Under Currents

Under Currents

Hongshan Cheng stood beside the gangway of the cargo ship about to depart, his face plastered with smiles while a sheen of sweat on his brow glinted under the sun. He gripped Shuji's hand tightly.

"Jonin Shuji! I can never thank you enough! If it hadn't been for you this time..." His voice was booming, but his eyes nervously flicked toward the shadows near the dockside warehouses, where several men in guard leather armor stood with their arms folded. "The cargo finally made it aboard. Only now has this weight in my heart finally been lifted!" He wiped his sweat away, lowering his voice sharply. "But... you really aren't leaving with the ship? Those people seem to hold a grudge against you... what happened at the city gate..."

Shuji smoothly withdrew his hand, his face as calm and unreadable as ever. "Rest easy, Mr. Hongshan." His gaze swept over the guards. When they met his eyes, they instinctively shifted away.

"Ah! Then I'm relieved!" The worry on Hongshan Cheng's face instantly gave way to a fawning smile, as though his concern just now had been an illusion. Rubbing his hands together, he said, "I've paid for five full days at the Sea Breeze Pavilion! Please stay without worry! I wanted to properly entertain you as thanks, but the ship won't wait... Please accept this small token!" As if performing a trick, he pulled out a bulging money pouch and thrust it toward Shuji.

"It was simply our duty. There's no need, Mr. Hongshan." Shuji raised a hand and gently pushed the money back.

Hongshan Cheng took it back naturally and said gratefully, "If I have another commission in the future, I'll definitely seek out Konoha's ninja again. Then, I'll be taking my leave."

He climbed the gangway while looking back every few steps. Only after the cargo ship sounded its deep horn, slowly departed its berth, and joined the busy shipping lanes beyond the harbor did he finally disappear from view by the rail.

Almost at the same moment Hongshan Cheng's cargo ship sailed out of sight, a grave atmosphere settled over the Wasabi Clan in central Chujie Port.

The dimly lit Japanese-style room was filled with a tense air that even the finest incense could not fully suppress. Seven or eight well-dressed men of varying ages sat formally on the tatami. They were the leading figures who controlled Chujie Port's fishing guilds, dockworkers' unions, and several of its largest trading houses, apart from the Wasuke Clan. At that moment, all eyes were fixed on Wasabi Jirocho at the seat of honor.

Jirocho wore a formal dark-gray kimono, his back straight as a pine. The usual gentleness was gone from his lean face, replaced by the solemn resolve of a man prepared to stake everything. On the low table before him lay a thick stack of documents and several blurred yet recognizable portrait rubbings.

"Gentlemen," Jirocho said. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly pierced the room's silence. "I have presumptuously invited you here today for one reason only: to expose a lie that concerns the very survival of Chujie Port!"

He picked up one of the rubbings. It showed a broad-faced man with a scar at the corner of his eye. "This man is Kumasuke, a vicious bandit from the Tea Mountain Gang of Wild Tea Slope. Three months ago, the bandits under his command raided three merchant caravans coming from Southguard Post, killing or wounding seventeen people!" He picked up another sheet. "And this one..."

One rubbing after another was displayed, each vicious face appearing especially sinister beneath the yellowed light. Jirocho's voice carried suppressed grief and anger. "These men, along with nearly three hundred desperate criminals under them, were not eliminated as the Wasuke Clan claimed! They are right beneath our noses! They have entrenched themselves at the city gates, the docks, and the streets! Under the name of a special passage tax, they bleed passing merchants dry. They are destroying this city!"

A wave of suppressed gasps and faint commotion rose within the room. The elderly president of the fishing guild could not help speaking up. "Jirocho, this is no small matter! Mere words are not enough..."

"The evidence is here!" Jirocho slammed the thick stack of documents onto the table. "From tokens left behind at the Wild Tea Slope camp, to testimony from laborers forced to join them who were fortunate enough to escape, to comparisons with the tattoo patterns they failed to erase!" He took a deep breath, sweeping his gaze across the uncertain faces before him as he stressed, "More importantly, this evidence was gathered and verified with the assistance of a Konoha ninja team carrying out a protection mission—Jonin Shuji!"

"Konoha?!" The word was like a stone cast into deep water, instantly stirring even greater waves. The gazes that had still held some doubt immediately became more complicated.

"That's right." Jirocho spoke in a deep voice, seeing the change in their eyes. "I have already sent people carrying the evidence and letters to the capital to report this to the Feudal Lord! I hope that once you return, you will prepare men and weapons so we can thoroughly drive these wolves from Chujie Port!"

The room fell silent. Several of the leading figures exchanged glances, their eyes conveying unspoken messages. Anger flared in some eyes as they nodded firmly; others furrowed their brows, their fingers unconsciously tapping against their knees.

At last, the elderly president of the fishing guild slowly said, "Since there is testimony from Konoha's ninja, along with this... physical evidence," he said, gesturing at the documents, "we naturally believe it. We will return and make preparations at once."

After a pause, his tone shifted. "But the Wasuke Clan is still in charge, after all, and those people were appointed by them. Before we receive an official warrant from the Feudal Lord, it would be inappropriate to act rashly. But once the Feudal Lord's order arrives, we will immediately clear out these vermin."

"Exactly."

"We should wait for the Feudal Lord's order."

The others all echoed their agreement, their stance clear and united: they supported Wasabi Jirocho in lodging the accusation, and they believed the evidence was genuine, but before an official order from the Feudal Lord came down, not a single one of their men would move.

Jirocho understood, and had even expected it. These old foxes wanted to use his hand to remove the cancer fostered by the Wasuke Clan, yet they refused to touch even the slightest risk before the dust had settled. He showed no disappointment. Instead, he nodded solemnly. "You are absolutely right. Without legitimacy, one's words carry no weight; without weight, nothing can be accomplished. Jirocho understands. We shall await the Feudal Lord's judgment. I only hope you will all make thorough preparations, so that when the time comes, we may succeed in one strike!"

"Of course."

"Rest assured, head of the Wasabi Family."

Everyone rose and offered formal farewells. With grave expressions and schemes of their own on their faces, they hurriedly left the Wasabi residence. The Japanese-style room became empty once more, leaving only the curling incense smoke behind.

Almost at the same time those leading figures left the Wasabi Family's gates, several secret messages, like flies caught in a spiderweb, quivered their way outward through different channels.

At the edge of Chujie Port, inside a dark, shabby room by the sea whose window faced an abandoned old shipyard, thick oilcloth blocked most of the light. The air reeked of cheap tobacco. Beast Soldier Guard sat cross-legged in the deepest shadows, the sword he never parted with laid across his knees. Before him knelt a lean, wiry man, giving his report in a low, hurried voice.

"...Wasabi Jirocho gathered people... brought out lots of papers, and portraits... said they were ironclad evidence... and, and said Konoha's ninja helped obtain them... He plans to report it to the Feudal Lord... the reply could arrive tomorrow... He also said they would act once the reply arrives..."

Beast Soldier Guard's closed eyes snapped open. The sword sheath before his knees seemed to give off an almost imperceptible hum.

So that's it. Wasabi Jirocho sought out Konoha's ninja because he wanted their endorsement...

"Report it to the Feudal Lord..." Beast Soldier Guard's mouth split into a savage grin, exposing stark white teeth. "That old bastard moves quickly!"

He did not know what the Feudal Lord of the Land of Tea would do. Would he stubbornly deny the evidence? Send down a senior retainer connected to the Wasuke Clan to investigate? Or, seeing that Konoha seemed to have taken a stance, abandon the Tea Mountain Gang? Beast Soldier Guard did not know, and he did not need to. He only had to kill the messenger and ensure the Feudal Lord never saw those things.

Beast Soldier Guard abruptly rose to his feet. His tall figure cast a heavy shadow through the cramped room, suffocating the kneeling subordinate until he could barely breathe.

"Where are Konoha's ninja now?"

"They are still at the Sea Breeze Pavilion. We have been watching them."

"Go. Arrange men to keep a close eye on the Wasabi Clan."

"Yes!"

Watching the man withdraw, Beast Soldier Guard gave an order to the darkness. "Have First Erosion kill the Wasabi Clan's messenger. Illusion Erosion, you watch Konoha's ninja."

A man emerged from the shadows. Deep-set eye sockets held fluorescent green pupils, and beneath his eyes was a tattoo of a starving wild dog. Bird feathers and hairpins made from dry bones were tangled in his messy hair. His canine teeth clenched a copper coin, and he wore a kasaya pieced together from patchwork cloth. Bells hung from his wrists, engraved with the character for "eat."

"Something isn't right." Because he had been biting down on the coin, Illusion Erosion's voice was muffled.

The samurai said coldly, "It doesn't matter anymore. We have already invested too much, and we had plans to deal with Konoha's ninja from the beginning. It is merely happening sooner than expected."