A few days later, after months away, Yubi finally returned to Sunagakure.
Looking at the village nestled among rocks and sand before him, he felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Sunagakure's buildings were completely different from Konoha's, with a distinctive character... all of this was the result of the Second Kazekage Shamon's renovations, tailored to the Land of Wind's unique environment and Sunagakure's geographical location.
Wooden structures like those in Konoha were rarely seen in Sunagakure. Most houses here were domed homes or multistory buildings cast from sand and stone, and at a glance, many of the roofs were oval.
Some rough stone slabs paved the streets, but most were sandy dirt roads.
In terms of prosperity, it certainly could not compare to Konoha.
Fortunately, it covered a sizable area as well... but because of this Shinobi World War, the village's personnel had all been urgently deployed on missions.
Casualties had also been heavy.
As a result, people were few and far between on the streets... making them seem somewhat desolate.
"Things have already come to this... and they still want to keep fighting...?"
Walking down the street, Yubi looked at the shops on either side, their entrances deserted and business seemingly slow, and sighed inwardly.
There was no way the village leadership had failed to realize that this Shinobi World War had already exhausted the village's reserves of fighting strength and severely affected its trade and economy.
Even so, they insisted on settling who was superior between them and Konoha.
Utter stupidity.
The leadership's decisions were dragging the entire village's future down with them.
The Land of Rain's circumstances were rather unique. Hanzō had no choice but to fight, striking once to prevent a hundred blows from coming his way... fighting desperately to expand his territory. Put plainly, someone with nothing had nothing to lose... but Sunagakure had considerable holdings and simply could not charge ahead mindlessly.
Besides, though Hanzō seemed reckless and overbearing, as a formidable figure in the Shinobi World, he was actually very shrewd. Once he saw that they had fought enough... and had no hope of winning, Amegakure simply pulled out.
Only Sunagakure remained locked in fierce combat with Konoha.
If this went on... even its foundations would be ruined.
But Yubi was still only a lowly Genin. Although he knew Sunagakure's future fate, he had no way to change it for now.
"Yubi... you're back."
A shopkeeper spotted Yubi and greeted him warmly.
The shop sold bean cakes... back at the Ninja Academy, Yubi and the others often stopped by after school.
"Yeah."
Yubi smiled and nodded.
This shopkeeper was probably one of the few people he had encountered along the way whose expression was still fairly cheerful.
He was only a civilian, after all, with no ninja in his family.
Most people... had a hint of gloom and repression in their expressions.
Afterward, Yubi first turned in his mission and collected his pay.
The mission he had accepted was originally C-rank, but because Amegakure had suddenly launched a large-scale offensive... its rank had been raised to B.
The surprise attack mission he had subsequently carried out with Arai and Sasori was A-rank.
Although Arai had assigned that mission on his own, the village had recognized it as well.
Thus, Yubi became the village's second Genin of his age to successfully complete an A-rank mission, after Sasori.
And judging from the pay he received, it was clear that Sunagakure had already fallen into financial difficulty.
A normal C-rank mission paid between thirty thousand and one hundred thousand ryō.
That was the standard for the major ninja villages. The exact amount depended on the mission's difficulty... in any case, that was the total, and if someone completed it alone, it was all theirs.
If more people participated, it was divided equally.
Yubi and the others had accepted a team mission as a group of three. Even though he had survived and completed it, he still only received one-third.
The two missions he had now completed were B-rank and A-rank, respectively.
B-rank missions paid between eighty thousand and two hundred thousand ryō.
A-rank missions paid between one hundred fifty thousand and one million ryō.
His patrol mission had been a team mission. His one-third share amounted to only twenty thousand ryō.
Multiplied by three, that did not even reach the minimum pay for a B-rank mission.
The A-rank mission had also been completed by three people, with forty thousand each.
In other words, Yubi had earned sixty thousand in total from the two missions, B-rank and A-rank combined.
Regardless of their difficulty, both were paid at the minimum rate, and did not even meet that...
Clearly, the village had little money left.
Still, sixty thousand ryō was obviously a huge sum to him.
As a war orphan whose parents had both been ninja who sacrificed their lives for the village, Yubi could collect a monthly allowance from the village. It was not much, but enough to live on.
At this world's normal spending levels, around three hundred ryō was enough for a child to enjoy an entire shopping street.
But by a ninja's spending standards and mindset... there was no telling how much money one might spend.
Ninja tools and training resources alone were an enormous expense, such as food pills, Explosive Tags, and Kunai.
Although the village allocated basic supplies to every ninja, that little amount was nowhere near enough on the battlefield... for ordinary ninja, surviving the battlefield certainly meant preparing extra supplies privately, at their own expense.
Moreover, ninja tools and war supplies were undoubtedly this world's most expensive "luxuries," all with steep prices.
Yubi had been saving ever since his parents died, and after several years, he had only saved a little over ten thousand.
Now, a single mission had earned all that back... which showed how quickly ninja could make money.
But they spent as much as they earned.
Besides, to some truly powerful individuals, a few tens of thousands of ryō... hardly even counted as money. It was pocket change.
Only a newcomer like Yubi considered it a fortune.
Right after turning in his missions, Yubi followed Arai toward the village's most conspicuous sandstone building.
That... was where the Third Kazekage worked.
Sasori did not go with them. After turning in his mission, he accepted another one on the spot and then left the village.
He seemed... unwilling to go home.
Seeing this, Yubi said nothing.
Soon, Arai led Yubi past the guards and into the building.
He knocked on the Kazekage's office door.
"Come in."
A familiar voice came from inside.
Arai and Yubi pushed the door open and entered one after the other.
As soon as he stepped inside, Yubi discovered that other village leaders were present besides the Third Kazekage.
Granny Chiyo and Ebizo were both there, along with two unfamiliar faces.
Judging by their attire, however, they were undoubtedly important figures in the village as well.
They all wore the Land of Wind's distinctive long robes, which protected against wind and sand.
"Sasori... he left."
After greeting the dignitaries, Arai glanced at Granny Chiyo and spoke.
At his words, Chiyo's eyes dimmed.
"Is this the child you mentioned...?"
Everyone's attention focused on Arai, with someone studying him curiously.
"It's been a few months... you've changed quite a bit." The Third Kazekage still wore his usual serious expression, but facing Yubi, he offered a rare smile.
"Although he didn't complete it alone, being able to participate in an A-rank mission at such a young age, and receiving such high praise from Arai... speaks to this child's talent," Granny Chiyo praised him as well.
With so many important figures present, Yubi did not appear flustered in the slightest, merely smiling at their praise.
He knew very well why Arai had brought him to see the Kazekage.
"All right..."
The Kazekage looked over. "Yubi, demonstrate that ninjutsu you created... let us see it."
"And tell us about your thinking and inspiration when creating this ninjutsu... especially the hand seals you use when mobilizing and directing your chakra."
"Creating your own ninjutsu is no simple matter... having an idea is good, but working out the details and executing it, coordinating chakra and hand seals, is extremely difficult."
"In particular, you need considerable mastery of hand seals... different seals have different effects. They must suit your ninjutsu, coordinate with your chakra control and release, and then form a complete system. Frankly, this hardly seems like something a Genin could accomplish... even I would struggle to create an A-rank ninjutsu in a short time... when Arai sent me word, I found it unbelievable."
"Do you know... what this ability of yours means?"
Here it comes!
Yubi stirred inwardly, but his expression remained composed as he grinned. "Actually, there were some difficult parts along the way... but I think, overall, it was fairly simple."
As he spoke, he took the piano wire from his waist pouch.
His words made everyone present twitch an eyelid.
Simple?
Did this brat know what he was saying?
To create a ninjutsu, one had to possess an incredibly thorough understanding of the essence of ninjutsu. This did not refer to any single ninjutsu, but to the principles behind all nature transformation techniques.
It required vast reserves of knowledge and experience.
The most representative person with such expertise was Konoha's Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," who was proficient in numerous nature transformation techniques.
But Yubi was a medical ninja who had only learned things like the Basic Three Body Techniques at the Ninja Academy... even if his parents had left him a few ninjutsu scrolls before their deaths or cultivated some skills in him, it should not have reached this extent.
Yubi's parents had both only been Chunin.
If Yubi had previously encountered Medical Ninjutsu such as the Mystical Palm Technique during his hospital internship and learned it through scattered pointers from others... in the eyes of the Third Kazekage and the others, that could be attributed to exceptional talent.
But creating his own ninjutsu... was truly a little monstrous.
It completely defied common sense.
The problem was... he was only a Genin, not even ten years old.