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"Is that so? But you just looked so interested. Don't worry, if we get caught, I'll just say you dragged me along. You're older than me, so you can't push the blame onto me."
Rong Lin's heart blossomed with a smile. She immediately slapped the label of "pervert" onto Minato. "Let's see you try to escape now. Even if your brain works as fast as a weasel's, you'll still have to drink my foot-washing water."
I've been duped!
Minato took a deep breath, silently put away his water bottle, and sat on a tree branch, looking away as if he hadn't heard anything. If Rong Lin continued, her absurd claims might become reality, and even if he hadn't done anything, a casual, vague explanation from Rong Lin would be impossible to wash clean even if he jumped into a lake.
Minato didn't want to return to the village only to face Kushina's interrogation.
Kushina's nickname, "Little Pepper," wasn't just for show. When she got angry, she was fierce, and even Minato could only act like a submissive grandson around her.
"How boring."
As soon as women were brought into the conversation, it seemed to inevitably lead to Kushina, and then Minato would back down.
Rong Lin shrugged with a smile, leaning against the tree branch. "I genuinely dislike missions in dreadful places like the Land of Rain. I end up soaking wet, like a drowned chicken; there's not a single dry spot on my entire body."
"All the rogue ninja and dangerous elements flock to the Land of Rain. It's poor and backward, utterly uninteresting."
"The more chaotic a place is, the easier it is for them to hide. If it weren't for Hanzō the Salamander, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, being so paranoid and suspicious, I bet even more people would flee to the Land of Rain."
The discussion turned to serious topics, and Minato's silence was broken.
Many times, Rong Lin felt that Minato was a very chatty person, or to put it simply, he talked a lot.
"Speaking of which, we haven't decided yet, who's going to carry the mission items?"
This mission squad had been deployed several times, but Rong Lin had never carried the mission items. It was always either Dan or Minato. One was the squad leader, and the other was a senior. Wouldn't it be rude if they didn't do some of the troublesome work?
"You're the captain, you handle it."
Rong Lin, uncharacteristically verbose, replied directly.
Minato immediately refused. "Uchiha Rong Lin, as a junior, shouldn't you listen to your senior?"
"But as a senior, shouldn't you take care of your junior?"
Rong Lin stubbornly defended her position, refusing to budge an inch.
"Cunning brat."
In the end, Minato conceded, rolling his eyes helplessly and accepting the reality. If it were any other rookie, they would eagerly take on these tasks, but with Rong Lin, it was different. She'd simply retort, "Shouldn't a senior take care of their junior?" making it impossible for him to assign her the work.
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Why bother for half a day? Alright, now we can bet, and you can fly to your heart's content."
"..."
Ultimately, Minato didn't use the Hiraishin no Jutsu to travel, nor did Rong Lin try to outpace him. The two quickly approached the border of the Land of Rain. Fortunately, traveling to the Land of Rain was much faster than to the Land of Lightning, saving them a significant amount of time.
However, the mission was somewhat troublesome because information was limited. Therefore, after arriving in the Land of Rain, they needed to slowly gather intelligence and search for traces of the mission personnel.
"Dreadful weather."
Minato muttered a reply. At this point, the two had changed into very ordinary clothes, their original ninja attire and even their Konoha headbands having been packed away.
The relationship between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire was not harmonious. If they were to wear Konoha ninja attire and headbands, it would only bring more trouble.
The two walked along the streets of the Hidden Rain Village, observing the crowds passing by.
In Konoha, you could see happy and joyful smiles on the faces of the common people, but here, there was simply none of that.
The civilians on the streets looked numb, without a trace of vitality, each one like a puppet that had lost all hope of survival.
In a country so chaotic that even the common people struggled to satisfy their basic needs, the Land of Rain was arguably the worst. Yet, Hanzō the Salamander, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, simply didn't care about such matters.
What he cared about was the development of his village's ninja forces and whether anyone would try to assassinate him or threaten his position.
As for the Land of Rain's feudal lord, he was utterly dispensable. Furthermore, the Land of Rain's feudal lord had limited financial resources and could not possibly allocate funds to aid the common people or develop the country.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
Because it rained all year round, the architectural style of the Land of Rain and Konoha were two extremes. Most buildings in the Land of Fire were closely tied to wood, but in the Land of Rain, houses were mostly built with steel, as wooden structures would quickly rot from constant exposure to rain.
The raindrops striking the roofs produced continuous crisp sounds, like a song from hell, at least to the common people of the Land of Rain.
Walking through the waterlogged, dirty, and foul-smelling streets, Minato had already sighed several times.
Rong Lin remained silent. This environment, the lifestyle of its people, was so similar to some chaotic countries in her previous life on Earth. However, those countries weren't constantly covered by rain; instead, they were plagued by drought, unable to grow crops, and even the common people had to conserve drinking water. Here and there were two extremes.
Drought would lead to the inability of various crops to survive, and similarly, incessant heavy rain would also prevent various crops from surviving.
How could the common people in a country that couldn't even achieve self-sufficiency possibly live in warmth and comfort?
Coupled with a leader whose mind was entirely focused elsewhere, it was truly a case of adding insult to injury for the common people of the Land of Rain. Everywhere there was standing water, foul-smelling and wide sewers, wandering thugs and hooligans, and rogue ninja left behind by war—this was the impression the Land of Rain left on people.
In addition to this, some rogue ninja from various villages had also gathered in this area, making the already extremely chaotic Land of Rain even more turbulent.
"What are you looking for?"
Minato keenly noticed that Rong Lin seemed to be gathering some information.