Zabuza: "So This Is the Kind of Person I Am?!"

Hanabi looked at Tazuna. "Uncle Tazuna, the Land of Waves is nearly out of funds it can use, isn't it? Not just you people—even your Daimyo is in the same situation."

"So you saw through it..." Tazuna's expression darkened.

"Building a bridge is a complicated project, but you only asked us to protect you for a month or so. That means the bridge is nearly finished, with only the last step remaining," Hanabi said. "From another perspective, the funds you raised to build the bridge have also nearly run dry."

"...So that's how it was?! That bastard Gato had planned this from the beginning?!" Tazuna immediately understood what was happening.

Delivering a fatal blow just as the bridge was about to be completed.

That was Gato's style as a crooked businessman.

"Gato? I remember he was a merchant who became rich overnight through the shipping business."

Kakashi had heard Gato's name before as well.

"That's right. On the surface, he runs a shipping company, but behind the scenes, he uses illegal channels and ninja to traffic controlled goods, swallow up other businesses and countries, and commit every evil imaginable," Tazuna said. "The Land of Waves is one of his victims. With money and violence, he seized control of all maritime transportation around the islands in the blink of an eye. The Land of Waves is a country made up of many small islands. If you control sea transportation, it's the same as taking over the country."

Hanabi added, "So if Uncle Tazuna's bridge succeeds, the Land of Waves will be able to travel between countries without being constrained by Gato. That's what you were thinking, right?"

"Of course." Tazuna nodded.

"But have you considered that the bridge... could still be destroyed by Gato?" Hanabi said.

"He—how would he dare?" Tazuna's eyes widened.

"Why are you assuming he wouldn't? Don't view people like that from an ordinary person's perspective. For a corrupt merchant like him, once the profit exceeds three hundred percent, he'll dare to trample everything in the world."

[???]

[Hey, Old Ma, Old Ma.]

[A ghost, a ghost...]

[Mods, mute her already!]

[Fuck, Hanabi, what are you doing, Hanabi? Stop!]

[I'm dying.]

[Tazuna is still too naive.]

[Naive, naive, naive.]

[How dare you assume he wouldn't?]

[You can tell the people of the Land of Waves are all really simple. At first I thought they were guilt-tripping people, but it turns out they genuinely don't understand anything.]

"This mission is absolutely not as simple as a C-rank mission," Hanabi said.

"But I don't have any money left. Forget a commoner like me—even the Daimyo can't come up with that kind of money..." Tazuna sighed. He had his own unspeakable difficulties.

"Yes. Not right now," Hanabi said. "But the future may be different."

"The future?" Tazuna did not understand.

"If the bridge can be completed, transportation between the Land of Waves and other countries will become much more convenient. Convenient transportation also means easier travel. In other words, the future Land of Waves will have that money. Using future tariffs as collateral can solve the immediate crisis."

[Fuck, cultivating demonic arts in reverse?]

[The East India Company, huh?]

[I'm dying.]

[So this is where the boomerang was waiting.]

"Is that really okay?" Naruto had finished bandaging his wound and walked over as well. "Can't we just help Uncle finish the bridge?"

"Naruto, Hanabi already said that even if the bridge is completed, it could still be destroyed," Kakashi said. This had been a blind spot for him as well, but once Hanabi pointed it out, Kakashi realized the problem.

"Kill that Gato?" Sasuke asked.

"What if there's a second one?" Naruto tilted his head. He asked casually and had no idea what he had just said, but Sasuke fell silent too.

"So, sign a loan contract," Hanabi said. "If the Land of Waves can use its future income as a guarantee, the Hyuga Clan of Konoha can provide you with a loan. As for the mission rank... well, we can assess it based on the danger we encounter in the end. You won't need to pay any cash anyway."

"Konoha..." Tazuna was a little stunned.

The old man took several turns before finally understanding.

"Th-thank you very much!"

"Hanabi, how can you ask them for money?" Naruto still had simple values. Besides, the Daimyo's wife had already given them quite a generous reward.

However, Kakashi sighed. "Naruto. What Hanabi means is that the Land of Waves' lender will be the Hyuga Clan of Konoha. If other forces set their sights on the Land of Waves, they'll have to consider Konoha—or at the very least, consider the Hyuga Clan's stance."

"Simply put, she's using her clan's name to protect the Land of Waves from being targeted by other scumbags, idiot," Sasuke explained to Naruto in terms he could understand.

[I am Naruto.]

[Fuck, it really is a thousand-layer cake. So that's what this was about.]

[She expanded the clan's and village's sphere of influence, and it's an Open Scheme too.]

[Does everyone remember Hanabi's earlier discussion with the Third Hokage? Was this what they were talking about?]

[So this was the boomerang all along?!]

[The clown was me all along.]

[My wife is kind-hearted. She can't bear to see people suffer.]

After resolving the follow-up issues, the Ghostly Brothers looked at Kakashi. "What are you planning to do with us?"

"I don't really care. Hanabi, what do you think?"

Kakashi had the composure of the strong. The original novel had said that Kakashi let the Ghostly Ninja go.

So Hanabi smiled as well. "Of course we let them go."

"Is that okay?" Kakashi asked.

"After all, there aren't only these two ninja nearby. Other ninja are hiding in the area and watching us, so silencing them would be meaningless."

"Besides, this is the Land of Fire. The Mist Ninja wouldn't easily set foot here. From that perspective, you should be rogue ninjas, right?"

"Ah, no. I heard Kirigakure had a coup before this. You probably don't think you betrayed Kirigakure yourselves."

These people were Zabuza's subordinates.

And from Zabuza's perspective, he had been trying to stage a coup and wanted to fight his way back. But he had never intended to completely betray his country.

"So I'm more curious why you became Gato's subordinates. It's far too amusing."

"Gato... what do you mean?!"

The Ghostly Brothers froze. No, they panicked. They had thought of a certain possibility too.

"Well~ he's just a shipping merchant. It doesn't mean anything."

Hanabi chuckled.

"You're really just letting them go?" Sasuke still did not understand.

Kakashi patted Sasuke on the shoulder. "Listen carefully. This is a mission, not some revenge for murdered parents. Since they came here for work too, it's enough as long as we stop them from achieving their goal."

[For that little money, why risk your life?]

[Kakashi: Actually, I'm just a regular guy trying to get by.]

[Hanabi's thousand-layer cake... I suddenly remembered that Apart showed the world map. The Land of Water is out at sea and it's huge, then Gato controls shipping...]

[Holy shit, could Gato be a black glove?]

[No wonder those two ninja panicked.]

[The remnants of a coup being hired by their former enemy's black glove as thugs... that's just too miserable.]

[Delightful, so delightful.]

[This hurts worse than killing them.]

Hanabi smiled even more happily.

Hanabi did not know whether Gato was the black glove of the Land of Water and Kirigakure.

But Gato could be.

Even if Gato was not, he could be described as a black glove being controlled without realizing it.

Anyway, as long as the readers saw it that way, that was enough.

What mattered was not the truth, but whether this drama was exciting.

And as Team 7 set foot on the Land of Waves, this fine show was finally about to begin.

Author's Note:

A big 3K chapter~ Please vote and support me in every way...

Time to go stockpile chapters, Orz.

The image of Star Rail Sparkle + Red Rope for chapter 43 got censored. Search EX for "Who Is Sparkle?" and you'll find it.

I've actually been looking for good pictures of Hanabi Hyuga. Either I can't post them, or they have that Western art style. Tch, it's so hard.

Zabuza: So This Is the Kind of Person I Am?!

To avoid Gato's eyes and ears, Team 7 departed by boat in the dead of night, arrived at the outskirts of the Land of Waves in the morning, then entered the country through underground waterways.

After the group disembarked at a dock halfway through the waterway, they headed toward the town.

The dock was located in the wilderness. After walking forward for only a short while, they reached dense forest, and the surroundings were extremely dim.

After a night had passed, Naruto had returned to his usual energetic self.

After entering the Land of Waves, he was even jumping around while "staying alert." Aside from the ever-smiling Hanabi, the other three were practically sweating as they watched Naruto.

"There!"

After staring at the bushes for a while, Naruto suddenly pulled out a shuriken and threw it.

"And then?" Kakashi was getting a little impatient.

First there had been rats, then frogs. Naruto had been making a fuss over every little thing for quite a while.

"Your aim is so terrible. Don't randomly throw shuriken where people might be walking. It's too dangerous!"

If he accidentally hurt a passerby, the troublesome one would still be him, the Jonin leading the team.

"Then—of course they used the Substitution Technique to run away."

Hanabi's single sentence left Kakashi numb.

[Fuck.]

[Starting off this exciting already.]

[Kakashi: Seriously, talking to Hanabi is exhausting.]

[Did he accidentally get it right?]

[I'm dying.]

Hanabi had spent a night here, but the viewers had already reached episode nine.

This was the beginning of episode nine. However, because Hanabi was currently undergoing a test, the final rewards would only be given all at once as "payment" after the event ended.

"What, what?" Naruto immediately darted over. After pushing aside the bushes, he found a snow-white rabbit that had fainted.

"A white snow rabbit. But it's spring now, and a snow rabbit's fur should normally be brown. If it's white, that means it's a snow rabbit raised indoors." Kakashi became cautious. "That's right. This is a snow rabbit specifically used for the Substitution Technique. Just now, someone was hiding here. After being attacked, they used the snow rabbit as a substitute, trying to make us think it was just an ordinary rabbit."

One normal use of the Substitution Technique was to make an enemy think you were just some small animal when you might be exposed.

"Everyone, get down!"

At that moment, Kakashi suddenly shouted.

Kakashi, Tazuna, Naruto, and Sasuke immediately dropped to the ground.

At that moment, something enormous came spinning and whistling toward them with a roar, passing at chest height.

Then, in the next instant, countless Red Ropes shot out and caught the spinning object. The two collided, producing the sharp sound of metal striking metal.

[There it is, Chains of Heaven 2333.]