The fishing village was hidden behind a cluster of reefs. If not for the dark-gray tent in the camp, there would have been almost no sign that anyone was stationed there.
Shin-chan landed at the edge of the camp and swept his gaze around. Two chūnin who had stayed behind were sitting on folding stools, checking a map.
"Lord Shinnosuke." One of the chūnin stood up, clearly recognizing him as well.
"Where are Kakashi and Toru?"
"They went out." The chūnin pointed east. "Today, Kirigakure's squads are very scattered. There's movement all along the coastline. They went out to scout and haven't returned yet."
Shin-chan glanced east. "How long have they been gone?"
"They left about half an hour ago."
"Finding them is really hard." Shin-chan scratched his head.
The chūnin hesitated. "Should we send someone to—"
"No need." Shin-chan crouched down and left behind the formula of the Flying Thunder God Technique. "I'll go find them."
The chūnin nodded. Before he could even say, "Be careful on the road," the red figure had already vanished from the camp.
After entering the Land of Waves, Shin-chan's steps slowed down.
The roads in Konoha Village were dirt roads and stone-paved paths, with trees and flowers along both sides.
But this place had none of that.
The dirt road was full of pits and bumps. The mud on the surface had dried and hardened into cracked, irregular patterns. Along the roadside were piles of foul-smelling fish guts and seaweed.
The houses were built from wooden planks. Their windows had no glass and were covered with torn cloth or newspapers.
Shin-chan pressed his lips together and continued forward.
Several children were crouching by the roadside. When they saw Shin-chan walk over, they lifted their heads. There was no curiosity in their eyes, only numbness and emptiness.
Shin-chan frowned.
He thought of the children on the ninja academy's training field, chasing after him and shouting, "Pick me, senpai!" He thought of Hima chattering away at home.
The wind blew over, carrying the fishy smell of the sea and an indescribable stench of decay.
After walking a little farther, a burst of messy noise came from the alley ahead.
The muffled sound of fists hitting flesh, the sound of shoe soles kicking someone's body, and rough curses.
"You thought we wouldn't find you if you hid here?"
"This alley is under our control. If you do business here, you have to pay."
"No money? Then take a beating."
Shin-chan walked to the alley entrance and glanced inside.
Four or five men in black clothes had formed a circle. On the ground, a boy around fourteen or fifteen was curled up, his hair covered in mud and filth.
A bald man kicked him. "Still dare to do it next time?"
The boy did not speak. He only buried his face in his arms.
"Not talking, huh?" The bald man raised his foot again.
"So many people beating one person. That's not fair."
The bald man turned his head and saw a boy in a red shirt standing in front of him.
He had just been about to get angry when he suddenly saw the forehead protector on the boy's forehead.
Konoha's mark.
"N-Ninja..."
The companions behind him also saw the forehead protector. They turned and ran, their shoe soles slipping in the mud, nearly falling as they scrambled and disappeared at the end of the alley.
Only after the bald man had run several steps did he dare look back. After confirming that the red figure had not chased after him, he broke into a desperate sprint and ran far away.
The alley became quiet.
Shin-chan crouched down and looked at the boy curled up on the ground.
The boy's hair was a mess, his face smeared with mud and blood, and his clothes were covered in several patches.
"Wait a moment." Shin-chan stretched out his hand, and a faint green glow lit up in his palm.
After a while, Kaiza's breathing gradually steadied.
He stared blankly at Shin-chan. In those eyes, there was none of the condescending pity he was used to seeing, nor the superiority of someone giving charity. Shin-chan was simply staring at his wounds seriously.
Kaiza's lips moved. He wanted to say thank you, but only a hoarse syllable came from his throat.
"There." Shin-chan withdrew his chakra. "Try moving. Does it still hurt?"
Kaiza tried moving his arm. The pain had faded quite a lot. He supported himself against the ground and slowly sat up, leaning his back against the wooden wall of the alley.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Shin-chan crouched in front of him. "Do they hit you often?"
Kaiza did not speak. He only pulled his arms deeper into his sleeves.
"If you run into something like this again, don't just endure it." Shin-chan rummaged through his ninja tool pouch, took out a small bottle of hemostatic medicine, and stuffed it into his hand. "If you can run, run. If you can't run, shout."
"Even if I shout, no one will care."
Shin-chan did not speak right away. He remembered something Ai's teacher had once taught.
"A wise old man once said that if people are bullied and don't unite, they're like scattered chess pieces on a table. They'll be eaten one by one."
Shin-chan gathered a few small broken stones on the ground together. "But if they unite like this, then bad people will have a harder time making a move."
Kaiza lifted his head and looked at him. "I can't even win a fight. Who would listen to me?"
"Although I don't know what you should do either." Shin-chan stood up. "Instead of fighting a hundred times, it's better to help everyone do one thing."
Outside the alley, a few residents who had been hiding in the distance and secretly watching poked half their bodies out. Seeing that the thugs had already run off, they slowly came out.
"My name is Kaiza." The boy supported himself against the wooden wall and stood up. "What about you?"
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"You're a ninja from Konoha?" Kaiza's tone carried uncertainty.
He had seen ninja a few times. The way they looked at him was no different from how they looked at animals. The person in front of him, aside from the forehead protector, did not really seem like one no matter how he looked at him.
"Mm." Shin-chan nodded.
"I..." Kaiza's voice trembled slightly. "I don't... I don't have anything I can repay you with..."
"No need to repay me."
Kaiza froze. Then he bent down and bowed deeply.
"Lord Shinnosuke." He changed the way he addressed him. "Thank you."
"Ah, you don't need to call me lord." Shin-chan scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Just call me Shin-chan."
Kaiza straightened, his mouth moving as if he still wanted to say something.
"Alright, I'm leaving first." Shin-chan waved his hand. "My companions are still waiting for me to find them."
He turned and walked out of the alley, his red back blending into the sunlight leaking through the gaps in the clouds.
In the distance, chakra erupted, then rapidly weakened. The intervals were very short, and the frequency was high.
Someone was probably fighting.
Shin-chan sped up toward the direction of the fluctuation.
On a stretch of rocky beach, five Konoha ninja had been forced to the edge of the shore.
The Mist ninja had formed a half-encirclement.
"Your intelligence network is quite fast. Unfortunately, you sent too few people."
The Konoha ninja did not answer. They only gripped their kunai tighter.
The Kirigakure jōnin was just about to give the order to close the net when a red figure landed between the Konoha squad and the Mist ninja.
"Lord Shinnosuke?" The Konoha chūnin froze.
Among the Mist ninja, one person suddenly took half a step back.
It was the tall, thin man with both hands wrapped in bandages from before. "Captain, it's him. The Konoha ninja we ran into earlier."
"A brat this size." Kirigakure's jōnin sized Shin-chan up. "Even if he started training ninjutsu, at most he's only trained eight or nine years."
He took two steps forward and looked down at Shin-chan from above. "Scarface was useless. It's no surprise he got taken down by someone."
~~~
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