"Land of Rain?"
The next day, Yue's three-man squad set out once more, following their new teacher, Shishiro.
However, after learning the details of the mission, Yue's expression changed.
"The situation in the Land of Rain is pretty chaotic right now, isn't it?" he asked softly.
"Mm."
Not yet twenty, Shishiro nodded gravely. "But there's no need to worry too much. Our mission is only to escort this merchant caravan. It's precisely because the situation in the Land of Rain is so bad that the client hired our village."
Judging by the map, the Land of Rain ruled by Hanzo of the Salamander, known as the demigod of the shinobi world, lay directly below the Land of Grass.
The two countries bordered each other, so the journey was not particularly far.
The problem was that the emergence of a new force had made the situation within the Land of Rain somewhat delicate.
It was the Akatsuki Organization led by Yahiko.
After the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzo of the Salamander had lost the edge and ambition of his youth. He now spent his days indulging himself in the halls of power and barely concerned himself with state affairs. At first, Hanzo had no particular reaction to the emergence of Akatsuki. But after someone appeared—Danzo... after that old man sowed discord behind the scenes, Hanzo began to fear Akatsuki. He then joined forces with Danzo to devise a conspiracy that led to Yahiko's death.
Though it was still unknown whether Hanzo had already begun colluding with Danzo, Akatsuki's appearance had indeed thrown the situation within the Land of Rain into chaos.
Those people acted in the name of justice, rooting out evils within the Land of Rain. They were indeed doing good deeds, but Hanzo was still alive... What they were doing somewhat overstepped the boundaries. Besides, the greater Yahiko's reputation became, the more people he rallied to his side, gaining acclaim and prestige... That in itself was a provocation against Hanzo.
Moreover, the endless wars of every scale had made the Land of Rain extremely unsafe.
After giving a few instructions, Shishiro turned and walked toward the caravan waiting nearby.
The merchant caravan consisted of four people and three wooden carts pulled by horses.
"What's wrong?"
Ryuga noticed that Yue's expression was off and asked quietly.
"It's nothing..."
Yue shook his head. "Anyway, be careful. A certain organization has recently risen to prominence in the Land of Rain. It's called Akatsuki. They're a group not under Amegakure's control. Their members are all very strong, far beyond what we can handle... Fortunately, Akatsuki's conduct is fairly upright. Even if we run into them, they probably won't make things difficult for us. What I'm more worried about is getting caught up in some conflict."
"Even though this mission is only C-rank, there are certain uncertainties."
"Huh?"
Hearing that, Ryuga looked toward Shishiro.
"He's much stronger than Masada, so there... shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Anyway... if something really happens, the two of us will listen to you."
Ryuga and Yoshitaka exchanged a glance and nodded heavily.
They completely ignored Shishiro standing beside them.
Yue said nothing.
Shishiro was a special jonin.
Though he had touched the threshold of jonin, they had to remember that they came from Kusagakure.
No one knew better than Yue what their village was like.
If measured by the shinobi world's unified standards, Shishiro would only amount to an ordinary Chunin outside the village. There was a lot of inflation in that rank.
Soon after, the group set off toward Amegakure.
The first half of the journey was fairly peaceful, with no unexpected incidents.
They merely chatted with the members of the merchant caravan from the Land of Rain.
They also took the opportunity to gather some information.
According to the caravan owner, every region had its own environment and customs. Although Hanzo of the Salamander had founded Amegakure, he seemed to have little talent for governance. Furthermore, Hanzo had only managed to command the village in his early years by fighting his way up bit by bit. Combined with the impact and aftermath of the Second Shinobi World War, the various forces within the Land of Rain had become extraordinarily fragmented and chaotic, and their numbers were considerable. Many of those factions had been founded with malicious intentions, leaving the common people full of grievances.
Hanzo of the Salamander also turned a blind eye to this, because as long as those forces outwardly "bowed their heads" to him, he could not be bothered to manage them.
Many of those factions were connected to Amegakure's upper ranks, including quite a few of Hanzo's trusted confidants.
Thus, only the civilians suffered.
As for Akatsuki, the owner frankly admitted that he had heard of them. At the very least, the reputation passed from mouth to mouth about the organization was good.
Unlike ordinary factions, they seemed to be a group of righteous people with a strong sense of justice.
The group traveled at intervals. Because of the caravan and its cargo, their pace was rather slow, and they had been walking the entire way.
By the time they neared the border where the Land of Grass met the Land of Rain, three days had already passed.
What concerned Yue was that they had encountered shinobi from the Land of Earth—namely Iwagakure—along the way... Both sides had noticed each other. However, the Iwagakure shinobi appeared to be merely passing through. Once they realized Yue's group was neither hostile nor threatening, they disappeared.
They were clearly still within the Land of Grass, yet shinobi from another country could appear so openly. It made Yue somewhat nervous.
After all, this was not a time of peace. Out in the wilderness, on their own "territory"... when shinobi from another village suddenly appeared and it was unknown whether they were friend or foe, no one could guarantee their safety.
At first, he managed to restrain himself from asking, until they encountered another group.
This time, it was Konoha from the Land of Fire.
The shinobi uniforms and forehead protectors they wore made Yue's heart stir.
He simply did not recognize these two people... They were not characters from the original story.
But one of them had a distinctive appearance, especially the coat wrapped tightly around him and those sunglasses. Yue could not help but instinctively think of the Aburame Clan.
There were only two of them, and they also seemed to be carrying out some mission.
After noticing Yue's group, they voluntarily revealed themselves and greeted them.
They expressed their "friendliness."
Even more "inconceivably," Shishiro stepped forward and struck up a conversation with them.
After exchanging a few words, they watched the other party leave.
"Teacher... why can people from Konoha enter and leave our Land of Grass so freely?" After they left, Yue walked over to Shishiro and asked.
Normally, village shinobi guarded the borders of a country.
Yet the several main routes connecting the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire seemed completely open and virtually undefended.
The same was true on the Land of Earth's side.
If the village's strength was insufficient and it lacked manpower... Yue could understand that.
But having no defenses whatsoever seemed a little excessive.
Were they really not worried at all?
"There is diplomacy between villages as well. Simply put, this is one of Kusagakure's diplomatic policies. As long as they have documents from their village and notify the people at one of our outposts in advance, it's allowed." Shishiro thought for a moment, carefully choosing his words before explaining.
"..."
Yue was speechless.
A passage flashed through his mind.
He remembered seeing a piece of writing somewhere in his previous life that described Kusagakure's position with remarkable accuracy.
Kusagakure, Kusagakure. Since it was grass, this village developed like tender grass swaying with the wind, drifting without direction...
Of course, where there was loss, there was gain. Their excellent diplomatic tactics were the key to Kusagakure surviving while wedged between several great nations. They also allowed the village to grasp the movements of other countries early and obtain a great deal of intelligence, including ninjutsu from other villages.
Though Yue found it somewhat absurd, he understood the village's intentions.
No one wanted to show weakness to an enemy, but they had no choice.
They were in a very passive position.
Encountering Iwagakure and Konoha one after another was merely a minor interlude.
However, it also made Yue realize that the shinobi world did not seem particularly "peaceful" at present.
The following day, after submitting their documents to the shinobi of the Land of Rain along the "official road," they finally entered the Land of Rain.
Ordinary exchanges between villages like theirs would not be deliberately obstructed.
Before you continue