The Land of Waves was somewhat like Ino's previous life's Okinawa, with a subtropical climate, numerous rivers crisscrossing the country, and plant communities locally known as mangroves growing on both sides of the waterways.
The residents wore bamboo-woven straw hats, and the town was very humid.
Ino constantly observed her surroundings.
The town was simply too small; if anything happened to anyone, everyone would know within five minutes. There was absolutely no room to cause trouble, and she didn't see the 'little brother' dressed as a girl buying medicine.
Since she didn't see him, she decided to go back.
Carrying large and small bags, and four fish, Ino used her Sensing Ninjutsu once before leaving, and unexpectedly had a small gain.
A seemingly weak Chakra signature appeared within her sensing range; the person was moving quickly five kilometers north of the town.
The number of people who could use Chakra in the entire world was very small, and in a tiny place like the Land of Waves, there were only a few people she could possibly encounter.
Was it Haku? He seemed weaker than she had imagined.
Ino quickly left the market.
She didn't rush over impulsively to intercept him, but instead applied her sensing ability to an eagle, using the eagle's eyes to search the area where she had previously detected the Chakra.
"Hmm? Who is this guy?"
Neither the 'eyebrowless' guy nor the 'cross-dressing big shot' appeared. Within the eagle's sight, there was only a thin man in a wide robe with long sleeves, wearing a samurai sword at his waist.
Fearing she had seen incorrectly, Ino sensed again. Indeed, it was this guy who was using Chakra while running.
Was he a samurai from some country?
Chakra was mostly used by Ninja, but it wasn't an ability exclusive to them. Ninja had merely monopolized this knowledge; some ancient priestesses and samurai could also use Chakra.
The Ninja World was actually a very closed circle. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Five Great Ninja Villages plus the samurai of the Land of Iron gathered a total of only 80,000 troops, which actually contained a lot of exaggeration.
It's the same throughout history, both ancient and modern, in China and abroad: exaggerating 10,000 to 30,000, 100,000 to 200,000, and 200,000 to 800,000 is common.
The Allied Shinobi Forces wouldn't be that inflated. Just look at Ino's Ninja registration number, 012604. After accounting for those who defected, died in battle, or died of illness over the years, even Konoha Village, with the largest population and strongest military, might not be able to gather 20,000 Ninja, even if you count all the family Ninja not from the Ninja Academy, from 8 to 80 years old.
Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Mist Village were even worse off. The former was vast and sparsely populated, the latter was plagued by internal strife. How many Ninja could they possibly have left?
This 80,000-strong army likely included all the Ninja in the entire Ninja World. At least Ino remembered that the old Jonin, Rashii, who publicly stated that Hidden Cloud Village sent Kinkaku and Ginkaku to capture the Nine-Tailed before Uchiha Madara, was among the 80,000 troops.
The Gengetsu Hōzuki was indeed 90 years old, but the Gengetsu Hōzuki didn't have to go to the battlefield. How old was Rashii? 81 years old! Two years older than the Third Tsuchikage. An 81-year-old man clamoring to fight the enemy to the death—imagine that scene?
This 80,000-strong Allied Shinobi Forces also included a considerable number of samurai. The total population of the Ninja World was estimated to be around 60,000 to 70,000. How many people are there in the entire world? Hundreds of millions! The small population of the Ninja World is less than one-thousandth of the entire world's population.
Ninjutsu, and the methods of using Chakra, were definitely skills mastered by an elite few within a small circle.
Now, to casually see a samurai using Chakra, that probability was truly very low.
Watching the thin samurai enter a heavily guarded farm, after about fifteen minutes, the thin samurai came out again.
Should she get involved in this? As Ino pondered, two more men emerged from behind the thin samurai.
She didn't recognize the black-haired, tall man with prayer beads around his neck. Judging by his rather luxurious attire, he seemed to be a noble from the Land of Water.
She had seen the other man, a corpulent man with a perpetual smile, or at least seen his photograph. This fat man was a trusted subordinate of Tan Go, the Grand Administrator of the Land of Fire.
Tan Go managed the finances of the Land of Fire and was only accountable to the Lord of the Land of Fire, truly second only to one person and above tens of thousands. Why would his confidant appear in a tiny place like the Land of Waves? And be negotiating with someone who appeared to be from the Land of Water?
Could it be that they were responding to the Third Hokage's call to improve bilateral relations in the Land of Waves in advance?
That was certainly impossible!
Ino was not enthusiastic about allying with Hidden Mist Village. Three years later, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya would return; what good would an alliance be now? But she was insignificant and couldn't possibly tell the Third about the conspiracies of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito.
She couldn't stop the affairs between the two Villages; she could only see if she could gain some benefits from them.
Now, were the two countries also secretly plotting something? She felt she couldn't just stand by; at the very least, she needed to know what they were doing.
Tan Go's fat subordinate and the elaborately dressed noble from the Land of Water left the farm one after another. She didn't move on these two. After observing the direction the thin samurai went, Ino released her control over the eagle and pursued him herself.
"Who's there?"
The thin samurai, galloping on horseback, reacted very quickly. From horseback, he sensed a gust of wind behind him. Without thinking, he stomped his foot in the stirrup, straightened his body, and was about to jump to the side. His right hand was already on the hilt of his sword, and he twisted his waist to turn, adopting an Iaijutsu stance.
He was fast, but Ino, who had already increased her speed to six, was even faster.
A Kunai fiercely stabbed into the samurai's back, and with a swift slash, the thin samurai had just jumped up when the wound on his back pulled at his body, distorting his jump. His right foot remained stuck in the stirrup, and with a 'thud', he fell face-down onto the ground, dragged for over a hundred meters by the galloping warhorse.
Ino waited for a while. Seeing that the samurai had no means of escape, she then threw a Kunai, cutting the rope on the stirrup.
Worried that he wouldn't tell the truth, she didn't question him. She knocked him unconscious with a punch, dragged him to a hidden spot, and began to read his mind.
"Heh, you're actually a samurai of the Lord of the Land of Water, Tan Go of the Land of Fire, and Daikokuten Zen? A noble of the Land of Water..."
Ino carefully reviewed his recent memories.
On the surface, this was a private meeting between a noble of the Land of Water and a noble of the Land of Fire. The two sides did not discuss any substantive issues.
The core of the matter was actually not unusual: Ninja, making up less than one-thousandth of the world's population, possessed ninety-nine percent of the world's military power. The Shinobi World War, to put it plainly, was nothing more than a brawl between a few Villages. Yet, the Ninjutsu of Jonin could easily destroy an entire Village or flatten two mountains.
Those who held ninety-nine percent of the world's wealth became dissatisfied, and more so, felt insecure. What good were power and money when one lived from hand to mouth?
They believed that everything Ninja wore, ate, and used was supplied by them, so they should enjoy more rights. They colluded, attempting to gain more military power.
This matter involved a truly significant number of people, even showing traces of the Lord of the Land of Fire and the Lord of the Land of Water.
Ino shook her head silently. She really wanted to say to those two, "Lord, why are you rebelling!"
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