"Take these fruits, for instance. A couple of years ago, merchants often came to buy them, especially merchants from the Land of Fire. But over the past year or two, we've kept butting heads with the Land of Fire, so fewer people have been coming from there, and the fruit's stopped selling.
"These things are rare treats in the Land of Fire. Here in the Land of Lightning, they're everywhere. They're worth next to nothing."
"Exactly," Hibari said, picking up the thread. "We actually just came from the Land of Fire. There were still plenty of merchants from all over there.
"But after walking around Kumogakure today, I got the feeling there weren't many outsiders here?" he asked, as though the question had just occurred to him.
"Oh, that... ah." The stallholder shook his head. "I went to the Land of Fire a few times when I was young. It really is much richer than we are here. Merchants from every country have always liked gathering there.
"But our village didn't used to be like this, either. Our new Lord Raikage only took office a little while ago... then something happened, though I don't know what. These days, it feels like the village wants to push outsiders out. Quite a few people have been driven away for no apparent reason.
"Those big-shot ninja don't care, of course, but it's hard on small-time traders like us."
"Driven away?" Something stirred in Hibari's mind as he seized on that crucial detail.
He didn't linger to chat with the stallholder. Soon, he was wandering around Kumogakure again, making small talk with different people and slipping in a few indirect questions.
By noon, the sun over Kumogakure was blazing fiercely enough to make people dizzy. Hibari stopped roaming aimlessly and found a shady spot