Hell Valley, a misty expanse of blood.
Inside a certain house.
Yashiro En, cradling an infant in his arms, knelt sorrowfully before the deathbed, his crimson eyes filled with anguish as he gazed upon his recently deceased wife.
Behind him, the seven or eight elders of the Chinoike Clan couldn't hide their excitement.
"Excellent! Yan's dōjutsu power has increased again!"
"His dōjutsu power is now probably not much weaker than the clan leader's!"
"It's time to seek revenge against the Uchiha clan!"
"The clan leader had a spar with the Raikage candidate who came to persuade us last time, and the difference wasn't that great. With Yan added, we might even be able to fight against the Five Kage!"
"I told you, only the extreme pain of losing a loved one can awaken the most powerful power of the Ketsuryūgan, making Yan even stronger."
The elders chattered excitedly, their faces flushed, until the last sentence was uttered.
The current clan leader of the Chinoike Clan, Yashiro Yo, raised his hand, and the room fell silent.
Even in this clan, those who awakened the Ketsuryūgan were as fanatical and insane as the Uchiha. Cheerful discussions about this.
Anyone would find it unbearable.
Even the Chinoike Clan, whose minds were further warped by the harsh environment of Hell Valley.
Especially the last sentence, which almost blatantly told Yashiro En that his wife's death was deliberately orchestrated by them to make him feel pain and enhance the power of his Ketsuryūgan.
"So… you old geezers deliberately killed her? I was wondering why she couldn't be saved, even though I hired medical ninjas from Kumogakure."
Yashiro En slowly stood up, holding his infant daughter in his arms.
"It doesn't matter, Yan. She was just a woman who couldn't awaken the dōjutsu. From now on, you can choose any woman from the clan!"
Yashiro Yo said, placing his hand on Yashiro En's shoulder.
"Including your wives and daughters?"
Yashiro En asked with a mocking expression.
"Yan, how can you say that!"
An elder of the Chinoike Clan tapped his cane.
"Of course, including them."
Yashiro Yo noticed signs of agitation in Yashiro En's dōjutsu and decisively said.
"Now is the time for us to leave Hell Valley and take revenge on the Uchiha. With the help of Kumogakure, we will defeat Konoha and repay the pain the Uchiha once inflicted on us tenfold! At that time, not only the women of the clan, but also women from the outside will be at your disposal."
"Uchiha… they deserve to die, but my wife… did she deserve to die?"
Yashiro En looked at his daughter in his arms.
His wife was already dead.
He couldn't lose his daughter too.
Even if he had to do something, he had to move his daughter, Chino, out first and wait until she was safe before taking action.
"She didn't deserve to die, but for the clan to have the power to take revenge on the Uchiha, she had to die! The Uchiha are the ones who truly deserve to die! Our clan has fallen into this situation, your wife has suffered these things, and the root of everything is the Uchiha!"
Yashiro Yo said seriously.
"Actually, to defeat Konoha and take revenge on the Uchiha, I think Sunagakure would be a better choice than Kumogakure."
Suddenly, a young voice rang out from outside the door.
"Who is it?"
An elder of the Chinoike Clan shouted towards the door.
The door opened by itself, revealing Shimizu and his three companions.
"Let me introduce myself briefly. I am Shimizu, and we are from Sunagakure. We sincerely invite you to join Sunagakure."
Shimizu wore a polite smile, his hands in his pockets, and bowed slightly.
"Where did you little brats come from? Who gave you the guts to break into Hell Valley…"
A slightly overweight elder of the Chinoike Clan reached out to grab Shimizu.
"Don't!"
Yashiro Yo shouted anxiously.
A scream rang out, and the Chinoike elder quickly drew his sword and severed his arm.
A hissing sound of evaporation rose, and a withered, mummy-like arm fell to the ground, devoid of all moisture.
For a moment, Yashiro Yo and the elders of the Chinoike Clan in the room couldn't help but look serious.
Although the strength of this arm-severed elder was the weakest among the elders, he lost an arm in an instant, which meant that this young kunoichi, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, was stronger than ordinary jōnin.
Perhaps not much weaker than their clan leader.
Shimizu's expression was very calm.
He also felt that Yekura was a little too much. After all, they were here to invite the Chinoike Clan to join Sunagakure. What Yekura did was tantamount to pushing people away.
But it didn't matter. He also didn't like these mentally unstable old guys.
As long as they were killed, new leaders could be replaced.
The strength of this arm-severed elder was probably only at the level of a Special Jōnin.
With Yekura's current elite jōnin-level strength, defeating him was like Maki dealing with Hayate Gekkō in the original timeline, almost a one-hit kill. The fact that he was still alive meant that Yekura had already shown mercy.
Well, although it was said to be showing mercy, crippling the arm of an elder upon meeting him was still quite ruthless.
It could be seen that Yekura didn't like these Chinoike elders very much.
They had been hiding in the distance for a long time, eavesdropping.
The reason why they were not discovered by these Chinoike Clan members, who were still quite strong, was because they were hiding hundreds of meters away.
Eavesdropping relied on Shimizu's ability to manipulate air currents, directly transmitting the air vibrations in the room intact to everyone's ears.
This ability was very convenient for obtaining information. Coupled with Shimizu's transparent world with a sensing distance of up to a thousand meters, within this range, as long as Shimizu wanted to know the information, he could basically investigate it without anyone knowing.
"Everyone, Hell Valley does not welcome you. We have already signed a contract with Kumogakure and are preparing to join them."
Yashiro Yo said with a cold expression.
He had sold himself and the entire Chinoike Clan for a good price.
Not to mention Yekura's attitude, they wouldn't like it.
The reason they didn't fight directly was because Yekura had already displayed some of her strength.
The entire Chinoike Clan had just over a hundred people, with only thirty or forty who had awakened the dōjutsu, and less than ten with the strength of a Special Jōnin or higher, one of whom had just had an arm removed by Yekura.
The remaining three members of the Sunagakure team could carry out missions with Yekura, so their strength was definitely not much worse. If a conflict occurred, Yashiro Yo felt that the Chinoike Clan would suffer heavy losses.
This would affect their status after joining Kumogakure in the future.
The only person who disagreed was Yashiro En.
"Everyone."
Yashiro En stood up from the ground, holding his daughter.
"I can join you with my daughter."
"Yan, don't be impulsive."
Yashiro Yo frowned.
"Provided that you help me kill them."
Yashiro En turned around, his expression cold, and said word by word.
