A few days later, after several months away, Yubi finally returned to Sunagakure.
Looking at the village nestled among rock and sand, he felt a strange sense of unreality, as if he had returned from another lifetime.
Sunagakure's architecture was completely different from Konoha's and had a unique character. These designs were the legacy of the Second Kazekage, Shamon, who had reshaped the village according to the harsh environment of the Land of Wind. Wooden buildings like those in Konoha were rare here. Most structures were made of sand-cast stone—arched houses and tall buildings with rounded rooftops stretching as far as the eye could see.
The streets were paved with rough stone slabs in places, but most roads were still sand and dirt. Compared to Konoha, the village could hardly be called prosperous. Still, it covered a vast area. However, because of the ongoing Shinobi World War, many villagers had been mobilized for missions. Casualties were heavy.
As a result, the streets were sparse and quiet, tinged with gloom.
"So things have gotten this bad… and they still want to keep fighting?"
Walking along the street and seeing shops with almost no customers, Yubi sighed inwardly.
The village leadership had to know the war had already drained Sunagakure's reserves of manpower and severely damaged trade and the economy. And yet they still insisted on competing with Konoha to the bitter end.
Foolish.
Because of those decisions, the entire village's future was being gambled away.
The situation in the Land of Rain was different—Hanzo had been forced into war. He had struck first to prevent being crushed by stronger nations. In simple terms, he had nothing to lose. But Sunagakure was a major village. It couldn't afford reckless aggression.
Hanzo might seem arrogant and domineering, but he was no fool. Once he realized victory was out of reach, the Hidden Rain pulled back.
Only Sunagakure remained locked in a heated struggle with Konoha.
If this continued, the village's foundations would collapse.
But Yubi was still just a genin. Even though he knew Sunagakure's future, he had no power to change it yet.
"Yubi… you're back."
A shop owner greeted him warmly. The man sold bean cakes—a place Yubi and his classmates used to visit often after Ninja Academy.
"Yeah," Yubi replied with a smile.
The shop owner was one of the few people he'd met who still looked cheerful. He was a civilian with no ninja in the family. Most others carried shadows of worry and fatigue on their faces.
---
After that, Yubi reported his mission and received his payment.
His original mission had been C-rank, but when the Hidden Rain launched a large-scale operation, its difficulty was upgraded to B-rank. The later assault missions he carried out with Araki and Sasori were recognized as A-rank, even though they had originally been Araki's independent assignments.
As a result, Yubi became the second genin in the village—after Sasori, to complete an A-rank mission at such a young age.
However, the payment made one thing obvious: Sunagakure was in financial trouble.
Normally:
C-rank missions: 30,000–100,000 ryō
B-rank missions: 80,000–200,000 ryō
A-rank missions: 150,000–1,000,000 ryō
But Yubi's B-rank patrol mission was shared among three people, leaving him only 20,000 ryō.
The A-rank mission earned him 40,000 ryō.
Total earnings: 60,000 ryō.
Both payments were clearly calculated at the lowest possible rates.
The village was broke.
Still, to Yubi, sixty thousand ryō was a fortune.
As a war orphan, he received a monthly stipend because his parents had died serving the village. Three hundred ryō was enough for a child to enjoy a day in the market, but for ninja, expenses were endless—tools, soldier pills, explosive tags, kunai, and more. The village provided only basic supplies; surviving the battlefield required personal spending.
Ninja tools were luxury goods in this world.
Yubi had saved barely over ten thousand ryō over several years. One mission had already surpassed that.
Ninja earned fast—but spent faster.
...
After reporting in, Yubi followed Araki to the most prominent building in the village—the Kazekage Tower.
Sasori didn't join them. After submitting his report, he accepted another mission and left immediately.
He didn't seem to want to go home.
Yubi said nothing.
...Soon, they passed the guards and entered the office.
When the door opened, Yubi saw the Third Kazekage… and several other high-ranking officials.
Chiyo and Ebizō were present, along with two unfamiliar elders clearly dressed as village leaders.
"Sasori… has already left," Araki told Chiyo quietly.
Her eyes dimmed.
"So this is the child you mentioned," one elder said, studying Yubi with interest.
"You've changed quite a bit in just a few months," the Third Kazekage said, allowing himself a rare smile.
"At such a young age, participating in an A-rank mission… Araki speaks highly of your talent," Chiyo added.
Faced with so many important figures, Yubi remained calm and simply smiled.
He knew why he had been summoned.
"Enough," the Kazekage said. "Yubi, demonstrate your self-created jutsu. Let us see it. Then explain your inspiration and the hand seals used to control chakra."
"Creating a jutsu is not simple. Ideas are one thing—but transforming them into a working technique requires deep mastery of chakra control and hand seals. Even I would struggle to create an A-rank jutsu in a short time. When Araki reported this, I found it hard to believe."
"Do you understand what this means?"
Here it comes.
Yubi smiled. "It was a little difficult… but overall, it wasn't too hard."
He pulled a coil of piano wire from his pouch.
Everyone's eyelids twitched.
Not hard?
Creating a jutsu required profound understanding of the nature of ninjutsu itself. The best example was Konoha's "Professor of Ninjutsu," Hiruzen Sarutobi. Yet Yubi was a young medical ninja who had only learned the basic academy techniques.
Learning medical ninjutsu could be explained as talent.
But creating an A-rank jutsu?
That defied common sense.
After all—
He was just a genin.
Not even ten years old.
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