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Gato sat on the sofa, his small eyes hidden behind sunglasses narrowed sinisterly.
...
A dense fog permeated the sea. The half-built bridge faintly revealed its silhouette in the air. The boat, with its engine off, moved rather slowly. The boatman nervously looked up, surveying the surroundings.
"But, I still don't quite understand. Since the opponent is a super-rich person who can even afford to hire ninjas, why did you ask us for help?" Kakashi wasn't really short on that bit of money, nor trying to raise the price. Mainly, the personnel configuration for C-rank and B-rank missions differed. Fortunately, Naruto and Sasuke weren't complete deadweights; otherwise, this mission would definitely have to be restarted.
"The Land of Waves is a small country surrounded by sea. Before Gato came, we relied on the protection of the nearby Land of Water to develop normally."
"But after Gato arrived, he instantly monopolized the surrounding sea transport. Although on the surface, there's still contact with the Land of Water, in reality, all the money goes into his pocket."
"Suddenly, the entire country has no money, let alone me. The money I have now can at most afford missions below B-rank."
Gato was, after all, a world-class tycoon; it wasn't entirely unreasonable for him to directly control a small country. But no matter how you thought about it, this situation put immense pressure on them. Being able to dispatch Chunin-level operatives now likely meant Jonin-level or higher characters were waiting for them within the Land of Waves.
"Ah..." Kakashi hesitated, opening his mouth slightly, but didn't explicitly refuse. After all, returning and restarting the mission would be quite troublesome.
Although Kakashi looked troubled, he didn't directly refuse. Tazuna knew there was a chance; Kakashi and his team might not actually cancel the mission. His expression changed, adopting a look of someone who had seen through the vanity of worldly affairs.
"Forget it. If you cancel the mission before escorting me home, I'll definitely be killed before I get there."
"It's nothing, really. Anyway, at home, only my eight-year-old granddaughter will cry her eyes out every day."
"My daughter will hate Konoha ninjas for their inaction, eventually dying alone. Oh well, anyway, it's not your fault..."
What the? Isn't this old man just guilt-tripping!? Kakashi scratched the forehead protector above his head, conflicted.
The three kids, never having witnessed guilt-tripping before, instantly lowered their heads. Being told such things really made one feel uneasy. But because Tazuna said it so deliberately, it actually felt somewhat off.
"Well, can't be helped. We'll continue protecting you." Kakashi exchanged glances with the three kids, sighing somewhat helplessly. After all, they had already crossed the sea and come this far. Going back empty-handed seemed pointless. Might as well see it through to the end.
"Won." Tazuna flashed an almost imperceptible triumphant smile, secretly making a 'V' sign.
"It's only because the fog is so thick outside today that I dared bring you over. Otherwise, Gato's men would definitely have seen us." The boatman looked around cautiously. Fortunately, they had come this far; there shouldn't be any more problems.
As the boat passed under the bridge, the surrounding dense fog suddenly dispersed. The buildings within the Land of Waves became clearly visible. The boat quickly pulled ashore, dropping the group off.
There were quite a few residential buildings along the coast of the Land of Waves, all built standing above the water. The kids, seeing architecture outside Konoha for the first time, couldn't help widening their eyes.
"Alright, let's go. You have to get me home safely." Tazuna waved at the three still admiring the scenery. Kakashi responded with a somewhat perfunctory nod and bow of his head.
"Hai, hai—"
Behind the pier lay a forest. After trade in the Land of Waves was monopolized, basic sustenance could only be scrounged from such forests. Surrounded by sea with limited land area, their agricultural output was naturally pitifully low.
Looking from the outside, this place seemed like a secluded paradise. But passing through the forest and truly entering the interior of the Land of Waves... it was clear the place was now little different from a slum.
"Eh!? It looked quite nice from the outside..." Naruto looked back and forth blankly. He vaguely remembered the area near where they disembarked looking quite upscale. Why did everything look so dilapidated inside?
Thin children in ragged clothes sat on straw mats by their doorsteps. People walking around all looked listless. Most wore straw hats, their faces gloomy as they moved along the streets. Some carried signs offering to do anything for money. Although crowded, the streets were utterly silent, as if populated by walking dead.
"...There's a somewhat indescribable sense of horror." Sakura looked at the surrounding scene, instinctively moving closer behind Sasuke.
Kakashi looked around thoughtfully. Tazuna was likely telling the truth; it was normal for such a place to be unable to afford much. The Land of Waves had previously maintained good relations with the Land of Water, with only ordinary contact with Konoha. This place was at most a transit point; ordinary people wouldn't typically wonder how the people inside lived. So before this, Kakashi wasn't too familiar with this place either.
Tazuna looked back at the inexperienced kids, kindly explaining to them.
"It's nothing strange. Gato puts up a facade of good living for the outside world, to fool the major nations on both sides, preventing them from suspecting anything about the Land of Waves."
"Previously, we developed with aid from the Land of Water. There used to be some developed buildings here."
"But Gato, to accumulate wealth, sold off all those good things, so now it looks dilapidated."
"It's the same deceptive facade towards the Land of Water side. Everyone has been fooled by him."
"Only these common people are trapped inside suffering."
While explaining, Tazuna walked into an empty shop. The food on the shelves was counted almost individually – two or three dried carrots. It looked like they were barely surviving.
"Supplies here are really scarce..." Kakashi couldn't help frowning and scratching his head, then turned to look back at the kids behind him. It felt exceptionally quiet behind him since just now.
"...Ah, where's Naruto?"
Before Tazuna and the others entered the shop, Naruto's gaze had been drawn to a small door in a nearby alley. The narrow alley was cluttered with trash and dumpsters; basically, only a child could squeeze through. However, as Naruto looked, he saw a skinny child emerge from inside, running happily past him.
Inside the Land of Waves, with so many people, there shouldn't be any enemy attacks, right? Naruto thought for a moment, looked left and right, decisively separated from the main group, and squeezed towards the small door in the alley.
Behind the door were several more children, each holding candy and a small bag of rice or flour.
A long, straight black-haired youth in a light-colored kimono stood behind a table. Seeing Naruto, he blinked with surprise.
"Oh~ Running into you here too." Hatake Kuroshi sat on a nearby rooftop, a candy ball still in his mouth, looking down at the two chatting happily in the alley.
Haku was distributing supplies here, aiding those on the verge of starvation. No work, no money, pitifully few supplies; the fact that this place hadn't yet suffered a large-scale famine was partly due to his distribution efforts here.
Actually, after learning of Gato's actions, Mangetsu Hozuki had advocated for gradually reducing trade with him from the Land of Water side, subtly slowing Gato's pace of wealth accumulation. Then, emergency food supplies specifically for aid were placed in shipping containers, letting Haku find ways to provide relief. To avoid detection by Gato's men, Haku didn't wear a Kirigakure forehead protector and dressed in relatively uncommon casual clothes, looking not much different from a neighborly older sister.
"Hey—Naruto—where did you run off to?" Kakashi and Sakura's voices sounded successively from outside.
Naruto snapped back to reality somewhat abruptly, looking awkwardly at the small door behind him.
"Ah! My companions are looking for me outside! I have to go back!"
"Here, these are for you." Haku took a few candies from the table and stuffed them into Naruto's hand, smiling and tilting his head at him.
"Thank you, big sister! Goodbye!" Naruto was eager to leave and couldn't easily refuse, stuffing the candies into his clothes pocket while thanking him.
Haku watched Naruto struggle to squeeze out the door, responding thoughtfully.
"You're welcome. But... I'm actually a boy."
Thump! With a muffled sound, Naruto face-planted directly onto the ground outside. The door behind him swayed, then closed. Looking up, Naruto saw Sasuke standing outside the alley with a disgusted look, watching him subtly amidst a pile of trash.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm trash!!" Naruto screamed惨, leaping up high.
Tazuna led Kakashi and the team back to his home. Naruto was forced to take a bath before being allowed out for dinner. Unlike what Tazuna said before, there wasn't a cute granddaughter at home... only a little boy named Inari wearing a hat, silent and gloomy.
After dinner, teacups were placed before everyone. Sakura stood up to aid digestion, walking curiously over to a hanging picture frame. The photo seemed to be a family portrait of Tazuna's family, but the top right corner had a very obvious large hole.
"Speaking of which, during dinner just now, Inari seemed to be staring at this photo the whole time."
"Looking closely... the part torn off here seems to be a person."
As soon as Sakura finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy. Kakashi raised an eyebrow with interest; seemed like there was more to this story.
"That was my husband." Tsunami replied without turning her head while washing dishes.
"He was called a hero in town in the past."
Hearing the word 'hero', Naruto, who had been resting his head on the table, perked up.
Screech—
Inari, sitting on the chair, forcefully pushed it back, stood up silently, and ran out the door.
"Inari? Where are you going?"
"Didn't I tell you not to mention that person in front of him? Geez." Tsunami dropped her work, too preoccupied to complain further at Tazuna, and rushed out the door after him.
The remaining few looked confusedly at Inari and Tsunami running out and closing the door.
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