Cause of Chaos

At night, the sky was sprinkled with stars, adorning the black curtain of night alongside the bright moon.

The farmers of Flowing River Region, who went out by day and returned by night, had long since gone back to their homes to rest.

In the grass and ponds, some unknown insects stubbornly chirped away, disturbing the quiet countryside.

"Hey! Dear, the ninjas from the Land of Wind seem a lot better than the bunch we had before!"

"Not only did they give us grain, but we don't have to pay taxes for three years, and if we don't have grain seeds, we can borrow some from them..."

"I heard them say this place isn't called the Land of Rivers anymore. It's become Flowing River Region under the Land of Wind..."

The woman's voice was suddenly cut off by a muffled male voice. "What do you know?!"

"Those bastards from the Land of Wind don't keep their word. They said they'd give us enough rations for a whole year, but when they handed out the grain, it was only enough for three months!"

"Just a bunch of hypocrites pretending to be kind..."

"Oh, come on, three months of grain is still grain, isn't it? And don't we still get the next three years' harvests tax-free?" the woman's voice sounded again.

"We've got to get to the fields early tomorrow morning to sow the seeds, while the spring rains haven't passed yet..."

"No rush about tomorrow morning. Right now, there's still one field that needs sowing first!" The man's cackling laughter came from inside the house.

"You devil! Keep it down. Careful, the children might not be sound asleep yet..."

Before long, creaking and swaying sounds came from inside the house, rising and falling in harmony with the insects and frogs outside.

In the center of the village stood a relatively spacious two-story wooden house with a courtyard. Several people were kneeling in the hall on the first floor.

A red glow from a lamp lit up their faces. Clearly, they were led by the old man seated in the seat of honor.

Everyone's brows were tightly furrowed, and the old man said nothing, only groping around his body.

At last, he pulled out a patched cloth pouch. From inside, he carefully pinched out some tobacco leaves and stuffed them into the old pipe in his hand.

"Village Chief!" At last, a strong man in his prime could not hold back and spoke, his face full of resentment.

The old man had just taken the pipe away from the flame. He drew in a deep, satisfied breath, letting the smoke drift through his aged body.

After holding it in for a long while, the old man finally exhaled a long cloud of smoke.

"Village Chief?! We can't go on like this! Those bastards from Sunagakure are going too far. Half a month ago, they took Tian Jiang's two daughters, and today they actually took away the youngest daughter of the Inoue Family too!"

Another sturdy man also spoke. His upper body was bare, revealing solid slabs of muscle. One glance was enough to tell that he often did heavy labor.

"That's right! Whose family doesn't have womenfolk? If this keeps going, sooner or later it'll be our own families' turn!" the others chimed in.

"Then are we going to grab our tools and fight those people to the death?"

"At most, all you have is a body full of strength. If you pick up those sickles and machetes, will you be able to fight ninjas?"

"It's not as if this sort of thing never happened before. Back when Valley Hidden Village ruled us, was it really any better?" The old man rubbed his pipe. The old copper stem had already been polished by touch until it was a dark, oily yellow, and he asked his questions unhurriedly.

"But can they just go back on something they clearly promised?!" The sturdy man slapped his thigh and shouted angrily.

"A year's worth of rations became three months, and more than half the grain seeds they lent us were moldy! How are we supposed to live like this?"

"Isn't it because you heard there was a year's worth of rations to collect and went straight to eating and drinking like crazy? You even sent grain to the widow at the end of the village. You think we didn't know?" a thinner-looking young man across from him teased.

"Enough!" The Village Chief picked up his pipe and tapped it against the floor, then said, "Those are only small matters. Those ninjas from the Land of Wind have been surveying and measuring our rivers all this time."

"The Land of Wind is famous for lacking water, with deserts everywhere. I'm guessing they're trying to find a way to divert our country's rivers over to their side..." After the Village Chief finished speaking, he let out a long breath, his brows tightly furrowed.

"What?!" Everyone cried out in surprise.

For as long as they could remember, they had always lived off the land and rivers of the Land of Rivers. Though the ninjas of Valley Hidden Village sometimes did excessive things too, as long as the farmers paid enough tax, their days could still be considered peaceful.

But now, ninjas from another country had actually come to the land they had always known, and from the looks of it, they were the kind who would settle in and never leave. That alone had already made them feel deeply uneasy.

Now, after hearing the Village Chief say that these foreign bastards were even planning to seize the rivers they depended on for survival, how could their hearts not blaze with fury?

"What use is anger? Acting rashly will only throw away your lives for nothing," the Village Chief said quietly.

"Only a great nation can stand against a great nation. Hiroki, doesn't your second uncle do business in the Land of Fire?"

"Send him a message. Have him help us test the Land of Fire's attitude."

"Kazuo! Find a way to blend into the Land of Wind's construction team and figure out Sunagakure's defenses. That will be our bargaining chip when we negotiate with the Land of Fire."

A night breeze abruptly blew in, and the lamplight shook violently, the light on the Village Chief's face flickering between bright and dim.

By noon the next day, the sun hung high in the sky, evaporating the morning dew completely.

At the original highland ruins of Valley Hidden Village, neat rows of dark, glossy stone houses had now appeared again.

At a glance, they had clearly been mass-produced with Earth Release ninjutsu. They did not look very attractive, but they would definitely keep out the wind and rain.

After all, Sunagakure did not have someone like Yamato, the "real estate tycoon."

At the center of the highland, a three-story stone house rose upright. Some patterns were carved on the outside of the house, making it look a little more refined.

Inside the top floor of the stone house, the walls had already been painted snow-white. Many calligraphy and paintings hung on them, and the spacious room was covered with a snow-fox velvet carpet.

In the middle of the room stood a broad oval rosewood bed, about three meters in length and width. The bed's railings were carved with many images of flowers, birds, and beasts, and its surface was painted with gold lacquer, making it look exceptionally valuable.

Lying on the bed were one man and four women. Some close-fitting clothes were scattered messily across the bed, and several arms rested against the soft sheets.

Looking closer, there was actually a young girl hiding in the corner of the room, using a blanket to cover her immature body.

Her body twitched from time to time, her face filled with terror, as if she had endured tremendous pain and had her entire view of life forcibly rewritten.

Bang!

The sound of a door being kicked rang out, and then the faint noise of a chaotic argument came from outside.

"Without Young Master Takahashi's permission, you can't go in..."

"Please conduct yourself with dignity!"

"Lord Souya, that bastard is inside!"

Boom!

With a tremendous crash, the thick wooden door was actually kicked straight apart, and splintered wood sprayed into the room.