Walking alongside the others, Matsushima Shiori's gaze drifted inadvertently toward the distant group of people laughing and talking animatedly.
In that instant, a trace of imperceptible envy crept quietly into her eyes, like a thin mist—vague yet real.
Once, Matsushima Shiori's heart had been filled with longing and admiration for Konoha.
She envied Konoha's fertile and boundless lands, which nourished countless lives; she envied Konoha's endless stream of geniuses, shining brilliantly across the shinobi world; and above all, she envied Konoha's unbroken heritage of the Will of Fire—a fiery and steadfast conviction burning like a roaring blaze in the heart of every Konoha shinobi.
Chapter 246