The Truth of the World

After confirming that their target, Ando, had indeed committed an act of betrayal, Shiba Seika's investigation made a breakthrough.

That afternoon, he and Konan followed Ando's trail to a secret hideout he had concealed in the nearby woods.

The hideout lay deep in the forest, well hidden from view. A group of rogue ninja had been assigned to patrol the area and stand guard, making the place seem quite secure.

But that was clearly no challenge for the two elite members of the Akatsuki Organization who had come to investigate.

Once they had taken up position, Konan hurriedly grabbed Shiba Seika's arm and spoke urgently in a deliberately lowered voice.

"Seika, they're all local rogue ninja from the Land of Rain. Don't do anything rash. You promised me you wouldn't use such extreme methods this time!"

She hadn't even thought to worry about the threat posed by the enemy.

That left Shiba Seika at a loss for words.

He wasn't sure whether to thank Konan for having such faith in his strength or lament that his reputation had fallen so far it was beyond repair.

As for how Konan had immediately recognized the sentries as local rogue ninja from the Land of Rain, it was naturally because they were poor in a very local way.

None of the rogue ninja had standard-issue flak jackets. They could only wear whatever cold-colored clothes they had that blended in with the surroundings. Half of them didn't even have ninja tool pouches; they carried whatever swords they could find, wore rainproof straw hats, and had grass stalks dangling from their mouths.

Carefree yet poor—very much the local style...

Shiba Seika chose not to argue with Konan over such a small matter.

"All right, Konan. Let's go around them and sneak in to investigate."

Konan was a little surprised, as if she hadn't expected Shiba Seika to be so agreeable this time.

Shiba Seika didn't rush to explain.

The real show was still to come.

They went around the amateurish rogue ninja and slipped into the merchant Ando's secret hideout.

The two of them were soon stunned by a warehouse piled high with goods.

After inspecting the supplies, Konan said in disbelief, "Most of it is medicine and food, with a little meat, too.

"Oh my god! Why does this man have so many supplies stored away? So many people in the surrounding villages can't even afford food because of the war."

Shiba Seika didn't answer.

He was just as shocked, but for a different reason.

He hadn't expected the quantity of goods to be so enormous. As for Ando hoarding supplies, he had already suspected as much.

"We need to find Ando right away. He has all these supplies, so why has he never been willing to help the refugees nearby? If he'd just given these goods out, the Akatsuki Organization, Yahiko, and all the rest of us wouldn't have to work so hard to support the surrounding villages."

Konan said impatiently.

But the next moment, Shiba Seika grabbed her and held her back.

"Don't be rash, Konan. Calm down first! Are you really going to charge in and look for him without thinking about anything else? What will you do once you find him? What if he refuses to listen? You were the one who just told me not to handle the mission in such an extreme way."

Only then did Konan come to her senses and calm down. She turned to look at Shiba Seika, her gaze especially complicated.

There was surprise, gratitude, and a great deal of admiration in her eyes.

"Thank you, Seika. You're right. I was too impulsive. You're really amazing—you're always so calm, as if nothing can shake you."

Because this is a "gift" I prepared just for you.

"Konan, I understand how you feel right now, but I think it may be time to wake up from that naive dream."

"What do you mean, Seika?"

"I don't know whether people can truly understand one another, but I think you should at least take a good look at the truth of this world first."

Konan was caught off guard. She hadn't expected Shiba Seika to bring up their ideals at a time like this.

But Shiba Seika didn't elaborate. He only planted the seed with a few words, then took Konan by the hand.

"Come with me. Ando has probably hired more than just the handful of people outside to guard all these supplies. We still need to be careful at every step."

This was the first time Shiba Seika had taken Konan's hand, but she was so stunned that she forgot to pull away.

Hand in hand, the two continued to sneak through the hideout. They soon reached a concealed room at the back of the warehouse.

Shiba Seika and Konan carefully clung to the roof and peered down through a crack in the ceiling. At last, they spotted the target of their investigation: the hoarding merchant, Ando.

Several Iwagakure Ninja were in the room with Ando.

Even though they were in the Land of Rain, they wore their Forehead Protectors openly on their foreheads, making no attempt to hide their identities. Their arrogance as ninja from a great village was plain to see.

At the sight of this, Konan, who had just calmed down, flew into a rage once more!

So this man wasn't just leaving the war refugees nearby to die—he was also colluding with ninja from Iwagakure!

Fortunately, Shiba Seika still had hold of her hand. He gave her soft palm a squeeze, soothing her and urging her to stay calm.

Inside the room, Ando sat in a chair, puffing heavily on his pipe and venting his frustration.

"So, have you understood? My job is to take out that meddlesome organization called Akatsuki. Better yet, kill them all—or at least drive them away from my town and make them go develop their membership somewhere else!"

The Iwagakure Ninja leading the group frowned.

As a ninja, he normally shouldn't question a client's motives, but this mission was so strange that he needed to make sure he understood it.

"According to the information we've gathered, the town where you live was recently saved by this organization called Akatsuki. So why are you hiring us to drive out your benefactors?"

Ando's lack of shame shocked the Iwagakure Ninja so much that he even worried the man might be working with Akatsuki and trying to lure them into a trap.

Who would have thought Ando wasn't scheming at all? He truly hated the Akatsuki Organization.

"Who needed them to save us? I hired my own ninja. I would've been fine even without them! I never asked them to come to our rescue.

"Besides, it would be one thing if those naive fools were going around saving people, but they even want to stop me from raising my prices! What kind of joke is that?!

"If I don't raise prices and make a fortune during the Great Ninja War, how am I supposed to sell all these goods for a high price once the war is over?

"What do I care if those commoners live or die? Hanzo the Salamander doesn't care, so why are they pretending to be so compassionate? Bah! Disgusting! If those people really end up running the Land of Rain, how am I supposed to make big money in the future?!"

As Konan listened to Ando's confession, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Though the weather was still warm, her hands and feet felt icy cold. Only the hand Shiba Seika held still gave her a little warmth.

Before coming here, she had never imagined that someone like this could live in the Land of Rain.

She looked back at Shiba Seika, countless tangled emotions surging in her eyes.

Is this the truth of the world you were talking about?