If indeed there are gods and Buddhas in this world, why do they turn a blind eye to its sufferings?
The girl's prayers remained unanswered in the end. In the old woman's eyes, filled with despair and resignation, there lingered a hint of lingering attachment to this world.
But her greatest concern was for his young granddaughter.
She was still so young, so fragile. With the loss of her parents and now her last relative, how would she survive this winter?
Yet the old woman had no more strength to offer. His purple, cracked lips trembled as she summoned her last ounce of strength to force a smile on her blood-stained face.
"My dear granddaughter, Grandma cannot be with you anymore. You must live well in the days to come."
The old woman's head drooped weakly.
"Grandma... Grandma..."
Mei Terumi could no longer contain her sorrow. She collapsed onto the old woman's cold body, crying uncontrollably. She watched as her dearest grandma, her last kin, took her final painful breath. Her heart felt as if it were being torn apart by a blunt knife, over and over again.
No matter how desperately she called out, there was no response.
The intense sorrow and anguish of losing her loved ones crashed over Terumi Mei like a violent storm, assaulting her young and fragile heart. It was as though countless hands were pulling her into a deep abyss of darkness.
They say that when a person experiences profound emotional turmoil and extreme fluctuations, the body instinctively activates protective mechanisms to mitigate further harm.
At that moment, Terumi Mei's eyes lost all focus, resembling an empty vessel devoid of soul.
But even this fleeting moment of tranquility was abruptly shattered.
The entire house was engulfed in flames from the outside, and the fierce fire swept through in an instant. The intense heat dispelled the cold, awakening the girl at the same time.
Boom!
The burning flames tore apart the house's structure, causing beams to collapse and crash down. Whether by divine will or in the darkness of fate, the grandmother's spirit did not stray far, protecting her beloved granddaughter one last time.
A falling beam, engulfed in blazing flames, struck the old woman's body, causing him to lurch forward. Her arms seemed to instinctively encircle her, flinging the dazed Terumi Mei away, who narrowly escaped. The wooden beam missed her by mere inches.
"Grandma..." Terumi Mei, now fully awake, tears streaming down her face in two rivulets, choked with emotion as she witnessed her grandmother's sacrifice. The flames raged like a merciless demon, consuming everything in their path.
The place she once called home, with cherished relatives, was reduced to ashes bit by bit. Surrounded by orange-red flames, beams, wooden boards, and pillars collapsed incessantly.
Terumi Mei knelt before her grandmother, her eyes transforming from initial confusion and pain to resolute determination. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her flesh until blood dripped.
Did it hurt?
If you were to ask her, Terumi Mei would adamantly say no. Not at all. Compared to the anguish in her heart, the searing pain of the flames and the piercing of her skin were nothing.
"Grandma, I will survive!" Hatred blazed in Terumi Mei's eyes. She bit her lip fiercely, each word pronounced with unwavering conviction, "I swear, I will avenge you!"
She understood that survival was imperative. Only by staying alive could she hold onto hope for revenge!
"I will survive!"
"I will definitely survive!"
"No matter what happens, I must survive!"
Terumi Mei repeated these words incessantly in her heart. With her young hands, she forcefully pushed aside the burning stakes.
Swish!
The searing stakes instantly reddened her hands. Despite the pain, Terumi Mei displayed remarkable resilience. She didn't cry out; instead, she endured the agony that would overwhelm ordinary people.
She cleared away all obstacles in her path, took faltering steps, and made her way towards the exit engulfed by flames.
Bang!
Breaking through the sea of fire, she burst through the wooden door. On the snowy ground, she saw a petite figure ablaze, using the cold snow to extinguish the flames.
"I made it out alive."
Breathing in the frigid air outside, Terumi Mei felt pain all over her body. Despite finally escaping, her burned skin and flesh were charred black.
The pain would be unbearable for an adult man, yet she remained strong, not shedding a tear. Instead, she gripped the stones on the ground with her bloodied hands and slowly moved forward.
At that moment, a pair of black ninja boots appeared in front of Terumi Mei.
Bang!
In the next second, those boots mercilessly stomped down on her head. The force was just enough to cause pain and humiliation, stopping short of crushing her. Clearly, the stomper was experienced.
"As Lord Fuguki Suikazan suspected."
The Anbu of Kirigakure, wearing a patterned mask, looked down coldly at the young girl struggling at his feet.
"The old woman has a child. Though she wasn't here, she'll surely return."
"It was you who killed my grandmother!"
Mei Terumi summoned unexpected strength and defiantly lifted her head amidst the stomping Anbu operatives.
Finally, she laid eyes on her grandmother's murderer: a masked figure adorned with distinctive patterns, the forehead protector bearing the insignia of the Hidden Mist Village.
"Why... why did you kill her?" Mei's large green eyes brimmed with profound hatred and fury as she screamed.
But instead of answers, she was met with even more ruthless and forceful trampling.
Bang!
Her head collided with the ground.
"You must be that old woman's child, aren't you?"
Kirigakure Anbu applied pressure, partially burying Mei's head into the snow. Cold light glinted from behind the mask as he demanded, "Tell me truthfully, have you seen a man with black hair, wearing a long-sleeved black jacket and black-rimmed glasses?"
Realization dawned on Mei Terumi. Her eyes lost their luster as she finally understood.
She herself was to blame for all of this.
If not for her, if they hadn't encountered that ninja, none of this would have happened, and her grandmother would still be alive.
"You seem to know something," remarked the Anbu, detecting the subtle change in Mei's expression. He increased his grip, pressing harder. "Tell me quickly, have you seen him?"
"Why... Why do you want to kill us?!"
Hatred swelled within Mei, burning like fire in her veins.
"Don't ask irrelevant questions!" The Anbu frowned, impatiently seizing Mei's hair and forcefully lifting her, fixing her with a deadly stare. "Answer my questions honestly, and maybe I'll spare your life. Do you understand?"
Yet Mei's gaze met his with pure loathing.
The accumulated bitterness and animosity in those green eyes seemed potent enough to strike down anyone in its path, leaving even the Anbu momentarily unnerved.
"Darn kid!"
The Anbu reacted, startled by a child, his anger immediate.
Just as he was about to teach this insolent brat a lesson, he noticed Mei Terumi's mouth slightly open, emitting a white mist.
Swish!
The mist was highly corrosive, instantly melting the Anbu's mask on contact.
The acidic mist burned through the skin upon contact, sending waves of pain through his brain. In agony, the Anbu instinctively released the girl.
"Ahhh!"
The Anbu hadn't expected the girl to unleash such a corrosive mist from her mouth.
Though thrown to the ground, Mei Terumi hadn't yet comprehended the mist she had released. Instinctively, she realized now wasn't the time for pondering; she summoned her strength and sprinted towards the forest.
"Damn it, stop!"
Seeing Mei flee, the Anbu pursued immediately.
But as Mei turned a corner, he found her vanished from sight.
In the open, there was no hiding place, yet she was nowhere in view.
It was as though she had vanished into thin air!
"This can't be!"
Eyes wide with disbelief, the Anbu scanned around.
Unbeknownst to him, just meters away, Mei Terumi stood nervously.
The bizarre situation puzzled both sides.
Kirigakure's Anbu, eyes wide, searched but overlooked Mei Terumi nearby.
Initially thinking it an illusion or a ninja trick, Mei Terumi watched as the Anbu, frustrated, began to wreck the area. Shocked, she realized he truly couldn't see her.
"Could it be?"
Inspiration struck Mei Terumi as she swiftly retrieved something from her charred garments.
It was a candy given by her ninja brother before he departed, wrapped in white paper.
She had thought it consumed by the fire, but remarkably, the paper remained intact after burning, revealing a mysterious symbol she couldn't identify.
********
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