"Several years ago, a miracle took place within the Elemental Nations. The Will of Fire spontaneously awakened in the last place anybody would expect—the Village Hidden in the Mist."
Ushio restrained himself from joining in on the sceptical muttering, mostly because he didn't want Rin to slap him for being rude to the Hokage. The Will of Fire? In Mist? Maybe the Mist-nin had learned to fly while they were at it?
"I see your disbelief, but it is true! A handful of ninja opened their eyes to the ideals of peace and justice that lie at the root of Leaf's philosophy, and stood up against the Mizukage's tyrannical warmongering. But though they sought to turn Mist away from its path of destruction—a destruction that we have all now seen visited upon it—the Mizukage would not listen to their warnings. Some paid a terrible price for preaching wisdom.
"And so, after every attempt to curb the Mizukage's belligerence had failed, these enlightened ninja did the only thing they could. A courageous jōnin who called himself Shikigami led an exodus from Mist into the Fire Country, where he and his followers intended to pledge allegiance to Leaf and help us prevent a terrible war.
"But the Mizukage's hatred knew no bounds. He dispatched his hunter-nin, famed for their mercilessness and brutality, and though the valiant ninja fought with every drop of their strength, they were slaughtered mere hours before Leaf forces could come to rescue them. It seemed as if it was the end of our hopes for peace."
The story, conveyed by the rich timbre of the new Hokage's storyteller voice, began to spin inside Ushio's head. How could anyone be so brave as to defy the Monster of the East to his face? What must it have been like to realise that your village was a hellhole, and your worst enemies had been right all along? And then to have the courage to act on your beliefs, only to die moments from safety? It was too cruel, and in a way that was what told Ushio that the story was true.
"But that was not the end!" The Hokage boomed into the mournful silence. "Shikigami's right-hand woman, the strongest kunoichi in Mist, was skilled enough to save herself, but instead she put her life on the line to save four innocents who would otherwise have perished. With unmatched cunning she played the hunter-nin for fools, and deceived them into thinking that no one had escaped their massacre.
