First Time Leaving the Village

A coastal city in eastern Land of Fire.

Menma, leaving the village for the first time in this world, had changed into a simple outfit and strolled through the harbor docks of the city.

"Sir! Do you need workers? I can do anything!" On both sides of the streets near the docks, unemployed civilians sought work.

Most of them were ragged and gaunt. As they looked at the people passing through the harbor—especially those dressed in finery—their eyes were filled with fear and longing.

On his journey from Konoha, Menma had seen far too many civilians displaced by war.

At this point, the war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had entered its final stages. The ninja forces of the two countries faced off within the Land of Moon and the Land of Hot Water. Though small-scale clashes occasionally occurred, both sides remained relatively restrained.

Furthermore, Cloud Village had already sent a special envoy to Konoha for "peace talks." The war was about to end, and the coastal cities of the Land of Fire were gradually recovering their former prosperity. Merchant ships came and went, including quite a few from the Land of Lightning.

The Shinobi World was far from peaceful.

Beyond the wars between major nations, bandits ran rampant everywhere. The civilization of the entire Shinobi World remained at a feudal level, with "daimyo, nobles, merchants, ninja, and civilians" forming a rigidly stratified social structure.

Yes, although ninja possessed combat strength far beyond that of ordinary people, their social standing was only comparable to that of merchants. Most of the time, they were even hired by merchants to earn payment.

Ninja whose profession was fighting and killing held a status only slightly higher than civilians.

Of course, some rogue ninja and wandering ninja would kill merchants and seize their wealth by force.

This generally happened to small merchants. Major merchants usually had noble backing, and ordinary ninja could not afford to provoke them.

After all, if a noble was killed by a ninja, it would alarm the highest ruler of a nation—the daimyo. The noble class of the entire country might even pool their money to place a bounty on that ninja.

All to preserve the ruling power of the nobles.

This strange social structure had endured for nearly a thousand years.

While in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, Menma had studied this social structure during his cultivation and had always found it unbelievable.

Although much in the Limited Tsukuyomi World was the opposite of reality, its social structure had not changed. Ninja possessed extraordinary power, yet they had barely touched the authority of the state.

A delicate symbiotic relationship had formed between national governments and ninja. Ninja had never considered seizing political power, while nations had never considered replacing the ninja clans and ninja villages.

Menma entered a small seaside restaurant.

"Please have a seat, customer. Just one?" The waiter warmly approached him, not slighting Menma simply because he looked like a teenager.

Come to think of it, the social structure of the Shinobi World was strange as well. Some major cities had developed technology rapidly, while other places still resembled ancient times.

In the manga and anime, classical buildings appeared one moment and modern buildings the next. Some movies had even produced aircraft carriers.

Menma chose a seat by the window, where he could see the ships docked at the harbor. He took out two banknotes and waved them in his hand. "One ramen set. No narutomaki. Also, are there any merchant ships heading to the Land of Lightning lately? The safer, the better."

As a ninja, Menma naturally did not need to hitch a ride on a merchant ship. He merely wanted an excuse to ask who the most powerful merchant in the area was.

The young waiter accepted the two hundred-ryo notes with both hands and enthusiastically introduced, "The safest option would definitely be Lord Gato's shipping company! They even have samurai and ninja escorts."

Although ninja were the mainstream in this world, samurai had not gone extinct.

Leaving aside the samurai of the Land of Iron, most countries had samurai ronin. They were generally gangsters, thugs, bodyguards, and the like.

After all, according to the usual rules, ninja generally did not involve themselves in disputes among ordinary people, and ninja wars tried not to drag civilians in.

But once war broke out, it became difficult to control.

From the two hundred ryo, after deducting the cost of the set meal, the young waiter could receive at least a hundred ryo as a tip.

The currency system of the Shinobi World was complicated. Basically every country had its own currency, but as the strongest of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire had the most stable currency.

According to the manga's setting, one ryo in the Shinobi World equaled ten yen.

In manga Chapter 150, "Begin Training," Jiraiya gave Naruto three hundred-yen bills and told him to go have fun. That was roughly three thousand yen, less than 200 RMB.

(In the early anime, a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen cost 400 ryo, while in the manga it cost 60 ryo, less than 36 RMB. The simpler manga setting was used here.)

"Gato?" When Menma heard that name, a memory buried deep in his mind was awakened.

"Yes, Lord Gato has been a major merchant who rose to prominence in recent years!" Seeing the generous tip, the waiter began introducing him to Menma.

"It is said that Lord Gato has nobles from the Land of Fire backing him. His fleet can travel unimpeded through these waters, and even the war of the past two years did not affect him much."

Menma listened quietly.

He roughly remembered now. It was currently Konoha Year 54, still nine years before Konoha Year 63, when Naruto would graduate and the story would begin.

Nine years later, Gato would be one of the wealthiest men in the Shinobi World, capable of retaining an S-rank rogue ninja like Zabuza for long periods.

After all, Zabuza was a ruthless man who had attempted to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage and still escaped unharmed after failing. He was an Elite Jonin who could fight Kakashi evenly, so his price would not be low.

Menma vaguely remembered that the reward for an S-rank mission seemed to be one million ryo.

And Zabuza had Haku by his side, whose abilities were at least on the level of a standard jonin.

If Naruto had not entered Nine-Tails Mode, he truly would not have been Haku's match.

After the young waiter left, Menma rested his cheek on one hand and looked out at the bustling docks, contemplating the purpose of this trip beyond the village.

Previously, eliminating the White Zetsu around the Orphanage had only solved the immediate problem. To make White Zetsu stop watching him entirely, the best method would be to move into a district near the Hokage Office Building in the center of the village, or one near the Hyuga Compound.

By using the Anbu ninja and Sensor Division at the Hokage Office Building, along with the Hyuga Byakugan's penetrating vision, he should be able to make White Zetsu and Obito abandon their surveillance.

However, Menma's actual body was only a three-year-old child. Living on his own was simply impossible, let alone moving into a district near the Hokage Office Building or the Hyuga Compound.

He needed money, and perhaps some influence as well.

Therefore, Menma intended to find a merchant to use as his pawn, preferably a Land of Fire merchant with some noble background.

After having that merchant settle in Konoha, he could use the excuse of adopting an orphan to select Menma. That way, he could move out of the Orphanage.

As for why he did not simply find a noble from the Land of Fire to adopt him, it was mainly because he feared the trouble that might bring.

If he wanted to live long-term in a district near the Konoha Hokage Office Building or the Hyuga Compound, it would be best not to control his pawn with genjutsu. He needed that pawn to willingly serve him.

In that case, nobles who had been accustomed to seeing themselves as above others for centuries would not be suitable.