Chapter 62 The so-called ninja

"Who are you and why are you in my house?!"

Suddenly, a young man in his twenties rushed in and pulled Haneda away from the old lady.

"Xiao Feng, you're back!!" the old lady said excitedly.

"Mom, why are you talking about village affairs with outsiders again?"

The young man named Xiao Feng looked at Haneda with hostility.

"I am a traveler and writer from the Land of Fire. I traveled to the Land of Waves to study the local customs and myths."

Haneda ignored Xiao Feng's rude behavior, and introduced himself with a smile on his face.

"From the Fire Nation?"

The hostility in Xiao Feng's eyes was even stronger. If his mother had not been right next to him, he might have already started fighting.

"The Land of Waves does not welcome people from the Land of Fire!"

"Is it because of the Yamano family?" Haneda said in a deep voice.

"You know this?"

"You must have misunderstood me, sir. I am just a civilian of the Fire Nation like you."

When Haneda said the word "commoner", the hostility in Xiaofeng's eyes disappeared a lot.

At this time, the old lady interrupted and tried to change the subject.

"Xiao Feng, why did you come back this time? Didn't you say you wouldn't go home again?"

Hearing this, Xiao Feng hesitated for a moment.

He glanced at his mother and then at Haneda beside him.

Suddenly, a red light flashed, and Xiao Feng looked at Haneda with much closer eyes, and it was obvious that she trusted Haneda.

He took the old lady's hand and said:

"Mom, I'm coming home this time to bring a better life to the village!"

"You don't know, I joined the rebel army. There are already hundreds of official members in the organization, and they can mobilize thousands of people at any time."

"This time I returned to the village to complete the organization's mission and raise funds to issue missions to the ninjas of the Water Country to kill Yamano Sakata and the others!"

"As long as Sakata dies, people living on the coast will be able to go fishing, do business, and transport food here. Food prices will also drop, and we can live a better life!!"

"Like Uncle Suzuki next door, he no longer has to farm during the farming season, and works in the city during his free time."

"People like Uncle Takeuchi at the north gate of the village can also buy some meat to try during the New Year holidays."

“Everyone in the village will be better off.”

Suddenly, Xiao Feng looked at Haneda and said eagerly:

"How about it, sir, do you want to donate some too?"

"..."

Haneda was silent. Donating money to hire someone to kill him?

According to his current investigation, the greatest evil is Sakata's power, the employer of their Team 9.

In the end, Haneda still gave a little.

300 taels, almost the price of five meals of Ichiraku ramen.

…………

After leaving the village, Haneda stood on a high place and looked out over the village nestled in the fields.

He watched an ordinary young man named Xiao Feng, who went from house to house to publicize the uprising and raise funds.

Suddenly, he remembered what the old lady had just said.

“We are like straw in the field. We will fall down when the wind blows, or even when there is no wind.”

“So we must fight, grow wildly, and take root in the fields.”

The wind blew gently, and the black hair fluttered in the wind.

Haneda thought of ninjas like Asuma and Hong who had just graduated from the Ninja School. Killing a dozen ordinary people only required them to overcome their psychological fear.

For a jonin like him, it is only a matter of time to massacre a village or even destroy a country.

“Is this struggle meaningful?”

"The struggle that is doomed to fall when the wind blows..."

Haneda muttered to himself.

He tried to step out of Konoha's standpoint and his identity as a ninja and look at the situation in the Land of Waves from an outsider's perspective.

"Sakata's family controlled all the major transportation routes in the country, controlled food prices, controlled people's lives, and even controlled life and death."

“They can abuse people at will, plunder people’s wealth, and forcibly take away the remaining money of others in a monopolistic manner.”

"The lower class people try their best to barely make a living..."

"In order to maintain their extravagance, the upper class still wants to squeeze out the last bit of surplus value from the lower class."

"Class antagonism has already taken shape, and the tide of the times is rolling forward."

"According to normal development, the solidified old society will be overthrown by the will of the people..."

Haneda canceled his transformation technique, took off the forehead protector, and looked at it in his palm.

"But there are ninjas in this world who only care about money and stance."

"Behind Sakata is the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Konoha is bound to the Daimyo and there is no way they will just sit back and watch Sakata do nothing."

"The rebels hired ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village, and Konoha and Hidden Mist Village have always been at odds with each other."

"From my perspective, I should help Sakata."

Suddenly, Haneda remembered his answer to Uncle Sakumo and started laughing.

"Konoha is Konoha, and I am me."

“Positions can’t change, but that doesn’t mean people can’t.”

Haneda suddenly understood the key to the matter, but the word "ninja" still lingered in his mind for a long time.

…………

In the afternoon, we returned to Sakata's residence.

This time, Haneda no longer had the time to appreciate the uniqueness of the Jiangnan gardens.

In his eyes, every carved railing and painted building was covered with blood.

He arrived at the room arranged by the butler and found a note left by Sakumo saying that he had taken Asuma and the others to the northern outskirts of the city for training.

So, Haneda left again.

On the northern outskirts of the city, Asuma and Hong were practicing treading water in a lake.

And Shuo Mao was setting up a barbecue, with fish from the lake and edible vegetables and mushrooms around.

These were skewered and placed on the grill, with Shuomao adding firewood and turning them over from time to time.

"Your eyes are confused. Are you doubtful about this mission?"

Sakumo noticed the sweat on Haneda's forehead and handed him the water bag.

"You must be thirsty. Drink some water first."

Taking the water bag, Haneda drank a few sips, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said:

"Yes and no. The mission is only one aspect, and this kind of thing can be given up."

"Uncle Sakumo, I just really want to know what a ninja is."

Hearing this, Sakumo laughed.

"So you're thinking about this. Are you starting to doubt the meaning of ninja's existence because of the mission?"

Sakumo stood up, patted Haneda on the shoulder and said:

"In a broad sense, a ninja is someone who can endure everything."

"In a narrow sense, it refers to people who possess and control chakra."

"I know you won't approve of the spirit of ninja, Haneda."

"Then let me talk about chakra, or the meaning of power."

"Legend has it that the Sage of Six Paths created the Ninja Clan and distributed chakra to other people to connect people's minds."

"Initially, chakra was used to cultivate fields, build bridges, and construct roads. Later, due to human desires, it evolved into a weapon for killing people."

As he spoke, Sakumo drew out the short sword from his back and said with a smile:

"What do you think of this knife?"

"Sharp, can it kill people?"

As soon as Haneda answered, Sakumo took out his beloved short knife, cut the grilled fish, and gave a piece to Haneda.

"now what?"

"Doesn't it taste good?"

Haneda tried the fish grilled by Uncle Sakumo and it tasted really good.

And the fish bones were shaved off at the cutting points.

"is acceptable."

Haneda licked his lips, and suddenly he realized something and began to think deeply.