Naruto: IY Ch. 37

The rain kept falling, but the atmosphere was still relatively harmonious.

A blond-haired boy, sneaky and suspicious, was quietly tailing behind Kakuzu.

The two strolled through Ame.

"Yahi—no, Hokamon, this kind of infiltration mission into enemy territory should be handled by me. You're wearing someone else's face, yet you insist on coming along. Isn't this a sign you don't trust me?"

Kakuzu turned around and said a bit helplessly.

"All I did was say you couldn't sing. Setting up a stage is expensive, but that doesn't mean you should gamble your life on it."

Upon hearing that, Yahiko, disguised as Hokamon, rolled his eyes.

He was scared!

He was afraid Kakuzu might somehow start the Third Great Ninja War early.

"If setting up a stage is expensive, why not just sell concert tickets?"

Yahiko tried to encourage Kakuzu to broaden his vision.

"Tell me more about those concert tickets."

The two chatted the whole way about how to hold the concert, when to do it, how big the stage should be, and how many people it could hold.

Inside a small tavern, a member of the Haze Division came to make contact.

Without looking up, the contact asked in a low voice, "What powers every contraption underground?"

Kakuzu responded, "Redstone."

The man gave a subtle nod, then began a quiet countdown. "Three... two... one..."

In perfect unison, both of them said, "Praise the Sun."

"Ah, you really came in person, and you even brought—"

Kakuzu handed over a package wrapped like a gift, containing the next instruction from the Haze Division.

"Why bring a gift though?"

The contact smiled and accepted the gift.

Yahiko, who was behind Kakuzu, looked impressed. Not bad, Nagato might actually be good at intel work.

"Hanzō doesn't have any undercover agents among us. It's just that the Ame villagers simply can't survive anymore."

The tavern was doing great business, after all, the entire village was out of food, and this was the only place still selling drinks.

After the contact spoke, he went back to serving customers.

"Hurry up."

"Coming, coming."

Yahiko scanned the room. Business was indeed good, and the bottles behind the counter were lined up neatly and orderly.

Hold on... Ame is starving... And yet a tavern with plenty of alcohol... What the hell!

So Nagato's Haze Division had been operating right under Hanzō's nose this whole time?

And Hanzō was just pretending not to notice, playing along?

"Where do you think you're going? I'm looking for you."

Just as Yahiko was about to flee, he heard the orderly footsteps outside the tavern and his face darkened.

"From the sound of it, Hanzō is looking for someone?"

Pong~

The tavern door was opened.

A drenched Hanzō walked in with several Ame ninjas, smiling.

They headed straight for Yahiko.

Yahiko: "..."

"You've got the wrong guy. I'm Hokamon, brother of Minato from Konoha."

"Hehehe."

Hanzō patted Yahiko on the shoulder, raised his eyebrows at him with a teasing expression.

---

"Yahiko, this is your father's tombstone."

What the heck, I have a father? No, even if I did have a father, how the hell did you manage to find his tombstone so easily?

In front of a tombstone marked "Father of Yahiko - Unknown Name," Hanzō asked Yahiko to kneel.

Isn't this thing brand new? Kneel to what? Ridiculous!

Seeing Yahiko's refusal, Hanzō frowned slightly. But he couldn't force it, so he brought Yathe boy to another place.

A few gray, sagging roof tiles tilted under the rain, with dirty water continuously dripping from the gaps.

Rotten beams, mud walls with peeling paint, and rainwater winding its way through the cracks.

Every house in sight was like this.

Inside the houses, from time to time, sobs of families could be heard. Just recently, someone else had starved to death.

In the shinobi world now, that had become normal.

Hanzō had brought Yahiko, now released from his Transformation Jutsu, to the poorest district of Ame.

It was just the two of them.

"Look, the Land of Rain is crying."

He looked up to the sky, unable to tell if it was tears or just the rain.

"Oh," Yahiko responded flatly.

Hanzō glanced at him, his mouth twitching under his mask.

"Why aren't you reacting at all?"

I brought you all the way here and you don't have anything to say?

"React? Should I cry for you or something? Take a guess, where do you think I lived as a kid?"

Yahiko feigned confusion, his eyelashes fluttering rapidly.

"The way you talk is really irritating."

Before the Second Great Ninja War, every child in Ame idolized him. After the war, he was treated like literal garbage on the side of the road.

"These people suffer... That's the sorrow of us small nations."

"You're really something," Yahiko said, seeing that Hanzō wouldn't let him go without showing some emotion, despite being a grown man, he was acting like a child.

But Hanzō didn't take offense. He said casually, "Come out."

Though his voice was soft, it rang loud and clear for all nearby households.

People started coming out of their houses, timidly looking at Yahiko. Some peeked through their windows.

Normally, with Yahiko's influence at this point, anywhere else he'd go, people would immediately recognize him.

But not in Ame.

All he could see in their eyes was fear. The fear of ordinary people in front of someone powerful.

If these were citizens of Yoake, at most they'd just glance at him twice. They'd never show this kind of terrified expression.

Yoake was still short on manpower for infrastructure projects.

"Fine, taking a few more people back won't be a problem."

Yahiko was planning to gradually expand Yoake, turn it into a place full of thriving commerce and joyful people.

"Should I have chosen you as my successor? I regret not meeting you earlier," Hanzō suddenly said, watching Yahiko's every move, calculating quietly.

This version of Hanzō, not yet at the twilight of his life, still had the bearing of a warlord. Born of hardship, he rose in chaos. After his glory days, he fell into corruption following one defeat.

Yahiko thought he resembled those fallen warlords from history.

Such a mess, he had no interest in inheriting it.

But bringing a few people out, giving back to his hometown, and easing the suffering of Ame was doable.

Last time he came to the Land of Rain, he had to sneak in. But this time, he had gotten a little cocky.

He made a makeshift loudspeaker and stood right in the street, yelling, "Laborers! We're recruiting laborers! Yoake has the best benefits, really, tremendous benefits! Nobody has benefits like Yoake, believe me. Absolutely fantastic. You're gonna love it. People are talking, they've never seen benefits this good!"

"If you're strong, great! You can help us build our homeland. We need strong people. The best!"

"If you're clever, skillful, fantastic! Join Prosperous Health Tech. We're doing amazing things in manufacturing. Cutting-edge stuff. Very smart people there."

"And if you're neither? Don't worry about it, really! We farm too. No brainpower needed. Easiest job you'll ever do. No one's gonna insult you. Even if you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, and hey, we've all met people like that, no one here will call you useless. You'll never be worthless. So relax. We've got a place for everyone."

Through their windows, people stared blankly at Yahiko, who stood tall and proud in the street.

Free food and housing, just that alone could get them out of this damp hell.

Some of them were already deeply moved.

And on top of that, 3,000 ryō in wages?

There was no formal agreement with Hanzō. These people were recruited by Yahiko himself, so there was no need to provide Hanzō with any additional rations or supplies.

But the villagers were skeptical.

What if it was a scam?

"Dad, I'm hungry."

A skeletal little girl weakly tugged her father's bony hand.

The father hesitated.

Could something this good really be happening to him?

He wasn't alone, many others were thinking the same thing.

What if they're trying to scam us for our organs?

Rumor had it that nobles often hired medical-nin to harvest fresh organs.

The villagers fell into a state of conflicted hesitation.

"Fellow villagers... I'm sorry I came back so late."

Seeing their suspicion, Yahiko dropped the megaphone, and actually began to sob.

"Wuuuuhhh... it's my fault! Why didn't anyone come tell me... that you were all living in such deep misery?!"

With a heavy, stifling feeling in his chest, he pounded his fists against it, pong~ pong~

In the end, he cried so hard from guilt that he fainted on the spot.

Hanzō had originally planned to extort Yahiko for something... but now?

He wouldn't.

His reputation in the village was already dropping by the day.

Yahiko… this guy is completely over the top, and utterly shameless. But you've gotta admit, he's got guts.

How the hell did someone like that come from Ame?

I regret everything!