Are Ninjas Chickens?

"Nagato, have you reached the Valley of the End yet?"

A message came from Kakashi.

Although they could no longer contact the Empire, there was still no problem with communication between the three of them.

"No. This world may look pathetic, but that is only at the lowest level. To make absolutely sure, I plan to make a trip to the Land of Finality and bind a few Summoning Animals. Otherwise, I can't fully bring out the strength of my Animal Path."

Nagato could directly use Chakra and telepathy to send messages through the Nano-Bracelets.

"From the marks on your map, you didn't go to the Hidden Leaf Village, did you?"

"No. I've already gathered most of the information. This truly is a world that needs saving!"

"Good, Nagato. I'm sure the Emperor will be pleased that you have such awareness. Once you confirm whether there is any problem with the Valley of the End, hurry and meet up with us. We plan to take control of the Hidden Sand Village first."

"No problem!"

"If anything unusual happens in the Valley of the End, don't force yourself. Contact us anytime, and we'll decide what to do then!"

"Received!"

After the two finished communicating, Nagato glanced at their approximate location in the Land of Waves, and then his Rinnegan emerged.

He was currently three hundred meters underground. The Asura Path's exoskeleton had already covered his entire body, and it could protect him while he entered the Land of Finality.

Land of Finality.

It was the fourth place within the Empire, discovered by the Emperor, that possessed immortals, aside from Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest!

The continent inside was countless times larger than the Shinobi World. It was said that the Emperor had discovered it after tracking clues related to the Death God from the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, as well as several Evil Gods.

It contained all manner of bizarre creatures and living beings.

Nagato naturally had Summoning Animals in the original world, but in this world, he could not sense or summon them at all.

Perhaps things would improve once the Two-World Transmission Channel was completed.

For now, he needed to go to the Land of Finality and bind several Summoning Animals.

Using the Rinnegan as a key was one of the requirements for entering the Land of Finality.

After forming several hand seals, Nagato used the Reverse Summoning Technique to release his soul into the Land of Finality.

The moment he entered, he saw a gigantic centipede charging toward him.

Nagato used Shinra Tensei without hesitation.

Even in soul form, the Rinnegan remained overwhelmingly powerful.

Seeing the centipede knocked unconscious, Nagato directly inserted a Black Receiver into its body and seized control of it without hesitation.

With the first giant centipede as a foundation, Nagato successively captured a Giant Bird, Rhino, Crab, Split Dog, and chameleon.

"These should be enough."

Feeling his ocular power being consumed faster and faster, he understood that six Summoning Animals were his limit for now.

His soul returned to his body, and Nagato headed for the Valley of the End.

"What a pity. During university, I spent all my time studying Sealing Technique and Rinnegan techniques. It's a shame I never learned the Flying Thunder God Technique..."

Nagato sighed, then summoned the Giant Bird.

The Giant Bird looked somewhat savage. With the Black Receiver controlling it, it resembled a rotting corpse.

"It's hard to imagine that such a hideous monster was summoned by me..."

Nagato laughed at himself. The Giant Bird flapped its wings once and shot forward a thousand meters in an instant.

Land of Waves.

Kakashi and Obito had already brought the remaining six people to the vicinity of what would later become Naruto Bridge.

"Gato is an extremely greedy, terrifying, and evil merchant. He used monopolies and violence to seize control of all economic lifelines and transportation in the Land of Waves."

"And everything in the Land of Waves depends heavily on maritime transportation. By controlling those things, he has essentially seized everyone by the throat."

Tazuna described Gato's many crimes in detail.

"Is this Gato strong?"

Obito asked.

If Gato could easily send an expert like Zabuza, that meant he had some strength of his own.

"No... Gato is merely a merchant. What makes him frightening is his methods, his business acumen, and the group of desperate outlaws he has gathered around himself."

"Huh?"

Obito was puzzled. He had thought Gato was an incredibly powerful, violent, and utterly evil ninja. Who would have thought he was only a merchant?

"If he's just an ordinary person, why don't you hire ninjas to kill him?"

Tazuna smiled bitterly at those words.

"It isn't that we don't want to. Gato has hired countless ninjas, while our Land of Waves... has no ninja village, and no... ninjas!"

Upon hearing that, Obito helplessly covered his face.

Damn, no wonder people in this world fear and hate ninjas so much. They'll do anything as long as they're paid!

They possess all that strength, yet they can be bought with money and ordered around at will. Ninjas in this world... hard to judge!

"This Gato commits every evil imaginable. As a merchant, he has even seized control of an entire nation's economy and people's livelihoods. Does your Daimyo not care? Or does your country not even have a Daimyo?"

Tazuna broke out in a cold sweat under Obito's imposing manner. He wiped his forehead and nervously said, "We do, but..."

"There are differences between countries. The Land of Waves is a small nation to begin with, and we cannot afford to support a ninja village. Therefore, we only have one way to deal with Gato: post bounties at nearby ninja villages."

"But the Daimyos are nowhere near as wealthy as Gato. We can post a B-rank Mission, but he can post an A-rank Mission for protection. We simply... have no way to deal with it!"

Obito was utterly dumbfounded.

Fuck, doesn't that conflict? One is protection and the other is assassination. They're taking money from both sides!

"So if the ninjas of one village accept both missions, will the two sides turn their weapons on each other over it?"

Obito curiously continued digging for gossip.

"Uh..."

Tazuna's mind went blank. He was just a bridge builder. How could he understand so much?

Obito turned his gaze toward Kakashi. Kakashi hesitated before finally speaking.

"Theoretically, we would not accept both an assassination mission and a protection mission involving the same person..."

"Usually, the Hidden Leaf Village handles the assassination, while the Hidden Cloud Village handles the protection. Something like that..."

Obito felt his mind explode. He shook his head and bluntly said:

"Your world is way too bizarre. The ninjas of two villages can be played around by a single merchant. With such absurd rules and systems, how could your world not be chaotic? How could there be peace?"

"If people from one village die because of a mission, should the other village hate the person who issued the mission, or the ninjas who killed their own villagers?"

Kakashi could not answer. It seemed that this was how conflicts had always arisen.

Everyone hated those who killed their companions, yet they did not hate the people who issued the missions and created the very root of those conflicts.

Kakashi had found the blind spot.

"This Gato doesn't need to commit every evil imaginable, does he? Couldn't he simply remove the Daimyo and do all this openly and legitimately?"

Tazuna's expression changed drastically.

"How can you have such a dangerous idea? Forget that Gato is just a merchant—even rogue ninjas have never dared to speak of laying hands on a Daimyo!"

Kakashi could not understand this.

"Why? As far as I know, Daimyos possess nothing except authority. They are basically like... fat pigs. They are powerless, yet covered in grease. Killing them would bring a hundred benefits and no harm."

Seeing the killing intent in Kakashi's eyes, Tazuna repeatedly shook his head.

"No, you are mistaken. Without a Daimyo, our country would be finished. You must understand: once a country's Daimyo is removed, the Daimyos of the entire world will attack that country. When that happens, it will not just be the usurper—even ordinary civilians will be implicated!"

"At that time, he will be hunted by the Daimyos of the entire world and hated by every citizen in his country! No one can withstand pressure from the Daimyos of every nation. Even if the country becomes yours, what use would it be?"

"It's hard to imagine that your diseased world still possesses such a united will!"

Obito's words were full of mockery.

A group of nobles joined forces with nobles across the world to form a line of defense for the sake of consolidating their own power. Heh.

So when wars broke out across the world and people killed one another, it was always ninjas and commoners who died, while you privileged nobles remained completely unaffected and sat back watching the world, huh?

No wonder they said ninjas were tools. Wars in the Shinobi World were no different from cockfighting in the Empire. The chickens fought until they bled and died, while the community of interests behind them never changed.

If one chicken died, they could simply replace it and raise another!

"Your slave mentality has already taken root deep in your bones! I truly pity you!"