Hayate Gekko then explained, "Actually, for this mission, I'm here as the assigned jonin instructor specifically for these children. It's meant to serve as their training. So it's just a C-rank mission—there's no need to worry about expenses."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged village headman's expression finally lightened. Shiki himself understood well that in a country like the Land of Rain, even those who became slightly wealthy would treasure every coin.
The village headman didn't mind who was present and tore open the letter seal immediately to read. Shiki saw how his face, which had earlier shown slight discomfort at the thought of spending money, now completely relaxed.
"Excellent! Harada actually really closed that deal!"
His face couldn't suppress its joyous expression, and under the warmth of the hearth fire, turned redder—almost as if he'd already drunk quite a bit of alcohol.
The few exchanged helpless looks, clearly bothered by the village headman's completely self-absorbed behavior.
After expressing his amazement, the village headman suddenly noticed there were still four ninja from Konoha inside the room. By this point, however, he no longer showed the sharpness from earlier. He turned toward the fireplace, where everyone now noticed a pot of sake being warmed atop it.
"You've arrived at just the right time. This is our Nikamura Village's special homemade sake—an honor rarely extended to outsiders."
Saying so, the village headman picked up the sake jug. His current expression of happiness completely overshadowed his previous irritability.
"In that case, I won't refuse. As for them, since they're still kids, they won't have the same privilege," Hayate Gekko said without pretense and directly sat down.
In reality, after walking through constant rain for so long in the Land of Rain, anyone would feel exhausted. A pot of warm sake—a traditional Japanese rice wine—was precisely the best remedy for fatigue.
Although Hayate Gekko's body was still quite weak, he asked, "Village Headman, may I ask you a few questions?"
The village headman turned around, slightly taken aback—who could guess what a Konoha jonin would want to ask him?
"Sure, though I must say my knowledge is limited. You might not get the information you seek."
Hayate waved his hand slightly. "It's nothing much. Just some questions regarding this village."
"Oh? If it's about the village, I dare say nobody knows more than me." The village headman allowed himself a hint of pride—the village's current success was largely thanks to his hard work.
Hayate asked, "This village is so prosperous, yet why hasn't it drawn any external threats so far?"
Actually, Shiki himself felt curious about this question too. In the Land of Rain, simply showing a bit of wealth could attract hordes of scoundrels eager to take it away.
Even if the village prospered due to an influx of migrants and its distance from Amegakure's control, it was only a matter of time before greedy outsiders came to take it all away.
After all, without martial strength, economic power alone often made one as vulnerable as sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
The village headman stared at Hayate Gekko for a while, but after a long pause, his stare eventually turned into a sigh.
"This matter… unfortunately, I can't tell you. Every village must keep at least some secrets. Let's change the topic."
Shiki couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Sure, he'd been curious before, but now he really wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Normally, something like how to defend against bandits would be a leader's proudest achievement, one they'd eagerly boast about.
Yet the village headman's expression of joy had turned into sadness.
Something's definitely off!
"If the Headman doesn't wish to talk about it, then let's change the subject. We've got some students to train. Mind telling us if there are any nearby bandits we can deal with?"
Hayate Gekko seemed quite generous in his offer, completely ignoring the headman's strange behavior. Rather, he appeared sincerely willing to help eliminate threats endangering the village.
Of course, it was also for the kids' benefit. Nothing sharpened your skills faster than real combat.
Although they weren't ninja, ordinary warriors who learned to use chakra were still formidable opponents.
Of course, there might even be some renegade ninja among the bandits—those would definitely be worthwhile adversaries.
"Uh..." The village headman put down his cup, saying somewhat nervously, "There aren't any problems left. Our villagers have already taken care of all the bandits around here."
"Already dealt with?" Hayate expressed surprise. In the Land of Rain—a place frequently plagued by conflict—bandits usually possessed considerable strength.
If they truly eliminated those threats, the village should have had ninja assigned. At the very least, even without ninja, there should have been a decent defensive force.
But along the way here, Hayate hadn't even noticed any defensive structures in the village, nor had he seen anyone wielding chakra.
How could such a village possibly overcome sudden bandit attacks?
Chapter 102: There's Something Off
Meeting the group's skeptical glances, the village headman grew angry. "Why should I share our village's secrets with outsiders like you?! Once your mission is complete, you ought to leave immediately. Letting you stay for a meal was already doing more than enough! What more do you want?"
"But I'm just really curious, though! Won't you, Village Headman, feel proud that you led Nikamura's people to repel the bandits?" Yuuma Akimoto asked innocently.
The headman wasn't moved by the child's naivety at all; instead, he irritably replied, "What's it got to do with you? Anyway, isn't your mission finished already? Then you can just go now."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man retrieved the wine pot from earlier and placed it back on the stove to heat again.
"We apologize if we seemed nosy—we never meant to pry into the village's secrets. However, we cannot leave the village just yet. Ahem, I still need to continue training these young ones." Hayate Gekko coughed as he responded politely, then rose and began walking away.
Naturally, Shiki and the others had no intention of lingering either, so they followed suit.
"Get out of here, bastards!" Seeing that the ninja showed no sign of anger, the village headman instinctively assumed that ninjas always treated employers with great respect.
Believing himself correct in his gamble, he became even more audacious.
Swish!
A sword blade suddenly pressed against his neck—before he could react at all.
And the one who did this was actually a twelve-year-old child. He even had to raise his hand so the blade could reach his neck.
But none of this was stopping him. His eyes looked down, clearly spotting the name "Seiquan" engraved on the sword's surface.
"We are ninja. While we can be hired by you to carry out missions, we are not your slaves. If that's truly how you see us, I may not be able to kill you, but I can definitely teach you a small lesson." Shiki Uzumaki's voice was deep and low—anyone could tell from the way Shiki Uzumaki emphasized those last three words just how serious he was.
"You—you—" Naturally, the middle-aged man felt humiliated being threatened by nothing but a child. He wanted to scold him further, but the blade pressed against his throat made his legs tremble.
He was scared.
But who wouldn't be frightened when a sword is held right at their neck?
He could only cast a pleading glance toward Hayate Gekko, who had already stepped outside the door.
"L-Lieutenant Jonin, sir..."
Hayate hesitated mid-step, then turned his head slowly back. "Shiki, what you're doing right now is going too far."
Yet Shiki's Seiquan sword remained unmoved. Knowing Hayate Gekko as well as he did, Shiki simply stood there with a calm, confident expression, waiting silently for Hayate's next words.
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