Better to Die Fighting Than Starve in Peace (Seeking Recommendation and Monthly Votes)

"Ah!!"

The shrill scream filled the entire room.

The Scalpel sliced across Kosaka’s thigh.

Uncle Plum Rain smiled in satisfaction. "My hand feels especially good today. Could it be because of that bottle of medicine?"

"Heh… you… old bastard… damn you…"

Kosaka hung his head groggily, his sweat-soaked face as pale as a ghost.

His once well-proportioned body had already been shaved down by a layer, yet the wounds had scabbed over, exposing dark red flesh.

When the flesh was carved from him, he first felt excruciating pain, followed by an inexplicable rush of excitement. Clearly, the Scalpel had been coated with some kind of drug.

It made him increasingly excited, his senses sharper and sharper, his mind more and more alert. He could not even pass out.

He could only remain conscious every second of every minute, clearly experiencing this inhuman torment.

For the blood-replenishing medicine he had once praised so highly, Kosaka felt hatred for its effects for the first time.

He had truly never imagined that so-called "death by a thousand cuts" could be this torturous.

This was purely a matter of "technique"—or rather, exceptionally superb "blade work."

It felt somewhat like the way that brat used a knife.

Silent, precise, swift, deadly…

No one had ever used blade work for something like this. Even Ninja like them used genjutsu or secret techniques to interrogate intelligence.

Even those nobles who enjoyed torturing people used whips, candles, branding irons…

So what kind of madman had invented such a cruel torture method?!

"Ah!"

Another cut passed over him. Kosaka’s eyes were bloodshot as he weakly roared, "Madman! Madman! You old madman!!"

But only the crushing silence of the isolated island answered his shrill wails and screams.

Uncle Plum Rain seemed completely unable to hear him. He merely muttered to himself with a smile, then showed him the flesh he had carved away, practically flaunting it before him.

"Enough! Enough! Who exactly are you people?!"

Kosaka’s cheek twitched. He lowered his head weakly and asked, "There can’t be water bandits like you. Are you dogs raised by some noble? Or are you Hanzo’s men from the Land of Rain?!"

At that, Uncle Plum Rain’s movements paused. He narrowed his eyes at him.

"Hanzo?" As if he had been insulted, Uncle Plum Rain sneered. "That brainless brute? That selfish, talent-envying, arrogant, hopeless dog of the Lord?"

"…What did you say?"

Kosaka was still hissing through the pain. His eyes widened as he stared hard at Uncle Plum Rain.

Even the Third Hokage was deeply wary of Hanzo, calling him a man capable of changing the course of a war, yet this old bastard called him a brainless brute?

"Looks like you and your superiors think highly of Hanzo."

Uncle Plum Rain’s expression turned cold as he said softly, "They indulge in song and dance, drown themselves in luxury. Those who offer loyal counsel are demoted, while the rest collude with the nobles, profiteering from war and feeding fuel to these flames."

"Those above deceive those below, the Lord is incompetent, and the Ninja are wildly uneven in quality. So what if Hanzo alone is powerful?"

As he spoke, Uncle Plum Rain’s tone became somewhat frenzied, yet his gaze grew ever more resolute.

There were simply too many people in this country like him. They no longer held even the slightest hope for those people, yet they could do nothing about everything this country had suffered.

Until they met Lord Yun Chuan.

They saw hope for this country—and for the entire ninja world.

"Ha, you’re saying you aren’t nobles, not even Ninja?" Kosaka scoffed. "Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous! No matter how many people like you gather together, nothing will ever change…"

At that point, he suddenly froze, seemingly recalling something as his eyes gradually brightened.

"Right, right! You… don’t you look down on Hanzo?" Kosaka’s spirits rose again as he said, "The Mizukage of Kirigakure is very close to commoners!"

"I can help you contact the Mizukage. I can help that brat… no, help your Lord Yun Chuan take the position of leader of Amegakure!"

At the words "Mizukage" and "position of leader," the barely noticeable mockery in Uncle Plum Rain’s eyes became almost impossible to conceal.

Idiot! A short-sighted idiot to the extreme!

Sure enough, just as Lord Yun Chuan had said.

How could sparrows understand the ambitions of swans!

Uncle Plum Rain suddenly lost that almost "preaching" interest.

What truly imprisoned a person was often not talent, but the shackles of thought!

The point he had been making all along was clearly the Lord and the nobles, yet this Kirigakure Ninja, even when painting grand promises, only dared to speak of taking Amegakure’s leader’s position. He did not even dare mention overthrowing the Lord of the Land of Rain.

Like him, whether samurai or most Ninja, they were all imprisoned within the ideological fortress inherited by the ninja world for thousands of years.

"It doesn’t matter. Someone like you will never understand."

Uncle Plum Rain’s expression gradually became calm. Smiling, he said, "I do all this of my own will. Even if the final result is death, it does not matter, just as Lord Yun Chuan said."

"Better to die fighting than starve in peace! Hahaha!"

Seeing the fanaticism in Uncle Plum Rain’s eyes, Kosaka’s pupils suddenly trembled. An inexplicable cowardice mixed with fear surged forth like a spring.

It was a fear without cause, like poisonous snakes crawling over his body, pressing down on him bit by bit with their icy chill.

"Madman! You’re all madmen! What kind of bewitching drug did that guy feed you… Ah!!"

Uncle Plum Rain replaced the dulled Scalpel, then began repeatedly carving flesh from the soles of his feet.

The soles of human feet were already extremely sensitive. This sensation practically made him wish he were dead.

Especially after realizing this man’s madness and fanaticism, Kosaka’s psychological defenses collapsed even faster.

His broken nose began pouring blood. At some point, his eyes had filled with blood vessels, the veins at his temples bulged, and his entire body swelled unnaturally, as though he were about to burst apart from the inside out.

Almost the instant his mind went hazy, he clenched his teeth hard. A trace of deathly resolve flashed through his eyes as he forcefully ground his back molars.

But at that moment, he suddenly realized something.

The object that should have been hidden in the groove between the outside of his teeth and his cheek was somehow gone!

"What are you looking for?"

Uncle Plum Rain suddenly smiled. Pinching a tiny pill from his pocket, he mocked, "Let me guess. Are you looking for this?"

It was precisely the medicine Anbu members of Kirigakure kept to kill themselves if captured, so they would not suffer physical torment or reveal secrets.

Unable to hold on any longer, Kosaka had intended to kill himself and take the intelligence to the grave!

But now, he could not even kill himself!

"Enough! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! You old madman! Just give me a quick death!!"

The blood scabs on Kosaka’s cracked lips split open again. The double torment of body and mind finally drove him into utter despair, and he howled hoarsely that he was willing to confess.

"No rush." Uncle Plum Rain waved his hand cheerfully. "Let’s try some other torture instruments first, shall we?"

Watching Kosaka’s eyes gradually dim, Uncle Plum Rain narrowed his eyes, but inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Come to think of it, of all the people they had captured, this one had held out the longest.

Fortunately, he had not let down Lord Yun Chuan’s trust.

"What?"

Inside the guest room, Uncle Plum Rain pointed at his own dumbfounded face and looked at Yun Chuan, who was sitting on the bed reviewing intelligence. In a shocked tone, he asked, "You mean… you don’t need me anymore?"

He did not seek rewards for his work, but he did not want to be dismissed either!

"Uncle Baiyu, what are you thinking?" Yun Chuan raised his head helplessly and emphasized, "I’m telling you to rest for a while and spend more time with Little Rain. I’ll still come to you when I need you. I’m not abandoning you!"

At that, he suddenly paused. Meeting Uncle Plum Rain’s eyes, his tone softened. "Besides, you have some personal matters to deal with too, don’t you?"

After saying that, Yun Chuan ignored Uncle Plum Rain’s stunned expression and lowered his head again, looking at the intelligence extracted from Kosaka.

The Third Mizukage’s temperament had changed drastically. When facing ninja clans making secret moves, he abandoned his former gentle methods and struck with iron-blooded force, immediately purging a group of mid-ranking Ninja from ninja clans.

Most of those who continued voicing opposition were publicly killed by him during meetings. The suddenness of his change in temperament was shocking, while the cruelty of his methods chilled everyone to the bone.

At the same time, he ordered Kirigakure into lockdown, strictly forbidding internal personnel from leaving the village without authorization and ceasing all foreign trade.

Furthermore, he had begun secretly assembling a Ninja force, with the target being…

The Land of Whirlpools!

Tap… tap…

Yun Chuan lowered his head slightly. The fingers tapping the table paused as unreadable emotions slowly passed through his eyes.

Was this grand drama finally about to begin?