To Kusagakure

Lu Zeming believed he could develop ninjutsu with the little figure in his Inner Landscape, but it would take a great deal of time.

Besides, he had encountered too few techniques. Most inventions began with imitation; without enough examples to learn from, developing ninjutsu from scratch would be like groping around in the dark.

Lu Zeming had long planned to visit Kusagakure. The original story had revealed little about it, and now that he intended to build something of his own in the Land of Grass, a clash with the village was inevitable.

He needed to gather intelligence on Kusagakure first.

Before leaving, though, Lu Zeming had preparations to make.

He put Kumi Uzumaki in charge of the village's safety.

She had not been a ninja for long, but her Uzumaki heritage had already given her strength comparable to a Chunin's.

Lu Zeming made a point of telling her that if enemies attacked, she should fight if she could win and run if she could not. The village did not matter. Staying alive did!

As long as they lived, they could take the village back. If they died, they would truly have nothing left.

Kumi Uzumaki was deeply moved by his earnest gaze.

"Don't worry. I'll protect everyone, I promise!"

Next came the question of whom to take to the Land of Grass.

Of the fifteen young ninja, Lu Zeming chose the three with the most talent.

There were three boys and one girl in the party: the brothers Yuma and Yusuke, and a girl named Mayuko.

Lu Zeming equipped them with kunai, shuriken, and homemade poison needles.

Before they set off, Rin clung to Lu Zeming's arm and refused to let go.

"Big brother, don't leave Rin behind! Rin wants to stay with you forever!"

Lu Zeming stroked her head and comforted her softly. "I'm just going out to take care of something. I'll be back soon. While I'm gone, look after our home!"

Rin struggled with it for a while before nodding solemnly. "Rin's a ninja now too. I'll look after our home for you!"

"Good girl. I'll bring you a present when I get back!"

Rin's face had only just brightened when Lu Zeming added, "And don't neglect your lessons or training. I'll check when I return!"

Her little face fell again, making everyone burst out laughing.

Even the piglet that always followed Rin grunted and spun in circles, as though it understood.

Furious, Rin gave it a kick on the backside.

"Hmph! You're laughing at me too? I'll stew you when we get back!"

The piglet drooped its head and flopped onto the ground, playing dead. Everyone roared with laughter again.

Amid the laughter, Lu Zeming and his three companions gradually disappeared into the distance.

"Big brother, come back soon!"

Only then did Rin let her tears fall.

She had held them back until now so her brother would not worry. That was no small feat for a five-year-old girl.

Once they were on the road, Lu Zeming realized with embarrassment that he had no idea where Kusagakure was.

A map? In a village where no one could read, where would he find a map?

They could only follow the main road and hope to ask a passerby for directions.

Before long, they came across a traveling peddler.

Mayuko stepped forward to speak to him.

"Thanks for your hard work on the road, sir. Could you tell us which way Kusagakure is?"

At first, the peddler looked down on the four youngsters. But when he saw that they all carried weapons, and that the one in front even had a long blade, he quickly dropped the attitude.

"Oh, Kusagakure? Head northeast from here and keep going. Ah, but Kannabi Bridge is broken, so you'll have to take quite a detour."

The mention of Kannabi Bridge immediately caught Lu Zeming's interest.

After thanking the peddler, the four headed straight for Kannabi Bridge. When they arrived, they found its remains lying silently below the cliff, like a stone dragon cut in two.

Lu Zeming remembered that when he had first arrived in this world, soldiers had come to the previous owner's village to collect taxes, claiming the money was needed to repair the bridge. Yet there was not a bridge worker in sight.

Caught between two great nations, the Land of Grass could hardly avoid being dragged into war. But squeezing its own people like this? Lu Zeming thought the country was beyond saving.

Then he remembered that Tenchi Bridge seemed to be in the Land of Grass too.

Thinking of how Orochimaru and Naruto would destroy that bridge during their fight a decade or so later, Lu Zeming felt a little sorry for the Land of Grass after all.

Yuma and the others saw him standing silently by the broken bridge for a long time. "Boss, what are you thinking about?"

Looking at the bridge, Lu Zeming said, "I'm wondering what purpose ninja serve. Is it nothing but killing and destruction?"

The three looked troubled. For them, the question was still too big, too profound.

Lu Zeming went on, half talking to himself. "They have such incredible power. Wouldn't it be better to use it to build things? Isn't making the pie bigger better than fighting over what's left? Ah, forget it. Violence seems to be the only language those chakra-addled terrorists understand. I'm still too weak."

He shook off his tangled thoughts and continued on.

None of the four was ordinary. A broken bridge was no reason to take a detour: by channeling chakra into the soles of their feet, they could easily descend the cliff and cross the river.

The farther northeast they went, the sparser the trees became, until woodland gave way to grassland.

After dealing with several bands of roadside robbers and making a little money in the process, the four reached Kusagakure at noon the next day.

Compared with Konoha, Kusagakure looked rather shabby.

If Konoha was a city, Kusagakure was no more than a county town.

The four paid 240 ryo in entry taxes. The guards said they also had to be inspected and registered, but after Lu Zeming handed over another hundred ryo, both became mere formalities.

Inside Kusagakure, the first things they saw were three enormous statues.

After asking around, they learned that the statues depicted successive Kusakage.

Kusagakure had clearly taken a lot of inspiration from Konoha.

While Lu Zeming was taking this in, a long-haired boy of fourteen or fifteen approached.

"Are you here for the ninja selection too?"

Lu Zeming was puzzled. "Can people from other villages enter the selection?"

The moment he said it, he felt the question was unnecessary. Plenty of people from other villages had taken part in Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams.

To his surprise, the long-haired boy said, "Normally they can't. But for some reason, they're making an exception this year. Anyone who passes can become a Kusagakure ninja straightaway, with chunin benefits!"

After learning more, Lu Zeming understood that Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams were like an international talent fair that only a superpower could host.

A small country like the Land of Grass could not stage an event like that. In previous years, Kusagakure had selected candidates only from its own ninja.

This year, it had made an exception for outsiders and had specifically promised them places among Kusagakure's ninja if selected.

Two words immediately came to Lu Zeming's mind: military expansion.

The wars between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire had already ended. Why was Kusagakure expanding its forces?

Curious as he was, Lu Zeming showed nothing and turned to the boy.

"We're not here for the selection. We're just buying supplies."

The boy scratched his head regretfully. "That's a shame. You look pretty strong, and I was hoping we could team up. Oh, right, my name's Mui!"

Lu Zeming froze at the name, then looked Mui up and down.

Mui—the future warden of Hozuki Castle, the prison that held inmates from various countries.

For now, though, he was only an ordinary Genin.

Wanting to get to know him, Lu Zeming introduced himself and invited him to a meal.

Over the meal, Lu Zeming drew out quite a bit of information with carefully placed questions.

The current Kusakage was named Kusakaito. He was elderly and rarely involved himself in village affairs.

The people actually running Kusagakure were Shinbu Teiichi, head of the Shinbu clan, and Shinomiya Eita, head of the Shinomiya clan.

"Two men running things together? That's asking for trouble!"