Mukai was about to answer when Pakura, sheltering from the rain beneath a nearby tree, suddenly spoke up:
"Hey, do you like talking in the rain that much?
Little Mukai, keeping the rain off you is using up your teacher's Chakra,
and if you wait much longer, your little girlfriend will get soaked!"
Mukai looked up at the Extremely Steaming Murder fireball, which had shrunk considerably,
and said, a little embarrassed:
"My fault, my fault. Konan, is there a village nearby?"
Konan nodded cutely.
"Yes, we just escaped from Moon Sake Town.
It's not far from the border, and it's famous for brewing sake.
Let's go there and get out of the rain!"
Mukai nodded, and naturally, neither Sasori nor Pakura objected.
The group hurried to the somewhat desolate town and found an empty house to stay in for the time being.
With the Scorch Release user Pakura there, it took only a few small fireballs to dry out the house and the clothes they were wearing.
"Yahiko, tell us about the town!"
Konan was in charge of the trio's food, and without a storage scroll, she had always carried it on her person.
Everyone else was in the house listening to Yahiko explain the situation in Moon Sake Town.
Only she had made use of what was available to build a crude stove in a corner of the house.
Konan was about to look for a flint when a flame suddenly appeared among the firewood.
Not only did it quickly dry the wood, but as the flames licked at it, the fire began to blaze.
Konan looked up and saw that the one who had helped her start the fire was the older girl with the smoking-hot figure.
Pakura stood with her arms folded, leaning against the wall and studying Konan.
Seeing how ill at ease Konan looked, Pakura smiled faintly.
"May I call you Konan? I often hear that brat mention you.
I'm Mukai's teacher. He was afraid you'd be shy, so he asked me to bring you some things for him."
"Oh? Of course, you can just call me Konan.
Things from Mukai?"
Pakura nodded, and as Yahiko's loud explanation carried over from the next room, she took out a storage scroll.
"Release!"
As the seal came undone, a pile of food appeared before Konan, including rice and three-color dango.
Of course, there was also the liangpi Mukai was most proud of.
Pakura pushed the bowl of liangpi in front of Konan, then set down the storage scroll and a pair of exquisite gloves.
Seeing that Konan was still about to refuse, Pakura spoke up.
"Try it. It's a dish your little boyfriend made especially for you, called liangpi.
He prepared this storage scroll, the Chakra Metal gloves, and these supplies especially for you.
There are no strings attached, so you don't need to worry about whether the cooperation works out.
Go on, take them!
That brat seems so carefree, but I didn't expect him to be so thoughtful."
Konan wiped her eyes, picked up the bowl of noodle-like liangpi, and tried some.
The texture was unlike anything she had ever tasted, and it made her pause.
The three of them had been wandering from place to place in the Land of Rain, and they were lucky enough just to have anything to eat.
When had they ever eaten anything so delicious?
After taking a bite, Konan suddenly said:
"This is so delicious. Can I share some with Yahiko and Nagato?"
Pakura pointed to the pile of supplies.
"Your little boyfriend already thought of that. He really does know you.
Go ahead and eat. There are two more portions in the food box over there. They can have them when they're done talking.
My, my, I'm getting a little jealous for some reason. What should I do?"
Teased by Pakura, who was like an elder to her, Konan merely smiled.
She simply buried herself in her food, seemingly already used to being called Mukai's little girlfriend.
Pakura waited until Konan had finished the liangpi before explaining the pair of gloves Mukai had specially made.
Meanwhile, Mukai had also heard Yahiko explain the situation in the town.
As a border town, Moon Sake Town had likewise suffered the ravages of war.
The town's main trade was brewing sake, using water from Moon Spring, its brewing techniques, and locally grown rice to produce sake for sale.
In this weeping country, war and poverty drove many ordinary people to numb themselves with alcohol.
The sake business was surprisingly good here.
Originally, the business had allowed the ordinary people here to scrape by.
Under the control of wandering ninja like Kurosawa Kazuo, the villagers had all been reduced to their slaves.
Not only did they get none of the proceeds from brewing sake, but even their limited grain and clean drinking water were controlled by these wandering ninja.
Mukai suddenly spoke up.
"These wandering ninja took control of the town, and the nobles and daimyō of the Land of Rain didn't react?"
Yahiko shook his head in distress.
"Since the Second Shinobi World War began, the daimyō of the Land of Rain has been a puppet,
and the entire Land of Rain has been under the rule of the Amegakure leader known as a demigod.
To gain the support of the local nobles, Leader Hanzō has given them a very free hand.
During the war, those nobles took advantage of the chaos to make a fortune reselling grain.
The ordinary people of the Land of Rain were the ones who suffered. Because of war and famine, who knows how many starved to death.
War has created a great many bandits and wandering ninja in this land.
The nobles do nothing, and Amegakure's leader Hanzō pulled his forces back after the Second Shinobi World War,
leaving these places in a state of anarchy year-round.
So it's no surprise that these bandits and wandering ninja seize villages and towns and do as they please."
Sasori had no interest in any of this and was off to the side maintaining his Mountain God Mecha,
while Mukai thoughtfully stroked his chin and studied the map before him.
The Land of Rain was sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire and had always served as a buffer between them.
During the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzō, relying on his own formidable strength, had wanted to challenge the standing of the Five Great Nations
and make his country a new great nation.
Only after the war drew in the other great nations did Hanzō realize the plight he faced as the leader of a small nation.
He lacked the resources for war.
Nor did he possess Hashirama Senju's absolute strength, enough to dominate the Shinobi World single-handedly.
The outcome was naturally a miserable one.
If the other great nations had not fallen to fighting among themselves, the Land of Rain might well have been wiped out.
Sunagakure and Konoha had used the Land of Rain as their battlefield,
and Hanzō, the man called a demigod, had been forced to let them, a clear sign of his predicament.
After the war, power was reshuffled, and Hanzō, his ambition broken, went straight to the other extreme,
withdrawing into the safe shell of Amegakure and leaving the country to descend into chaos.
What made Mukai pause for thought was how familiar Hanzō's story seemed.
Wasn't this Liu Biao's story in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
He held a strategic stronghold, but was only capable of holding what he had, and ultimately played an excellent hand terribly!
Still, Mukai quite liked having a neighbor like that.
Moon Sake Town, as it stood now, was an opportunity for him to develop.
Having thought it through, Mukai tapped Moon Sake Town's location on the map and spoke.
"In that case, Yahiko, how about moving your Akatsuki to Moon Sake Town?
I'll support you with banknotes, food, and other things, and help you with this ruined town,
so the people here can find a way to survive. What do you say?"
Yahiko said warily:
"Are you representing Sunagakure and trying to take over the town?"
"No. I'm just a lowly Genin from Sunagakure. I can't represent anyone.
Just like your Akatsuki, you want to find a way forward for this weeping country.
And I want to find a path to true peace for the entire Shinobi World, together with my companions."