Sustainably Draining the Pond to Catch the Fish

"Senior Kakashi, I've been deeply touched by your hospitality these past few days. I hope we meet again soon!"

Dōmeki and Haku gazed at Kakashi, extremely reluctant to part, their eyes glistening with tears.

Kakashi, however, was not touched in the slightest. His pale hand trembled as it clutched his empty wallet, as cold as his heart.

"I-I'm not touched at all! Besides, you brats eat way too much!"

Kakashi Hatake considered himself a ninja with few desires. He cared nothing for luxuries like fine food and clothes, and only opened his wallet when Lord Jiraiya released a new book.

Moreover, after all his teammates and his teacher died, he had thrown himself into completing missions at a frantic pace, worrying the Third Hokage for a time. As a result, Kakashi Hatake had accumulated a fortune, making him wealthy even among the ninja of his generation.

He had never expected that simply traveling with these two brats for a while would empty the savings he had brought. The red-haired brat in particular had made him feel as though he had brought along a tour group of dozens.

Still shaken, Kakashi practically trembled as he bid Dōmeki and Haku farewell. "See you next time, brats. No, on second thought, let's not meet again too soon!"

Dōmeki watched the kind senior run off so fast that he left afterimages and couldn't help praising him. "Senior Kakashi really is a good person! He actually took a detour and accompanied us all the way to the Land of Grass's border!"

Haku struggled somewhat to hold the white cat, which had grown several pounds heavier, and nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"Well then, let's take a trip through the Land of Grass!"

Dōmeki looked away and turned his gaze west. Someone was still waiting for him there.

The Land of Grass lay northwest of the Land of Fire, bordering the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Rain. It could be considered a battleground surrounded by enemies. Like the Land of Rain, which the great nations often chose as a battlefield between them, it became a hell in every Shinobi World War.

Incidentally, Madara had hidden here in his old age before his death, digging tunnels, and Obito Uchiha had also nearly lost his life on a battlefield here.

But unlike the Land of Rain, which had an ambitious and powerful leader, forced its way into the war, and was utterly crippled, the Grass Ninja were much like their country's name. Following a small nation's philosophy of survival, they could be called fence-sitters in every war.

Whenever either Iwagakure or Konoha gained the upper hand, Kusagakure knew to join the winning side immediately. It was rather reminiscent of a country from his previous life that was a constant source of pain to one particular alliance, yet always ended up on the winning side.

As the Land of Fire was the ultimate victor of the Third Shinobi World War, the Land of Grass was now naturally Konoha's ally.

As Dōmeki explained the Land of Grass's situation to him, a thoroughly bewildered Haku followed the red-haired boy onto the country's soil.

"It's so desolate here!"

Although Haku had lost his parents in the Land of Water and survived by begging from place to place, the turmoil there had only affected ninja. Though the civilians of that great nation were not as wealthy as those of the fertile Land of Fire, they could still make a basic living from the sea, and the towns still looked prosperous.

The Land of Grass, however, was completely different. Its land was unsuitable for farming because of its geography and climate, and years of warfare had left the entire country sparsely populated.

As the two boys walked through the wilderness, which was overgrown with weeds and had few roads, even as basic infrastructure, they often went days without encountering a village.

So even Haku wondered why the place was so desolate and run-down.

Hearing Haku's confusion, Dōmeki, who knew full well that the Land of Grass represented the current state of most small nations, merely shrugged. "Maybe this place lacks a leader who can put aside his pride and lead by example, taking the villagers out to make money and steal people!"

And so the two walked through the wilderness for several days before finally managing to follow their map to a city with some signs of life: the capital of the Land of Grass, which was also where Kusagakure was located.

As far as they could see, the buildings around the city were old and small. In the streets, countless villagers in ragged clothes, their eyes vacant, carried heavy loads and trudged silently forward under their overseers' orders.

After the two paid the entrance fee and entered the inner city surrounded by walls, the scenery changed once again.

Though it still couldn't compare to the cities of the great nations, at least the streets were clean and tidy. The passersby wore patched clothes, but their complexions were fairly rosy, unlike the sallow, withered poor in the outer city.

There were also more shops on either side of the streets, but the most eye-catching sight was the lavish palace in the center, which resembled a castle keep.

Dōmeki looked around and saw that only a handful of the shops actually dealt in daily necessities.

In such a large city, most of the establishments were gambling dens and brothels. Their patrons were richly dressed nobles and people clad as ninja.

As a handsome boy like Dōmeki walked down the street, quite a few scantily dressed young women tried to pull him in and solicit his business. He dodged them and politely declined.

The scene startled Haku, while also making him even more puzzled. Why were people's lives so different on opposite sides of a single wall?

Haku was just about to voice his question again to the boy beside him, who looked about his age but was indeed as mature as those adults who knew everything.

Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard a clamor from the side of the street.

The noise drew Haku's gaze. In front of a house stood a man wearing a Grass Ninja Forehead Protector, dragging a girl away by the hair as she cried out in pain. An old woman who seemed to be the girl's mother was clinging to his leg, pleading desperately.

"Please, Lord Ninja!"

"Please give us more time to pay this month's inner-city fee. We'll pay it, I promise. My daughter-"

The Grass Ninja showed not a trace of pity for the mother and daughter. He merely rebuked her coldly.

"Let go, you lowly commoner! Taking your daughter in place of three months' payment is already a bargain for you!"

When the old woman still refused to let go, the Grass Ninja's expression abruptly changed. A Kunai slashed toward her throat, and it looked as though blood would spray out the next instant.

"Stop!"

Haku cried out in agitation at the sight, but his body disappeared of its own accord.

The next moment, an icy aura burst from the boy, and the hand of the ninja Haku had grabbed, still holding the Kunai, froze solid.

"Y-you, where are you from?"

The Grass Ninja trembled as he stared at the boy in terror, while Haku looked back at Dōmeki anxiously, as though he had caused a great deal of trouble.

Seeing the commotion around them, Dōmeki sighed. Several chains appeared out of thin air and wrapped around the people's bodies, and they vanished before more ninja were alerted.