Chapter Thirteen: Mundo

The clearing beneath the mountain cliff.

A young ninja from the Hidden Stone Village was pulling a shinobi blade out of the heart of a teenage Leaf ninja. Nearby, another corpse lay sprawled, its face still frozen in a grimace of despair and terror, yet it had not managed even a semblance of resistance.

“There’s really no challenge at all. After their captain died, they became nothing but a flock of lambs, bleating for mercy,” scoffed the young stone ninja named Shi Yi, his tone dripping with contempt.

By this stage of the war, genin had been replaced again and again; even many children barely ten years old had been thrown onto the battlefield. This area had been considered relatively safe, patrolled by squads of recent academy graduates.

The Leaf’s teaching methods were far too gentle—always sparring with fists and legs, never preparing for real bloodshed. The moment they set foot on a real battlefield, their legs turned to jelly. Shi Yi couldn’t fathom how such a village managed to occupy the richest lands on the continent.

In contrast, Hidden Stone Village, perched on a barren plateau, had to fight for every scrap of resources. When not serving as ninja, they worked as farmers, a life that defined many stone shinobi. Three times they had launched wars upon the ninja world, all to carve out a fertile piece from the Land of Fire, hoping to grant their people a better life.

Victory had seemed within reach, until the Leaf’s prodigy appeared—the “Yellow Flash” Minato Namikaze, who singlehandedly turned the tide. The Tsuchikage had even issued the order: “If you encounter Minato Namikaze, abandon your mission and flee at once—no punishment will follow.” Such was the threat.

So, Tsuchikage Onoki devised a new strategy: disperse the stone shinobi into squads, employ harassment tactics—invading the Land of Fire, ambushing outposts, supply points, and patrol units...

Strike swiftly, then retreat, forcing Minato to chase them everywhere, limiting his overwhelming power to the smallest possible area.

Now, with the four great nations invading the Land of Fire, the Leaf was a spent force. If they could hold out until the other villages breached the Leaf’s defenses, Hidden Stone would still be victors.

That was why this Hidden Stone squad was here.

“Still... only the Land of Fire could nurture such beautiful girls, I suppose...” Shi Yi gazed at the unconscious, violet-haired kunoichi lying on the ground, a pure infatuation blossoming on his face.

She was breathtaking...

He felt no evil intent—just a sudden feeling of falling in love at first sight.

He couldn’t bring himself to destroy such a lovely flower so carelessly.

If only he could bring her back to Hidden Stone, keep her close, adore her every day...

Though that was hardly realistic.

Female ninjas from the Land of Earth tended to be short and stout, with rough skin—nothing like this girl, whose skin was as pale as milk.

And she was strong. It had taken considerable effort to knock her out, and he’d injured his hand in the process.

If such a girl had been born in Hidden Stone, she would surely be called the village beauty. Why did she have to be from the Leaf?

Shi Yi had not yet decided what to do with the girl when a strange sound echoed along the cliff wall...

“Let Mundo take a sniff... Seems to be here...”

A shuffling noise—something dragging across the ground.

“Look what Mundo has found...”

A rasping sound—the scrape of metal against rock.

“A rabbit!”

The voice was filled with delight!

Shi Yi watched the masked stranger approach, every sense on high alert.

The blood-splattered, one-eyed mask with a swirling pattern; clothing soaked with gore; a grotesque, serrated butcher’s blade scraping against the stone, filling the air with screeching echoes; a mangled corpse dragged behind him...

“Da Yan...” It was his teammate, an experienced, if somewhat lackadaisical, senior chunin. Half an hour ago, they had been on a mission together. Now, Da Yan was nothing but a corpse in this madman’s grip?

Shi Yi’s heart plunged, cold as the depths of the sea.

In the shinobi world, it was common knowledge: the more twisted a ninja’s behavior, the greater their combat prowess.

And this one—he was no ordinary lunatic. The aura of blood and violence radiated from him, as if he were the very shadow of depravity.

Behind the swirling mask, Bai Mu hid his face. Pressed for time and lacking better tools, he’d donned the mask, his own childish face unsuitable for this role.

He glanced at the purple-haired girl on the ground—no blood, her limbs bound, merely unconscious. After all, she was a named character in the original story; such people weren’t so easily killed.

“Yuugao Uzuki? Thanks to the traces you deliberately left, it was easy to find you. Speaking of which... in the world of shinobi, it seems every pretty girl has been kidnapped at least once. Princess Hinata tops the list,” Bai Mu played his role, though his thoughts wandered.

If this scene had played out as in the original, Moonlight Hayate would have risked everything to save Yuugao Uzuki. Feelings would have quietly blossomed, which explained why such a beautiful girl would fall for a sickly, coughing youth.

Now that Bai Mu had taken Hayate’s place—would their fate be changed? He felt no interest in gentle, considerate girls like Yuugao Uzuki, especially not twelve-year-olds. He preferred wild, untamed types.

“What are you?” Shi Yi crouched low, voice tense, as if facing a monster.

He no longer regarded the masked figure as human.

“Mundo is a prisoner from Konoha’s high-security block... Mundo—they wanted to send Mundo to the front lines...”

“Mundo’s hair got dirty. Mundo wanted to help the ninja escorting Mundo wash his hair, so Mundo cut off his head and cleaned it... Mundo lost track after that...”

“Mundo got lost here. Mundo is hungry, so Mundo keeps hunting prey... They’re all too skinny...”

Bai Mu’s lips curled into a sinister smile. He pointed at Shi Yi with one finger, his voice chilling: “But now Mundo has found a tastier new prey... The flesh on you is firmer than theirs...”

In just a few words, Bai Mu had painted the portrait of a powerful, yet utterly deranged convict—a mind broken beyond repair, his language simple but soaked in gore.

“Damn it... To think I’d run into something like this out here. Has the Leaf started sending convict ninjas to the battlefield?” Shi Yi clenched his teeth, feeling immense psychological pressure.

Every ninja prison held only the most vicious shinobi; ordinary criminals had no place there. With the war growing desperate, it made sense they would be used as cannon fodder.

The ninja escorts would have prepared for every contingency, yet this “Mundo” had managed to kill them—his strength was clear.

Shi Yi’s heart trembled with fear as he calculated his escape route...