"Kakashi-sensei, please come look too."
Sakura laid several photos on the table.
"These are shots I took this morning at the gathering site. Here's the deal—after propaganda, Gato's followers return there. And the site regularly holds… activities. Take a look."
Everyone stared.
Crowds sat on the ground in ring after ring—mercenaries, fishermen, beggars, scruffy children. The creepy part was the same on every face:
They were all smiling.
"…This feels like a horror movie," Naruto muttered. His skin crawled.
"Photos don't capture how weird it is," Sakura said grimly. "You have to see it in person."
Naruto thought a bit. "Then let's go check it out. Boss, you coming?"
Kakashi shook his head. "I'm not fully recovered, and Tazuna's family needs someone staying with them."
"Then the three of us go. Let's see what's up."
They changed into dull gray-black outfits, ditched their usual bright colors, and put on wide-brimmed hats.
Naruto: "Move out."
…
Near noon, the sun baked Wave Country's streets, drying the salty damp air a bit. The three walked through light sweat toward the gathering site.
As they neared it, Sakura gestured them into a narrow side path she'd found while scouting—so hidden nobody would notice it unless they were looking.
Soon they reached the fence. Peeking through, they saw circles of people sitting together. With light steps, they could even hear snippets.
The circle closest to them was sharing stories.
Naruto listened carefully. They talked about hardship, whispered secrets, confessed guilt… When each finished, the host steered emotions downward. Some started sobbing. The entire group slowly collapsed into tears.
Naruto's face stiffened.
A fisherman said with red eyes, "When I was little, my dad used to take me to the snack street to buy takoyaki. I was too young to notice, but he never ate any—always said his teeth were bad. I only realized when I grew up… he just didn't want to waste money on himself."
A mercenary said, "When we caught extra fish, my mom only ate the meat near the tail. I asked why she didn't eat the belly where it's best. She always said she liked the tail. But who doesn't know the belly tastes better…?"
The host cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Chingu, President Gato may not seek power, but he understands the suffering of the people. This morning meeting gives us a chance to reflect. We must hold on tightly to this opportunity."
Sasuke whispered, "What's 'chingu'?"
"Korean," Sakura answered softly. "It means partner, friend. Not surprising though—stuff like the 'Unification Church' started in Korea."
Naruto grimaced. "Is this cultural invasion?"
As he spoke, that circle had already turned into a sea of crying.
Then the host stood up. "Chingu, now that everyone has shared their little secrets, we are heart-to-heart friends, yes? Do you trust each other? Let's play a game!"
He dragged over a chair and climbed on. "I'll stand on this chair, fall backward, and trust my chingu to catch me. This is my trust in all of you."
He fell straight back. The "chingu" behind him caught him in time.
The host was ecstatic. "See?! This is chingu trust. You try too!"
Under his direction, everyone took turns falling into the arms of their "chingu." Not a single person hit the ground.
When the last person was caught, the host shouted, "Do you see? This is chingu power! Chingu will never let your trust fall. Chingu are each other's backbones forever!"
The whole crowd erupted in cheers, thrilled to have found "new companions."
Sasuke gaped, mouth hanging open.
"Chingu…" Sakura felt she'd never be able to look at that word the same way again.
She finally understood why Gato's mercenaries multiplied like cockroach eggs.
"…What are they even doing?" Sasuke stammered. His worldview had taken critical damage.
"They're brainwashing each other," Sakura said tightly. "First they share secrets to shorten psychological distance. Then they drive emotions low to wash out reason. Finally this 'trust game' builds a new identity. They don't even need ninjutsu for this."
"In one professional term—this is a pyramid scheme."
Naruto hesitated, then added, "Uh… to be fair, companies do this too…"
Companies just call it something softer:
Team-building.
Sakura nodded. "Back in college, some applied-psych students ran sessions like this. They called it group psychological training."
Sasuke suddenly asked, "Wait—where are all those food handouts coming from?"
"Probably from the people themselves, once they're hooked," Naruto said after a moment. "Wool comes from the sheep."
Sakura's eyes went cold. "We can't let this keep going. We need to wipe this gathering site."
"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "If this continues, Wave Country's done for."
He withdrew his earlier contempt for Gato.
The three started planning.
…
Evening.
Naruto pulled his hat lower and approached the gathering site alone.
From what he'd seen, about every two hours a new shift of mercenaries arrived, reported their "results," then rotated out.
The entire site ran like an automated machine, dedicated to absorbing all of Wave Country.
Naruto trailed the tail of a returning squad.
"Hold up," the guard at the gate said. "We need to count your people."
The squad leader puffed proudly. "Team Three distributed all food today, spread President Gato's ideals, and recruited nine new chingu."
He pointed to the back. The guard told those "new recruits" to step out while everyone else entered by the roster.
Naruto's heart dropped.
Am I getting exposed before I even get inside?
The guard and leader noticed it too—why was there an extra chingu in the line?
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