The Unspoken Rules

"Us?"

Just the word "us" was enough for Uchiha Yue to sense that something was wrong. What was more, the words "rules" had come from the Kirigakure jonin's mouth. However, as the leader of the "Yue" Team, Uchiha Yue no longer needed to handle certain matters personally. With just a glance from him, Uchiha Tiger understood. He drove a kunai straight into the jonin's leg wound and snarled, "Tell me, what are your rules?!"

"D-Don't... don't hurt me, I... I'll talk!"

Pain shot through his leg, and the Kirigakure jonin proved utterly spineless. He immediately spilled everything to Uchiha Tiger as though pouring out beans. "It's like this. A long time ago, the shinobi guarding the Land of Water's border and the shinobi guarding the Land of Fire's border established a rule. In this area, there is no distinction between Konoha and Kirigakure. Any shinobi can come here to trade for the things they need to live. That is why shinobi in this area cannot fight each other, and why something like what happened today should never have occurred."

"Anyone who breaks this rule is declaring war on the other side."

"What you're doing now is no different from declaring war on Kirigakure!"

"I'm not asking you to treat my injuries. I only ask that you spare me!"

"As long as you let me go, I can pretend nothing happened today!"

"What do you say?"

After hearing the Kirigakure jonin's words, Uchiha Yue found the situation even stranger. Kirigakure and Konoha had been at war for a long time. How could they possibly establish such a rule in just a few words, allowing two hostile shinobi villages to stop treating each other as enemies? After giving it some thought, Uchiha Yue became even more convinced that the Kirigakure jonin's story