"I'm already thirteen. I'm not a little child who needs to be sheltered anymore." Sarada spoke calmly, her reasoning clear.
"Over the years, I've walked these streets with you and heard you talk so much about the past. I've learned a lot about what happened."
"When Hanzo of the Salamander ruled this place, even caught between three great nations and constantly swept up in war, people could still scrape together enough food and clothing. It was nowhere near as ruined and desolate as it is now. Am I wrong?"
Kisame remained silent for a long time before nodding heavily.
"Back when I was in Kirigakure, I came to the Land of Rain on missions. It was a tough nation caught between larger powers."
"Hanzō was ruthless. He held firm against repeated infiltration by the great nations. Trade within the village was stable, and even when times were hard, there was relief grain and shelters for orphans and refugees."
"The streets were always soaked with rain, but the buildings were intact. People could at least feed themselves and keep warm. Black markets operated alongside legitimate businesses. It wasn't wealthy, but it was certainly self-sufficient."
Then his tone shifted. "But during the later war in the Shinobi World, the three nations turned this place into a battlefield to destroy the growing Land of Rain. The country was left in ruins."
"Later, the Land of Rain gained a new ruler and recovered for a while. But once Nagato and Konan died, one after the other, it was finished."
"After the war, the Five Great Nations focused only on rebuilding their own lands. No one wanted to take responsibility for this war-ravaged buffer zone."
"Shinobi fought one another, and small-scale wars dragged on intermittently for more than a decade. Entire stretches of homes collapsed