Land of Grass, somewhere in a mountain hollow.
Several dilapidated wooden huts stood crookedly on the hillside, surrounded by a crude wooden fence.
In the center were stacked a few rough wooden crates containing supplies seized from merchant caravans—several sacks of grain, two bales of cloth, and an assortment of tools.
This was the rogue ninja’s hideout.
Inside the largest hut, several rogue ninja sat around a table, drinking heavily, their faces greasy.
Half a roasted sheep lay on the table, the bones picked clean.
The clatter of sake bowls rang out in rapid succession.
“Boss, we captured someone from Konoha this time.
Are we sure nothing will go wrong?”
The man called Boss sat at the head of the table.
He was powerfully built, with a scar running diagonally from his forehead down to his jaw.
His name was Jinpachi, originally from the Land of Rain.
He had gathered a dozen or so outlaws to rob and pillage around the Land of Grass, becoming the most feared rogue ninja gang in the area.
Jinpachi snorted dismissively.
“Relax.
I checked his eyes when we grabbed him—no Byakugan.”
He raised his sake bowl and took a long gulp, then continued: “And from start to finish, he never showed a Sharingan, so he’s not an Uchiha either.”
“His name was…
something like Kamizuki Yakumo?
Not a Senju either.
A ninja from some minor clan.
Konoha isn’t going to mobilize a force just to hunt us down.”
“Besides—we’re only asking for five million ryo.
That’s so cheap, tell me—is it more worthwhile for Konoha to come after us, or to just pay up?”
“The boss is brilliant!”
“The boss is right!”
The rogue ninja chimed in one after another, clinking their sake bowls together.
“But what if…
Konoha actually does send someone?”
Jinpachi shot him a sideways glance and sneered.
“Send who?
One chunin from a minor clan—Konoha would be lucky to send a couple of chunin.
We’ve got over a dozen men here, and we know the terrain.
What’s there to fear?”
“Besides, this is the Land of Grass.
The Land of Fire can’t touch us, the Land of Earth can’t be bothered, and the Land of Lightning can’t reach us.
We’re the kings here.
Just stick with me, and you’ll eat like—”
BOOM!!!
Before he could finish, the entire roof of the hut exploded outward.
Splinters flew in all directions, dust filling the air.
Jinpachi felt his vision go black.
A tremendous force pressed down from above, sending him crashing to the ground.
Several rogue ninja near the door were blasted away by the shockwave, slamming into the fence, coughing up blood and collapsing.
Through the smoke and dust, two figures descended from above, landing steadily in the center of the ruins.
Uchiha Madara wore a black combat outfit, with his signature white haori over it.
He stood there, radiating an oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe.
Uchiha Hikaru stood at his side, his crimson Sharingan rotating slowly as he scanned the surroundings.
Upon arrival, Hikaru first observed the area with his Sharingan, confirming that the captured Konoha chunin was not in the camp.
Then Madara brought his palm down.
“Who…
who’s there!”
“Enemy attack!
Enemy attack!”
In the ruins, the few rogue ninja who had survived scrambled out from the debris.
Some reached for kunai, others for their swords.
When they saw the two figures in the smoke, all their faces went pale.
The white haori—
“U…
Uchiha Madara?”
“The…
the Hokage?”
They were finished.
Uchiha Madara looked down at the ragged band of rogue ninja, his gaze cold as ice, as though he were staring at insects.
“Who gave you the courage to kidnap a ninja of my Konoha?”
“Madara-sama, allow me.”
Hikaru stepped forward, his crimson Sharingan locking onto everyone in the vicinity in an instant.
“Don’t look into his eyes!”
Hikaru’s Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotated.
Moments later, every last one of them went slack, their eyes hollow and vacant.
Hikaru withdrew his gaze and turned to Madara.
“Madara-sama, the Konoha chunin is nearby, held in a cave three li east of here.
The supplies are there as well.”
“Let’s go.”
Madara did not spare the rogue ninja another glance.
He turned and walked east.
Kamizuki Yakumo lay blindfolded, his hands and feet bound tightly with coarse hemp rope, curled up on the cold stone floor deep inside a cave.
He had been lying there for an entire day and night.
The Kamizuki clan was small.
Their strongest ninja had been a jonin, but he had fallen in battle against another clan a year ago.
Just as the clan was at a loss, Konoha was founded.
Yakumo made the decisive choice, leading the remnants of his clan to join Konoha, securing a path to survival for his family.
But who could have predicted that on this supply transport mission, he would run into this band of rogue ninja?
He fought back with everything he had, but outnumbered and overwhelmed, he was eventually knocked unconscious and bound.
Now, trapped in this lightless cave, only despair remained in Yakumo’s heart.
His clan could not possibly come up with five million ryo to ransom him.
He was just an insignificant chunin in Konoha—who would risk their life for him?
He was destined to die here.
Panic, fear, despair—they closed in around him.
Yakumo’s body began to tremble.
And then—
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Yakumo tensed up.
Had they come to kill him?
Strangely, as death drew near, he found himself less afraid than before.
Yakumo took a deep breath, mustering all his strength to straighten his back.
Even blindfolded, even bound, he would die standing.
He summoned his courage: “Before I die, I have one request.”
“I am a ninja of Konoha.
Konoha lies to the north—do not let me die facing south!”
“Come on!”
“Hikaru-sama once said—where the leaves dance, fire burns eternal!
The ideals of Konoha and the Will of Fire will never die!”
Silence filled the cave.
Then the black cloth over his eyes was ripped away.
Blinding light flooded his pupils.
Yakumo squinted instinctively.
As his vision slowly focused on the figure before him—
His eyes went wide.
“The…
the Hokage-sama?
Hikaru-sama?”
Konoha Village, in front of the Konoha White House.
Uchiha Madara: “Chunin of Konoha—Kamizuki Yakumo.”
Yakumo: “Here.”
“In recognition of your unyielding spirit and unwavering Will of Fire during captivity, I, the Hokage, hereby award you the Konoha Medal of Courage.
May you carry the Will of Fire with you in all days to come, and never bring shame to the name of Konoha.”
Yakumo: “Rest assured, Hokage-sama.
Rest assured, Konoha.
The Will of Fire—I will uphold it with my entire life!”
“Did you hear?
The Hokage-sama and Hikaru-sama awarded a Medal of Courage to that captured chunin.
They said it was for his faith and Will of Fire in the face of adversity.”
“Really?
I heard when the Hokage came to rescue him, he was so scared he almost wet himself?”
“Haha, and he still got a Medal of Courage?
Is that true?”
“Hikaru-sama said that when Yakumo was blindfolded, he thought the rogue ninja had come to kill him.
And in his final moments, he said—’Konoha lies to the north; do not let me die facing south.’ And he also said that line: ‘Where the leaves dance, fire burns eternal.'”
“Wow.
That guy’s lucky.
I almost want to get captured myself, just so I can die heroically like that.”
“Pfft, you?
Give me a break.
You’d probably surrender the moment you got scared.
You’d be a Konoha traitor for sure.”
“You’re the traitor!”
The Hokage personally going to rescue a chunin, then making a grand spectacle of awarding a medal—this public relations move was brilliantly executed.
What is the heart of the people?
This is the heart of the people.