Capital, underground black market.
In the dark, damp passage, the stench of rust, cheap alcohol, and sweat mixed into an unpleasant odor.
Mei Terumi pulled down her straw hat, letting the wide robe completely hide her attractive curves.
Her green eyes cautiously scanned every shadowy corner.
This was the last hope for her and her resistance army.
As the representative of Kirigakure's resistance, she risked sneaking into the capital with all their operating funds, solely to buy enough food and medical supplies to sustain the Dawn Operation.
Reality, however, hit her hard.
"What did you say? Triple?" Mei Terumi's voice was heavily suppressed. "It wasn't this price half a month ago."
Behind the counter, a merchant selling military ration pills picked his teeth, his gaze contemptuous. "Sister, what year are you living in?"
"Right now, the Land of Fire is hiring everywhere. Wages are increasing daily. Moving bricks pays more than being a shinobi."
"Everyone has money now, so how can prices not go up?"
The merchant spat out his toothpick, impatiently saying, "It's this price. Buy it or don't. There's a queue behind you, don't waste my time."
Mei Terumi clenched the money pouch in her sleeve.
The metallic touch hurt her palm.
Undeterred, she visited several other shady shops.
The results were all the same.
The prices of all the supplies she needed had skyrocketed.
This amount of money couldn't even buy a third of the planned quantity.
The Dawn Operation was a crucial mission they had planned for a year, intended to rescue the family members of captured comrades.
Without sufficient supplies, the operation would be meaningless, and those people would face certain death.
A slightly kinder middle-aged merchant, seeing her dejected look, couldn't help but advise, "Little girl, stop struggling."
"The current daimyo is like a living deity. He's reducing taxes, providing subsidies to injured shinobi, and even promoting something called 'civilian genius training'."
"In the Land of Fire, as long as you're willing to work, you'll never go hungry."
"This kind of dangerous business we do will have no one left to do it in the future."
The merchant's comforting words were like a knife, repeatedly cutting into Mei Terumi's heart.
She walked out of the black market. The sunlight made her dizzy.
The wide streets were clean, and the air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat and sweet pastries, a stark contrast to the foul smell of the underground black market, as if they were two different worlds.
People on the street wore new clothes, and their faces showed genuine smiles.
Several children ran past, laughing, holding crystal clear candied fruit.
The bright red hurt her eyes.
She remembered Kirigakure, the village shrouded in blood mist.
The children there would only smile during the graduation exam, a twisted and insane smile, when they plunged a kunai into a comrade's heart.
Yet in the Land of Fire, smiles seemed to be free, visible everywhere.
In front of a fabric shop, a man with a broken leg was supported by his wife, showing off the pension he had received to his neighbors.
A teahouse was packed with people, talking loudly, all discussing the new daimyo.
"Did you hear? Civilians also get a share of the genius training funds!"
"The daimyo truly cares about us common folk!"
Every compliment in these words seemed to silently mock the misery of her homeland.
She had always believed that all rulers in the world were equally brutal, differing only in degree.
She firmly believed that only through resistance, through bloodshed and sacrifice, could true peace be achieved.
But everything before her left her speechless.
A country could be like this.
It could become prosperous, peaceful, and full of hope under a wise ruler.
It turned out that the people truly didn't have to live in fear. They could support their leader for a better life.
This shock to her understanding was far deeper than the setback of failing to buy supplies.
She stumbled to the river, gripping the railing, breathing heavily.
The river reflected her pale face and her green eyes, filled with confusion.
Why?
Why is the Land of Fire like this, while my homeland is hell?
She remembered her childhood friend, the gentle boy who would cry for an injured bird.
He had once smiled and said that after the war, he would take her to watch the sunrise over the sea.
But because he possessed a bloodline limit, he and his family were slaughtered like monsters.
The last thing she saw was his torn body.
Not even a complete corpse remained.
Hatred and unwillingness surged in her heart.
Yagura must die!
The Blood Mist tyranny must be overthrown!
Even if the cost was everything she had!
But she touched the shriveled money pouch.
Her expression became somewhat dejected again.
Without supplies, the Dawn Operation would fail.
Failure meant her comrades would die under the butcher's knife.
She could not accept such an outcome.
She would rather die.
But she couldn't let her comrades die in vain.
Absolutely not!
Mei Terumi's gaze shifted from confusion to pain, and from pain transformed into a kind of firm determination.
If death had no meaning, then what was the pride she held onto worth?
She had just heard about the concubine selection... If her body, her beauty, was the only weapon she could use to exchange for hope... then why not?
A desperate idea began to grow and quickly consumed her thoughts.
Concubine selection.
The daimyo was choosing concubines, a rumor that spread throughout the city.
The decree stated that anyone, regardless of origin, could participate.
Once selected, the family would receive generous rewards.
Rewards... If she were chosen, she didn't want any glory. She only wanted money.
A large sum of money.
Enough money to buy ten, even a hundred times the supplies!
To exchange her personal humiliation for the future of the entire resistance army, for the hope of saving Kirigakure.
This trade... was worth it!
Once this thought appeared, it could no longer be suppressed.
Feelings of humiliation, disgust, and self-hatred instantly overwhelmed her.
She seemed to already see a stranger's hand touching her body, critically judging her.
Her body trembled, her stomach churned, almost making her vomit.
But the trusting faces of her comrades, the unwilling gaze of the boy before his death, and the endless darkness of her homeland.
All of Mei Terumi's weakness and hesitation were burned away.
Pride?
Dignity?
Before the future of the village, they were worthless!
She slowly straightened up, forcefully wiping the moisture from the corners of her eyes.
When she looked up again, there was no longer any confusion in her green eyes.
Only a desperate resolve, regardless of the cost.
She tore off her wide robe, revealing the blue dress that outlined her perfect curves.
She carefully combed her long brown hair, letting it fall to cover half of her face, leaving only a touch of mystery and charm, just right.
Looking at her beautiful reflection in the river, she gave a bitter smile.
Daimyo of the Land of Fire... For Kirigakure, I will offer all that I have.
I hope you can afford the price.
She turned around, no longer looking at the prosperity and light behind her.
Firmly, she walked toward the direction where a sign for the concubine selection registration hung in the distance.
With every step she took, her heart ached a little more.
But her back remained perfectly straight.