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Mist Release.
Bloodline Elimination · Mist Release.
Attribute: Earth plus Water plus Fire.
Concept: Burning Mist.
Ability: Infuse Chakra into the mist, turning the mist in the entire area into high-temperature suspended particles with the characteristics of Scorch Release.
It is not "acid in the mist," but rather "the mist itself is in a high-temperature molten state."
The temperature is controllable, the range is controllable, and the duration is determined by the amount of Chakra.
Visuals: Grayish-white mist with dark red light at the edges.
Where it passes, grass and trees scorch without burning, metal softens without melting, and human bodies feel warm without being harmed.
Perfectly aligns with "Hidden Mist."
This is the most common thing in this Village; mist is everywhere, coming from the sea, coming from the mountains, seeping in from every crack.
As long as she is willing, the entire Village can become her battlefield.
Perfectly aligns with Mizukage.
This is her future title: Fifth Mizukage, possessor of dual Kekkei Genkai, savior of the Hidden Mist Village.
Perfectly aligns with "making the Village warm."
This is their shared wish at this moment.
Mei Terumī stood behind him.
She didn't know when she had come in, and she didn't know how long she had been standing there.
She stood two steps behind him, looking at the scroll spread out on the table, looking at the dense handwriting, looking at the last few lines.
She looked for a very, very long time.
Then she spoke, her voice very soft, so soft as if afraid to disturb something:
"How did you know... the name I was just thinking of."
Shinji did not turn around.
He sat at the table, his back to Mei Terumī.
Moonlight leaked in through the cracks in the window, falling on Shinji's shoulders, falling on the scroll, making the characters appear faint and hazy.
He was silent for a moment.
"Because the mist is very cold."
He said. His voice was very flat, as flat as if he were talking about the nice weather today:
"You want to make it warm, and I also want to make it warm."
Mei Terumī was silent.
She just stood behind him, looking at that back.
The back that had stood in front of her since she was nine years old.
The back that had walked out of the mist and blocked in front of her.
The back that would knock on her door three times before every mission and ask, "How have you been lately?"
The back that was covered in blood in the heavy rain and still said to her, "As long as you call, I will come."
The moonlight outside the window leaked down through the gaps in the mist.
The Hidden Mist's perpetually gray sky was illuminated somewhat white by the moonlight at this moment.
The mist was still flowing, passing in front of the window, passing over the roof, passing through the entire Village.
But tonight, the mist didn't seem so cold anymore.
[As Mei Terumī's personal strength increased, you began to collect various information about the inside of the Hidden Mist Village, classifying it, and preparing for future plans.]
[Besides this, you also secretly contacted Konoha, requesting a large amount of funds and assistance, and searched externally for secrets and incriminating evidence about the Fourth Mizukage, to provide help for your ascent in the Hidden Mist Village.]
[Because you were a mole in the Senju family specifically chosen by the Second Hokage before he passed away, possessing the highest level of authority, the Third Hokage, known as the Ninja Hero, ultimately chose to trust you and provided you with funds and assistance.]
[However, you discovered that Mei Terumī seemed to have gone down the wrong path in the matter of changing the Village; she began to obsess over personal strength, crazily improving her own power, and neglected the formation of her own faction.]
[As the nanny for the future Mizukage, over these years you have acted as a classmate, a teacher, and also served as a teammate and lover; naturally, you cannot relax at this moment.]
[One night, you planned to go find her to talk.]
It was already evening when Shinji found Mei Terumī at the training ground.
The sky was almost dark, and the training ground was empty.
In front of those wooden stakes that used to be crowded with people, now there was only fine sand kicked up when the wind blew.
The grass grew very tall, spreading inward from the edge of the training ground, as if it wanted to swallow this abandoned open space.
Mei Terumī stood in front of that row of wooden stakes, holding a sword, hacking down one by one.
The blade had long since chipped; it didn't chip today, it had chipped several days ago.
But she didn't change it, just held that chipped sword, hacking one by one at those wooden stakes that had already been hacked to pieces.
The web between her thumb and index finger cracked from the shock. Blood flowed down the hilt, over her fingers, over the tsuba, and dripped onto the ground.
The blood dripped into the sand, was quickly absorbed, leaving only a small, dark spot.
But she didn't stop.
One slash. A new mark appeared on the wooden stake.
Another slash. Wood chips splattered, falling at her feet.
Another slash.
Shinji walked over.
He stood behind her and watched for two seconds.
Watching her sword-swinging movements, her tensed shoulders and back, and the blood dripping from the hand holding the sword.
Then he reached out and took the sword from her hand. The movement was very light, so light as if afraid to disturb something.
She turned her head.
Shinji looked at her, then pulled the girl into his arms.
Mei Terumī froze for a moment. Something was burning beneath her eyes. Deep down, hidden, suppressed, but burning.
"Do you know what you are missing?" Shinji asked.
Mei Terumī averted her gaze, looking at the row of wooden stakes she had hacked to pieces.
Those wooden stakes could no longer be seen in their original shape, only some fragmented wood chips were left, scattered on the ground.
"...Strength."
Her voice was very low, so low it sounded like it was squeezed from deep in her throat, carrying a certain tremor she hadn't even realized herself.
Shinji did not speak.
He looked at her for a long time.
The moonlight rose, leaking down through the gaps in the mist, falling on her. She was covered in sweat, blood was dripping from the web of her hand, and her shoulders were still trembling slightly.
In Mei Terumī's eyes, there was exhaustion, there was persistence, and there was that thing he had seen too many times.
That look of wanting to become stronger, wanting to prove herself, wanting to change everything.
Shinji had seen that look before; he had also seen himself possessing that look in the mirror in the past.
"You are wrong." He said.
Mei Terumī raised her head.
Shinji walked to the row of hacked-up wooden stakes, crouched down, and picked up a wood chip.
The wood chip was very thin, with jagged edges; it was one he had just watched her hack out slash by slash.
He placed the wood chip in his palm, looked at it for two seconds, then looked up at her.
"What you are missing is not strength."
He put down the wood chip, dusted off his hands, and stood up:
"What you are missing is people."
Mei Terumī frowned.
"People?"
"Yes."
Shinji looked at her:
"This Village cannot be changed by one person alone."
He paused, his gaze passing over her, looking toward the houses in the distance that were gradually blurring in the twilight.
Those houses were very small, very old, crowded together, like a group of animals keeping each other warm.
Dim yellow light shone from the windows, bit by bit, blurring into hazy spots of light in the mist.
"No matter how strong one person is, how many people can they kill?
After killing those people, then what? Who will help us manage the Village?
Who will help us rebuild the system? Who will make those who are alive believe that we can make this Village truly different?"
Mei Terumī was silent.
She just stood there, standing in front of that row of wooden stakes she had hacked to pieces, standing in the twilight, standing in the interplay of light and shadow of moonlight and mist.
Her brows were furrowed, her lips pursed, and her shoulders tensed.
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