The streets and alleys, once filled with the warmth of the sun, were now swarming with the silhouettes of Hidden Mist Pursuer-nin. It was as if the entire organization had poured out from the heart of the Mist, encircling the six-story pavilion in the center of the district.
"This is bad!"
Ren Uchiha's eyes narrowed as he recognized the hand signs.
This was a multi-caster Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave. The scale was immense—large enough to create a localized ocean. The sheer water pressure from the initial release was enough to crush steel plates. Once the technique fully unfolded, half of the City of Steam would be swallowed by the tides.
And the three of them were standing directly in the impact zone of the first, most devastating wave.
Ren's expression turned fierce. With a practiced motion, he snatched four kunai directly from the pouch at Mei Terumi's waist.
With a flick of his finger, threads of Earth Grudge Fear snaked from his wrists, lashing onto the ring pommels of the kunai. He threw them with a snap of his arm, pinning them into the rooftops of nearby buildings.
Without a word, he scooped Mei into his arms and leapt high into the air, using the tension of the threads to swing them upward like a pendulum.
He didn't forget to shout back at his "little brother" below:
"Hidan! Play dead! Don't make a sound!"
Hidan was about to curse him out, but his jaw dropped as he watched Ren's fluid escape, whisking the beauty away in one smooth motion.
Is he that scared? I just wanted a bite of his food! Hidan thought, stunned.
The next instant, dozens of water pillars crashed down behind him. Tens of thousands of tons of water slammed into the earth, obliterating the six-story pavilion instantly. A massive tsunami, over ten meters high, surged forward in a violent, churning wall of white foam.
Shadows blotted out Hidan's vision. He turned back slowly, his face shifting from confusion to shock, and finally, to pure terror.
BOOM!
The wave crashed down, and the City of Steam fell into a deathly silence.
A freezing gale, thick with sea spray, whipped across the ruins.
Breaking the silence were the dark figures leaping from the debris—shinobi. Men burdened by missions, walking through darkness, drowning in hatred, racing under the banner of their own "Justice," slaughtering one another in the name of their Ninja Ways.
Within moments, the first screams of mangled civilians began to rise.
Underneath that chorus of agony, the rhythmic clink-clank of clashing kunai signaled the true opening act of the Third Great Ninja War.
Ren pulled on his threads, his body twisting through the air as he narrowly dodged the crest of the incoming tsunami. He continued to fire kunai and shuriken into high points, swinging through the chaos.
Mei didn't even have the breath to complain about him stealing her tools. She looked back over the towering wall of water at the collapsing pavilion and cried out in shock:
"How did the Third Mizukage find Lord Yagura's location? Only Mangetsu Hozuki and I knew!"
"I watched Mangetsu the whole time... I made sure he was sealed. He shouldn't be the problem."
She trailed off, her face turning pale as she reached the only logical conclusion.
"Could it be... was it me? Was I the one who was compromised?"
In a sense, she was right.
Ren remained silent. He recalled the strange text that had appeared in the air back at the castle.
[The Third Mizukage expresses his disdain toward you.]
It wasn't a bug in his talent. The Third Mizukage had been there that day, lurking in the shadows behind Mangetsu. Perhaps he had sensed Mangetsu's disloyalty long ago and was simply waiting for the right moment to strike.
Ren threw the last of Mei's empty tool pouch aside. He swung her through one final arc and landed on the roof of a four-story building that sat outside the main path of the flood.
He looked out over the city.
The once-prosperous capital was now a graveyard of echoes. This sudden strike had shattered the peaceful dreams of the Land of Steam. Buildings lay in ruins, and the city was drowning in a swamp of its own making.
On every visible rooftop, terrified civilians huddled together. A woman sat clutching her child, wailing in the wreckage; a merchant stared blankly at the water that had swallowed his life's work in a heartbeat.
Countless bodies rolled in the churning waves.
A corpse drifted past that made Ren's heart skip a beat. It was the shopkeeper from the sweets shop.
Less than a minute ago, the old man had been smiling, counting his money, watching the budding romance between the young boy and girl with a kind, elderly grin.
Now, half his body was crushed by a collapsed wall. His face was frozen in a mask of absolute terror. He died without even knowing why.
Ren's expression went cold.
Hsss—
He took a deep breath.
He suppressed the fury at the injustice unfolding before him.
He suppressed the hatred that urged him to find the culprit and demand Why?
He suppressed the desperate urge to change everything.
He reminded himself: You knew this, Ren Uchiha. You knew the world was this cruel. In this world where power is everything, you are nothing but a traveler.
"Phew..."
He exhaled slowly. Reaching down, he pried a tile from the roof, tied it with his threads, and threw it toward a survivor struggling in the water, pulling them toward the safety of the ledge.
Beside him, Mei helped pull two more people up before turning to him with a furrowed brow.
"Ren, we have to leave. Now."
"These Pursuer-nin are here for Lord Yagura. The fighting is only going to get more terrifying. Even... the Third Mizukage might show up."
Ren didn't respond. He narrowed his eyes, activating his Sharingan as he stared into the distance.
There, two figures were sprinting across the surface of the turbulent water as if it were solid ground.
One had green hair and purple eyes, with a stitch-like scar under his left eye. He looked shorter than Ren, possessing a youthful "baby face," and carried a hooked staff topped with a green flower.
Yagura Karatachi, the future Fourth Mizukage.
The other was white-haired with purple eyes, carrying a massive blade wrapped in bandages.
The "Prodigy" Ren had fought before: Mangetsu Hozuki.
"It's them!" Mei gasped, a flicker of relief crossing her face. "Thank God, they're safe."
However, amidst Mei's relief, Ren stood up in silence.
He reached down and pulled back his shirt, exposing his abdomen—specifically, the Ouroboros mark where Zero-Tails resided.
His gaze suddenly turned ice-cold.