Land of Waves

And so, the noisy, chaotic night passed, and the sun rose as usual.

Since no one had ended up hurt, and the sight that greeted everyone upon waking was so terrifying, few were willing to investigate further, even though a great deal of livestock had gone missing.

Better to accept their bad luck than lose their lives!

After Shinji and Hidan got up, they prepared to leave and continue their journey.

To their surprise, the old man, who had been gone all night, actually returned.

He even carried a plain lunchbox in his hand.

"Whoa! Whose egg came to life?!"

Although a night of rest had healed most of Hidan's external injuries, the eyebrows and hair burned off by the fire would not grow back so quickly.

So when the old man pushed open the door, he was greeted by Hidan's smooth, rounded head. At first glance, it really did look like a peeled egg had come to life!

"You old bastard, you actually dared to come back?"

As the three of them exchanged looks, Hidan's tone instantly turned hostile. He had not forgotten what had happened yesterday.

Now he had a fresh grievance to add to the old one. There was no way this would end peacefully!

As for Shinji...

He had undergone professional training. No matter how funny something was, he would never laugh.

Unless he couldn't hold it in!

"Hahahaha... an egg come to life!" Shinji laughed until his stomach hurt.

In truth, he had wanted to laugh the moment he saw Hidan's current appearance.

He had only forced himself to hold it in because of Hidan's murderous glare, and because he bore some responsibility for it himself.

Now that his restraint had broken, he doubled over with laughter, letting it all out...

Listening to that unbearably grating laughter, Hidan's face alternated between livid and pale. Murderous intent filled his eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to tear both bastards apart on the spot!

Seeing things take a dangerous turn, the old man hastily gave an awkward smile, raised the lunchbox in his hand, and changed the subject.

"You're both up, then. Haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Come and try this. Ayako spent ages making it."

Hidan had been about to say that no one wanted to eat that pig swill!

But the moment the old man opened the lid, his eyes fixed on the food, and his stomach betrayed him with a growl.

Inside the lunchbox sat a neatly arranged layer of his favorite fried pork cutlets!

They were an enticing golden brown and smelled delicious. Without even realizing it, he had already swallowed several times.

"Don't think you can smooth things over just by bringing me some food!"

Hidan snatched the lunchbox without a shred of politeness, his tongue still sharp.

Then he eagerly dug in with his bare hands.

"Huff... huff... hot..."

Crunch, crunch. The golden, crispy pork cutlets, paired with the savory sauce, instantly brought a look of blissful satisfaction to Hidan's face.

Delicious!

He had eaten such bland food these past few days that his mouth had practically forgotten what flavor was.

Besides, the old man's daughter-in-law really was a good cook. Hidan could barely stop his hands, stuffing one piece after another into his mouth.

"Is it really that good? Let me try some."

Watching Hidan enjoy himself so much made Shinji crave a taste too.

What he had not expected was that this bastard Hidan would actually fucking guard his food!

"In your dreams!"

Hidan had absolutely no intention of sharing. He knocked aside Shinji's outstretched hand, then took off... running.

Shinji planted both hands on his hips, so annoyed that he laughed.

"You bastard! Just you wait. I'll rip out your kidneys and cook them up!"

After cursing him, Shinji turned back to the old man, curious. "Since you'd already left, why did you come back? Don't tell me you don't know what happened last night."

"It was only a few animals that went missing.

"As long as the people are all right, that's what matters," the old man said dismissively. Shinji knew he was saying it deliberately to avoid stirring up any more trouble.

Then the old man narrowed his eyes and smiled conspiratorially. "Who knows what got into those animals last night? Every last one of them smashed through the fences to get out."

"And guess what happened? A great big sow ran straight into a tree and knocked herself out."

The old man grinned from ear to ear.

Shinji was speechless. So the old man had stayed out all night scooping up a free windfall.

Somehow, he had avoided all that danger and picked up a sow for free. His luck was unbelievable.

And judging by his smug expression, he probably had no intention of returning her to her owner.

After all, so many animals had gone "missing" last night. One more hardly mattered.

"Time to go, Hidan!"

Shinji shouted outside, then saw Hidan walking back while wiping his mouth. He tossed the empty lunchbox back to the old man.

"Lucky for you, Lord Jashin hasn't needed sacrifices as old as you lately."

"But next time, who knows? We're leaving."

Hidan held his head high, looking utterly defiant.

The old man was not offended. Instead, he was thinking about how Hidan had loudly demanded fried pork cutlets yesterday.

Clearly, this had been no coincidence.

Ordinary people had their own ways of surviving too.

A few days later, Shinji and Hidan crossed the Land of Fire, then boarded a small boat at a port bound for the Land of Waves.

Through some idle conversation, Shinji gained a basic understanding of the Land of Waves' current situation from the boatman.

That included Gato, a familiar minor villain.

At this point, however, Gato had not yet become the sole dominant power in the Land of Waves or monopolized its entire shipping business.

The Mira Peng family had originally been the wealthiest and most powerful family in the Land of Waves.

But as Gato rose to prominence and frequently hired assassins, wandering ninja, and others in secret to wage a vicious business war, the Mira Peng family, which had enjoyed peace for far too long, found itself reeling from the blows!

Still, even in decline, its considerable resources remained. Once the family realized Gato was playing dirty behind the scenes, it launched a series of fierce counterattacks.

In particular, after a chance incident brought it into contact with the Jashin Cult, Mira Peng had regarded this evil organization as his trump card, never using it lightly.

But this time, Mira Peng was done holding back!

Just over twenty days earlier, his beloved youngest daughter had died in a terrorist attack aimed at him!

Although his bodyguards had fought desperately to protect him and he had ultimately escaped, his lovely daughter, still in the bloom of youth, had been taken from him forever.

Driven by this terrible rage, Mira Peng was prepared to do whatever it took to make Gato pay with his life.

That included avenging himself through the power of the Jashin Cult!

Even though he knew he was bargaining with monsters and nurturing a threat that could turn on him, he no longer cared!

And on this day, an unremarkable little boat docked at a wharf in the Land of Waves.

Two reapers from the Jashin Cult finally set foot on this land, which was destined to be stained red with blood.