Water Province.
"You can leave the construction of the Sunlight Tower to me. Why trouble yourself to come all the way here, Shisui?" Hyuga Kiyotaka said with a light smile.
"The pirates have been running rampant in Water Province lately, and some of them are quite formidable. His Majesty ordered me here to oversee the construction. Kakashi was originally in charge, but he was assigned another mission recently, so it fell to me." Shisui replied with a cheerful smile.
At the mention of pirates, Hyuga Kiyotaka sighed as well. "These pirates who suddenly appeared are truly a headache. They have behaved themselves somewhat since we strengthened our forces, but many people still don't dare set sail easily. The merchants applying for ninja escorts every day are practically wearing down the threshold of my office."
Shisui asked, "Not enough manpower? I remember there should be quite a lot of registered ninja in Water Province."
Hyuga Kiyotaka said, "There are indeed many registered ninja, but ninja are divided into different ranks. These merchants require accompanying guards to be at least Chunin, preferably those originally from the Hidden Mist Village. They ask for dozens at a time and all want to pull some strings through me."
Shisui could not help laughing. "What lofty standards. Even the guards of those daimyo and nobles in the past were probably no better than this."
Hyuga Kiyotaka said, "Who can blame them when ninja are so cheap now? And these merchants happen to have no shortage of money."
After the ninja system was reformed, the Rogue Ninja who had once drifted through the streets were given official positions. The number of ninja increased dramatically, making ninja labor much cheaper. A merchant only needed to post an escort mission at the Ninja Guild, and a large crowd would