Premonition

This was such a tragic world.

Endless wars and conflicts had utterly reshaped the values of everyone in this world.

Faced with three wars that had swept across the world within fifty years, wars so intense that even children under ten from the Five Great Nations had to march onto the battlefield, the smaller nations that served as battlegrounds could only suffer even more miserably.

Yet the people of the Naruto World did not reflect, did not protest, and no one tried to forge a new path across this land.

Everyone tacitly accepted it all—accepted slaughter devoid of any order or humanity, while unhesitatingly turning their blades on others.

As if everything they did was a betrayal of the Sage of Six Paths' original intention in teaching chakra to humanity—

To use chakra as a force that connected people, for love and peace.

What? For love and peace, you wanted to connect with me? Sure. Connect with my kunai first.

Lin Ke was amused by the thought that had suddenly popped into his head, then felt a little sad.

When the Sage of Six Paths had been alive, there had been peace. After his death came an age of war centered around ninja clans, where the average lifespan of both ninja and civilians was only thirty years.

The First Hokage had cooperated with Uchiha Madara to establish Konoha through overwhelming strength, inspiring other nations to follow suit and bringing a brief period of peace. After his death, world wars broke out one after another. With the various ninja villages gathered together, the intensity of those wars became even more terrifying.

In the future, Naruto and Sasuke would still use their invincible power to deter the entire world, bringing peace and development...

Ninja grew old, fell ill, and died. Even someone as powerful as the Sage of Six Paths had died. After Naruto and Sasuke died, would wars even more destructive emerge? Judging from history, Lin Ke could not help feeling pessimistic. If the Infinite Tsukuyomi truly existed and was not Black Zetsu's lie, perhaps that would be the best ending for the Naruto World.

How could a single ninja, even one capable of ruling the world, change the beliefs in everyone's hearts?

The more powerful someone was, the more they could do as they pleased and impose the "peace" they wanted upon the world. Yet that would only fuel humanity's belief that strength was everything and intensify its desire for slaughter.

People could ruthlessly harm one another for their desires without feeling ashamed, taking it for granted that such things were right. When even such an absurd, primitive moral outlook had become a consensus silently accepted by everyone, it was perfectly normal for a few mentally ill people to emerge in a world like this.

Conversely, since Konoha had many ninja with high moral standards who revered the Will of Fire, it was only natural for others to mock them as naive.

The slight brutality Lin Ke had felt after killing several ronin who had provoked him quickly faded away in silence.

I only need to live my own life well. I do not seek to become invincible and make the world turn according to my will. All I want is to live freely...

The Sunagakure kunoichi, who had been looking at him appreciatively, unexpectedly noticed the faint trace of melancholy on his face and could not help sneering.

Sure enough, he was a naive little brat from Konoha. But that technique just now, it was from the Nara Clan's...—Three hours later.

Nara Yan Shui followed behind the Land of Fire Merchant, who was grumbling and cursing as he left the venue. He quickly noticed that the people outside were looking at his three subordinates strangely. Glancing at the few dead ronin, he could more or less guess what had happened.

"Yan Shui Teacher, just now..." On the way back to the hotel, Yuan Wei quickly recounted what had happened, then said excitedly, "Boss—uh, Lin Ke was super cool just now!"

It was actually rather taboo to bypass one's direct superior, a chuunin, and report matters to a jounin. Xia had remained silent because of that. This loudmouth, on the other hand, was simply careless and had not thought that far.

She only felt that her boss had looked impressive and wanted to show off to an elder. She was quite an innocent girl.

Although Lin Ke had considered more, he was neither displeased nor angry. He understood his two companions well enough that their reactions came as no surprise.

Nara Yan Shui smiled and rubbed Yuan Wei's head. "Pack up. We're preparing to return."

He looked at his prized student and added, "The acquisition failed. Sunagakure's bid was too high." He shook his head. "It has practically exceeded the Gold Mine's actual value."

It was not difficult to understand. The more gold one produced, the more one could drive up the price of gold.

Sunagakure had weakened greatly after the war, and its number of missions had plummeted. Its desert environment was also exceptionally barren, and with the Land of Wind cutting its budget, it was now barely hanging on through Quicksand Gold trading.

They were willing to raise the price to a level others simply could not accept because it carried other added value. It had little to do with the Gold Mine's actual worth.

"So we won't need to fight next?" Lin Ke could not help asking.

He had already prepared himself to fight others for it, but he had not expected things to end so anticlimactically.

"No." Nara Yan Shui shook his head. "Sunagakure is our ally."

Did that mean they would have settled it through battle if it had fallen into someone else's hands? The Land of Rain represented by Amegakure was nominally also an ally of the Land of Fire. There were also quite a few merchants from the Land of Grass and other parts of the Land of Rivers. They were all allies of the Land of Fire as well...

Lin Ke fell silent for a moment, then nodded without saying anything else.

Even in Konoha, cruelty remained the underlying tone of the Naruto World. Strength was everything. No matter how weakened Sunagakure was, it was still far stronger than places like Amegakure and Kusagakure.

Then again, this was only a B-Rank Mission. If they truly had to fall out with Sunagakure and fight over it, it would definitely not be as simple as a B-Rank Mission.

That would involve the direction of a ninja village and a nation, making it a genuine A-rank mission.

It might even be upgraded to S-rank because of Sunagakure's importance placed on the Gold Mine.

It had been classified as a B-Rank Mission only because it was limited to a commercial dispute between merchants, and they had no intention of actually using force to seize the Gold Mine.

In other words, the Land of Fire Merchant had only come to go through the motions, to see whether they could pick up a bargain. No one had ever truly believed they could obtain this Gold Mine.

Having figured that out, Lin Ke felt relieved.

Come to think of it, these wealthy merchants really were rich. They had merely come to join in the excitement, yet they had already thrown away several hundred thousand ryo...

Fifteen hundred thousand ryo had gone just toward hiring ninja. Add the samurai, the accompanying personnel, and all the expenses along the way, and the total was likely two to three hundred thousand ryo.

Nara Yan Shui did not say anything more. As usual, he remained within five meters of the Land of Fire Merchant, keeping watch over their surroundings.

The three of them also acted as usual, but Lin Ke still had a strange premonition in his heart—

This matter—or rather, the question of who the Gold Mine would belong to—was very likely not over yet.

The Akatsuki Organization... had yet to make a move.