"You really do understand me," Hayate Gekko let out a helpless sigh upon seeing Shiki Uzumaki's demeanor, then turned toward the disrespectful middle-aged man. "Remember, it's us who bear the dangers you cannot face. But that doesn't mean our status should be beneath yours. Weaklings who show disrespect before the strong often end up with tragic fates. So right now, you should feel lucky that we're ninjas from Konoha, not another ninja village. Otherwise, even if you were the employer, they wouldn't hesitate to remove an unnecessary witness after completing the mission."
The middle-aged man was utterly horrified. In fact, since he had taken his position as village headman, he'd never again faced blades and swords himself.
Because others would handle them for him.
Now, his legs had begun trembling violently. He hurriedly apologized, "I'm sorry! It's my fault! Please forgive me!"
Only then did Shiki slowly retract his sword, as though nothing had just happened.
Moments later, the group walked out of the house, once again stepping into the ceaseless downpour.
"We'd better find an inn to rest first," said Hayate Gekko.
Naturally, Shiki and the others had no objections. They walked together with Hayate, eyes continuously scanning the surrounding shops.
"Shiki, why be so harsh just now? We are ninjas after all—even when angry, we shouldn't threaten civilians with swords at their throats, right?"
Though she hadn't stopped him earlier, Yuuma Akimoto now raised her question.
Indeed, for a ninja, pointing blades at a civilian's throat is strictly forbidden.
Logically, Hayate should've immediately ended such behavior—even as punishment, there shouldn't have been such an intense method used.
Hayate watched Shiki closely, curious to know if his thoughts matched his own—or if Shiki was just acting on impulse.
A strange smile flickered across Shiki's face. Just as he was about to respond, another crisp, cool voice expressed its opinion.
"It's because the village head is hiding something, and Shiki wanted to test him."
Seiji Ito walked along indifferently, expressionless, as though those words hadn't come from his mouth at all.
Test?
Yuuma Akimoto felt even more puzzled—who exactly had something wrong here?
Although the village head seemed momentarily nervous when asked about defending against bandit threats, didn't he explain it afterward?
It's one of those things outsiders aren't supposed to know.
A sharp glint lit up Shiki Uzumaki's eyes as he cut straight to the point.
"If it were simply about keeping village secrets, that alone we could've accepted. However, during our offer to assist in dealing with any nearby bandits, the village leader actually grew tenser than when we asked how they resisted the bandits. He even became somewhat incoherent. That's where the problem lies. So I wanted to test first whether this village leader might be concealing his actual strength."
"Ah, I see," Yuuma Akimoto said with a sudden realization as she asked, "Then, what was the result of the test?"
Shiki hesitated for a moment and trailed off awkwardly, his voice dropping significantly.
"This village headman really doesn't have any combat abilities at all."
"Hahaha, so Shiki-nii was just being paranoid?" Yuuma laughed joyfully, her steps becoming even livelier as she bounced along.
Soon enough, they arrived in front of an inn.
The group slowly walked inside.
But underneath Shiki's lowered gaze, there was still something deep—something unreadable.
Was everything really okay?
At the very least, Shiki didn't think so right now.
Thinking thus, he raised his head to meet Hayate Gekko's eyes.
Their gazes met, both revealing an indescribable seriousness.
Inside the inn, the old tables and chairs scattered about seemed to intensify this atmosphere further.
Chapter 103 Restraint
They requested four rooms for four people, causing the innkeeper—a woman in her early twenties—to give a slight whistle of surprise.
In her opinion, these four could've even squeezed into one room. Even if they needed separation, it should've been one room for the girl and another for the rest.
She lived in the Land of Rain and, even though her life had become relatively stable now, she remained quite frugal.
After settling the room arrangements, Yuuma Akimoto felt tired and went directly to sleep in her own room.
Seiji Ito took a seat on a chair in the lobby, silently waiting for whatever would happen next.
Shiki and Hayate Gekko also stayed behind, seemingly engaged in casual conversation.
It had already grown late outside, and the rainy night made the village feel even chillier than before.
The innkeeper seemed sleepy too, but since the guests were still around, she couldn't leave either. Bored, she joined their conversation.
"What brings you Konoha ninjas here anyway?"
Shiki answered first, "On a mission. Someone hired us to deliver a letter here."
There was nothing secretive about this mission, and Shiki spoke about it rather casually.
"If delivering a letter alone required so many ninjas from Konoha, it must be an extremely important letter indeed," the innkeeper mused. She rarely interacted with ninja; those who came here were usually ordinary civilians robbed of everything.
Yet when such people arrived, she wouldn't charge them a single coin for lodging.
Such was the custom here—almost every shop offered free accommodation to anyone escaping hardship.
Nevertheless, money still flowed continuously into this village.
However, such generous treatment lasted only briefly. If someone had already stayed five days, they'd be encouraged to leave.
Regardless of whether that person agreed to leave or not, by dawn of the sixth day, he'd vanish from this village.
This was indeed a strange village—they disliked outsiders no matter where they came from. Almost no one from beyond the village could ever truly settle here.
With long years of such customs, the innkeeper had nearly forgotten the exact rates for lodgings. Now, she simply rattled off an approximate figure that seemed close enough.
Hayate shook his head. "It's just a C-Rank mission. I'm only the Assigned Jonin Instructor overseeing their training, so it's not like they're paying us too much."
"That's gotta be quite a pile of cash," said the innkeeper, slightly frowning. "Although the village has grown wealthy in these past couple of years, spending so much all at once is still painful to see. Couldn't they have just asked an ordinary person to deliver it?"
Shiki shifted his gaze slightly away. "It was delivered by a man named Harada. As for why they specifically requested ninja for delivery, we don't really know."
"Harada?" Her beautiful eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. "Then where is he now?"
Shiki couldn't help but feel a sense of respect for this man called Harada. Everyone here always speaks of him with praise and joy.
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