The Land of Rivers, in the north.
In a small city near the northern border called Ashihara Town, a group of merchants from the south had arrived.
Yet strangely, these so-called merchants carried no proper goods with them. Instead, they went about buying up large amounts of food, clothing, and medicine locally—claiming they would sell them in the south.
But the problem was—these things weren't exactly rare specialties!
Hauling them all the way to the south, which was far more prosperous than the north… were they really not afraid of losing everything in one go?
Fortunately,
the townsfolk weren't overly curious—or rather, the local lord was a shrewd enough man. Using his authority, he crushed that troublesome curiosity that only invited disaster. He completely ignored what purpose these "merchants" had for stockpiling such goods, focusing instead on one thing—
To see them safely gone from his territory.
And of course,
for his own safety, after issuing a string of orders, the lord took his wife and children and left on a trip to the Land of Fire under the pretense of visiting relatives—leaving only his youngest son behind to manage affairs under the guidance of loyal retainers.
This was the usual practice for the nobles of the Land of Rivers.
As a small nation wedged between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers had no real strength of its own. Unlike its northern neighbor, the Land of Rain, which had the formidable Amegakure to rely on, the Land of Rivers had no true shinobi village—only a handful of weak shinobi clans.
With no means to compete with great powers like the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind,
the nobles of the Land of Rivers had long mastered a single survival skill—
to bend with the wind and flee a thousand miles at the first sign of danger.
---
In the north of Ashihara Town stood a hot spring inn. The "merchants" from the south had rented out the entire establishment. Though fewer than twenty guests made the large inn feel rather empty, the unused rooms conveniently served as storage for all the supplies they had bought.
At this moment,
in a room on the third floor of the inn—
A girl stood at the window, her pair of emerald-green eyes wide and sharp.
She had long, reddish-brown hair that fell smoothly down her back, her fair skin delicate and soft. She wore a plain, elegant cream-colored robe. The gentle breeze flowed in from the open window, lifting strands of her long hair into graceful arcs in the air. Yet she remained still, gazing out at the endless mountains stretching into the distance.
After a long silence—
"Grandfather, how much longer do we have to wait?"
She spoke suddenly.
Turning back toward the room, her eyes fell on the old man sitting on the tatami mat, calmly sipping tea while reading a book. "We've already been waiting a week. Are we just going to keep waiting like this?"
"Mei, for us shinobi, patience is an indispensable virtue."
The old man answered without lifting his head.
"But surely everything has a limit, doesn't it?"
The girl wrinkled her nose.
She was growing restless from such mind-numbing days.
"The Koeda Clan has already reached the Land of Rain. Word came this morning—they'll reach the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers in another three days at most… Four or five days more, and we can finally set out for home."
Faced with his beloved granddaughter,
the old man eventually yielded and shared the latest intelligence.
"What? Another four or five days?"
Her face instantly fell.
"That's already very fast."
The old man sighed helplessly and warned:
"Mei, don't be fooled by the fact that you've already become a jōnin. Your patience still falls short. If you face seasoned, wily opponents… you'll suffer dearly."
"I know, I know!"
She answered quickly, though anyone could see the words didn't match her heart.
The old man could only smile bitterly.
This child had shown extraordinary talent from a young age. Bearing the bloodlines of two clans, she had inherited the blessings of both, and thus had been cherished by her elders since childhood. Later, to secure her a brighter future, she had even been sent to train under the tutelage of the Master of Origins.
Under such careful guidance, she hadn't grown arrogant or conceited like so many second-generation heirs—
but she still retained a proud and lofty spirit.
High-spirited, proud in temperament—
and with that came impatience, a hunger for results, and a need to prove herself to everyone.
Still,
that wasn't entirely a bad thing. Impatience could also mean vigor, motivation, and an unwillingness to shirk responsibility or waste time. And after all, Mei was still young. With age, she would surely grow and improve… One couldn't demand too much of a child.
"Grandfather, are you really sure the Koeda Clan can make it out of the Land of Rain? Why don't we just go meet them there?" Mei broke the silence again, her voice bright and eager. "Let's head to the Land of Rain and escort them ourselves!"
Her spirit was ablaze, her body practically leaning forward with anticipation.
"Hanzo the Salamander is not someone to trifle with. That old man is on par with the Kage."
The old man shook his head.
"And besides, we are here to receive the Koeda Clan—not to babysit them. Whether or not they can reach the Land of Rivers safely is their own trial. If they can't even make it out of the Land of Rain, then there's no reason for us to waste effort on them."
"But what if the Iwa-nin send an army to surround the Koeda Clan?"
She pressed.
"As I just said, Hanzo of the Salamander is no easy foe. If Iwagakure dares to send an army into the Land of Rain to hunt down the Koeda Clan, then the Ame-nin will surely respond with a crushing counterattack. The Land of Rain is not the same as the Land of Rivers."
The old man fixed his gaze on his granddaughter, who was already plotting her next argument.
Before she could speak, he cut her off:
"And even if, for argument's sake, the Iwa-nin truly do send an army to surround the Koeda Clan… then that would simply mean the Koeda Clan's luck has run out. Fate has decreed it so."
"…Grandfather, weren't you the one who strongly advocated accepting the Koeda Clan's allegiance?"
The girl's eyes widened in shock.
"I did indeed support accepting their allegiance. The Koeda Clan shares deep ties of friendship with our clan, and both their previous head and their current head have shown me great kindness. That is why I persuaded the Master of Origins, the Mizukage, and the elders to accept their defection."
The old man answered slowly.
But the next moment, his tone sharpened, his expression stern:
"But Mei, you must remember—everything has its conditions. The condition is that the village's interests cannot be compromised, nor the interests of our clan. We cannot let the village risk itself for the sake of the Koeda Clan. For now, they are still outsiders—they have not yet truly joined Kirigakure. So until they reach the Land of Rivers, no matter what trials or dangers they face, they must shoulder them on their own!!"
Hearing her grandfather's words,
the girl blinked in slight confusion, nodding as though she understood—though not fully.
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