Chapter 67: Scorch Release: Yekura
When Shisui Uchiha arrived at the eastern borderline of the Land of Bears with two teammates, searching for a way to leap over Hell Valley.
In the desert area bordering the Land of Bears and the Land of Wind, three figures were speeding against the sky full of yellow sand.
The leading Sand Village female ninja had a nimble figure, with birch-green gradient hair strands flying in the wind, and her slender legs kicking up waves of dust on the sand surface.
Behind her, two Sand Village chunin followed closely, wearing the distinctive windproof attire of the Sand Village, with windproof hats on their heads and purple patterns painted on their faces.
“Lady Yakura, Bear Country is just ahead.” A Sand Ninja saw a patch of light green grove appear in front, knowing they had reached the border of the Land of Wind.
“Full speed ahead!” Yakura’s expression was grave, with no intention of stopping at all.
The two chunin could only continue forward with this leading jonin.
The three figures soon disappeared into the lush forest, and as they went deeper, the surrounding trees grew taller, completely blocking the sky full of yellow sand with towering ancient trees.
Yakura, weaving through the forest, had furrowed brows, deeply pondering the mission given to her by the Fourth Kazekage.
Due to the Land of Bears’ daimyo being slaughtered by the Star Ninja, even the entire Land of Bears’ nobles were bloodbathed clean, and the few nobles who escaped sought help from the Land of Wind’s daimyo and the Land of Earth’s daimyo.
These nobles’ marriage relationships spanned the entire Ninja World, and even for the Land of Bears with a population of less than one million, its daimyo and nobles had traditions of marrying into surrounding countries, which was also the instinct of small countries surviving in the cracks.
Upon hearing that the Land of Bears’ daimyo and nobles had been slaughtered by ninja, the Land of Wind’s daimyo flew into a rage and summoned the Sand Village’s Fourth Kazekage Rasa.
Although it was another country’s ninja village that launched the rebellion, the Land of Wind’s daimyo still used this pretext to curse Rasa and the Sand Village thoroughly, and even took the opportunity to reduce the Land of Wind’s funding to the Sand Village.
After being scolded, Rasa returned to the Sand Village, summoned Yakura, and handed the reconnaissance mission of the Land of Bears and the Star Village to this Scorching Release ninja.
But regarding whether to send troops to the Land of Bears to deal with the rebelling Star Ninja, Rasa did not give direct instructions, instead letting Yakura decide based on the situation.
After entering the Land of Bears’ territory, Yakura and the other two first disguised themselves and sneaked into a city in the central part of the Land of Bears near the Star Village, hoping to gather some useful intelligence.
When entering the city gate, the three were even prepared to see the city slaughtered.
However, the crowds coming and going at the city gate surprised Yakura and the other two.
Ancient cities all had entry and exit taxes, which was the same for any city in the Ninja World.
But the main taxation targets were merchants, and pedestrians paid very little city entry tax.
But Yakura and the other two discovered that incoming pedestrians basically paid no tax, and the gate guards only checked some small merchants carrying goods, while ordinary people were let through casually.
After entering this city, its prosperity shocked Yakura and the other two.
Merchants and travelers bustled endlessly on the streets, with many small vendors on both sides of the streets setting up stalls to sell their goods, clearly making this street the city’s commercial market.
This place was completely different from the city suffering from rebellion in their imagination.
Feeling the abnormal bustling prosperity of the market around her, Yakura even suspected she had unknowingly fallen victim to the enemy’s illusion technique, and quickly circulated her chakra.
After finding no abnormalities, Yakura gave a glance to the two chunin beside her.
The two chunin nodded in response and began to disperse to gather intelligence.
Meanwhile, Yakura went to an izakaya in the bustling market.
To probe for intelligence, a place like an izakaya where all sorts of people mix was the easiest to inquire.
But sifting valuable intelligence from the drunken ramblings of boastful drunkards was also a very difficult task for ninja.
After entering the izakaya, Yakura sat in a corner, ordered a pot of clear sake, and began perking up her ears to listen to the incoming and outgoing guests in the izakaya bullshitting.
“I heard the Ujo family in Saga Castle was bloodbathed! All their assets were confiscated!”
“Not just that, I met a merchant from Saga Castle yesterday who said they publicly tried the Ujo family patriarch, and many victims persecuted by the Ujo family—families torn apart, wives and children scattered—came forward to recount the Ujo family’s crimes, and in the end, they hanged the Ujo family patriarch from the city gate!”
“Hahaha, that’s truly gratifying! When I was doing business in Saga Castle, I was extorted out of so much silver taels by the Ujo family’s dogs!”
“Not just that, after those big families’ assets in Saga Castle were confiscated, landless farmers can rent these fields from the government, with rent only at ten percent! The government even provides low-interest or interest-free loans for farming tools and seeds.”
“Ten percent? In the past, noble masters charging fifty percent rent were considered great benefactors!”
“Who is this new ruler? Treating these farmers so well?”
“Not just good to farmers, good to us merchants too, haven’t you noticed the city gate tax is much less? And as long as your goods are registered in one city, with the certificate, you can enter other cities tax-free for a certain period.”
“Commercial trade tax is only thirteen percent! And many of those miscellaneous taxes have been canceled!”
“If the new Lord Ruler can keep this policy going, I will support him forever!”
“Hahaha! Well said! I wish the whole country was like this! Doing business without fear of extortion, one slip-up angering the local tyrant and you’re bankrupt!”
Listening to the surrounding guests’ discussion, Yakura only felt a bit dazed.
As a ninja, she had received combat training since childhood, and was truly very lacking in commercial knowledge.
But the excitement and future aspirations of the travelers in the izakaya while drinking and chatting were very infectious.
Yakura didn’t understand why, when this country had clearly suffered a ninja rebellion that killed the daimyo and nobles, the ordinary people could still celebrate so happily.
As she was lost in thought, a figure sat on the stool next to Yakura.
“Boss, a pot of clear sake.” An obviously youthful male voice came from beside her, making Yakura unable to resist turning her head slightly to observe.
She saw a black-haired spiky-haired boy wearing a black coat, sitting right next to her. Seeming to notice Yakura’s gaze, the boy also turned his head and gave her a smile.
In an instant, Yakura felt a chill down her spine!
This boy was definitely not an ordinary person!
Yakura was just about to draw her weapon and enter combat state when she heard the other say softly: “This is a bustling market, you don’t want to kill a lot of innocent ordinary people, right.”
Hearing this, Yakura’s hand, already placed on the ninja tool pouch at her thigh root, suddenly froze.
Her whole body tensed, staring deathly at the boy beside her. Her intuition told her that this person was the mastermind behind the drastic changes in the Land of Bears and the Star Village rebellion!
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