The Demon Brothers Appear

The Land of Waves is a small island nation with only one unfinished bridge connecting it to the outside world. The country has virtually no ninja and its economy is so poor that its people live in poverty.

The Land of Waves isn't really a country, as it doesn't even have a government; at best, it's just an inhabited island.

In the world of Naruto, there are many small countries like the Land of Waves. These small countries are resource-poor, and the larger nations have no interest in them whatsoever.

However, some people are interested in these small countries, like Gato, the instigator of the chaos in the Land of Waves. This "evil" merchant, to keep the Land of Waves under his control, forbade Tazuna and others from building the bridge. He also hired a large group of samurai and Zabuza Momochi to stop the righteous Tazuna.

Merchants are born for profit, and they will do anything for it. Of course, there are good merchants in the world, but the vast majority of merchants, or capitalists, are primarily driven by profit. In their eyes, as long as they can profit, they can do anything, and anyone who dares to obstruct their interests will be utterly annihilated.

The main reason is that the Land of Waves is too weak and has no capital to contend with a merchant like Gato. If they hadn't been lucky enough to encounter Kakashi and the others, the fate of the Land of Waves would have been to remain under the control of people like Gato forever.

The journey from Konoha to the Land of Waves takes about half a month. This is because Tazuna is just an ordinary person and cannot keep up with the speed of ninja, which slows down the entire team.

Fortunately, the Land of Fire is crisscrossed with rivers, so shortly after leaving Konohagakure, they could travel by boat.

Yu had already accepted the setting of the ninja world having engines but no cars. However, after actually getting on a modern-looking boat, he found it a bit amusing.

Has no one ever thought of using an engine to make a car that can run on the road? Yu thought.

But this was a minor issue. It wasn't his problem to worry about, and even if cars were made, they wouldn't be of much use to him. He didn't want to develop the automotive industry in the ninja world, as power is the ultimate goal in a ninja's world.

The boat could only travel a certain distance, and they would have to walk for a while on land.

They encountered no incidents on the road. Even in several well-known areas of unrest, no one dared to target Konoha ninja.

This is where the role of ninja headbands becomes apparent. As soon as people saw their Konoha headbands, they knew their identity as Konoha ninja.

Even officials from the Land of Fire wouldn't approach them. Although Konoha was formally subordinate to the Land of Fire, its power was actually on par with the Land of Fire's royalty.

The Land of Fire provided Konoha with a large sum of military funding each year, and in return, Konoha protected the Land of Fire from foreign ninja and sent people to protect the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, just as Sarutobi Asuma was once selected as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja to protect the Daimyo.

So, even though the journey was slow, it was still quite fast. This highlights the benefit of hiring ninja, as it eliminates many dangers and troubles.

During this time, Yu had considered paying for a horse-drawn carriage or something similar as a mode of transportation, but Yamashiro Aoba stopped him, saying they needed to train their patience, which is a mandatory skill for any ninja.

Another crucial point is that during a mission, all expenses are borne by the client, and the ninja only need to do their part. However, Tazuna had no money, and even the boat fare had almost drained him dry.

Yu had great respect for Yamashiro Aoba. Although Aoba was certainly no match for him in terms of strength, he had far more ninja experience. Yu could learn other things from him.

Two weeks later, they were nearing the Land of Waves. This was also because they had traveled a lot by water; otherwise, it would have taken ages to reach the Land of Waves by land alone.

As they approached the Land of Waves, Yu had been constantly observing their surroundings. According to the plot, around this time, two Chunin subordinates of Zabuza Momochi should have come to ambush them.

With a preconceived notion, Yu kept his eyes on the puddles along the road. This was because in the anime, the Demon Brothers jumped out of puddles to attack Team 7. As long as the Demon Brothers appeared, his Sharingan would surely detect them.

For the past ten days, Yu's Sharingan had been in a constant state of activation, which greatly surprised Yamashiro Aoba.

In all his years in Konoha, he had never heard of any Uchiha ninja being able to keep their Sharingan active for such a long time.

Once, he couldn't help but ask Yu about it. But Yu's answer was simply: "It's fine, the Sharingan doesn't put much strain on me."

Yamashiro Aoba understood how powerful a Sharingan that could remain permanently active would be.

This information must be reported to the Hokage as soon as possible.

So, in the final few days, their travel speed increased significantly. They were constantly on the move, except for necessary rest periods. This was no big deal for Yu and the others, but it was tough for Tazuna, the ordinary old man. But who could he blame when he had no money!

Yu kept observing their surroundings. Suddenly, as they passed a small path in the woods, Yu's eyes fixed on a small puddle by the roadside.

"They're finally here," Yu said softly and stopped. He had been waiting for them for a long time and was relieved the plot hadn't changed.

Fujiwara Chima, who had been following Yu, also stopped. Then the entire team halted.

Yamashiro Aoba, true to his nature as a versatile support ninja, had excellent reconnaissance skills. The moment Yu stopped, he sensed the presence of the Demon Brothers.

"Enemies! You two protect Mr. Tazuna and be careful!" Yamashiro Aoba immediately said upon detecting the enemies.

At the same time, he reached for his waist and threw a kunai towards the puddle.

"I didn't expect to be discovered so easily. Attack, Meizu!" Gozu, hidden in the puddle, said.

As the voice rang out, a chain shot out from the puddle, targeting Tazuna, who was being protected by Yu and the other two.

Gozu charged out of the puddle, his target being Yamashiro Aoba, the strongest in the team.

The plot had changed once again. Because the Demon Brothers were discovered early, and Yamashiro Aoba didn't have Kakashi's ability to disregard two Chunin, he launched the first attack.

Yamashiro Aoba was not a ninja specializing in combat. In terms of pure strength, he was only slightly stronger than a Chunin.

How can a C-rank mission have two Chunin? Yamashiro Aoba thought.

He then stepped forward and engaged Gozu in battle.

As for Yu, he wasn't too worried, as he knew Yu's combat capabilities.