Fleeing from Konoha

Chapter 1227: Chapter 122: The Chosen One_4

It’s quite fitting to portray him as a righteous hero with attributes like courage, compassion, and a broad-mindedness.

When the International Industrial and Civil Cooperative was founded recently, Kaiza joined in.

He exchanged the fish retrieved from the sea for a significant amount of money from the cooperative, keeping only enough for himself and distributing the rest to impoverished families in need of aid.

This indirectly promoted the cooperative’s cause.

He greatly admired the ideals advocated by the cooperative.

He is an upright, enthusiastic man with a heart full of a sense of justice.

Though his life history and character may reveal a bit of naïve goodness, such people can unwittingly become leaders among others at the right moment.

“He’s an interesting fellow. If we guide him just a bit, he might serve a great role in the future. I’ll recommend him to Lady Ichihime later.”

Kado closed the dossier, having made up his mind.

He was unsure if this man was the type Ichihime was looking for to meet the ‘qualifications,’ but as long as he had development potential, the Land of Demons would never be stingy in investing in talent cultivation.

◎

The next morning, at ten o’clock.

“Lady, I’m back.”

Raidenmaru dashed into the study after pushing the door open, calling out to Ichihime, who was reading a book, and jumped onto the desk.

Seeing Raidenmaru approaching, Ichihime quietly closed the book.

She opened a drawer, took out a packet of snacks, and placed it in front of Raidenmaru.

“This is your reward, specialty snacks sent specially from the Land of Demons.”

“Oh, I’m so deeply moved.”

Raidenmaru felt heartfelt gratitude, adeptly tearing open the snack bag, extending a paw to pick up the snack and savoring it with a sweet expression of enjoyment.

In terms of identity, rather than a parent-child relationship, these artificial beings are more like servants specially created by their maker.

Therefore, although they are referred to as father and son, they hold considerable respect for the true offspring of the creator.

Among them, Ichihime is the most powerful of the many children created by Hakushi.

As summoned creations, they naturally maintain an attitude of reverence toward Ichihime.

After all, this lady’s temper is not something ordinary people can handle.

Even at a young age, she’s already the top combat power within the military of the Land of Demons—no mere candidate—but her deterrence power within the talent-abundant military is evident.

Ninjas ultimately need to talk with power.

Otherwise, even with a strong background, they will only be given due respect, not reverence.

“Miss Ichihime.”

Following Raidenmaru, Tazuna entered from outside and greeted Ichihime.

“Ah, it’s Mr. Tazuna, please have a seat.”

Ichihime seemed to anticipate Tazuna’s visit, as she had already instructed someone to prepare another chair in the study, placed not far from Tazuna.

Tazuna did not stand on ceremony, knowing that this young lady descended from a merchant family was devoid of arrogance.

If he were to be overly cautious, he might be looked down upon.

“I apologize for the scare caused to Mr. Tazuna and Miss Tsunami yesterday. I didn’t expect the Isolated Island Merchant Alliance would go so far as to assassinate an unrelated person like Mr. Tazuna.”

If she hadn’t been extra careful and sent Raidenmaru to Tazuna’s side early, Ichihime thought the corpses of Tazuna’s family might have been all she saw today.

“Isolated Island? Merchant Alliance?”

It was the first time Tazuna heard such matters.

“It’s a group of illicit merchants relying on criminal activities to maliciously amass wealth. Due to their connections with many countries’ officials, they also have substantial networks in the Underground Black Market, making most countries hesitant to provoke them.”

Ichihime briefly explained the origin of the Isolated Island Merchant Alliance to Tazuna.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this.”

“To ordinary people, such darkness indeed isn’t exposed, and it remains distant. But seventy percent of Ninja Realm’s industries—gambling, drug trafficking, even human trafficking—are more or less related to the Isolated Island Merchant Alliance. With this explanation, Mr. Tazuna should now understand the fearsome nature of these merchants.”

Ichihime fixed her gaze on Tazuna’s eyes, revealing such information.

“It’s truly a terrifying existence.”

Tazuna shivered in fright.

Soon, another issue crossed Tazuna’s mind.

“Miss Ichihime, are you saying our Land of Waves’ gangs, casinos, and red-light districts are also controlled by the same entity?”

“They’re the ones behind it all.”

Ichihime did not conceal the fact.

Tazuna gasped, never expecting the illicit businessmen’s criminal hand had already reached into the Land of Waves.

“Furthermore, the Daimyo of the Land of Waves provides indispensable support behind the scenes.”

Ichihime’s words immediately changed Tazuna’s expression, causing him to abruptly stand up from his chair.

The commotion attracted Raidenmaru’s attention, diverting his gaze from his snack.

“Daimyo? No, that’s impossible! The Daimyo could never do something detrimental to the country! He is—”

Tazuna found it hard to believe Ichihime’s claims of the Daimyo committing acts harmful to the country’s interests.

“The specific reasons cannot be disclosed. There might indeed be unspeakable difficulties involved, but right now, the Daimyo of the Land of Waves is indeed supporting the Isolated Island Merchant Alliance. My subordinates have basically gathered the evidence.”

Tazuna’s unease was ignored as Ichihime calmly spoke.

“Evidence?”

“This involves high-level secrets from our Land of Demons and won’t be disclosed to outsiders. Because once revealed, Mr. Tazuna would face even more insane assassination attempts. This is also for Mr. Tazuna’s own safety.”

Ichihime said.

“But…”

“Regarding the safety of Mr. Tazuna and your family, we will take care of protection, so please don’t worry too much. Does Mr. Tazuna have any other questions?”

Ichihime asked, her expression unchanged.

“No more.”

Tazuna replied blankly, still unable to recover from the earlier shock.

The Daimyo of the Land of Waves secretly supporting illegal merchants’ money-making activities made him incredulous.

However, thinking about the various peculiar problems the Land of Waves has had in recent years, Tazuna did perceive a hint of something amiss.

First came the pirates, then the Daimyo organized militias to encircle them, resulting in a complete defeat, and paid a huge protection fee to avoid the pirates’ invasion.

Subsequently, some casinos and adult venues gradually flourished within the Land of Waves.

A large number of workers in the Land of Waves became unemployed, and many had to live on loans, with numerous families heavily burdened by debt, falling apart.

Tazuna’s expression shifted unpredictably, and ultimately all his thoughts turned into a bitter sigh.

Even after seeing these things, what could someone like him do?

If even their ‘master’ the Daimyo abandoned them, who else could they rely on?

No, perhaps Ichihime was only being alarmist. Tazuna held onto a certain optimistic thought.

But with all the incidents in the Land of Waves in recent years, and Ichihime’s subordinates inadvertently letting slip that those outside pirates seemed to have some ambiguous connections with the Daimyo of the Land of Waves… If so, was this country doomed?

Tazuna wandered away despondently, as Raidenmaru nibbled on snacks while teasing Ichihime, “Young lady, you really have a malicious personality, why not just tell that old man the truth directly?”

“For those who’ve been enslaved for a long time, only when death and dreaming become luxuries will they learn to resist.”

“You have a point. It seems the Land of Waves is about to start a civil war soon.”

Raidenmaru lamented.

If they got into a fight like the Land of Rain, its workload would become even heavier.

After all, they aim to overthrow the old era forces of the Daimyo and aristocrats, if not through war, can they rely on negotiations and peaceful transformation?

Having had the Land of Rain and the Akatsuki as counter-examples in the past, peaceful negotiations seemed unreliable no matter how one looked at it.

“Then hurry up and get to work, if something happens to Tazuna, I’ll throw you back in the furnace for a rebuild.”

Ichihime glared at Raidenmaru who was still munching snacks.

“Oh, don’t rush, young lady. With me to protect him, that old man’s safety is absolutely guaranteed. Well then, I’m off.”

Raidenmaru put down the empty snack bag, patted his chest to assure, jumping off the desk and leaving the study.

◎

Kaiza is a man who chases dreams and freedom.

He always believed that people should use their own hands to strive for the future and create happiness.

Even if there are gods in this world, they must favor those who forge ahead with courage.

But there are always matters in this world that aren’t smoothly resolved, and many people are deeply in suffering, requiring his help.

He didn’t consider himself a savior, but inevitably felt sympathy and compassion for the weak.

However, all this underwent some changes upon joining the International Industrial and Civil Cooperative founded by the Shion Flower Merchants Association in the Land of Demons.

He could use the convenience of the members to exchange the fish caught for considerable money, thereby helping even more people.

In the past, commissioning merchants for sale required him to pay transportation fees himself, coupled with unclear foreign fish market trends. If merchants maliciously suppressed prices during the process, it would be hard for fishermen to earn enough money to sustain their livelihood.

From this perspective, the International Industrial and Civil Cooperative seemed like a well-established trading platform, but this particular trading platform was designed specifically to serve workers and farmers.

But Kaiza thinks otherwise; the Industrial and Civil Cooperative isn’t just a simple trading platform.

A trading platform is merely superficial, not its essence.

Because of the existence of a book titled “On the Significance of Promoting Personal and Ninja Realm Productivity through Emancipating Ideas.”

This is a book that every member receives for free and must read upon joining the cooperative.

Most people didn’t take this book seriously, casually tossing it aside after taking it, without careful study, because its contents were too tedious. Rather than reading such things, one might prefer to look for best-selling novels in the Ninja Realm, such as the popular “Icha Icha Paradise.”

Even Kaiza almost didn’t persevere at the beginning, many things appeared quite obscure initially, but once part of the contents were understood, Kaiza found what’s written in the book very interesting. The more he read, the more he felt the ideas in the book, and eventually he couldn’t put it down.

The book elaborates on universal education and the importance of disseminating knowledge for idea emancipation.