After walking for about two hours, the outline of the abandoned town gradually became clearer through the curtain of rain.
It was called a town, but in reality, all that remained was a single main street lined with houses that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Before they had even entered, several gazes fell upon them from different directions.
"Everyone here lost their homes because of the war," Yahiko said quietly. "They fled here from all across the Land of Rain and gathered together, barely managing to survive."
The group followed the main street deeper into town, the muddy road beneath their feet softened by the rain.
A thin, frail boy suddenly ran out of an alley and nearly crashed into Yahiko, who was walking at the front.
"Sorry." The boy hurriedly took two steps back, but his eyes remained fixed on the ninja tool pouch hanging from Shin-chan's waist.
"It's alright." Yahiko crouched down. "Do you live here?"
The boy nodded, his gaze still never leaving Shin-chan's ninja tool pouch.
Shin-chan reached inside and rummaged around. His expression gradually became grave.
"What's wrong?" Konan noticed the change in his face.
"Something terrible has happened." Shin-chan's voice carried an unprecedented heaviness. "My strategic supplies have been exhausted."
"What strategic supplies?"
"Chocolate sticks." Shin-chan withdrew his hand from the pouch. "I shared the last one with all of you in the cave. My current stock is zero."
Nagato's eyelid twitched. "So that end-of-the-world expression was because you ran out of snacks?"
"This isn't merely a snack problem." Shin-chan shook his head. "Chocolate sticks are the energy source that keeps my brain functioning. Without them, my thinking speed drops by thirty percent and my reaction speed drops by twenty percent."
As he spoke, Shin-chan's gaze fell upon the boy.
His cheeks and eye sockets were deeply sunken. Anyone could tell at a glance that he had suffered from long-term malnutrition.
"Are you hungry?"
The boy did not answer. He only watched Shin-chan warily.
Shin-chan reached inside his coat, causing the boy to instinctively retreat half a step.
But what Shin-chan took out was not a weapon. It was the money pouch the Third Hokage had given him.
He took out some money and placed it in the boy's palm.
"Use this to buy something to eat."
The boy looked up at Shin-chan, his eyes filled with confusion.
"You... You're not from here."
"Mm. I'm only passing through."
"Why would someone who's only passing through give me money?"
"Because I don't have any chocolate sticks in my pocket," Shin-chan said. "If I had some, I'd give you chocolate sticks directly. But all I have is money, so I'm giving you money."
The boy still did not completely understand the logic, but he clenched the money tightly and ran into the depths of the alley.
"You're doing that again," Nagato said. His tone was still cold, but his gaze had softened slightly.
"Doing what?"
"Giving money to people you don't know."
"We know each other now, don't we? He said two sentences to me."
"Talking twice counts as knowing someone?"
"Of course." Shin-chan nodded. "Konoha has a rule that anyone you've spoken to counts as an acquaintance, and when an acquaintance is in trouble, you have to help them."
"You made that up again."
"I didn't make this one up. I came to that conclusion myself."
"What's the difference between that and making it up?"
Just as Shin-chan was about to answer, footsteps came from deeper inside the alley.
The boy from earlier came running back, followed by several other people.
At the front was a very old man. He walked up to Shin-chan and examined him from head to toe with his cloudy eyes.
"Takeshi said you gave him money."
"I did."
The old man slowly bent down and bowed to Shin-chan.
"Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. Someone else gave me the money too," Shin-chan explained. "It's my mission allowance from Grandpa Third."
The old man straightened and looked at Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
"Are you ninja from Amegakure?"
"More or less." Yahiko nodded. "We operate around this region, travelling from place to place to see whether anyone needs help."
"Then all of you are good people." The old man sighed. "It has been a very long time since good people came to this town."
"Have any ninja come here recently?"
The old man sighed again, but before he could answer, a commotion sounded in the distance.
Several people dressed in worn-out ninja clothing walked over. The man leading them was middle-aged and had only one arm.
"You again." When the one-armed man saw Yahiko and the others, caution entered his voice. "Didn't I tell you last time? This town doesn't welcome people from Amegakure."
Yahiko raised both hands to show that he meant no harm. "We didn't come to cause trouble. We were only passing through and wanted to ask about the situation here."
"The situation?" The one-armed man sneered. "The situation is that we're still alive. That's all."
The old man turned and beckoned to him. "Tetsu, come here."
The one-armed man called Tetsu hesitated, but eventually walked over.
"These young people gave Takeshi some money earlier." The old man pointed at Shin-chan.
Tetsu's gaze fell upon Shin-chan's forehead protector, and his pupils contracted slightly.
"A ninja from Konoha?"
"Yes." Shin-chan nodded. "But right now, I'd rather be a customer at a ramen shop. Do you have a ramen shop here?"
Tetsu froze. He looked at the old man, then at Shin-chan, unsure of how to respond.
"There isn't a ramen shop," the old man answered for him. "Forget a ramen shop. There isn't even one proper shop left in this town."
Shin-chan's face immediately fell. "Then what am I supposed to do about the chashu I saw in my dream?"
"That dream of yours needs to end already," Nagato said with a trace of helplessness in his voice.
"Dreams never end," Shin-chan said seriously. "They only turn into different dreams. Earlier, I dreamed they had run out of chashu. My next dream will definitely be about finding another ramen shop."
"Is this child really a ninja from Konoha?"
Tetsu's brows twisted into a knot. In his understanding, Konoha ninja were supposed to be battle-hardened elite warriors, not children who stood around discussing ramen shops.
"Let's talk inside." The old man patted Tetsu on the shoulder.
They followed the old man into a dilapidated house nearby.
Several children were huddled in a corner. When they saw strangers entering, they instinctively shrank closer to the wall.
"Don't be afraid," the old man said gently. "They're good people."
The old man found a chipped clay pot in the corner and poured them a cup of water.
"It's only boiled rainwater. I hope you don't mind."
Shin-chan accepted the cup and gulped it down.
"Does it taste good?"
"It's average," Shin-chan answered honestly. "But it's better than nothing."
Tetsu watched Shin-chan finish the water. "What exactly are you doing here? Konoha wouldn't send someone into the Land of Rain for no reason."
"A reconnaissance mission." This time, Shin-chan answered immediately. "Grandpa Third told me to come and see what's happening in the Land of Rain."
"See what?"
"To see whether any bad people are wandering around the border, see how the people of the Land of Rain are living, and see whether the war will spread here."
~~~
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