Watching as the sun was setting, Gin and I were sitting around a bonfire. While I was busy chewing on a piece of dried meat to satiate my hunger, Gin seemed to be in a world of his own.
"In the bloody mist, we exist to take. Their tears unseen, their cries muffled. The mist covers all, we are together yet solitary." Gin muttered with hollow eyes, "Calm but unresponding, the mist embraces none."
He would sprout out random words periodically. Having become used to his tendency already, I heeded no mind and filled my stomach.
While doing so, I raised up my right arm and looked into it. In comparison to the thin arm that I had 3 years ago, what was now shown was a quite toned arm unfit for 11 years old boy.
…But of course. This was the result of my hard work.
Sleeping early and skipping the training for the sake of growth? I didn't have time to waste, especially when I knew that Gin was being chased by the ninjas from Kiri. I didn't care if I ended up becoming a dwarf junkie as the result of intense exercise—though I ended up growing almost as tall as Gin already, whose height was approximately 175cm.
So I pushed my body to its limit every single time I conducted a physical exercise. And with the vigorous physical strength that I attained with my physical exercises, I honed the art of the sword, kenjutsu.
After all, Gin was a sword maniac himself, only knowing a few water-release ninjutsu techniques apart from kenjutsu. He told me that this imbalance of his skill set was the reason why he remained at the rank of chunin prior to his defection.
"...Akashi." Gin seemed to have woken up from his trance. Upon hearing his stern voice, I nodded. The sun has fully set, and the forest that we stayed within has gone completely dark.
Kicking the cool dirt onto the bonfire, I quickly eliminated the fire that brightened the area. This fire, if left alive, will serve as the marker for potential enemies to locate us with ease.
And out of my mind, a thought popped up all of a sudden, 'If there was rain, then there would've been no need for me to eliminate this fire myself. There would've been no need to hide with such care. The rain would've covered all for us.'
How ironic. The land of rain—it was the land that gave me nothing but misery. However, I felt an attachment to it, a sense of fulfillment and nostalgia that no other place would be able to give.
'What if those three felt the same way, and remained in Amegakure—'
I shook my head. There was no way that they would've willingly returned on their own, I thought. Why return by themselves and suffer the same routine of depressing life?
The more I thought about it, settling down in the land of fire with the help of Jiraiya—who seemed to sympathize with us—seemed to be the safest option.
'Haa,' I took a deep breath, ridding myself of those thoughts. Returning back to reality, I whispered at Gin,
"...Land of fire, huh?"
What a generic answer that it was. Gin wasn't a thoughtless man.
Kiri's goal is Konoha, and they don't want the latter to discover their intention for a war. If we cross the border to the land of fire, Kiri won't follow...
The enemies probably reached the same conclusion as us. After all, it was impossible for us to return back to the land of rivers, where Kiri built the extensive information network.
But they now had to ask, at which area of the land of fire? Even I didn't know an answer to this, for Gin hasn't spoken.
"Land of fire indeed." Gin said dryly, while dusting his cloak off three times.
No more words needed to be spoken.
'Ryuma. They exhibited a strong desire for this sword. Gin, though lacking in many departments, possesses incredible swordsmanship. By kenjutsu alone, he can technically be considered a jonin. After all, his record stated that he managed to defeat one.'
For the past 3 years, we've been moving from place to place, with Kiri continuously chasing after us. Thanks to us staying in the land of rivers, where Konoha had their bases set up for the war against Suna, there weren't much that Kiri could do.
However, the war has ended, and the pursuit has become notably difficult.
If I was a mizukage right now, what will I do?
'...A large number of combatants can't be distributed, since the land of waves is quite close to the land of fire. One of the seven swordsmen, or someone with the rank of at least that of a jonin.'
Things were about to get tricky.
__________
On the next day, we were crossing the water. We ran with chakra imbued at the soles of our feet, stepping on top of the moving water as if stepping on a solid surface.
The entire surrounding was encased by the mist, impairing our vision to a troublesome degree. I could only rely on my other senses to keep myself aware of my position.
Then, Gin raised his hand up with keen eyes, and the both of us came to a stop.
"...Mist. It has been getting thicker gradually. We stop here."
Gin exclaimed with a serious expression, before raising his hand up, forming a seal, and slamming his right palm down on the surface of the water.
"Water Release: Underwater Evacuation Technique."
At the next moment, the surface of the water below us curved downward, causing the two of us to sink. Within seconds, we were in a bubble-like dome down the sea, slowly descending to the bottom.
The day before, he dusted his cloak off three times, meaning that he faced three enemies beforehand. I had two myself.
And Gin previously stated that there were six of them. One was still alive, and the information about our whereabouts got out already—though there was no one spying on us.
"Why didn't you kill him?" I asked.
"...Do you know how Kiri's ninja system functions?" Gin explained briefly, "It's consisted of the member of three. Two ninjas of low rank, and one ninja of upper rank. Unless their enemy's strength far surpasses their's, the two low-ranked ones initiate the battle by themselves, while the upper-ranked one hides from the back and examines the enemy's capability."
I froze.
"Then..."
"There were three after you from the start. Knowing this, I quickly came back to you instead of disposing of the one on my side, who ran away."
Yesterday, if Gin didn't show up quickly, I might've ended up dead.
"And by that point, it was too late. The information was leaked. The enemy was waiting for us already, and it was better to have a night's rest than to exhaust ourselves for the chance of an unlikely escape."
"Thickened mist, indicating the use of Hiding in Mist Technique," Gin said seriously, "With a subtle increase that an unaware ninja would've not found out."
"Jonin at the very least."
"One of the seven swordsmen, I'd assume. A troop of elite ninjas will definitely earn Konoha's attention." Gin continued, "But the one above us currently doesn't know that we are underwater. After all, Hiding in Mist Technique impairs their vision as well."
With the bubble dome continuously shrinking as we stayed underwater, I quickly inspected the surrounding.
"Are we able to move in this bubble?"
"No." Gin shook his head, "Either levitate back up or remain stationary here. A slight movement may pop it even."
So we were bound to move back up eventually and face whoever stood above.
"...Ha," I took in a deep breath, before placing my hand on the sheathed sword, "I'm ready."
"Good." Gin then said sternly, "Don't hold me back, kid."
I replied with a confident grin, "You know me."
The bubble began to move back up to the surface of the water, with the two of us fully tensed up in caution.