Land of Fire.
A short man with a Mediterranean bald spot, dressed in a black suit and wearing sunglasses, cursed loudly:
"Damn it! I came all the way here to seek cooperation with Konoha Village, and the Third Hokage tells me that Konoha has no money?"
The Land of Fire could be said to be the wealthiest country in the entire ninja world, and as a ninja village, Konoha's economy was extremely prosperous.
He had seen a business opportunity and traveled all the way to Konoha seeking cooperation.
At first, he thought this cooperation was as good as settled, but unexpectedly, the Hokage told him that the village was currently short on funds, and therefore they could not form a partnership.
This made him furious. He felt that Konoha was looking down on him.
"I'm so angry! I am one of the wealthiest businessmen in the entire ninja world, and yet Konoha dares to underestimate me!"
He had already made up his mind: from now on, he would never do business with Konoha Village again.
"Boss, calm down."Beside him, a man holding a sword flattered him.
This man was one of the bodyguards hired by the wandering merchant Gato, responsible for his safety.
"I'm done here. Let's go back." Gato snorted coldly. His bodyguards immediately nodded.
Then, they began heading toward the Land of Waves. But just at that moment, a sound came from the forest nearby.
The bodyguards tensed up, glancing around vigilantly."Who's there?" one of them called out, already pulling out his katana.
Suddenly, more than a dozen burly men wielding long swords rushed out of the forest. The scar-faced man in the lead shouted loudly:
"This road was built by me! This tree was planted by me! If you want to pass through here, you'll have to pay the toll!"
To think there would be bandits on the borders of the Land of Fire—it made one wonder what exactly the shinobi of Konoha were doing.
Seeing the large group of bandits before him, Gato couldn't help but feel nervous.
But after glancing at his bodyguards, he quickly calmed down.
After all, these were men he had personally chosen, warriors whose strength he believed rivaled that of chunin. Dealing with a bunch of bandits should have been an easy matter.
"Take care of them all," Gato ordered coldly.
Hearing Gato's calm command, the bandits grew uneasy.
Were these warriors wolves in sheep's clothing?
The scar-faced leader instinctively looked at the warriors, only to notice that their hands holding their swords were trembling slightly.
His eyes narrowed with doubt."They don't seem like anything special…"
But he did not lower his guard. After all, anyone daring to look down on them was either a fool… or someone with absolute confidence and strength to back it up.
Unconsciously, the bandits stepped back. Many of them silently resolved that if things turned unfavorable, they would immediately flee.
Gato, meanwhile, felt his anger rise.
His eyes bulged as he shouted furiously:"What are you standing around for?! Move now! Do you want these bandits to escape? Kill them all immediately!"
At his command, the bodyguards glanced at each other, trembling all over yet not daring to act rashly.
Finally, after forcing themselves to muster some courage, they raised their swords with shaking hands and slowly stepped toward the scar-faced bandit leader.
Seeing their movements, even the scar-faced man grew tense.
He gripped his weapon tightly, ready for a fight to the death. The bandits behind him also became alert, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Yet just as both sides were about to clash—something completely unexpected happened.
The bodyguards suddenly froze, then dropped their swords to the ground and fell to their knees, kowtowing desperately.
"Big brother, please let us go! We don't want to die!"
"That's right! We were forced into this, please spare our lives!"
Gato's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that the bodyguards he had hired would collapse like this, trembling in fear and begging for their lives!
"You useless trash! I spent money to hire you to protect me, and this is what you amount to?!" Gato cursed bitterly.
It was at that moment he realized that the so-called warriors by his side were nothing more than frauds. They weren't nearly as strong as they had claimed.
In fact, they were even weaker than ordinary ninja, let alone at the level of chunin.
He never expected that he had been deceived so thoroughly—losing not only a great sum of money, but possibly even his own life.
At this thought, his legs began trembling uncontrollably.
Had he not already wet himself once, he might have lost control of his bladder again out of sheer terror.
The bandit leader, seeing the guards kneeling before him, finally understood what was going on.
"Damn it, you dared to trick me?!" he roared, and with that, he swung his blade down on the nearest guard.
"Ahhh!"A scream rang out as blood splattered everywhere—the bodyguard was struck down instantly.
Hot blood sprayed across the scar-faced bandit's face, making him look even more terrifying and savage.
"Murder!!!"
The other bodyguards, seeing this, scrambled to their feet and fled in panic.
"After them!" the scar-faced leader ordered, and the group of bandits gave chase.
Seeing that their attention was not on him, Gato seized the opportunity to flee as well.
The bandits, having killed the guard, quickly noticed Gato sprinting away."Damn it, don't let him escape!" they shouted, chasing after him.
The moment Gato heard this, his legs almost blurred with speed.
Though short in stature, his leg muscles were extremely developed. His strides were small, but his frequency was rapid. Running, he resembled an agile rabbit, moving with surprising speed.
In the blink of an eye, he managed to put some distance between himself and the pursuing bandits.
The bandits, though astonished, still refused to give up.
"Honestly… this Gato runs faster than anyone we've ever chased before," some of them admitted inwardly.
But they continued to pursue him relentlessly.
Gato, while running desperately, constantly glanced back to monitor the situation behind him.
Time passed, and the gap between them began to shrink.
Despite giving it his all, Gato's stamina dwindled with every passing moment. The long sprint, coupled with sheer panic, quickly exhausted him. His speed slowed.
Meanwhile, the bandits, long accustomed to such physical exertion, had greater endurance. Gradually, they closed the distance.
When Gato looked back again, he saw that they were now only three to four hundred meters away. Panic overwhelmed him.
He knew full well—if he was caught, not only would he lose his fortune, but his very life would be at risk.
"What do I do… what do I do?!" Gato was nearly out of his mind with fear.
Just then, he spotted a house up ahead…
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