Less than ten minutes later.
The [Gato Company] stronghold that had made the entire [Land of Waves] tremble collapsed with a thunderous crash...
Dozens of wandering samurai and several rogue Genin from minor hidden villages were all killed.
Natsume hadn't lifted a finger the entire time.
If he had to deal with these small fry himself,
it would be like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken—making a mountain out of a molehill.
These men looked fierce, and there were quite a few of them,
but they were only able to bully unarmed civilians with their swords and other weapons.
Any Chunin could have rounded them all up.
Besides, Gin was at least as strong as a Special Jonin.
Taking down an ordinary base belonging to an evil group like this was a piece of cake.
Before long,
covered in blood and brimming with killing intent,
Gin emerged from the sea of flames and rubble, a Kunai in his left hand and a burly man in his right.
"Young Clan Head, the enemies have all been dealt with."
"But I couldn't find the man called Gato."
"This is the man in charge of the stronghold. He's still alive, so we should be able to get plenty of information out of him."
Gin tossed the burly man to the ground.
He had crippled the man's legs, so there was no way he could escape.
Besides, he was facing a Chunin, two Special Jonin, a Jonin, and Natsume, whose overall combat strength was anyone's guess.
Forget an ordinary man like him.
Even one of the Five Kage might not have been able to get away.
"Good. I thought you were going to kill them all."
"Not bad. A proper shinobi keeps a clear head in the midst of anger and never lets rage control him."
Looking at Gin, who had been tempered in blood and grown a little more, Natsume felt quite pleased.
Still,
it was a little surprising that the great tyrant Gato wasn't here.
But after thinking it over,
Natsume realized that he'd been misled by his own assumptions.
As the tyrannical boss of a multinational conglomerate,
why had he assumed Gato would stay in the [Land of Waves]?
The [Land of Waves] was just one of the small countries he secretly controlled.
Although the original Naruto story had indeed started in the [Land of Waves],
that had been five years in the future.
The [Gato Company] had only recently taken control of the [Land of Waves]. It hadn't made the country its main base.
So it was perfectly normal that Gato wasn't here.
At that thought, Natsume's expression darkened slightly.
Still, at least they'd captured the man in charge alive, and he should know exactly where Gato was.
"Um, which of you wants to interrogate him?"
"I'm kindhearted. I can't bring myself to torture him."
Natsume waved a hand.
Truthfully, he was mainly worried that he might accidentally kill their captive before getting any answers.
"I'll do it."
Uchiha Tsukihime, who had been silent all along, spoke up.
Natsume nodded and led the others away,
leaving the captive to Tsukihime.
It wasn't long
before Natsume and the others, waiting some distance away, heard a series of screams from the ruins.
"Ah!~~~~"
The cries were plaintive and anguished, tearing at the heart.
It sounded as if a man's most precious 'asset' had been brutally mutilated.
Natsume and the others felt a chill between their legs and instinctively squeezed them together.
Even Gin, covered in blood and still brimming with killing intent,
lost his nerve in an instant and shuddered.
In less than three minutes,
Tsukihime returned with the information Natsume needed.
Gato's whereabouts and the location of the company's headquarters.
Once they had their destination,
the group immediately set out without another word.
They left behind a crowd of [Land of Waves] citizens, staring blankly at their departing figures and the ruins still blazing with roaring flames.
Only after a long while did the people finally breathe a sigh of relief, laughing and crying with joy.
At that very moment, in the [Land of Hot Water],
inside the headquarters of the [Gato Group],
"Smash!"
Gato slammed the cup in his hand onto the floor, pointed at the subordinate in front of him, and roared.
"What?!"
"One of our company's strongholds in the [Land of Waves] was destroyed?"
"What the hell happened?"
The subordinate hurriedly stammered out a reply.
"We don't know the specifics yet. A message came from there saying the stronghold was attacked with overwhelming force!"
"The attackers were suspected to be shinobi!"
"We've lost contact with them. They may all have been wiped out!"
Gato was startled, then flew into another rage.
"Useless! You're all useless!"
"With so many samurai, you couldn't even beat one shinobi?!"
"Who's—who's picking a fight with me?!"
"Was it those [Land of Waves] people? Did they hire shinobi?"
"Impossible! Those people are dirt poor. How could they afford to hire shinobi?"
"Then it was a rival company? That's certainly possible..."
Gato ground his teeth as he guessed.
Unfortunately, there was no way to be sure.
As far as he was concerned, even if it really was a rival company's doing, this was far too vicious and completely against the rules!
It was like the cutthroat rivalry between two multinational companies in Natsume's previous life.
They might smear each other, undermine each other, steal information, or even hire mercenaries and assassins to silence people. All of that was normal...
But hiring shinobi to attack was just absurd!
It was like paying an astronomical sum to send in the special forces of one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
Who could withstand that?!
"Boss, the important thing now isn't figuring out who did it."
"It's making preparations immediately!"
"If—if those shinobi come here, we'll be in trouble!"
The underling, whose wits were at least barely intact, hurriedly reminded him.
"Right, right!"
"We have to strengthen our defenses at once!"
"Quick, go and get... No, wait... put out a bounty! Hire as many shinobi as you can!" Gato urged frantically.
"But, Boss, hiring shinobi costs a lot!"
"And the Five Great Nations... Even if we wanted to hire theirs, they wouldn't allow it! And we don't have time!"
Gato flew into a rage.
He kicked the man hard and bellowed,
"Damn it! At a time like this, you're still worrying about the cost?"
"Just go hire them! I don't care how much it costs! If we can't hire shinobi from the Five Great Nations, there are plenty of rogue shinobi, aren't there? How could we not find any?"
"Okay, okay! I'll go right away!"
The subordinate scrambled out on all fours to find some shinobi.
The [Land of Hot Water] lay northeast of the [Land of Waves].
It was also an island country surrounded by sea on all sides.
However, its territory was much larger than the [Land of Waves], and its population was many times greater.
Among the dozen or so islands in the surrounding sea, it was second only to the [Land of Water], one of the Five Great Nations.
And because of its strategic location, it was a center for maritime trade among the many island nations.
Many large shipping companies had established themselves there.
The [Gato Group] was no exception.
After leaving the [Land of Waves], Natsume and the others hijacked a large cargo ship belonging to the Gato Company
and sailed for the [Land of Hot Water].
The cargo ship sailed all night.
By the next morning, it had reached a port in the [Land of Hot Water].
It was clear to the naked eye that the port here was much busier than the one in the [Land of Waves].
Nearly a hundred cargo ships, large and small, were docked there, loading and unloading goods.
"Young Clan Head, what should we do?"
"The crew should know where the Gato Company's headquarters are. Have them lead us there, and we'll go straight over."
"Got it!"
Soon, the group disembarked at the port and headed inland.
They hadn't gone far
when Natsume suddenly stopped them and warned,
"Quite a few shinobi are approaching, and they're all carrying killing intent."
"Looks like the Gato Company already knows we're here."
"Get ready to fight!"
Before you continue