Provocation

Two days later, Jugo's condition had stabilized somewhat. The frequency of his rampages had dropped from twice a day to once every three days, and each episode was getting shorter.

Lin Chongshu felt that was about enough. He took the two of them out of the cave and headed for the Land of Birds.

The Land of Birds was, as always, like a primeval forest.

At the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Rain, Lin Chongshu found two separate caves and settled them apart.

"Wait for me for one month." Lin Chongshu placed the last bag of rations on a stone platform. "If I still haven't returned after one month, leave this place..."

Karin's mother took the initiative and hugged him. "I'll keep waiting for you to come back."

With that, Lin Chongshu took the pair of earrings from Karin's mother and turned to leave the cave.

It had been nearly ten days since he had taken Karin's mother to the Chunin Exams.

A Chunin Exams squad had been out of contact for so long. There was no way they would not send people to investigate.

Once they found nothing at the Land of Earth's border, they would begin tracing the matter. By then, Karin would be in danger.

He had to find a way to rescue Karin before Kusagakure caught on.

Lin Chongshu first wandered around the village where Kusagakure was holding the Chunin Exams.

The village was not near the official border of either the Land of Rain or the Land of Earth, but it was not far from the point where the three countries met.

The Land of Grass had its own calculations in holding such an important event here. Letting genin familiarize themselves with the terrain during peacetime would allow them to respond to the movements of the great nations at any time.

He spent another two days inspecting the area where the Land of Rain bordered the Land of Earth, thoroughly familiarizing himself with the surrounding terrain.

The geopolitical layout of this region was actually quite interesting.

Neither the Land of Rain nor the Land of Grass was large, yet their land was better than that of the Land of Earth, one of the Five Great Nations. They had water, vegetation, and farmland suitable for growing grain.

The reason the Land of Rain had not been annexed was because Salamander Hanzo was a tough bone that no one could chew through.

As for why the Land of Grass was still able to exist, Lin Chongshu guessed that the Land of Fire needed it as a strategic buffer zone.

Hidden Leaf Village did not want its homeland to directly border Iwagakure, so it left the Land of Grass in between as a cushion.

It was not that the Land of Earth did not want the Land of Grass's territory. It simply could not take it. It had lost to Hidden Leaf Village in the Second Shinobi World War, then lost to Hidden Leaf Village again in the Third Shinobi World War. After Kannabi Bridge was blown up by Minato Namikaze, Hidden Stone Village had even been forced to surrender on its own initiative.

They lost every time, and every time they were shoved back into their rocky mountains. All they could do was watch the two juicy chunks of meat that were the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass sway before their mouths, unable to take even one bite.

Lin Chongshu would bet they were unwilling to swallow that humiliation.

He selected a village at the border of the Land of Earth.

The Land of Earth had mostly mountains, rocks, and yellow soil, with scarce water sources. This village shared a small river flowing down from the mountains with several other downstream villages.

Whoever controlled the upper reaches controlled the lives of everyone downstream.

The operation began that evening.

Lin Chongshu took out the forehead protector he had removed from a Kusagakure chunin and tied it around his forehead. He used sand and gravel to alter his facial structure and height.

Then he formed hand seals and released Water Clones. Each of them wore the forehead protector of a Kusagakure genin.

Lin Chongshu was only moderately proficient with Water Clones. Their facial features were all blurry and bore no resemblance whatsoever to the genin he had seen, but that did not matter.

This kind of framing did not require them to look alike. As long as the forehead protectors were real, that was enough.

He walked to the upper reaches of the water source and swept out a hand.

Sand and gravel surged from the ground, gathering at the narrowest point of the riverbed into a sand wall two men tall, cutting off the entire stream.

The water swirled before the sand wall, quickly overflowed the riverbed, and seeped into the sandy soil on both sides. The water level downstream began visibly dropping as well.

Early the next morning, villagers from downstream came up.

There were two men and an old man, all ordinary villagers carrying buckets and hoes.

When they saw the Kusagakure forehead protectors on Lin Chongshu and the others, they froze. Then they saw the sand wall blocking the river, and expressions of despair appeared on all their faces.

Still, they respectfully bowed. The old man stepped forward. "My lord ninja, what are you doing?"

He took out a cloth bundle from his robes and carefully opened it. Inside was a stack of crumpled banknotes, worth roughly ten thousand ryo.

"This water source is the lifeline of several villages below. Please show mercy, my lord."

Lin Chongshu swept the cloth bundle to the ground with a wave of his hand, looking thoroughly unpleasant. "Haven't you heard that Kusagakure is holding the Chunin Exams? This place has been requisitioned. Get lost!"

One of the men clenched his hoe, his face flushing red. "This is Land of Earth territory! If Kusagakure wants to hold exams, go hold them in your own Kusagakure!"

Lin Chongshu flicked a finger.

A Water Clone flashed over and struck the man's arm with the edge of its palm. There was a crack, and the bone broke.

The other man hurriedly supported him, helped the old man along, and staggered down the mountain.

Lin Chongshu leaned against the sand wall and sat down, releasing the Eye of Sand.

The Eye of Sand skimmed across the ground, following the villagers' path down the mountain all the way to the edge of the downstream village.

The village was small, with only a dozen or so households. Mud-brick houses surrounded a dry well at the entrance.

The young man with the broken arm was helped into a house. The old man stood at the village entrance, and people soon gathered around him.

At dusk, before the sky had fully darkened, more people came up.

This time there were more than ten of them, several times as many as during the day. They were all young men carrying hoes, sickles, pitchforks, and sharpened wooden poles.

They stood below the sand wall and looked up at Lin Chongshu. Their hands trembled around their farming tools, but no one dared to be the first to charge forward.

Lin Chongshu swept his gaze over them. They were all villagers.

He sighed inwardly. He had thought that after cutting off the water for a day, the villages downstream would at least pool their money to hire a genin to come take a look.

It seemed these little border villages were truly dirt poor in the years just after the war had ended.

That B-rank bounty on Jugo last time had been funded by several nearby villages together. If Jugo had not actually killed people, they probably would not even have posted a bounty.

The leader was a young man in his early twenties. He stepped forward, struggling to keep his voice steady. "My lord ninja, we're from the villages below. This water is our life. Name your terms. As long as we can manage it, we'll do it."

"Looks like I can only be harsher." Lin Chongshu muttered to himself. Before his words had even faded, several Water Clones moved at once.

Screams mixed with the sharp cracks of breaking bones, instantly ringing through the night wind.

The entire process took less than three minutes. More than ten young men were all lying on the riverbank.

The young man in the lead lay facedown on the ground, half his face buried in the gravel. He raised his head and glared at Lin Chongshu. "If you won't let us live, we'll find Hidden Stone Village's ninja. Don't you Kusagakure people regret it when the time comes."

Lin Chongshu crouched down and brought his face close to the young man's, his voice soft. "I told you already. We've requisitioned this place for half a year. You will not get a single drop of water."

He stood up and lifted his chin toward the Water Clones.

A Water Clone dragged the leading young man up from the ground and struck his already broken lower leg again. His scream had gone hoarse, leaving only ragged breaths.

Lin Chongshu waved a hand. "Come again next time, and I'll kill you."