Gift

"Hey, have you heard? Someone wiped out the Land of Grass!"

"Oh? When did that happen?"

"I heard it was just a few days ago!"

In a small town on the border of the Land of Fire, the hall of the inn where visitors from all over most often stopped was filled with noise.

"My uncle's neighbor's son's classmate's nephew's boyfriend is a traveling merchant from the Land of Grass!"

A guest dressed like a merchant had one foot up on a stool and was telling someone at his table the story, spraying spit as he spoke. The earth-shattering secret instantly drew the attention of every guest.

Guests who knew him came over with smiles to listen to their friend, while those around him offered him drinks to wet his throat.

Seeing how interested everyone was, the middle-aged traveling merchant took a swig of alcohol. His face flushed, he began loudly recounting what he had heard.

"Everyone knows what kind of man the daimyo of the Land of Grass was, right?"

At his words, everyone exchanged knowing looks of disgust. There wasn't a local resident or traveling merchant who didn't know about that daimyo's "virtues." Insatiably greedy, he had ruthlessly exploited the people of the Land of Grass and ordered his ninja to slaughter anyone who protested whenever something displeased him. He had even driven many of his people to flee because they could no longer make a living.

As if that weren't enough, even merchants passing through the country were fleeced. They could only guarantee their safety by paying a high price to hire ninja from the Five Great Nations as escorts.

That was why, instead of being afraid when they heard the Land of Grass had been destroyed, everyone looked delighted by its misfortune.

The man paused, then went on, "I heard that a few nights ago, there was a huge explosion at the palace."

"Someone brave enough sneaked over the next day, but all they found was a huge crater where that lavish palace used to be."

"I hear it wasn't just those wicked ninja who disappeared. The daimyo and all those nobles were gone too!"

"Good riddance!" A guest who had been muttering under his breath saw the perceptive innkeeper shut the front door and immediately raised his drink, shouting in celebration.

"But how did the palace just disappear when it was perfectly fine before?"

After the guests had spent a while celebrating, they finally remembered to ask what had happened that night.

But the man shook his head. "Nobody knows exactly what happened!"

"Still, I do have a little inside information!" the man said smugly, keeping them in suspense.

Only when the people around him began clamoring in frustration did he unhurriedly take a sip of his drink and speak.

"Someone living nearby saw a huge divine beast that commanded lightning descend from the sky and flatten the entire palace!"

"A divine beast? Sakamoto, haven't you had too much to drink?"

Hearing his words questioned, Sakamoto glared at them in displeasure.

"Konoha sent people to inspect the scene, and they found traces of lightning!"

Hearing that even Konoha had sent people to investigate, everyone finally believed him. Still, a divine beast was far too bizarre; it would have been more convincing if Konoha or Iwagakure had personally destroyed the Land of Grass.

"Heh heh heh!" Sakamoto lifted his head smugly. "That's not all. I heard that the divine beast was actually summoned by someone!"

Sakamoto's words instantly piqued everyone's curiosity. "Who was it? The Sage of Six Paths?"

"Pah! It had to be Lord Hokage!"

"Hmph, our Tsuchikage could do it too!"

Just as the guests from the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth were about to come to blows, Sakamoto spoke in a low voice.

"I heard the one who summoned the divine beast was a red-haired bo-"

Just then, the closed front door was suddenly pushed open. Under everyone's gaze, a handsome red-haired boy strolled in.

"Innkeeper, have you stopped doing business so early today?"

"Tch!" All the guests froze for a moment before going back to their food and drink.

The innkeeper apologized to the guests and hurried over to greet him. Only when he got close did he notice a mother and daughter behind the boy, both with the same red hair.

The travelers were none other than Dōmeki and his companions, who had left the Land of Grass and were passing through the town.

"Aunt Kana, let's rest here for a day before continuing our journey!"

Dōmeki spoke to the pale-faced woman, then asked the innkeeper to prepare some food.

Uzumaki Kana was Karin's mother. In the original history, this unfortunate woman would have died unknown and unmourned in the Land of Grass, but fortunately, Dōmeki had saved her.

However, years of abuse at the hands of the Grass Ninja had left Kana's body riddled with damage. If not for the Uzumaki Clan's vigorous life force sustaining her, she would have died long ago.

Even after receiving some treatment from Dōmeki, her body could not withstand long periods of travel, which was why the group had been moving slowly.

Uzumaki Kana nodded, looking at the boy who called himself Dōmeki. She could not stop reflecting on how she had thought she would die in that cruel place. Ever since the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed and her husband had died a tragic death, she had not wanted to live on alone, but for her daughter Karin...

At the thought, Kana gave the boy a grateful smile.

Karin, meanwhile, had been distracted by the guests' conversation. After quite a while, she tugged on the boy's sleeve and whispered, "Lord Shun, are they talking about you?"

"Lord? Call me Big Brother!"

Dōmeki corrected the way Karin addressed him for the umpteenth time, then took a sip of hot tea and shrugged. "I guess so."

"Amazing! Lord Shun killed all those bad guys all by himself!" Karin's eyes sparkled with admiration. "I wonder if I'll ever be as strong as Lord Shun?"

Dōmeki offered the little girl some encouragement, wondering whether Haku had returned to Otogakure by now.

Nothing of note happened along the way, and after about eight or nine days, Dōmeki finally made his leisurely return to Otogakure.

At the entrance to the Sound Ninja base, two Sound Ninja spotted Dōmeki returning from a distance and dropped to one knee. "Lord Dōmeki, welcome back!"

"Oh, it's Sakata and Katsura!"

Dōmeki warmly greeted the two ninja who had guarded the base entrance for years. "Is Orochimaru at the base now?"

"Yes. Lord Orochimaru has been waiting for your return in the laboratory!"

As they went, Dōmeki told Kana and Karin about the Otogakure base. Quite a few Sound Ninja they passed looked somewhat afraid of the boy and immediately bowed their heads in greeting.

Seeing this, Karin asked curiously, "Big Brother Shun, are you highly respected here?"

"Hahaha! Of course!" Dōmeki laughed proudly, as though he were back home. "I've made friends with everyone at the base!"

Zaku Abumi, who happened to be passing by, stopped when he heard this and silently grumbled to himself, He clearly "beat" those "friends" into being!

"Orochimaru, I'm back!"

Dōmeki pushed open the door to Orochimaru's laboratory without even knocking. To his surprise, Kimimaro was there, and so was Haku.

"Shun-kun, you caused quite a stir this time!"

Orochimaru couldn't help smiling as he looked at his disciple, but when he saw the two red-haired females following Dōmeki, he froze for a moment.

"I don't know who Shun-kun learned it from, but he manages to pick someone up and bring them back every time he goes out!"

"Hahaha!" Dōmeki scratched his head awkwardly. It really was a bit much to go out and fool around for half a month before coming back.

Orochimaru paid it no mind. Instead, he spat a long box out of his mouth under Karin's horrified gaze.

"Although I didn't make it in time, this is your birthday present for this year, Shun-kun!"