On the streets of the Land of Waves, filled with ruin, disease, and an air of deathly silence.
Three particularly eye-catching figures approached from afar.
One was a graceful woman dressed in plain clothes, her face veiled.
A massive scroll was strapped to her back.
The other two, a little girl and a teenage boy, rode atop a huge white Ninja Hound.
Such a group was exceptionally conspicuous on a street like this.
"Senior Ye Fan, why is this place so poor?"
Looking at the hungry, pleading eyes around her, Hanabi Hyuga asked with a pained expression.
Children were naturally kind-hearted, and Hanabi could not bear to see such a sight.
Especially when she saw several children about her age huddled together like beggars along the roadside, their faces yellow and thin as though they might die at any moment.
"The Land of Waves was already poor to begin with. After the Gato Group invaded and took control, the people here had no ability to resist. Naturally, it became what it is today," the veiled woman beside her explained.
"Sister Pakura, why doesn't the Land of Waves have ninjas to guard it?" Hanabi Hyuga asked curiously, turning to the woman walking beside her.
The veiled woman was none other than Pakura, whom Ye Fan had once rescued.
"Different countries have different customs. The Land of Waves is an island nation surrounded by the sea. The locals make their living by fishing. They may not become rich, but they can still maintain a normal livelihood, so they have no need for ninjas."
"That Gato Group is awful!" Hanabi Hyuga said with a frown, venting her dissatisfaction.
Though her voice was not loud, everyone on both sides of the street heard her and could not help casting strange looks her way.
Here,