On a mountain road along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields.
The Hyuga Clan's procession stretched a long way.
More than three thousand people pushed carts and carried bundles.
The injured clan members walked with others supporting them.
They had followed the main road north for several days.
Shinichi walked at the very front.
His eldest uncle and Scar followed behind him.
After crossing the mountains, the procession entered the Land of Rice Fields.
At the head of the procession, a clansman scouting the way had his Byakugan active.
Veins bulged at the corners of his eyes as he watched for activity a kilometer or two away.
He suddenly stopped, deactivated his Byakugan, and ran back.
He ran straight up to Shinichi without stopping.
"Clan leader, a merchant caravan is being robbed by bandits at the bend in the mountain road ahead."
Shinichi stopped walking.
His eldest uncle and Scar stopped as well.
"How many bandits?"
"Twenty or thirty. There are a few wandering ninja among them, too."
Wandering ninja belonged to no ninja clan, and when they could not get missions, they sometimes became bandits.
"How is the caravan holding up?"
"They're about to go under. They're no match for the bandits."
After hearing this, Shinichi looked ahead along the mountain road.
"Scar, take five people and deal with it."
"Understood!"
Scar answered, took several branch-family ninja beside him, and rushed ahead.
As soon as they rounded the bend, the six of them charged straight into the bandits.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist targeted the chakra pathways inside the body. The bandits could not defend against it at all.
After a few palm strikes, the bandits could no longer even hold their swords and fell all over the ground, screaming.
The remaining bandits dropped the goods from the carts and fled in panic.
Seeing that things had turned against them, the wandering ninja took two steps back and began forming hand seals.
Shinichi strolled over along the mountain road.
Before they could finish their seals, he raised his right hand and pressed it forward.
An invisible repulsive force swept out.
The wandering ninja were hurled away along with the loose stones and slammed into the mountain wall, instantly losing consciousness.
The bandits had long since vanished, and the caravan had not lost a single cartload of goods.
A middle-aged man in a silk tunic emerged from behind a carriage and hurried over at a jog.
"Thank you, my lords, for saving our lives!"
As he bowed in thanks, he stole glances at the people before him.
Seeing that all their eyes were white, with veins bulging at the corners, the middle-aged man ventured:
"My lords... are you from the Hyuga Clan?"
Scar deactivated his Byakugan and pointed to Shinichi beside him.
"This is our clan leader."
The middle-aged man turned to look at Shinichi.
A boy who looked sixteen stood on the mountain road in close-fitting combat clothes, his expression calm.
The middle-aged man's eyelid twitched sharply.
He had never imagined he would encounter the Hyuga Clan's leader on a mountain road like this.
Much less had he imagined that the Hyuga Clan's leader would be so young.
He hurriedly bent at the waist, folded his hands in front of him, and bowed deeply once more.
"I'm a merchant from the Land of Fire, traveling to the Land of Rice Fields to trade. I never expected to run into bandits along the way."
"Had I not encountered you, Hyuga Clan Leader, I'm afraid I would have lost my life this time."
The middle-aged man looked at the injured guards on the ground.
There were not many people left in the caravan.
He looked at the mountain road stretching out of sight ahead, then raised a hand to wipe away his cold sweat.
"The road ahead isn't safe either."
"If I may be so bold, could our caravan travel with you lords of the Hyuga Clan?"
The middle-aged man clasped his hands in front of him and wore an ingratiating smile as he spoke, but his body was somewhat tense.
Shinichi glanced at the caravan.
The Land of Rice Fields lay just ahead. Taking a caravan along the same route was hardly any trouble.
"Follow behind us."
He withdrew his gaze, turned, and continued north.
The middle-aged man bowed repeatedly in thanks, then turned and hurriedly called for his workers to gather their things.
The scattered goods were quickly tied back onto the carts.
The injured guards were also helped onto the wagons by their companions.
Once the caravan was ready, they drove their wagons behind the Hyuga procession.
The procession of more than three thousand people headed toward the Land of Rice Fields with several merchant carts.
They followed the mountain road for a while.
The wheels rumbled dully over the loose stones.
Shinichi looked at the middle-aged man walking beside him.
"Have there always been this many bandits in the Land of Rice Fields?"
The middle-aged man reached out to steady a jolting cart shaft.
"It's embarrassing, my lord, but there's nothing to be done."
"Most of these bandits are ordinary people who lost their land, along with some local gangs."
"They have no way left to make a living, so they can only rob people on the roads."
The middle-aged man pointed toward where the wandering ninja had fallen earlier.
"The slightly larger bandit camps have wandering ninja mixed in with them, too."
Shinichi watched the mountain road ahead without replying.
Keeping pace with Shinichi, the middle-aged man continued.
"The Land of Rice Fields has no Shinobi Village of its own. There isn't even a decent ninja clan here."
"The daimyo does want to do something, but he has no one at his disposal."
"All he can do is pay to hire ninja from elsewhere to clear out the bandits."
The old horse pulling the cart snorted.
"But these bandit-clearing efforts are only a passing gust of wind."
"Every time they've just finished clearing them out, new bandits appear before long."
"They're like weeds in the fields. Cut down one crop and another grows back. You can never clear them all out."
Listening, Shinichi asked, "What about those wandering ninja? Where do they come from?"
The middle-aged man shook his head with a bitter smile.
"My lord, that actually has something to do with Konoha in the Land of Fire."
"After Konoha was founded, the wealthy nobles in the Land of Fire often hired its ninja to clear out bandits within their borders."
"The bandits and wandering ninja could no longer stay in the Land of Fire, so they had to flee to other countries."
The horse pulling the cart took a few steps forward, the axle rattling as it turned.
"The Land of Rice Fields is directly north of the Land of Fire. It's the closest."
"And with neither a Shinobi Village nor a ninja clan in the Land of Rice Fields, the wandering ninja all flock here."
The middle-aged man pointed at the mountain road ahead.
"Many of those wandering ninja ended up coming into the Land of Rice Fields."
Looking at the mountain road ahead, Shinichi understood.
Konoha had cleaned up the Land of Fire, only to push all the trouble north into the Land of Rice Fields.
The middle-aged man pulled his outer coat tighter around himself.
"Merchants like us hardly dare go to the small countries anymore."
"There are simply too many bandits and wandering ninja on the roads."
"Making a trading trip is practically the same as putting your life on the line."
Shinichi glanced at the middle-aged man beside him.
"If the roads are so dangerous, why did you still come to the Land of Rice Fields?"
The middle-aged man gave a bitter laugh and slowed his pace.
"I had no choice, Hyuga Clan Leader."
"The Land of Rice Fields was actually a good trade route to begin with."
The middle-aged man reached out and gestured around them.
"Its location is excellent. It borders other countries on every side."
"If a caravan wants to go north to the Land of Iron, it has to pass through here."
"And if you're going to the Land of Lightning, passing through here and then the Land of Hot Water is also the shortest route."
The wagon ahead jolted, and its cargo rattled.
Following the wagon, the middle-aged man continued.
"But these past two years, there have simply been too many bandits on the roads."
"Any merchant with a little money to spare would rather take a detour that adds half a month."
"No one dares come here, so there are fewer and fewer goods in the Land of Rice Fields."
"And the fewer goods there are, the higher the prices naturally rise."
He reached out and patted the sturdy wagon beside him.
"It's precisely because goods sell for so much here that the profits are high."
"I coveted those profits, so I gritted my teeth and made this trip."
"I never expected to be unlucky enough to run into bandits just after crossing the border."
The procession of more than three thousand followed the merchant carts along the mountain road for a while longer.
Looking at the deserted peaks around them, the middle-aged man let out a heavy sigh.
"If the Land of Rice Fields had its own Shinobi Village too, perhaps things wouldn't be like this."
He shook his head and murmured:
"I really wish the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields would pay to hire a group of ninja."
"They could clear out all these bandits blocking the roads and leave us merchants a way to make a living."
Shinichi said nothing, raising his head to glance at the mountains of the Land of Rice Fields ahead.
Before you continue