Gate Tax

Gate Tax

Within the Land of Fire, a Konoha ninja's forehead protector was the greatest guarantee of safety, so the caravan encountered no obstruction and maintained a good pace. Only after leaving the Land of Fire and entering the Land of Tea did the caravan hands begin to stay alert.

Shuji began sending Shadow Clones ahead of the caravan to scout the road. Small groups of bandits hidden along forest paths were dealt with by his clones before they could make a move.

Shuji's Shadow Clones occasionally brought back spoils from battle, making Hongshan Cheng's smile increasingly sincere. However, as the caravan gradually approached the old forest known as Wild Tea Slope, the relaxed atmosphere seemed to be swallowed by the shade beneath the trees.

"Wild Tea Slope is ahead, Captain Shuji." Hongshan Cheng rode closer, unable to hide the tension in his voice. "That Tea Mountain Gang..."

"The camp on the slope is empty." Shuji's voice was calm as he looked toward the lush green hillside in the distance. His Shadow Clone had brought back the information—a large bandit stronghold that could house hundreds, completely abandoned without any signs of battle. It looked more like an organized evacuation.

Hongshan Cheng's face turned even paler. "Empty? Then... where did those people go?"

"I don't know." Shuji answered crisply, his gaze sweeping across the increasingly dense woods lining both sides of the road. His vigilance was taut as a drawn bowstring. Hundreds of fierce bandits had vanished without a trace, like dark clouds hanging overhead. His senses silently spread out like an invisible web.

The pressure persisted until the caravan safely bypassed Wild Tea Slope and reached the final open road leading to Chujie Port. Half of Hongshan Cheng's anxiety finally eased, and he let out a long breath. "Thank goodness we got through! Thank you, Captain Shuji!" He believed the threat had passed.

Shuji silently watched the harbor city gradually take shape ahead—Chujie Port. Its gray-white walls stood against the mountains and faced the sea, while ship masts crowded the harbor. Yet the closer they came to the city gate that symbolized safety and trade, the sharper the sense of wrongness caused by the empty camp at Wild Tea Slope became.

The caravan approached the towering city gate with the flow of people. A checkpoint had been set up there, with several guards in leather armor styled after the local garrison troops of the Land of Tea, holding halberds. Their posture carried a superficial laziness, but their eyes were sharp as hawks as they inspected the goods, full of scrutiny and greed.

It was Hongshan Cheng's caravan's turn. The captain of the guards was compact and lean, with a faint scar on his face. He casually glanced over the covered carts and travel documents, then pulled his mouth into a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"A cloth merchant? Hongshan Cheng?" The guard captain drew out his words. "Under this city's new regulations, incoming goods must pay a special transit tax of forty percent of their value."

"W-what?!" The color drained from Hongshan Cheng's face at once, and his voice turned shrill. "Forty percent?! There has never been such a rule! Sir, surely you've made a mistake?!"

The cry was like a signal. Dozens of armed men dressed the same way surged out from the shadows around the gate, swiftly and subtly surrounding the six carts along with Hongshan Cheng and the others. The atmosphere abruptly chilled as a silent threat filled the air.

Anko stood beside Shuji, the muscles beneath her dark purple coat tightening as anger rose in her eyes—this was outright robbery! But she forced herself not to move.

Itachi stood at the rear of the convoy, coldly scanning the positions of those surrounding them and studying the details of their movements—the placement of calluses from gripping weapons, the faint tattoos beneath their leather armor, the lingering ferocity in their eyes... These details were subtly different from those of genuine guards.

Cold sweat poured down Hongshan Cheng's face. His merchant instincts overpowered everything else as he squeezed out a fawning smile and repeatedly bowed. "P-please calm down, sir! I lost my composure! This forty percent... I have already exhausted my family fortune. I truly cannot afford it! Could you show some leniency? Or allow me to sell the goods in the city and make up the payment afterward?" He did not expect the ninja to confront the authorities of the Land of Tea.

Or rather, commissions available to any ninja village had never included confronting a country's administrative authorities. Especially after the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, established the Anbu system in Konoha, tasks that looked so disgraceful would never appear on the village's public commission board. Such matters were generally handled by the ninja village's upper ranks negotiating directly with the relevant parties, after which the mission would be assigned directly to a suitable team—or simply handed to the Anbu.

The missions ninja could accept at the Mission Center were all respectable-looking jobs such as escorting and subjugating targets.

"Leniency?" The guard captain sneered, greedily eyeing the carts. "No money? Easy!" He waved a hand. "Leave behind two carts of goods to cover the tax! Move!"

"Yes!" The surrounding guards answered excitedly, pouncing on the tarps like hungry wolves!

"Stop."

The voice was not loud, yet it carried an icy quality that pierced through every bit of clamor, instantly freezing the sweltering air before the gate tunnel.

Like a ghost, Shuji had already stepped steadily in front of the two targeted carts. He did not assume a fighting stance. His hands even hung at his sides. He simply stood there calmly, like a reef embedded in the earth. Sunlight slanted in from behind him, stretching out his shadow and pressing it heavily over the charging guards.

The two men at the front were startled into halting by this silent obstruction, their fierce momentum faltering.

The scar-faced captain's triangular eyes narrowed dangerously as he sized Shuji up from head to toe, especially the clear Konoha symbol on his forehead protector. The flesh on his face twitched. Suppressing his offended fury, he deliberately raised his voice and put on an air of official authority. "A Konoha ninja? Look carefully! I am the captain of this city's guards! Collecting taxes according to the rules is perfectly justified! What? Are Konoha ninja going to interfere in the internal affairs of the Land of Tea and attack officials carrying out their duties?!"

"We accepted a mission." Shuji's tone remained steady, but his gaze was as sharp as ice picks as it stabbed into the scar-faced captain's eyes. "The contract was to escort this caravan and its goods safely to their destination in Chujie Port."

"Or are you planning to openly rob the property of a client who commissioned Konoha?"

The moment the final word fell, an invisible, chilling aura that seemed born from mountains of corpses and seas of blood suddenly spread out from Shuji! It felt as though the air had been sucked dry and the temperature had plunged. Several guards near the carts instantly turned deathly pale, as if invisible pressure had seized their throats. They staggered back in panic, nearly unable to hold their weapons.

The scar-faced captain's arrogance vanished in an instant, leaving only an uncertain pallor. His Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty as a chill ran up his spine. This seemingly calm young ninja felt a hundred times more dangerous than the fiercest bear in the mountains! He had no doubt that if he gave the order to attack again, the other side would unleash a bloody storm without hesitation.

Anko silently shifted her footing, positioning herself to block a possible flanking approach from the other side. Behind the caravan, Itachi kept his eyes on several guards stationed farther back.

A suffocating silence blanketed the gate tunnel. Only the uneasy snorts of the packhorses and Hongshan Cheng's heavy breathing could be clearly heard. Several onlooking passersby exchanged glances, and one of them quickly left.

The scar-faced captain's eyes flickered wildly as fine beads of cold sweat appeared at his temples. A few seconds stretched out like centuries. In the end, what little official bluster he had left was utterly crushed. He forced an extremely strained smile onto his face, his voice dry. "Heh... heh-heh, a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!" He waved his hand in a panic. "Fall back! Fall back! Don't disturb our honored guests!"

The men surrounding them seemed to receive a pardon. They hurriedly put away their weapons and retreated.

Hongshan Cheng was about to lead his people directly inside when Shuji stopped him again.

"Pay them according to the old rules. Pay whatever amount is due." Shuji's voice remained calm as he withdrew the suffocating pressure.

As if waking from a dream, Hongshan Cheng hurriedly pulled several banknotes from the money pouch against his body, counting them out with trembling hands before offering them over with both hands. The captain snatched them up and stuffed them into his clothes without even looking, his face piled with a fawning smile. "Let them through! Hurry, let them through!"

Profusely thanking Shuji, Hongshan Cheng almost dropped to his knees. Wiping away sweat, he directed the caravan hands toward the docks with lingering fear.

Shuji did not immediately leave the area near the city gate. He led Anko and Itachi inconspicuously into a relatively secluded backstreet alley. The alley was damp and filled with the fishy smell of the sea.

"Captain, just now..." Forcing the guards back had felt satisfying, but Anko's brows were tightly furrowed, and her lowered voice was full of confusion. "Will the village think what we did was inappropriate?" She was worried that Shuji would be held accountable afterward.

Shuji leaned against the wall, the light filtering in from the alley entrance casting half-light and half-shadow across his face. He did not answer Anko directly. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Itachi, who had been silently observing. "Itachi, what did you see?"

Itachi raised his eyes. "Most of those guards had tattoos they had failed to fully conceal. The designs are common among mountain bandits in the Tea Mountain region. Rather than regular guards, they seemed more like bandits."

Anko froze for a moment. When she thought back carefully, those details immediately became clear in her mind.

Shuji smiled. "Exactly. Bandits who have only just gone legitimate are always being hunted down by ninja. Their mindset has not adjusted yet."

(End of Chapter)