The Naughty Melon

Under the scorching midday sun, the desert was experiencing terrifyingly high temperatures, so the entire team stopped to rest and replenish their fluids.

"Captain Mitsui, do you think the Sunagakure and those nobles are crazy? Why don't they build a ninja village and capital here in Sengoku City instead of making us keep transporting goods?" The young man, drenched in sweat, complained to him while drinking water.

"Be grateful. Without their meddling, where would we get this job? Maybe they're just rich and have too much money to burn," a slightly older man next to him retorted, clearly not wanting to lose his job.

Upon hearing the two young men discuss this situation, Mitsui remained silent for a moment. Considering that he might be leaving soon, he felt that he should help them grow, so that their time together wouldn't be in vain.

"I happen to know that, it's not what you think."

"Oh?" The two immediately looked at Mitsui. Their captain was usually taciturn, so they didn't expect him to speak up this time. "What's going on?" They were quite curious.

"It's because of the war," Mitsui said in a deep voice. "Sengoku City is located next to the only oasis within a hundred miles, rich in resources. How could those ninjas and nobles not know the superiority of this location? It's just that they had no choice but to give up building a city nearby and instead adopted the current model of using Sengoku City as a transit point."

"Why what?"

"You should be very familiar with what Sunagakure and the capital of the Land of Wind look like. The reality is that the soil near the oasis is soft, and if a city were built here, the foundation would be unstable and unable to support tall walls like those of Sunagakure."

Despite the sweltering heat, Mitsui's words were like a chilling breeze into the two young men's hearts. "So they only gave up Sengoku City for their own safety, so that a tall castle wall could be built for protection. If a sturdy city could be built here, our work wouldn't even exist."

He stood up and patted them on the shoulder. "They have absolutely no compassion; they only know how to extract resources from Sengoku City to satisfy themselves. Once an enemy invades the Land of Wind, with Sengoku City's low walls, it will be destroyed in an instant."

The harsh reality left the two speechless. "You both have relatives or friends who lost their lives in the war, right? I know you hate war."

"But what if there were no more wars in the world? Those nobles and ninjas would definitely drive us out of Sengoku City as soon as possible and take over the position for themselves. What would become of us ordinary people then?"

Mitsui stepped forward and pulled up the truck. "It's a dilemma, isn't it? I'm telling you this because I don't want to see you become numb just trying to survive. You still have hope. This job can't last. If you have the chance, save up enough money and leave as soon as possible. Find a way to learn a skill so you can change your lives."

The caravan's transport went smoothly, and no desert bandits dared to rob Sunagakure's supplies. Before sunset, the caravan arrived safely at the entrance of Sunagakure.

There are more ninjas guarding the city walls than usual, but the situation isn't tense enough to warrant panic, because Sunagakure needs resources no matter what.

The ninjas at the gate checked the caravan as usual, making sure each transporter was a familiar face, before allowing the caravan to enter the city walls one by one.

According to custom, all the caravan's supplies were delivered to a simple market not far from the city gate, where workers were unloading the goods.

"Wow, the supplies arrived so quickly this time!" Before they had been busy for long, a middle-aged man with triangular eyes and a big nose walked up to the caravan. He looked a little arrogant and had two attendants with him.

"That's right, Takiji." Mitsui stepped forward and replied. His face was expressionless, because this Takiji was an inspector sent by Sunagakure to check the quantity of supplies, but he was a bad person. Last time, he secretly stole some items and framed them.

"Open all the boxes, let us inspect them!" Takiji shouted like a thug.

After opening the box, the three men casually inspected the supplies. Since these were supplies for Sunagakure, no shop dared to cheat on the quantity, so they just glanced at them and left.

"Hmm?" Takiji smiled with delight as he walked over to Mitsui. "There's even Golden Melon this time! It's my absolute favorite!"

As he spoke, he walked to the box, took out a melon, and tapped it while listening to the sounds inside.

"This is good, it's cooked."

"This one's good too, it's cooked through."

"This one is a bit lacking; it'll need to sit for a few days..."

Mitsui, standing nearby, immediately tensed up. He was a very quick-witted person with excellent physical abilities from a young age, and of course, he was selected for ninja training. However, his poor control over chakra prevented him from becoming a ninja.

When Shuichi informed him to handle the box personally, he knew that the man was definitely hiding inside. His long experience with moving things had also made him exceptionally sensitive to weight, and he immediately guessed that Shuichi had transformed into a Golden Melon and was hiding inside the box.

"This is troublesome. No matter how similar the Transformation Technique is, it can't change the difference in weight!" Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, a rare occurrence for him. Seeing Takiji constantly picking up and patting the melons, he was afraid that if this continued, he would end up picking Shuichi melon, which would expose them.

"Sir, as a ninja, if you accidentally smash Golden Melon, it wouldn't be easy to explain," Mitsui said, his expression remaining calm even in this situation.

To everyone's surprise, Takiji's expression changed instantly upon hearing this. He slammed the melon in his hand into the box, shouting, "Smash it? Tell me how to smash such a hard melon!" With that, he went berserk, standing next to the box and frantically slapping the Golden Melon inside.

"Slap slap slap..." Seeing what Takiji did, Mitsui's dark face began to turn red, a sign that he was extremely nervous.

If a ninja is struck hard, their chakra flow will be disrupted, and their Transformation Technique may be canceled. It would be terrible if this person couldn't withstand the attack.

"Huff huff..." Before long, Takiji was panting a little, and the two attendants beside him immediately came over to support his arms.

"Sir, I think that's enough. This Mitsui doesn't know anything; he's just worried about the cargo being damaged. Besides, an honest man could easily hurt you if he's angered. Look at him..." a follower whispered in his ear.

Seeing Mitsui's expression, which resembled a volcano about to erupt, Takiji calmed down a bit. "Let's go, we'll come back later."

Two attendants helped him walk away; they knew perfectly well why Takiji was acting this way.

Takiji and his older brother Takichi once renowned geniuses in the village, with Takiji being even more talented than his brother. Now, Takichi a well-known Jonin in the village, while he has become a cripple.

Because of an accident during a mission in his youth, although he wasn't killed, many of his organs were broken and damaged. It's a miracle he survived. However, the price was that he became the weak and feeble man he is now, exhausted by the slightest movement. The lucrative job the village gave him cannot heal his wounded heart.

"Phew..." Mitsui secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing him leave.

He quickly arrived at the box, pretending to inspect the Golden Melon. The others nearby then went about their own business.

He picked up one melon after another, intending to take the opportunity to get Shuichi out, thus completing his mission.

Shuichi was quite knowledgeable; before he had even tried a few times, Mitsui noticed a melon on the edge of the box swaying back and forth, much like a large, energetic pinball.

He glanced around discreetly, and finding no one paying attention, he quickly took the melon out and placed it to the side. Then, he slowly lifted the lid of the wooden box and put it back down.

When they looked again, the mischievous melon had disappeared, and he now held a note in his hand.

"War may break out."

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, Mitsui swallowed the note.

His mission was complete, and he had originally planned to stay in the Land of Wind for a while before returning. However, after seeing the reminder from this lord, he decided not to wait for this month's wages to be settled, but to set off as soon as possible.

On the other side, Shuichi didn't run far, but entered a house that was temporarily unoccupied.

"Damn it, your name is Takiji, right?" Shuichi cursed inwardly. "You dare pat my head? I've memorized your face. If we meet in the Third Shinobi War, I'll show you what hell is like."