The rain grew heavier and showed no sign of stopping.
The water inside Shin-chan's shoes had gone from making a "squish, squish" sound to a loud "splash, splash." With every step, he could feel his toes sliding around inside his soaked socks.
A noise came from the bushes, and the first figure stepped out of the curtain of rain.
It was a middle-aged man wearing a tattered straw raincoat and holding a rusty woodcutting knife.
Then more people emerged from the bushes on both sides of the road, surrounding Shin-chan.
Their faces were exhausted yet vicious.
"Hand over all the money and food you have."
Shin-chan looked at the people surrounding him. They were not ninja, and even the hands gripping their weapons were trembling.
"Are you robbers?"
"Cut the nonsense!" A younger man beside him waved a sharpened wooden stick. "Hand over the money."
"Wait a moment." Shin-chan reached into his pocket and rummaged around before taking out the money pouch the Third Hokage had given him. "This is all I have. How much do you want?"
The robbers looked at one another, clearly not expecting that response.
"Hand over all of it," the leader shouted.
Shin-chan opened the pouch, poured out a few coins, and stuffed them into his own pocket. "I can give it to you, but I need to keep enough money for ramen."
The leader froze for a moment, then accepted the pouch and weighed it in his hand. A trace of joy flashed across his face.
"What else? You must be hiding something else."
"There really isn't anything." Shin-chan turned his pockets inside out to show them. Several chocolate sticks fell out. "I'm almost out of chocolate sticks too."
The younger man leaned close to the leader's ear and muttered a few words. The leader looked Shin-chan up and down several times.
"You're a ninja?" His tone suddenly became wary.
"More or less, but I'm just passing through."
Those words made the robbers all retreat a step.
The leader tightened his grip on the woodcutting knife, but no matter what he did, he lacked confidence when facing a ninja.
"You're from the Land of Rain, right?"
"Y-yes. So what?"
"Then do you know somewhere I can get out of the rain?" Shin-chan wiped the rainwater from his face. "I've already been soaked for two hours. There's enough water in my shoes to raise fish."
The leader unconsciously muttered, "Is there something wrong with this guy's head?"
"There's nothing wrong with it." Shin-chan pointed at his drenched hair. "It just got a little water inside."
The other bandits had already begun quietly edging backward.
"Stop!"
A voice came from deep within the curtain of rain.
The bandits all turned their heads and saw three figures emerge from the downpour.
Walking at the front was a boy with orange hair. "Several people surrounding a little kid and robbing him—aren't you ashamed?"
"Ninja..." The leader's face immediately turned ugly.
"I'm Yahiko." Yahiko took two steps closer, his gaze falling on Shin-chan's forehead protector, which had been blurred by the rain. "Are you a ninja from Konoha?"
Nagato and Konan, standing behind him, both tensed.
"Yeah," Shin-chan said. "But right now, I'd rather be a customer at a ramen shop."
When the bandit leader heard the words "Konoha ninja," his expression completely changed.
He signalled to the others, and they began quietly backing away. But after only two steps, Nagato was already blocking their escape route.
"Give him back the money pouch."
The leader hesitated, but eventually took out the pouch and threw it onto the ground.
"Get lost."
The bandits scrambled away into the depths of the rain, even forgetting to pick up the rusty woodcutting knife.
Konan bent down, picked up the money pouch, wiped off the mud and water, and handed it to Shin-chan.
"Thank you." Shin-chan accepted it.
"Are you really a ninja from Konoha?"
"Absolutely genuine." Shin-chan pointed at his forehead protector. "Look. The official version."
Yahiko and Nagato exchanged glances.
A Konoha ninja had appeared alone in the Land of Rain and allowed himself to be robbed by bandits who did not even possess chakra?
Konan voiced the question in all three of their minds. "You're a ninja. How did a few bandits manage to rob you?"
"There were a lot of them." Shin-chan scratched his head. "And they looked like they hadn't eaten in several days."
"So you gave them the money?"
"Of course. Grandpa Third gave me quite a lot for mission expenses. Sharing a little wouldn't cost me a piece of flesh."
Yahiko froze. "You weren't even going to resist?"
"Why would I resist?"
"They're bandits."
"Hungry people can't really be called bad people, no matter what they do. At most, they're hungry people."
Yahiko opened his mouth, but for a moment, he could not find any angle from which to argue.
Shin-chan stuffed the money pouch back into his pocket, then took several chocolate sticks from another one. "Do you want some chocolate sticks? They've melted a little, but they still taste good."
Yahiko instinctively accepted one.
"Is there somewhere around here to get out of the rain?" Shin-chan looked around.
"We have a place to stay on the other side of the mountain." Yahiko nodded. "If you don't mind, you can shelter there for a while."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up. "Is there somewhere dry to sit?"
"Yes."
"Hot water?"
"Yes."
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry, hurry." Shin-chan had already started walking.
The rain grew even heavier, splashing countless droplets across the road.
Yahiko led the way at the front, while Nagato silently followed at the rear.
Shin-chan walked in the middle. As he went, he removed one soaked shoe and poured out the water, hopping through the mud on one bare foot.
"What's your name?" Yahiko asked after they had walked for a while.
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"I'm Yahiko. They're Konan and Nagato. We're all ninja from the Land of Rain."
Yahiko pushed aside the last few dead branches covering the entrance, revealing a cave opening about as tall as a person.
Several old blankets were spread in one corner. A simple fire pit made from stones sat in the middle, with a pile of dry firewood beside it.
Konan walked to the corner and took out a neatly folded set of old clothes.
"Change out of those wet clothes first. I wore these when I was younger. They might be a little large, but that's better than staying soaked."
"Thank you!"
Shin-chan accepted the clothes and immediately began stripping off his wet ones without showing the slightest concern for the people around him.
Nagato and Konan silently looked away.
Yahiko also turned around awkwardly. "Hey, at least show a little modesty!"
Shin-chan changed into the old clothes Konan had given him. They hung loosely from his body.
He wrung out his wet clothes, spread them across the stones beside the fire to dry, then plopped down in front of the flames and let out a long breath.
"I'm alive again."
Yahiko sat opposite him and used a branch to stir the wood in the fire. Sparks crackled and flew upward.
Konan found a clay pot in the corner and placed it over the fire to heat water.
"Do the three of you always live here?" Shin-chan looked around the cave.
"This is one of the places where we stay." Yahiko put the fire poker aside. "You've seen what the Land of Rain is like. There are bandits and refugees everywhere. The three of us travel around and help whenever we find someone who needs it."