This Country Was Crying

"Bang! Bang-bang!"

After another routine beating, Chiba and the others helped each other to their feet.

"Ah, looks like we're out of luck today."

"Woof—"

Little Dot nodded along, seeming to understand and agree.

"Well, these things happen."

Yahiko shrugged, unfazed.

"Come to think of it, my new tactic really worked, didn't it? If all four of us huddle together back-to-back, we reduce the area they can hit. This time, the beating barely even hurt."

"Haha, then let's keep doing that next time."

"Yeah, I think there's still plenty of room to improve our tactic."

"Woof—"

They tried to laugh it off as they headed home.

Suddenly, halfway there, a loud explosion rang out behind them.

"Boom!"

With a flash of fire, the massive blast engulfed nearly half the street.

Many people lay on the ground, their fates unknown. A few had become human fireballs, screaming as they ran wildly in every direction.

"Wh-what is this?"

Chiba and the others stared in shock at the sudden turn of events, unable to react for a long moment.

A little while later, a Konoha ninja emerged from a tavern that had been half destroyed by the blast.

Not far in front of him, a Rock Ninja stood watching him quietly.

"Heh. Never thought I'd run into a Konoha jonin here. My hands got itchy, so I couldn't resist sending you a little gift."

"A gift, huh? In that case, I'll return the favor."

"Boom!"

Another explosion rang out.

The two quickly launched into a fierce battle.

As they continued trading blows at high speed, they gradually moved farther away.

Only then did Chiba and the others begin to snap out of it.

Yahiko's expression changed, and he rushed forward first.

"Quick, help the wounded!"

As people dug one corpse after another out from beneath the rubble, Yahiko and the others grew increasingly silent.

The brief clash between two ninja, which hadn't even been aimed at anyone in particular, had already caused a staggering number of casualties.

They'd been getting by here for over a year, and their attempts to steal food had inevitably earned them plenty of beatings.

But some shopkeepers were kinder. When they saw the children stealing, they pretended not to notice, and some even helped Chiba and the others from time to time.

Among the dozens who died that day were people like them.

There was no doubt that their deaths hurt the children deeply.

That night, after a long day of work, Yahiko and the others returned to their cave, exhausted.

They sat quietly around the campfire, all in silence, still unable to shake off the oppressive mood.

In truth, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

In a chaotic place like the Land of Rain, even in the relatively peaceful town where they lived, it was common for ninja battles to spill over every now and then.

It was just that the previous incidents hadn't been as devastating or as bloody as this one.

The longer Chiba lived in this world, the more he understood that ninja were far from virtuous. They weren't nearly as honest and gentle as they appeared in the anime.

Otherwise, orphans of war like Yahiko and Konan wouldn't exist.

Even in the original anime, hadn't Orochimaru and Tsunade fought in the middle of a busy street? Hadn't Jiraiya, while traveling, encountered ninja who took pleasure in slaughtering the ordinary people of a village?

Compared to the rampages of ninja, all civilians could do was endure in silence.

"Damn it!"

Yahiko suddenly rose to his feet and punched the wall hard, making a dull thud.

Blood began to drip from Yahiko's fist.

"Yahiko!"

Chiba and the others jumped up, staring at him in shock.

"What do they take our Land of Rain for?"

Yahiko's eyes blazed with barely contained fury.

"What right do those great nations have to do this?"

"Yahiko."

Chiba watched him in silence.

In truth, the Land of Rain was unquestionably the most tragic country in the entire Naruto world.

The smaller nations existed to serve as buffer zones for wars between the great nations.

Except in special circumstances, the great nations fought their wars on the soil of smaller countries.

After every war, the small nations were left in ruins while the great nations remained unscathed. That was the so-called relative peace they maintained.

That was the tragedy of small nations.

And the Land of Rain was undoubtedly the most tragic of them all.

As the only small nation wedged between three great nations, it naturally suffered far more brutal wars than any other country.

What made matters worse was that the Land of Rain itself wasn't especially weak.

So whenever war broke out, the country was almost always caught in the most brutal ninja wars between four nations.

Given his limited experience, the original Yahiko hadn't understood much of this.

But after Chiba gradually explained it all to him, Yahiko came to understand a great deal more.

And that was precisely why his anger kept growing.

"Can you hear it? Konan, Chiba, Nagato."

Yahiko gazed silently at the heavy rain outside and suddenly spoke as if struck by inspiration.

"Hear what?"

The others looked at him in confusion.

Yahiko gently reached his hand into the rain, his voice turning somber.

"This country is crying! I can hear it clearly."

"Yahiko."

"I want to save it, to save this country that can no longer see any hope. And to do that, we need power. So..."

Yahiko turned to look at them, his expression resolute. "We have to become ninja."

"Become ninja?"

"That's right. We have to become ninja!"

Yahiko looked at them firmly. "Get ready. In a little while, we'll set out to find a way to become ninja."