Just as the lead Amegakure ninja had expected, the civilians only murmured among themselves for a while before bowing their heads in resignation, falling silent once more.
"As usual, if your family has a shinobi from Amegakure, your shelter fee will be reduced by half. If they've been killed in action, the fee is waived for three years!"
Seeing the crowd settle down again, the lead Ame-nin repeated the policy that had been stated countless times. Whether or not anyone had heard clearly, he turned around and leapt off the platform, leaving behind a few background-looking Ame-nin to collect the shelter fees.
"Anyone with money on hand, you can pay now. And remember—this collection office is only open for ten days. If you haven't paid by then, you won't be dealing with our polite selves anymore, but with a disciplinary squad sent from the Central Tower!"
The Ame-nin with the walrus mustache barked sharply, hands on his hips, intimidating the people. Then he returned to the shabby payment booth under the rain shelter, waiting for the civilians to make their move.
Some who had cash on them stepped forward to avoid trouble, resigned to their fate. More people, however, shook their heads and sighed as they walked away from the platform to fetch money from home.
"What's a shelter fee supposed to be?"
Hiding in an alley and observing the whole scene, Obito shook his head to flick off the rain that had gathered from staying still too long. He asked Takeshi in a not-so-bright tone.
"It's just like a business tax, only under a different name."
Takeshi replied sideways, preparing to move the group to another area as he saw that the Ame-nin weren't paying attention to this direction.
"My son died in battle on the front lines! Why doesn't that count as a sacrifice?!"
Just as Takeshi and the others turned to leave, they heard a sharp cry from behind.
They turned around to see a middle-aged woman slamming her hands on the fee collection table. Her face was flushed, her neck stiff, eyes burning with anger as she glared at the Ame-nin lounging with his legs crossed in front of her.
"Heh, a sacrifice?"
Leaning back, the Ame-nin dodged the woman's spittle with a look of disgust. He pointed arrogantly to a thin sheet of paper on the table.
"Look closely. Your son, Ryūkawa, disappeared after stepping on an explosive tag. Disappeared—got it?"
"How the hell can someone disappear after stepping on an explosive tag?!"
Hearing her son's death brushed off so lightly, the woman couldn't take it anymore. Blinded by rage, she reached out to grab the Ame-nin by the collar.
"Back off! You dare lay hands on a shinobi?!"
Just as her hand was about to touch the collar, another Ame-nin standing nearby kicked her hard, sending her flying over three meters away.
Dazed, the woman lay on the ground clutching her stomach. The pain left her unable to stand, and rain poured down on her body as she lay there helpless.
"Who knows if your son didn't use the explosion as a cover to defect from the Land of Rain? Hanzō-sama has already shown great mercy by not pursuing him as a missing-nin, and you're still ungrateful? Laying hands on a shinobi? Looks like you're itching for a visit to the disciplinary hall!"
Swinging his wrist, the Ame-nin strolled toward the woman with a mocking smile on his face.
"People like you—ungrateful scum—we see dozens of you every year. Do you know what happens to them in the end?"
"My son's body was returned by his comrade...!"
"Body? Oh, you mean that leg? And how can you prove it was your son's leg?"
Another kick landed. The Ame-nin shouted as he struck her again. Seeing that the woman no longer argued, he spat viciously on the ground beside her, then turned and walked back to the fee collection booth.
"This bastard!"
Watching how the man treated a civilian like that, Obito clenched his fists. For the first time, he truly realized what life in the shinobi world was like outside of Konohagakure.
"Calm down."
Takeshi reached out to stop Obito, his eyes carrying a warning.
"This is the Land of Rain, not Konoha. Don't forget our mission."
Though he didn't look pleased either, Takeshi had lived in the Land of Water before and understood that this was how most of the shinobi world operated. Things like this happened even in the Land of Fire—just rarely out in the open.
Beneath the passionate exterior of the shinobi world was nothing but the filthy law of the jungle.
"Let's go."
Without another glance at the woman weeping in the rain, Takeshi and the others avoided the crowd and continued on to the next checkpoint.
...
After leaving the town, Obito suddenly spoke with a sullen tone as they walked through the forest.
"Why can't we change this kind of shinobi world? Shinobi battles shouldn't involve civilians."
His words made Takeshi stop in his tracks.
"That's something that should be left to those who have the power to do so."
It took Takeshi a long while to come up with that answer.
Changing this world wasn't something that could be done with passion alone.
Takeshi saw himself as just an ordinary shinobi—someone who enjoyed the benefits of his clan and did his best to repay them in times of war. That, to him, was the extent of his duty.
As for changing the shinobi world?
Unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of drive.
Or rather—he didn't have that kind of power.
Though he said that out loud, his mind couldn't help but recall what had just happened.
The crying woman, the arrogant shinobi, the drizzling rain, and the gray, overcast sky.
Changing the shinobi world was a monumental task.
Nagato wanted to use pain to frighten the world into peace, hoping to end war.
But that couldn't bring happiness to civilians.
Shinobi and nobles still ruled above the people.
Uchiha Madara wanted to use the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" to trap everyone in a dream—but that dream was fake. It would turn everyone into White Zetsu and hand the shinobi world over to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Naruto sought peace. But even after he became Hokage, the Land of Rain remained engulfed in war. Civilians still starved, and the daimyō still stood at the top.
To truly change the shinobi world, one would need the resolve to destroy everything and rebuild it from scratch—to toss the nobility, the clans, the entire caste system into the trash.
"But you're right, Obito. Fights between shinobi shouldn't spill over to harm civilians."
Seeing Obito fall silent, Takeshi at least agreed with that much of his sentiment. As for taking action...
First, they needed to complete the mission at hand.
...
Perhaps spurred by the earlier scene, during the next leg of their journey, Takeshi and the group came across a squad of Ame-nin. According to the original plan, they should have avoided them.
But in the end, it was Obito who struck first.
Takeshi silently approved of his actions, and with Kakashi's help, they quickly eliminated the small fry—just a few genin-level nobodies.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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