I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 14

Compared to their counterparts from the Land of Fire, this group of samurai from the Land of Rain looked far more shabby.

Their overall spirits were truly abysmal. Most of them looked pale and malnourished, as though they were regularly going hungry. Uchiha Shingen seriously doubted whether they could properly handle police and security work in a city.

This was the current state of the Land of Rain. The ninja were unable to fulfill their military role of protecting and expanding society, while the nobles could not provide an organizational structure for production and social order. The mechanism by which the two sustained each other had completely collapsed, plunging the country into a vicious cycle.

Kusatsu stepped forward and made contact with the leading samurai of the Land of Rain.

Guided by the samurai, the convoy slowly entered the city.

Once inside, Uchiha Shingen found that the city was not as desolate as he had imagined.

Still, without support from the rural economy, it was not doing particularly well either.

At the very least, daily supplies and food were scarce—especially food.

A samurai of the Land of Rain came to relay the Rain Daimyo's order, inviting the guests from the Land of Fire to his palace.

Though it was called a palace, it was essentially a fortress within the city.

Unlike the Land of Fire, cities in the Land of Rain were built mainly from stone. Numerous metal drainage pipes ran both inside and outside the buildings, making them far less pleasant to look at than the wooden architecture prevalent in the Land of Fire.

The Rain Daimyo also looked vastly different from what Uchiha Shingen had expected.

He had originally thought that the Rain Daimyo would be like a frightened bird, trembling with fear.

As it turned out, he had overthought it.

The man was fat and round-faced, his skin gleaming with oil. He showed no sign of discomfort whatsoever, looking completely out of place against the atmosphere of the city.

Uchiha Shingen had assumed that all the samurai in the city were like the ones he had seen at the gate, but he soon discovered that he was wrong again.

The samurai around the Rain Daimyo were all exceptionally healthy.

As expected of the Rain Daimyo. Even with starving corpses scattered across the country, nothing stopped him from preserving the dignity of the upper class.

Compared to him, the Five Great Daimyo were practically honest men.

"Hohoho~~" The Rain Daimyo forced out a laugh. It was obvious that he did not normally speak this way. "The two Leaf Village jonin must have had a difficult journey. Please rest well in this palace."

"Daimyo-sama, for the next three months, we will protect your safety." Seeing that Uchiha Shisui had no intention of speaking, Uchiha Shingen had no choice but to step in himself. "Could you tell us about the situation in this city?"

"Mm... I'll be relying on the two of you." The Rain Daimyo nodded "reservedly." "After all, those Rain Village ninja are completely unreliable. I don't like the way they talk, either. They have no respect at all for me, their daimyo."

For now, let's assume he isn't putting on an act.

"Understood. Then please allow us to take our leave first and familiarize ourselves with the palace's layout," Uchiha Shingen said.

"No problem. Please, go ahead."

He used the Body Flicker Technique the moment he lifted his foot, without the slightest hesitation.

The Rain Daimyo was definitely going to be the difficult sort to deal with.

Uchiha Shisui followed behind him.

"Shingen, are you in a bad mood?"

"He just looks like the kind of client who's hard to get along with." Uchiha Shingen sounded somewhat helpless.

"Yeah. He seems easy to talk to, but he doesn't trust us at all."

"That doesn't really matter. In the end, our mission is only to protect his life. I'll take a look around the city. You scope out the palace."

"Alright."

After dividing up their tasks, Uchiha Shingen left the fortress in the city.

Back in the city, he began familiarizing himself with the area along its streets and alleys.

There were quite a few beggars in this city, which meant enemies could easily infiltrate it.

However, his ninja attire seemed quite intimidating in this city, and no one foolish enough to bother him came his way.

Most of the city's buildings were tall, while its streets were instead quite spacious. Manhole covers, however, were everywhere.

Uchiha Shingen created several Shadow Clones. Each clone lifted a manhole cover and jumped inside.

By evening, the Shadow Clones' information returned to him.

It was not good.

The city had extensive drainage needs, so its sewers were generally far too spacious and interconnected in every direction. Spatially, they were hardly any different from an underground city.

Rain Village seemed to be like this as well.

No matter what, there were simply too many factors unfavorable to his protection work.

And the anomaly on that hill continued to bother him.

After thinking it over repeatedly, he was now certain that he had not seen it wrong.

He roughly sorted things out in his mind and came up with a list.

A list of people in the Land of Rain who could threaten his ability to complete the mission.

Wait, it can't be Obito, can it? He hasn't gone to the Land of Water yet?

As a transmigrator, Uchiha Shingen had naturally considered changing Obito's fate. The two of them actually had a fairly good relationship; after all, Obito's home was very close to his, and they saw each other every day.

But no matter how he looked at it, Obito had no reason to interfere with the Land of Fire's actions.

From beginning to end, his goal had been to collect the tailed beasts, and the Akatsuki at this point was still an organization full of dreams.

But if Obito really took an interest in the Rain Daimyo's head, that would be troublesome.

That Mangekyo technique of his was utterly unfair.

On his first S-rank mission, Uchiha Shingen had no intention of failing. His personal reputation was at stake.

"No choice. To be safe, I can only use that. Besides, I already know Water Release, so it's perfectly normal for me to know a few other things too..."

The Rain Daimyo Who Accepted Advice Well

After finishing his work in the city and returning to the palace, Uchiha Shingen happened to see Uchiha Shisui walking out through the palace gates.

The two simultaneously used their Sharingan to inspect each other.

Once teammates split up during a mission, they had to guard against enemies infiltrating with the Transformation Technique. The Uchiha and Hyuga Clan had it easy in that regard—so long as they remembered to activate their dojutsu.

After confirming that neither was an impostor, they deactivated their Sharingan.

"Waiting for me?"

"No... I only just got here. But this was the last place."

Uchiha Shisui looked back at the palace gates and sighed. "I was prepared for it, but the Rain Daimyo's residence is way too complicated."

"It really is complicated." Uchiha Shingen looked up. Though he came from a world filled with skyscrapers, the architecture of the Land of Rain still caught his attention.

Like the buildings in the city, the upper levels of this palace-fortress used a spired structure.

Only, the palace's towers were especially large, especially tall, and especially numerous.

Those towering spires were the Rain Daimyo family's cemetery.

The nobles of the Land of Rain had no habit of burying their dead. After preparing the bodies of family members, they placed them in towers like these.

Apparently, Rain Village did the same.

"Let's go see the Rain Daimyo. We can compare the problems we found afterward."

"Are there a lot of problems in the outer city?"

"A lot doesn't even begin to cover it. For our mission, it's a complete disaster."

Uchiha Shingen raised a hand and slapped the palace gate beside him.

"Brother Shingen, why did you slap the gate?"

"Nothing. Just checking whether it's sturdy."

"Oh..." Uchiha Shisui thought it was a little improper, but he did not pay it much mind and entered with Uchiha Shingen.

Now familiar with the route, the two returned to the hall where they had previously met the Rain Daimyo. Upon entering, they first saw him discussing state affairs with several bureaucrats.

This hall was where the Rain Daimyo listened to work reports from his officials.

After entering, the two did not interrupt them, instead waiting off to the side.

The Rain Daimyo was discussing how to ensure food production with his bureaucrats.

From their conversation, it became clear that the capital's food supply was supported by several large-scale farms.

But recently, several accidents had occurred, including a land collapse at one of the farms.

"This time, the Land of Fire has provided many tools," one bureaucrat reported. "And there are more and more unemployed people in the outer city. Organizing them to develop a new farm would be ideal."

"No." The Rain Daimyo rejected the proposal without hesitation. "The final planting season of the year has already passed. Even if we establish a new farm now, it cannot be used until next year. Starting construction this season will also consume more food, and the city's food supply will not be enough."

"But the Land of Fire has also provided a great deal of food this time..."

"Store it first," the Rain Daimyo said. "Use it as reserve grain for the end of the year. Build the new farm after the next harvest. As for those without work..."

He thought for a moment before saying, "Didn't you say the sanitation in the outer city is poor? Then organize them all to clean it up. No wages—just feed them."

"My lord, won't that still strain the food supply?"

"Make the porridge thinner. Do I need to teach you that?"

"If we do that, they may resent it..."

"Oh? They drink water and eat grass every day now, but they'll resent being given porridge? Then they must be planning a rebellion?"

It had to be said that the Rain Daimyo's personality at this moment perfectly matched Uchiha Shingen's earlier judgment of him. He did not accept a single suggestion from his subordinates.

He swiftly rejected every proposal with remarks like "I refuse," "I don't think that'll work," and "You can shut up now."

To be fair, it was impossible that none of their suggestions were feasible.

However, although the Rain Daimyo rejected every suggestion his subordinates made, he gave clear instructions for each one. By the time they finished talking, everyone's stomachs were growling.

"I see you came here just to mooch a meal... Forget it, a few more mouths won't make a difference." The Rain Daimyo himself was hungry, and seeing the expectant looks in his subordinates' eyes, he was not stingy. "Pass down the order. Hold a banquet tonight. I want to properly entertain these two esteemed ninja."

Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui's first instinct was to refuse, but then they met the Rain Daimyo's gaze, which practically screamed, "Hurry up and give me advice."

So neither of them said anything.

The bureaucrats withdrew with beaming smiles, while the Rain Daimyo returned to his slacker-like state. He lounged lazily in his chair and said to Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui, "Do you two need anything else? Oh, right—the rooms. Pick whichever ones you like. As for women, there should still be quite a few in the palace, but married ones are off-limits."

Uchiha Shingen: "..."

I thought this boss looked more handsome when he was working.

How about putting in some overtime tonight?

Sure enough, dealing with this kind of client was the most exhausting.

"Daimyo, may I examine your body?" Uchiha Shingen interrupted the daimyo, who had been about to continue chatting.

"Huh?" The Rain Daimyo was puzzled. To show just how puzzled he was, he tried his best to open his already small eyes a little wider than usual.

"Lord Ninja, you may not approach the daimyo." A samurai beside the Rain Daimyo spoke somewhat stiffly. "It is my duty to protect the daimyo at close range. I apologize, but Lord Ninja only needs to carry out his own mission."

But Uchiha Shingen was not nearly so polite with him.

A Genjutsu: Sharingan later, the man entered a sleepwalking state. He obediently stepped aside, squatted in the corner, and struck a strange pose.

The Rain Daimyo looked at the samurai and frowned.

It was not that he objected to Uchiha Shingen's actions. He simply wondered whether the samurai by his side had something wrong with his brain.

If you were any use, would I need to ask the Fire Daimyo for ninjas to protect me?

Uchiha Shingen did not know what the Rain Daimyo was thinking. Thus, after taking down the samurai, he did not immediately approach. Instead, he explained first, "Daimyo, this is for your safety. There are techniques in the ninja world that can assassinate an enemy without face-to-face contact. Personally, I suggest you give this risk full consideration."

"That really is dangerous. How outrageous. Hurry and check me," the Rain Daimyo swiftly accepted Uchiha Shingen's suggestion. "Next time, there's no need to make such a fuss. Don't let my appearance fool you—I'm actually a broad-minded daimyo who welcomes advice."

Uchiha Shingen pretended not to hear that last remark. He quickly stepped forward, activated his Sharingan, and carefully checked whether any techniques were present on the Rain Daimyo's body.

Once he had finished and confirmed there was no problem, Uchiha Shingen supported the Rain Daimyo by the arm and delivered the good news.

And, incidentally, left a mark.

Just as he had done everywhere before.