Investigation

After the system's reminder, Nawaki finally began to take "belief"—an element of manga he had always mocked and joked about in his previous life—seriously. Of course, that didn't mean he would change his personality and become some hot-blooded protagonist. As the system had said, he had merely been moved by the situation for a moment, influenced by the worldview of his past life. If he were truly expected to live as selflessly and nobly as a protagonist, he knew he couldn't do it. In the end, he was a selfish person: he had to ensure his own happiness first, and only help others "selflessly" when he had the means to. However, if he encountered someone with strong convictions in the future, he wouldn't take them lightly as he had before. He would take them seriously, lest he be undone by underestimating them.

Just like now: although Nawaki deeply sympathized with the people in the cells, he wouldn't change his plans on impulse and put himself in danger. After all, this True Clone of his was worth two million Wish Power. He did want to fulfill his Original Vow, "Clear Mind," but that didn't mean he was willing to sacrifice himself. If he had that much "enlightenment," his reward wouldn't be a mere hundred thousand Wish Power.

Having thought it through, Nawaki resumed his reconnaissance. Now that he had mapped out the buildings in the bandit stronghold, he still needed to determine the enemy's exact strength. Were there any ninja? How many? How strong were they? These were all crucial details to uncover before a battle.

Before long, he found his target and silently made his way toward a luxurious courtyard in the center of the stronghold.

The courtyard was not only lavishly furnished but also guarded by many people. It was one of the most heavily defended buildings in the stronghold. Without the Mayfly Technique, an ordinary person would have found it difficult to sneak in undetected, so Nawaki surmised that its owner held an important position among the bandits.

The owner seemed to be fond of gardens. Flowers, plants, and trees filled the courtyard, and Nawaki used them for cover, raising his upper body above the ground to observe the area, just like White Zetsu.

This clone had limited chakra and couldn't maintain the Sensory Technique for long, so using his five senses to gather information was the most suitable approach. The important buildings he had investigated earlier had no plants around them to provide cover, so he'd had to observe the surface from underground with the Sensory Technique, without daring to show himself. Now that he had finally found a green space, he naturally chose this more economical method.

Nawaki wandered through the grass as he replenished his chakra. Since this was a True Clone, he could extract chakra from the cells in his body. Unlike other clones, he wouldn't disappear if he was injured or ran out of chakra.

As he moved through the grass, Nawaki got the odd feeling that he was playing a game with friends. If he combined Shunpo with Finger Pistol, could he pass himself off as "Chrysanthemum Shin"? Too bad his other two buddies weren't around!

While his mind wandered, Nawaki continued to investigate the courtyard. Perhaps its owner was confident in the defenses outside, or perhaps he simply didn't want to be disturbed. Either way, there were no guards inside. The place was tightly guarded on the outside but wide open within.

He quickly headed toward the main hall, and, sure enough, once he got close, he heard voices.

"Lord Zhixin, I can't understand what the Konoha higher-ups are thinking! They're even setting up The Consortium to compete with merchants! Didn't you say that exalted ninja like you would never engage in business or production?"

Another voice, cold and sinister, replied, "Hmph! How should I know what's gotten into Konoha's ninja? Ninja from all the major hidden villages prioritize growing stronger and completing missions! Only that bunch in Konoha likes learning ordinary people's tricks. First they established the Ninja Academy, and now they've gone and set up The Consortium to do business! Konoha will be destroyed by the other hidden villages sooner or later for its degeneration!"

Hearing Lord Zhixin's curse, Nawaki curled his lip in disdain. This rogue ninja really was ignorant. Not every rogue ninja was like Orochimaru or Zabuza, who had left their villages after losing political struggles. Most were deserters who had failed missions and fled their villages to avoid punishment.

"The affairs of the ninja aren't something an ordinary bandit chief like me can worry about. I'm concerned about the future of our stronghold. Our lives used to be easy: all we had to do was rob small merchant caravans passing by. Now we have to go down the mountain every so often to plunder the commoners. No one's been killed, but it takes a lot of time and effort. Those child slaves in particular are weak and noisy, and one careless mistake can kill them. I'm also worried that, before long, we'll have killed all the commoners in this area."

"Then follow orders. Don't massacre villages or take every last scrap of their supplies! Leave them a way to survive, and in a few years they'll have more children. Then you can capture them again, like a farmer raising chickens for their eggs! That should keep things going for a while. Otherwise, go to villages farther away! There are commoners everywhere. It's not as if they can all die out!"

In truth, the slave trade was a "new market" that the various consortiums had recently opened to make up for their losses. The nobles were short on servants, so they urgently needed a large supply of "goods." After a while, the shortage would gradually ease, and once the slave market was saturated, demand wouldn't be so high. The bandit chief was worrying over nothing.

"Yes, Lord Shimura! Your wisdom is truly worthy of a ninja!"

"Capturing slaves is a trivial matter. I'm content to leave it to you. What worries me most now is Konoha's ninja. I heard the nearby villagers pooled their money and sent a mission request to Konoha?"

"That's true. They're the survivors we left behind on your orders before. That's why I recently ordered the villages massacred. My lord, should I go kill all those ignorant commoners?"

"No need! You're not a ninja, so you don't understand the rules of the hidden villages. Once a village accepts a mission, it collects the full payment. Even if the client dies, the mission isn't canceled! So if a ninja fails a mission, it damages the village's reputation, and the ninja responsible is severely punished! If my teammate hadn't caused our mission to fail back then, I wouldn't have left Sunagakure and become a rogue ninja!" Lord Shimura's voice was full of resentment.

"It was all your teammate's fault. If not for him, with Lord Shimura's strength, you'd probably be a jonin by now, right?" The bandit chief tried to flatter him.

"Shut up! Even if he was an idiot, you're not fit to insult him! Besides, he did it for... Forget it. He's dead, so there's no point talking about it. But remember this: don't insult any ninja again, or you know what will happen!" It seemed Lord Shimura had a story of his own.

"Yes, Lord Shimura! I won't do it again. I deserve to be punished and will accept whatever you decide." The bandit chief looked terrified, but Nawaki could tell he was putting on an act—and doing a poor job of it.