The Next Morning, Bright and Early
A commotion rose outside the courtyard.
"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"You're probably just dreaming too much!"
"I told them…"
"Ketsu…"
From under his futon, Link poked his head out. He had his shadow roll up the bedding on the tatami and store it in the closet. Then he peered out the window.
Kusawara was standing out there, pulling along another youth in a hat, both of them furtively peeking into the compound, muttering who knows what. Their voices grew quieter until it was just indistinct whispers.
"Ha-aah…"
Link yawned. Letting the shadows keep watch, he rose to wash up.
He guessed it might be because Zabuza's look was too recognizable, and one of Gatō's former subordinates recognized him. In the grand scheme of things, that was trivial. Of all Link's abilities, the first to be exposed would likely be the shadow-related ones, since he used them so often.
Next might be Rashōmon, since in any fight against a strong opponent, he always had to summon someone first—basically an open secret by now. His dream of "founding a Wish-Fulfillment Company" had already collapsed, though.
The village top brass, including the Third Hokage, had approved his special Summoning Technique, but they made it clear they did not want him overusing it indiscriminately.
If he started offering to summon the dead for anyone who paid, that would be considered misuse.
Put simply, it was: "Sure, use it yourself if you want—but don't exploit it for profit." This was not so much about politics or the "adult perspective" as it was about morality.
Playing with life and death was frowned upon in the shinobi world. If Danzō misused it to enrich the village, perhaps the two Advisors and the Hokage wouldn't say much. But for a new-generation Hokage candidate to be morally compromised? That was no good.
From the Third Hokage's private standpoint, he simply didn't want Link to lose his respect for death or follow Orochimaru's path by abusing this technique. Link was pleasantly surprised that the two advisors—who came off as irritating in the manga—were actually so supportive of him.
When he'd finished washing up and went downstairs, Kusawara and the other youth in the hat were already gone. Teishi was busy in the courtyard.
That old fellow—nearly sixty—was working steadily, still brimming with energy. Apparently, he'd rather finish soon and get home sooner. He had started working before dawn.
Kusawara had shown up briefly in the morning, but didn't come by at all by noon. Usually he was the one bringing meals. Initially, Teishi didn't think much of it, assuming Kusawara was busy. He even dug into his own wallet to buy lunch from town.
But by around three in the afternoon, with his garden work all finished, he'd arranged for Kusawara to come by for inspection…yet the man never showed. Growing anxious, Teishi finally lost patience around twilight, planning to go ask Ketsu, their employer, what was going on.
"Leave it to me," Link volunteered. Temari shot him a curious look but said nothing.
He made his way back to that odd building. Not a person in sight. He was already guessing the situation. Entering the structure, he searched from the first floor to the second, then the third…
At the top floor, he finally found Ketsu, lying on the floor, reeking of alcohol and sleeping heavily.
Shadows went up and gave him a nudge. After a few seconds, Ketsu blearily opened his eyes, not even fully awake, and mumbled, "Get lost, all of you—everything here belongs to me!"
"Hmm…things are looking weird."
Link briefly surveyed the messy room. He didn't bother with small talk. He formed seals and cast a genjutsu.
Soon, through the drunken Ketsu's slurred revelations, he learned the truth:
Those subordinates of Ketsu's—more precisely, the remnants of Gatō's gang—had already been terrified out of their wits during a previous encounter with Konoha ninja. They still followed Ketsu because he had money. Seeing Konoha shinobi again had them trembling, but suspecting Momochi Zabuza only pushed them over the edge.
After Kusawara told his comrades, they decided to flee. Ketsu, who had spent all his money in hopes of establishing himself as a mini-tyrant in the local town, objected fiercely to them running off. But his protest meant nothing. They even robbed him on their way out.
In other words, karmic retribution: before Ketsu could lord it over the Land of Waves, his subordinates mutinied and took off out of fear.
As for Teishi? That was just an accident. Ketsu had been drunk in Tanzaku Town, boasting to gambling buddies, and casually promised Teishi the job. He'd never expected the old man to really show up.
Link pondered for a bit, then realized this was actually an opportunity.
He'd come to the Land of Waves in hopes of finding Gatō's missing stash, plus testing out the Swamp of the Underworld. Testing such a sinister jutsu in the village was no good—whether for secrecy or maintaining his "good boy" persona.
He'd considered setting up a base in the Land of Rivers for his experiments and jutsu development, but that country was too chaotic. Now he saw that the Land of Waves might be a better spot, and someone like Ketsu was perfect as test material.
"No ninja around, extremely close to Konoha, island nation…"
Yes, this place had promise. Link made up his mind and formed seals:
Rashōmon.
…
An Hour Later
"Sigh…" Teishi sat under the eaves, heaving a weary sigh. How could I have ended up traveling so far for a gig set up by some random gambler-buddy?
If he didn't get the remaining payment, the deposit would only cover the cost of hiring these Konoha ninja. Meaning he would have traveled a thousand miles, worked two days, and accomplished nothing.
At his age, was this fair?
Just then, "tap"—footsteps on the ground.
Teishi turned instinctively, only to meet a pair of scarlet Sharingan. His tense expression slowly relaxed.
Link fished out his wallet. He counted out the mission reward plus the fee Ketsu owed Teishi, placed it into the old man's hands, and then looked up. "Fugaku-ojisan, if you would."
Uchiha Fugaku nodded and vanished on the spot.
"…" The old man muttered something under his breath, stood up, and shuffled back inside, money in hand, a bit dazed.
"Ketsu sure knew how to burn money…two million ryō, and in just a few months he only had a little over a hundred thousand left."
Link shook his head. He'd had to pay Teishi out of his own pocket for a few ten-thousands. He came here hoping for extra income; instead, he ended up spending.
Setting up a base later on would also cost a large sum. Research on the Five-Element Seal, medical research, the necessary medical equipment, an electrical system—none of that came cheap. And any ninjutsu experiments would eat up resources. In this impoverished corner of the Land of Waves, anything they needed would have to be purchased in the Land of Fire and shipped over.
"Well, let's take it one step at a time…"
~~~
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