Darkness always came early in the canyon. Though the sky was still azure, Jiusen Village had already fallen into dimness.
Unable to ensure their safety in such lighting, the villagers had finished their work and hurried home. They needed to prepare dinner while there was still some faint daylight.
Just then, several villagers rushed in frantically.
"Village Chief! Village Chief!! Water, water, water..."
Hearing the shouts, the village chief immediately rushed out of his room and shouted, "What happened to the water? Did the flow stop?"
"It didn't stop—it's a flood! The flood is about to arrive!"
"A flood!!"
All the villagers stirred, pouring out of their homes and going to the cliff's edge to look north.
Sure enough, under the fading light, a white line of water appeared far to the north of the valley. It was still too distant for the roar of the flood to reach them, but the faint south wind had already died away.
The village chief narrowed his eyes and looked again and again. Only when the north wind began to rise and the faint sound of water reached his ears did he burst into laughter. "Excellent! The Konoha ninja truly live up to their reputation. They solved the water source problem in just two days."
The villagers were even more jubilant, and some began shouting:
"Let's have a good drink tonight! Tomorrow, we can start rafting the logs!"
"Right! Rafting logs is serious work. We need some alcohol to build up our strength!"
The village chief was unmoved by their request to drink. In mountain valleys, where it was damp and foggy, alcohol was necessary to ward off the cold. Otherwise, exertion could easily leave one's joints aching and weak.
If someone standing on a log raft felt their joints go weak while