Creating, Not Killing

Faced with Nakanuma Takuma's astonishment, Tsukizaki Yuki felt an unexpected surge of pride.

"In Flower Village, it doesn't matter where you come from or who you are. If you're here, you work. Ninja are no exception."

"They... don't find it humiliating?"

"Humiliating? Why would they? Our village chief says labor is an honor. Here, Work Points are a measure of dignity. The more you do, the more you earn and the better you live. Being a ninja isn't a privilege. It's a responsibility!"

Nakanuma Takuma said nothing more. Instead, he watched closely and took it all in.

He had seen too many villages where nobles stood above everyone, ninja threw their weight around, and ordinary people struggled to survive in the mud.

Yet here, ninja, villagers, and craftsmen worked side by side at the same construction site, sweating and encouraging one another. There wasn't the slightest divide between them.

"Come on, Uncle. The village chief is waiting for you."

As they crossed the central square, Nakanuma Takuma's gaze kept drifting toward the buildings around them.

He had spent his life in construction. One glance was enough for him to see how much thought had gone into them.

The foundations were solid. Drainage ditches ran along the front and back of the houses, which were positioned to make the most of the light and airflow.

These buildings hadn't been thrown up at random. They had been carefully planned.

"Who... designed all this?" he couldn't help asking.

"The village chief drew the initial plans himself. But he's said he's an amateur, and he needs a professional to check a lot of the details."

Nakanuma Takuma was taken aback.

A village chief who drew his own plans? And admitted he wasn't an expert?

In more than forty years, he had never met anyone in power who respected skilled people like that.

In Lu Zeming's office, Nakanuma Takuma finally met the legendary village chief.

An adorable little boy sat behind a desk piled with plans and documents. He looked up and smiled at him.

"This is...?"

Tsukizaki Yuki introduced him. "This is the chief of Flower Village!"

Nakanuma Takuma's eyes nearly popped out. This little boy was the village chief?

He felt as though his whole understanding of the world had been shaken. He had met plenty of village chiefs. Weren't they all imposing middle-aged or elderly men?

How could a seven-year-old child run a village of a thousand people?

"Mr. Nakanuma, please sit."

Lu Zeming rose and shook his hand with practiced formality, then gestured to the chair opposite him. He sat back down behind his desk, looking for all the world like an old hand at office politics.

Nakanuma Takuma sat stiffly, his thoughts in a jumble.

Tsukizaki Yuki took the opportunity to explain. "Uncle, our village chief may be young, but every inch of land and every house in Flower Village was built under his leadership."

Nakanuma Takuma drew a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

He looked around. Detailed planning maps covered the walls, and the plans spread across the desk were marked with measurements and figures. The lines and annotations had a professional air.

A seven-year-old had drawn these?

"Mr. Nakanuma, Yuki told me about you. The Daimyo of the Land of Grass failed to recognize your talent. That's his loss. But here in Flower Village, someone like you could do great things."

Nakanuma Takuma gave a rueful smile. "Village Chief, to be honest, I haven't drawn a decent plan in years. Kannabi Bridge and Tenchi Bridge... that was ten years ago."

"Kannabi Bridge was blown up. I went to see it, and even badly damaged, it was magnificent. Tenchi Bridge is still in use," Lu Zeming said calmly. "Merchant caravans from the Land of Grass cross it every day without a single accident. That tells me all I need to know about your abilities."

Nakanuma Takuma looked up sharply, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

Lu Zeming continued, "I'm planning to establish an organization called Flower Village First Construction Group. Yuki will handle management, and you'll lead the technical work. What do you say? The pay will be generous. If you'd like to bring your family here to live, we'll arrange everything. You won't have anything to worry about!"

Nakanuma Takuma glanced instinctively at Tsukizaki Yuki, who nodded to him.

"The Air-Raid Shelter is the most urgent project. When danger comes, I need every villager inside an underground shelter within ten minutes. The entrances must be concealed, and it needs ventilation and water storage. It must hold at least twice the village's population."

Nakanuma Takuma studied the plans, his mind already turning over the problem. Without thinking, he reached for the pen on the desk.

Then he stopped and looked at Lu Zeming uncertainly.

Lu Zeming pushed the pen toward him and smiled. "Go ahead. Draw it the way you think it should be done. I don't know construction. You're the expert."

Nakanuma Takuma gripped the pen, his fingers trembling slightly.

It had been far too long since he had held one.

The last time he had drawn up plans was more than a decade ago, at the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Grass, while nobles pointed at his face and called his work "nothing special."

And now a seven-year-old child had shown him more respect than anyone ever had.

He drew a deep breath and set pen to paper.

"There can't be just one group of entrances," he said as he drew, speaking faster and faster. "At least three groups, six entrances each, distributed across the village in a triangular layout so they can serve as backups for one another. The main entrance should go beneath those low hills on the north side of the village. It's a shale layer, so excavation will be easier."

"And it's no more than a three-minute walk from the residential area," Lu Zeming added at just the right moment.

Nakanuma Takuma gave him a surprised look, then lowered his head and kept drawing. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Nakanuma Takuma suddenly remembered what he had seen when he entered the village.

"Village Chief, will ninja join this construction group too?"

"Of course," Lu Zeming said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Ninja and ordinary people alike can work for Flower Village First Construction Group. My original idea was for Earth Release ninja to build the main structure, Sensor Ninja to survey the ground, and those skilled in Taijutsu to move heavy materials. Their Chakra and Taijutsu can do far more good in construction than in killing."

Nakanuma Takuma's pen stopped. The words shook him.

"Far more good in construction than in killing..."

He murmured the words again, then looked up at the seven-year-old before him. Somehow, that small figure seemed to have grown taller.

Lu Zeming planted both hands on the desk and stood straight, his eyes clear and resolute.

"In Flower Village, ninja don't make a living by killing. They create wealth with their own hands."

Nakanuma Takuma was silent for a long time.

He thought of his years spent wandering, when he had seen too many ninja kill without a second thought and treat human life as worthless.

He had also seen too many villages where ninja were revered and ordinary people were beneath notice, with a gulf between them that could never be crossed.

Yet this seven-year-old child had just said, in the calmest voice, the boldest and most astonishing thing Nakanuma Takuma had ever heard.

Ninja didn't have to make a living by killing. They could create wealth with their own hands.

So there was another way!

Nakanuma Takuma put down his pen and looked at Lu Zeming solemnly.

"Village Chief, do you know that what you just said is the most powerful thing I've heard in my life?"

Lu Zeming tilted his head and gave him a childlike smile. "Then will you stay?"

Nakanuma Takuma smiled. It was his first genuine smile in ten years.

"Thank you for taking me in, my Lord. I, Nakanuma Takuma, will serve you with all I have."

He picked up the pen again and drew a firm line across the plans.

"I'm in. Flower Village First Construction Group can count on me."