While Uchiha Shisui led his two teammates to the eastern border of the Land of Bears, searching for a way to cross the Hell Valley, three figures were racing across the desert expanse where the Land of Bears met the Land of Wind.
The lead female shinobi moved with athletic grace, her hair—a gradient of emerald green—fluttering in the wind. Her long, slender legs kicked up trails of dust as she glided over the sand. Behind her followed two Hidden Sand Chūnin, dressed in the desert-proof gear unique to their village, faces painted with purple markings.
"Lady Pakura, the Land of Bears is just ahead." One of the Sand ninja spotted a patch of pale green woodland, signaling they had reached the border.
"Full speed ahead!" Pakura's expression was grim; she had no intention of slowing down.
The three soon vanished into the lush forest. As they ventured deeper, the ancient trees grew taller, their sprawling canopies completely blocking out the desert sands. Pakura's brow remained furrowed as she contemplated the mission given to her by the Fourth Kazekage.
The massacre of the Bear Daimyo and the systematic cleansing of the nation's nobility had sent shockwaves through the region. A few surviving minor nobles had fled to the Lands of Wind and Earth, begging for intervention. The marriage ties of these aristocrats spanned the continent; even in a small nation like the Land of Bears, the nobility maintained a tradition of intermarriage with neighboring powers—a survival instinct for a small country caught between giants.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind was livid upon hearing that shinobi had dared to slaughter fellow rulers. He summoned Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, and used the incident as a pretext to berate him, subsequently slashing the village's funding yet again.
Rasa, having endured the lecture, returned to the village and summoned Pakura, assigning the Scorch Release specialist the task of investigating the Land of Bears and the Star Village. However, Rasa gave no direct order regarding military intervention; he left it to Pakura's discretion based on her findings.
Upon entering the country, Pakura and her team disguised themselves and slipped into a city near the center of the nation, hoping to gather intel. They had prepared themselves to see a city in ruins, perhaps a landscape of slaughter.
Instead, the bustling crowds at the city gates took them by surprise.
In ancient cities, entry taxes were a constant. Usually, these taxes targeted merchants heavily, while pedestrians paid a pittance. However, Pakura noticed that travelers were entering largely tax-free. The guards only inspected small merchants carrying goods; ordinary people were waved through freely.
The prosperity inside the city was even more shocking. The streets were teeming with travelers and merchants. Street vendors lined the walkways, shouting to sell their wares in a vibrant commercial market.
This looked nothing like a nation suffering from a bloody rebellion.
Feeling the unnatural vibrancy of the crowd, Pakura momentarily suspected she had fallen under a genjutsu. She surged her chakra to check, but found no anomalies. She signaled her two Chūnin with a glance. They nodded and dispersed to gather information, while Pakura made her way to a local izakaya.
In a den of mixed company like an izakaya, information was easy to find—if one could filter the truth from the drunken boasts of the patrons.
Pakura sat in a corner, ordered a carafe of sake, and sharpened her hearing.
"I heard the Kamijo family in Saga City was wiped out! All their assets were confiscated!"
"That's not all. I met a merchant from Saga yesterday. He said they held a public trial for the head of the house. Scores of victims—people the Kamijo family had ruined or whose families they'd destroyed—showed up to testify. In the end, they hung the old bastard from the city gate!"
"Hahaha! Good riddance! When I traded in Saga, those Kamijo dogs extorted a fortune in silver from me!"
"And get this—now that the land from those big families has been nationalized, landless farmers can lease it from the government. The rent is only ten percent! The government is even providing low-interest or interest-free loans for tools and seeds."
"Ten percent? Back in the day, a noble who only took fifty percent was considered a saint!"
"Who is this new Sovereign? Why is he so good to the farmers?"
"Not just farmers, he's good to us merchants too! Haven't you noticed the entry taxes are down? And if your goods are registered in one city and you have the receipt, you're exempt from taxes in other cities for a set time."
"Commercial transaction tax is only thirteen percent! Most of those other 'miscellaneous' taxes have been abolished!"
"If the new Sovereign keeps this up, I'll support him forever!"
Listening to the boisterous discussions, Pakura felt her head spinning. As a shinobi, she had been trained for combat since childhood; her knowledge of economics was nearly non-existent. But the palpable excitement and hope for the future radiating from these travelers were infectious.
She couldn't understand. A rebellion had occurred. Their Daimyo and nobles were dead. Why were the ordinary people celebrating so happily?
As she sat in deep thought, a figure took the seat next to her.
"Boss, a carafe of sake, please."
The voice was clearly that of a young male. Pakura couldn't help but steal a glance out of the corner of her eye.
A spiky-haired youth with black hair, draped in a dark cloak, sat beside her. As if sensing her gaze, the boy turned his head and offered her a calm smile.
In an instant, Pakura's skin crawled.
This boy was absolutely not an ordinary person.
Just as she was about to draw her weapon and enter a combat stance, the youth spoke softly, his voice barely a whisper beneath the tavern's din:
"This is a crowded market. You wouldn't want to get a lot of innocent people killed, would you?"
Pakura's hand, which had already reached for the tool pouch at her thigh, froze. Her muscles were coiled like springs, her eyes locked onto the boy. Her intuition screamed at her—this person was the mastermind behind the upheaval in the Land of Bears and the rebellion of the Star!