Land of Waves.
This is a weak island country in Shinobi World but without its own Shinobi Village. Due to its remote location and lack of other resources, not many other countries will regard it as a strategic target. Many forces even do not know that such a country exists.
For the residents of the island, Land of Waves is not so much a country as it is essentially a slightly larger fishing village.
In daily life, we also need to rely on Shipping Company to bring in daily necessities from outside. High transportation costs often occupy most of the income captured by the hard work of the people.
Even if the full harvest is not enough, labor force needs to be sold to exchange for simple daily necessities.
The economy is poor and people's lives are in poverty.
This is the current situation of Land of Waves.
"Bang!"
The house was violently kicked open, and the vicious Mafias armed with Samurai knives barged in directly.
The bald gangster walking in front looked at the impoverished house. Apart from the insects crawling on the walls, there was only one Land of Waves civilian who was almost scared to death.
The bald man stepped forward and said in a bad tone, "Have you seen..."
"No! No!"
"I haven't even left the house these days!"
Looking at the civilians who quickly denied it, the bald man suddenly drew his sword and struck at them with a frown on his face.
"Help!"
The trembling Land of Waves civilians were so frightened that they collapsed on the ground, rolled their eyes, and almost fainted.
"Damn it, you dare to interrupt me!"
However, the knife stopped in front of him, and the bald man took a sip of it, and the villains behind him collectively burst into wanton laughter.
"Look at this piece of trash. He has no future. He doesn't have the guts to lie even if he thinks about it."
"There are not many smart people in this country!"
"You kid likes to play this game. These people can be used as coolies. If you kill too many, Mr. Gato will be fined!"
"Didn't I kill you? You need to talk more."
"Let's go and search somewhere else. Both the bitch and the kid were injured this time and can't run far!"
After laughing loudly, the Gato group's subordinates ignored the civilian and swaggered directly to grab some food from the house, then walked outside the house to continue looking for people elsewhere.
But they didn't pay much attention. Several wall-climbing bugs from the house also flew out. Some of them followed them quietly, and a few flew in the other direction.
Then a small black insect circled around and burrowed into a warehouse that smelled of old decay and had not been taken care of for many years.
In this warehouse, a young Konoha Ninja wearing sunglasses and almost completely wrapped in a windbreaker stretched out his hand to catch the scout bug he released:
"The smell has been dealt with... their search direction is getting further and further away from us for the time being. Fortunately, we can take a short rest... well."
After confirming that the enemy's search direction was away from him and others, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then after releasing Matsushita, the wounds on his body began to hurt faintly, and he felt tired, and he couldn't help but fall to the ground.
"Shino brother!"
"Hey, Brother Bug!"
Seeing the other person fall, the young man and the old man who were arranged to hide among the moldy grain and grass couldn't help but run out, trying to help him up.
"I, I'm fine, Mr. Inari and Tazuna, please don't touch me casually."
"There are Kikaichū all over my body now, numbing the wounds. If you just touch them, it will affect you."
"Shino brother..."
The little boy named "Inari" stopped in place when he heard Shino's words. Seeing the blood on the other person's windbreaker, he couldn't help but shed tears. "It's all my fault... If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be so seriously injured."
"... It's not your fault."
Shino looked at Inari crying and shook his head.
"Don't think it's your fault just because bad guys took you hostage. We were meant to protect you, and it was those people who did the wrong things, not children like you."
"And what you should be thinking about now is what to do. Crying is of no use. My family taught me when I was very young that a boy's tears are something that even insects despise."
"I, I know..."
Shino's tone was very calm. Although he was wearing sunglasses so that his eyes could not be seen, Inari also calmed down under his comfort.
Seeing that Shino was fine, he took the initiative to go to the door and window and looked at Tazuna outside and said with emotion, "I thought you didn't seem to like to talk, Brother Chongzi, but I didn't expect that you said it quite well."
Looking at Inari, Shino still spoke calmly, "I was just taught this way. Bugs are born weak, but they are also trying to survive. Weakness should never be an excuse for making mistakes. Even a child like Inari should know how to distinguish right from wrong."
"Well said, just like Land of Waves's current situation, although he is weak, it will never be a mistake to have the courage to pursue a better life!"
Although he is old, Tazuna is still full of fighting spirit and nodded in agreement when he heard Shino's words.
"... But Mr. Tazuna, you were wrong to conceal the mission conditions from the beginning."
"... Hey, Brother Chongzi, although you are not old, your temperament is quite suitable for being a teacher."
Tazuna chuckled, but soon showed a serious look. "Hey, Brother Chongzi. What should we do now, how to meet up with the teacher Jonin and my daughter? They must have been seriously injured too!"
"..."
Shino also fell silent. He didn't have any particularly good ideas. The bug he left next to teacher Kurenai Yuhi was also discovered and destroyed by the guy wearing Mask and using Ice Release during the battle.
Even for a short period of time, they can only hide here and don't even think about going out.
You must know that not only was the Demon Zabuza that the teacher fought against powerful, but the Mask guy he faced was also extraordinary. In several fights, his own bugs were ineffective in front of his strange Ice Release and Senbon.
Even most of my injuries came from that Mask guy's Senbon needles, but...
Shino's eyes moved to the blood-stained area on his coat.
Although there were many wounds, neither the amount of bleeding nor the location of the injuries were fatal.
Shino doesn't think this is his luck.
Because they fought more than once, even though they injured themselves and their teacher in the last time, Shino still felt that the other party had no murderous intentions.
Otherwise, at most Kurenai Yuhi teacher can retreat, I and Tazuna family might just stay there.
But they were obviously killers sent by Gato, so why did they spare their hands...