Chapter 238 The Land of Weeping Rain

Konishi Kakuei led a few people to walk on the muddy road, taking one step deep and one step shallow, and taking out the waterproof map from the ninja bag from time to time to look at it. It was not that he was unwilling to move forward quickly, but to carefully explore the road conditions to facilitate the passage of the subsequent convoy.

"Look, sir!" Sakata reminded, pointing at the bushes ahead.

Konishi Kakuei walked quickly forward and saw four bodies lying on their backs in the grass. Their clothes were still neatly dressed, but they were all staring at the gray sky with wide eyes.

"Two adults and two children, most likely a family of four. Judging from the degree of decomposition of the bodies, they must have died no more than three days ago. There are no wounds on the bodies, and they obviously starved to death." Sakata came to his conclusion after bending over the bodies and examining them for a moment.

Several people were silent. They had never lacked food and drink since they were young, and the supply of materials in Konoha Village was sufficient. This kind of human tragedy was simply a fantasy.

"It's too tragic. We've been fighting in the Land of Grass for two and a half years and not many people have starved to death. It's hard to imagine how miserable their lives were before." A young Hyuga ninja said with a look of pity on his face.

"The Grass Country has a mild climate and abundant resources, which is certainly not comparable to a hellhole like the Rain Country. Judging from the direction they were heading, they obviously wanted to leave the Rain Country, but they starved to death due to lack of food." Konishi Kakuei said with a sullen face. He has not had a good face since entering the Rain Country.

"You guys dig a hole and bury them. This is the only thing we can do right now."

After the few people finished burying the bodies, they continued on their way with heavy hearts. Gradually, there were more and more corpses on the roadside. Most of them were curled up in the mud and water, and their deaths were extremely miserable.

"Move them to the grass beside the road, and there's no need to dig holes. It will be fine as long as it doesn't affect the passage of subsequent convoys."

I've seen a lot of dead people, but I've rarely seen people starving to death. It's hard to imagine that in a territory not far from the Land of Fire, there are people starving to death everywhere.

The hearts of several people had become numb. They moved their bodies mechanically and threw the corpses into the grass.

It was not until night fell that a few people arrived outside the lighted village. Before they could breathe a sigh of relief and move forward, a feather arrow pierced through the rain and fell at their feet.

"Crash!"

In an instant, the Konoha ninjas entered combat status, all kinds of weapons were drawn out, and one anxious guy even made hand seals, ready to release fire ninjutsu.

"Wait a minute!" Konishi Kakuei calmly interrupted the group, "The other party has no ill intentions, all of you put away your weapons and avoid unnecessary fighting."

A dozen torches lit up from the low wooden fence of the village. Although the other party's face could not be seen clearly, the voice still came through the rain curtain: "Stop! Yuxiong Village does not welcome you. If you go any further, we will launch a real attack!"

"Release tracer bullets to let them see our clothes clearly!" ordered Konishi Kakuei.

Sakata took out a tracer bullet and fired it at the sky where the few people were. The dazzling light dispelled the darkness in the small area. The few people took off their Konoha standard raincoats, revealing the green ninja vests they were wearing underneath.

"We are ninjas from the Konoha Village. We are here on official business under the orders of the Hokage. It's raining too hard outside. Can you let us go in to take shelter and rest?" Konishi Kakuei asked loudly.

There was a small commotion among the torches, and a moment later another voice was heard: "Dear guests of Konoha, the world is not peaceful recently. I'm afraid we can't let you enter the village to rest. Please go back!"

The Hyuga clan ninja was indignant, feeling that his status had been insulted. He really looked down upon the other party's meager strength: "Sir, let's just charge in. They can't stop us!"

Konishi Kakuei rubbed his face tiredly, ignoring the Hyuga ninja, and continued loudly: "We don't have any bad intentions! We are here to help you!"

"It's raining too hard outside, can you let us in and talk slowly? This is the land of the Fire Nation, there is no reason to shut our own people out."

After a cup of tea, an old voice sounded: "Everyone from Konoha, please come in! The young people in the village were rude just now, please forgive me!"

Konishi Kakuei breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Put away your weapons, and restrain your murderous aura. Remember, you can't drink a single sip of their water!"

Several people nodded and slowly walked into the village. As soon as they entered, a white-haired old man came up to them with a smile on his face. He kept bowing and apologizing: "I'm sorry, sirs. The security in the village has been very poor recently. It's inevitable that young people lose their manners. I apologize here."

Konishi Kakuei smiled, helped the man up and said, "No, it was our sudden visit at night."

"My lords, please come in. Yutian, go and inform them to bring out the best food to entertain the ninja lords."

"No need, we'll just sit for a while and then leave. Sorry for disturbing you." Konishi Kakuei waved his hand and said.

A group of dozens of people walked forward and soon came to a brick house. Dozens of people had already gathered there, looking at them with curious eyes.

"I'm sorry, ninjas, the conditions in Yuxiong Village are simple. Please come in. Tea is ready." The old man invited.

"excuse me."

Konishi Kakuei apologized and stepped into the room first. He found that there were many tablets in the room, so he quickly stepped out and said, "How can the resting place of your ancestors be disturbed by outsiders? Let's talk somewhere else."

"This..." The old man said in embarrassment: "There is no other place to receive guests in the village. Please come in, you adults. Why are you so picky when you can't even afford a meal?"

"..."

"Put all your weapons outside the house to avoid disturbing the spirits of our ancestors." Konishi Kakuei gave the order after a moment's hesitation.

They are just some ordinary people without chakra. As elite ninjas of Konoha, they are naturally not afraid. Moreover, as long as their hands are still there, it will not be a big problem for the ninja to lose their weapons.

So, several people entered the room unarmed, which was the only brick house in Yuxiong Village - the ancestral hall.

Facing someone else's tablet, which was quite strange, Konishi Kakuei suppressed his discomfort and smiled before saying anything: "The old man looks quite old, but he is still full of energy. I think he is a blessed person."

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "It's just that I have lived a few more years. There are no truly blessed people in the Rain Country."

"Since you have come from afar, we should have decorated the village with lanterns and flowers to welcome you, but due to the hardship in the village, we can only provide some simple food. Please forgive us."

Several villagers put food on the table. Konishi Kakuei looked closely and saw that it was really simple food: a few bowls of yellow brown rice, a black pickled vegetable lump, and a fish cut into several pieces. There was nothing else. Konishi Kakuei felt complicated. If he was not dazzled, the fish that looked unappetizing was placed in front of the tablet a few minutes ago...

"Is this what you usually eat?" the young ninja from the Hyuga clan couldn't help but ask.

To be frank, the Hyuga clan dogs eat better than this...

The old man waved his hands and said, "How can we eat rice every meal? Drinking some porridge on weekdays is considered good. Many villagers can't even afford bran."

"..."

Konishi Kakuei sighed and said, "The people of the New Rain Country are suffering! This is also the purpose of our coming here. Even if outsiders do not understand the policies of the Hokage, we who have seen it with our own eyes cannot say a word against it!"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he asked hurriedly, "What are you doing here?"

Just as Konishi Kakuei was about to answer, he saw a few skinny children staring at the food on the table. His heart softened and he stood up and handed the brown rice to them.

Several children swallowed their saliva frantically but did not dare to take it. Instead, they looked at the old man. After getting his approval, they cheered, took the rice with their hands and stuffed it into their mouths.

The old man apologized with tears in his eyes: "Excuse me, gentlemen. The food storage in the village is insufficient, and many children have not eaten rice for a long time. It is inevitable that I have lost my manners."

"Nothing." Konishi Kakuei shook his head and said, "The people of the New Rain Country have a hard time, and we, the Konoha ninjas, cannot escape the blame. Don't worry, the Hokage has already ordered that a large amount of supplies will be delivered soon."

"Is this true?"

"Of course I dare not tell a lie. In fact, we came here at night just to ask for help." Konishi Kakuei said solemnly.

"Our transport convoy is in big trouble. We are stuck in a dilemma due to the muddy road. I hope you can help us."

The old man stood up suddenly and said excitedly: "What do you mean by help or not? If the Hokage hadn't exempted this year's taxes, the whole village would have starved to death!"

As he spoke, the old man pulled up the middle-aged man sitting next to him and shouted, "Didn't you hear what Master Ninja said? Tell everyone in the village who can move to pack their stuff and set off now!"

Konishi Kakuei waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. What tools do you usually use for transportation? Just tell us and we will do the rest."

This time, without waiting for the old man to speak, the middle-aged man ran out and soon pulled a piece of wood into the house.

The old man smiled and said, "Please look, sir. This is our means of transportation."

Konishi Kakuei stood up, walked to the wooden board and examined it carefully. After a moment, he asked, "Just the wooden board?"

"Yes! The Rain Country is different from other countries. The continuous rain all year round makes the roads as soft as tofu. Not to mention a caravan, people will often sink into the water when they step on it, so we use wooden boards for transportation." The old man nodded.

Often the solution to a problem is very simple, so simple that you can get it with just a little thought, but sometimes the person involved is confused and cannot figure it out for a while.

"This is quite similar to the sleds in the Snow Country. They also use wooden boards for transportation." Konishi Kakuei pondered.

The old man was confused: "Where is the Snow Country? Is there such a country?"

"The Snow Country is located in the far north. It snows there all year round, so it is called the Snow Country."

"Then they must be very poor. No crops can grow when it snows." The old man said with finality.

Konishi Kakuei didn't answer. In fact, the Snow Country is very rich. Although they don't produce food, they have a huge iron mine, which is enough to feed them for hundreds of years. They are so rich that they just sit back and collect money. They are not comparable to the rain country, which is a remote place.

"Can you give me the plank? Of course I'll give you something in exchange."

The old man smiled and said, "If you need it, just take it away. It's just a piece of wood. It's not worth anything at all."

"That won't do," Konishi Kakuei said seriously, "Before I came here, the Hokage repeatedly reminded me to pay attention to discipline. We are not allowed to use items that do not belong to us without reason. Even if we want to use them, we have to pay for them."

"How about this, I'll exchange it with food, and you guys shouldn't refuse."

As he spoke, Konishi Kakuei stretched out his hand to take out the dry food, but was held down by the old man: "Ninja-sama, please don't do this. Our village can have a good new year this year thanks to the kindness of Hokage-sama. If I take your things, my ancestors will scold me to death."

"Hokage-sama is really a living Bodhisattva. He not only exempted us from taxes, but also exempted us from labor service. Otherwise, the village would be destroyed."

"Master Ninja, you must have seen the tragic situation along the way. The Rain Country is miserable!" The old man wiped his tears and said, "There are people starving to death everywhere. The sky of this country has been dark for too long."

The proverb "a country of snow is happy, a country of rain is weeping" speaks to the truth, and Konishi Kakuei experienced it well.

"The village-based ninjas sent by the Hokage should have arrived. Why are there so many people starving to death on the road? Are they just doing their job perfunctorily?" Konishi Kakuei asked calmly. Once he heard a positive answer, he wouldn't mind playing the role of the Uchiha law enforcement team.

"Your Excellency doesn't know," the old man wiped his tears and said, "Those who starved to death all came from the western region. The Wind Country occupied that place, and they lost their land. What else can they do but leave their homes? As for the resident ninjas in the village, they are naturally doing their best."

"Then why aren't there any resident ninjas in Yuxiong Village?"

"Yuxiong Village has a population of only over 300 people, which does not meet the requirements for a village resident. Based on this, the nearest ninja master is in Yuying Village, 10 kilometers to the east, and he often comes to help on weekdays."

Xiao Xijiaorong understood, looked at the clock and said, "It's getting late. We need to go back and prepare for transportation. I'll take the planks with me. You can take these foods and use them to nourish the children."

The old man refused to accept them, and the two pushed each other back and forth. Finally, the middle-aged man said, "Village chief, we have plenty of strength, why don't you let us help the ninja master? No reward is required, just a meal a day will be fine."

The old man paused, looked at Konishi Kakuei with hope, and said pleadingly: "There is not much food left in the village, can we let the young men go out to beg for food?"

Konishi Kakuei originally wanted to refuse, but when he looked back and saw dozens of people standing outside in the rain, all with longing in their eyes, he couldn't help but soften his heart.

"Of course, we can, but only 30 people at most. If there are more, we will have no food."

"Moreover, we only get two meals of rice a day, no other food."

The room outside the house suddenly became bustling with activity. When everyone heard that there was rice to eat, their eyes lit up green, as they had been hungry for a long time.

"Oh my god! I'm only twenty years old, I have plenty of energy~"

"Get lost! How can you have the strength when your hair is barely fully grown? I once carried a sedan chair for the daimyo!"

Konishi Kakuei felt a headache after hearing this and felt the temptation of food for the first time.