On a nameless mountain deep within the Land of Water.
Inside a dimly lit cave, the sound of dripping water echoed faintly.
Within the cave sat many men and women—haggard-faced, ragged-clothed.
Many bore wounds hastily wrapped in bandages.
Suddenly, a young man burst violently through the entrance.
Everyone jumped up like startled birds, a chill ran through the cave.
"It's me, it's me!" he called out urgently, fearing he might be attacked by mistake.
Once they recognized him as one of their own clan members, everyone slowly sat back down, their hearts still pounding, panic and fear lingering in their eyes.
The young man walked straight toward a middle-aged man and came to a stop, his face twisted with grief.
"Clan Leader, Tenguya sacrificed himself to lure away the Anbu."
In just one night, they had become fugitives without a home.
Originally a family of over a hundred people, now fewer than twenty remained.
And the Mist Village's Anbu were still hunting them relentlessly—it seemed their intent was total annihilation.
After so many days on the run, the number of surviving clan members continued to drop.
No one knew who would be next.
"Damn that Mizukage!"
"We Snow Clan have swallowed our pride for years, but he still refuses to let us go."
"We should've accepted Kaguya Clan's offer from the start."
The middle-aged man was none other than the leader of the Snow Clan. Filled with rage, he slammed his fist hard into the stone wall beside him.
His bare hand split open instantly, blood trickled slowly down the stone wall.
Years ago, the Kaguya Clan had invited him to conspire against the Hidden Mist.
He had hesitated, holding onto a sliver of hope, neither agreeing nor reporting the plot.
Now, the Kaguya Clan remained unharmed while his Snow Clan stood on the edge of extinction.
"Clan Leader, do you think the distress calls we sent will still help?"
This wasn't the first time the young man had asked this question—it was their final last hope.
"I don't know either... It's been far too long already. Probably..."
The clan leader rubbed his forehead with his bloodstained hand, leaving the rest unsaid.
"The Anbu are narrowing their search."
"We can't stay hidden much longer."
"If no rescue comes, then we'll have no choice but to fight with everything we've got."
"Even if we have to go one by one, at least we'll be able to vanish and start over under new names."
"As long as some survive, the Snow Clan's bloodline will not die out completely."
The young man understood what the clan leader meant. They couldn't count on anyone else anymore.
The more he spoke, the more intense he became, his eyes hardening with resolve.
"Yeah… You're right. I need to make a decision now."
The clan leader had always hesitated, waiting.
But now there was no time left. If we take the initiative and break through, we still have a slight chance.
If they kept hiding here in the cave, once discovered by the Mist Village Anbu, they'd be completely surrounded—no hope of survival.
That would be a sin too great for him to bear!
"Clan Leader, please give the order."
"I volunteer to lead the charge. Even if death awaits, I won't regret it."
During the massacre, the young man had lost both his parents. Now, he had accepted death.
"You're still young. It's not your turn yet."
"Then you can say those words after I'm gone—it'll be your turn."
The clan leader stood up and clamped down hard on the young man's shoulder.
"Clan Leader..."
The young man tried to argue but was cut off.
"Not another word. How can a clan leader let others do the fighting?"
Stepping past the young man, the clan leader walked among his people.
"You all already know the situation without me needing to explain."
"Later, I'll lead you all in breaking through the siege."
"If you survive, run far away."
"There will no longer be a Snow Clan in this world."
His eyes red with tears, the clan leader was already crying without realizing it.
"Clan Leader."
"Clan Leader."
Everyone understood what he meant.
A shared sense of tragic resolve settled over them.
"Rest well now. You'll need your strength when the time comes."
The clan leader raised his hand and wiped at the corner of his eyes, forcing a faint smile.
After making this difficult decision, he felt an odd sense of relief.
"Yes."
The clan members replied solemnly. Though dangerous, they had no better option.
...
"There's something weird here."
Nawaki found one of the Snow Clan's hidden markers in a secluded area.
Minato quickly moved over after hearing those words and took a look.
"We're close. You guys should keep searching carefully."
Finding this marker confirmed they were heading in the right direction.
As they continued forward, soon they found several more marks.
"They must be in serious danger."
"Otherwise they wouldn't have left so many markers."
"This makes them too easy to discover."
Minato analyzed the situation logically, and things seemed exactly as he described.
"You don't really think they've all been wiped out, do you?"
A chilling thought crossed Nawaki's mind.
If the Snow Clan had indeed been destroyed by Kiri's Anbu, then their entire journey would've been pointless.
They'd gone through so much hardship—accepting that ending would be hard.
Surely they hadn't come all this way just to bring back corpses?
"You're thinking too negatively."
Said Minato with a glare, clearly annoyed at the pessimism.
"Heh... I was just messing around."
"We should keep moving forward."
With that, Nawaki followed the direction of the markings and continued ahead.
None of them could tell how far they had walked before finding another marker—then nothing.
"The trail ends here."
"It looks like the situation is worse than we imagined."
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"We need to hurry."
Minato frowned. He was beginning to fear Nawaki might be right.
Unless they were truly desperate, the Snow Clan wouldn't stop leaving markers.
"If they're still alive, they must be deep in these mountains."
"But now that the trail has ended, finding them will be nearly impossible."
Nawaki rubbed his temples as a headache began to form.
"Let's keep moving in this direction for now."
"If they're alive, we should soon run into Kiri's Anbu."
Minato reasoned logically. If they kept failing to encounter Kiri's Anbu, then the Snow Clan's chances of survival would be next to nothing.
The Anbu from Kiri wouldn't still be lurking in these mountains after completing their mission.
"Yeah, we have no choice but to proceed like this."
Nawaki didn't have a better plan either. The group followed Minato in the direction marked by the last Flying Thunder God tag.
As night fell, distant growls of wild beasts occasionally echoed through the forest.
In the darkness, they were even harder to see.
Suddenly, Nagato halted.
"Senpai, there's someone ahead."
Being an Uzumaki and enhanced by his Rinnegan, Nagato had incredibly sharp senses.
"I'll scout ahead."
Minato left a Flying Thunder God tag behind and silently moved forward alone.
Nawaki led the remaining people to hide.
Not long after, Minato returned, dragging along a mist-covered Anbu wearing a mask.
"Good thing we arrived just in time."
Minato threw the Anbu onto the ground, yet before he could begin interrogation,
"I got this."
Lion was skilled in interrogation too.
He dragged the Anbu into a quiet corner and came back out moments later, clapping his hands.
"They haven't found the target yet."
"But they've narrowed down the general area."
"It's within their encirclement."
Lion shared the intel—good news for all of them.
"In that case, let's move out."
Minato led the group forward again, though this time they proceeded even more cautiously.
They had already entered the encirclement zone of the Kiri Anbu and might be discovered at any moment.
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