonin and absorbed him into the organization.
But the other S-Rank Missing-Nin in the Akatsuki, like Sasori, Zabuza, Hidan, and even Ameyuri herself, generally looked down on Aoi's strength.
In their eyes, he was nothing more than a second-rate operative who relied on ninja tools and intelligence to get by.
But Zabuza was different.
He was a truly formidable character.
A Jonin of Kirigakure, the [Demon] from the era of the Bloody Mist Policy, who later single-handedly assassinated the Fourth Mizukage and successfully escaped, becoming an S-Rank Missing-Nin.
With that kind of strength and experience, even if he couldn't defeat a Konoha's Jonin, how could he not even have a chance to flee?
Just how strong were his opponents?
Itachi did not answer Ameyuri's question.
His gaze lifted from the bridge surface, turning toward the trembling refugees, then looked towards the direction of the main island of the Land of Waves.
Several wisps of black smoke rose in the distance over the Land of Waves, traces of conflict and burning.
This newly completed [Great Hope Bridge] had indeed brought hope to the Land of Waves… but not the 'economic prosperity' hoped for by the nobles and Daimyo, but rather the 'revolutionary opportunity' hoped for by the common people.
The organization called the Red Star Alliance was growing in prominence in the Land of Waves at an alarming rate.
The ideology they preached, like overthrowing the oppression of nobles and Daimyo, establishing a country of equality for all, was spreading like wildfire among the common people of the Land of Waves.
More and more civilians were joining their ranks. The Land of Waves was undergoing an unprecedented upheaval.
This made Itachi disapprove even more of the Land of Stars, of that mysterious Shura.
In his view, this Shura was no different from Pain or that guy calling himself Uchiha Madara.
They spoke grandiloquently about 'peace for the Ninja World', 'for the common people', and other such high-sounding words, but in reality, they were everywhere inciting rebellion and provoking war.
The Land of Stars had used such methods to control the Land of Bears, the Land of Demons, the Land of Swamps, and other countries, and now it was reaching out to the Land of Waves—
What difference was there between this aggression under the guise of 'liberation' and the military invasions of other Ninja Villages?
"Let's go." Itachi turned around and walked towards the Land of Fire, leaving behind only two short words.
Ameyuri paused for a moment, then quickly caught up: "Huh? We're going back just like that?"
Itachi did not answer immediately.
He raised his head and looked towards Konoha Village in the Land of Fire.
That place where he was born, that place where he had personally killed countless clan members, that place he had sworn to protect yet had been forced to leave.
After a long moment, he said softly: "Let's go have a look at Konoha."
Ameyuri narrowed her eyes in confusion, her mind working quickly.
Having partnered with Itachi for several years, she had grown accustomed to this man's concise way of speaking and had learned to interpret his deeper intentions from his brief words.
"Are you trying to retrieve the bodies of Aoi and Zabuza?" she guessed.
"Or… to standby?"
She knew that Itachi had once served in Konoha's Anbu and knew Konoha's internal structure and defense systems like the back of his hand.
And with the Chunin Exams being held in Konoha, Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, seemed inclined to take advantage of the chaos to capture the One-Tail's Jinchuriki.
Itachi might be planning to infiltrate Konoha in advance to prepare for subsequent operations.
Ever since joining the Akatsuki, Ameyuri had been fixed partners with Itachi.
After several years of working together, she had gained a certain understanding of this 'Uchiha traitor'.
He was quiet and reserved, thoughtful and meticulous, always formulating meticulous plans when carrying out missions.
Ameyuri herself, on the other hand, was a woman of action who disliked using her brain. She was happy to let Itachi formulate the strategies while she did the charging and fighting. For Itachi, this was also a kind of understanding.
His physical condition was deteriorating. The more he used his Mangekyo Sharingan, the faster his eyesight declined.
He needed to conserve his Ocular Power for crucial moments.
Having a teammate like Ameyuri, who was strong and willing to charge ahead, made things considerably easier for him.
Itachi neither confirmed nor denied Ameyuri's guess. He just kept walking forward.
Ameyuri clicked her tongue and followed.
This man was very strong, but his personality wasn't really to her liking… too gloomy, too complex, with too many secrets hidden in his heart.
The two walked one after the other, their figures quickly disappearing at the other end of the bridge.
Only after they had completely left did the refugees on the bridge dare to move again.
They cautiously circled around the spot where Itachi had crouched, as if there was something ominous there, then quickened their pace and rushed towards the Land of Fire without looking back.
For them, the world of Ninja was too distant and too dangerous.
They just wanted to find a place where they could live peacefully.
That was all.