As soon as December arrived, all of Konoha took on a festive New Year atmosphere. Kadomatsu, Kagami Mochi, and Shimenawa Decorations were sold on every street and alley, while people huddled at home, lit their fires, and enjoyed a long-overdue spell of leisure.
In previous years, this had actually been the busiest part of winter for shinobi.
Even over the New Year, the lofty nobles tirelessly attacked their political enemies and slaughtered commoners who dared offend them. Out of some twisted amusement peculiar to the powerful, they particularly enjoyed turning this season of family reunions into tragedies where entire families perished, leaving the shinobi who served as their executioners unable to enjoy the holiday either.
But this year was different. Those who had once issued missions had instead become the shinobi's prey.
Shinobi had never been a gentle lot. Seeing their peers grow filthy rich by robbing easy targets, the rest naturally refused to fall behind and swiftly joined in the plundering.
Regardless of clan or village, shinobi across the entire shinobi world threw themselves into it. For a time, robbing nobles practically became the latest fashion.
The nobles' only means of fighting back was, astonishingly, to issue guard missions and hire shinobi to protect them. Reality was cruel, however. The shinobi who took their money often turned around and robbed their own employers. Faced with such enormous profits, few could restrain themselves.
As for the shinobi's noble commitment to completing their missions at any cost, they tacitly tossed that into the trash together when faced with mountains of Gold Ryo and rice.
Sometimes, they even marveled at their ancestors' stupidity. All those years of fighting between shinobi clans had ultimately been about money and profit. Yet after risking their lives so desperately, even sending their children onto the battlefield,