radicalducati Chapter 112 For a Better Life
Chapter 112 For a Better Life
Chapter 112 For a Better Life
Despite having countless questions deep in her heart, the timid Pharmacist Nono didn't dare to ask too many at this moment.
She simply answered the middle-aged woman's question very honestly, "I am a ninja, skilled in some stealth and disguise techniques and a little bit of earth-style ninjutsu."
She had been an undercover agent in Iwagakure for many years, so she naturally knew a little bit of Earth Release, though she wasn't an expert.
The middle-aged woman wrote everything down, and then exclaimed with delight, "You know earth-escape techniques? Earth-escape is great! The city is expanding recently, and earth-escape ninjas are in high demand. As long as you don't mind, you'll have a job soon."
City expansion... what does that have to do with ninjas? Yakushi Nonou was completely baffled.
She couldn't understand, but she didn't dare to ask any more questions. She then politely saw the kind middle-aged woman off.
She wondered if she should disguise herself and go out as a local to gather some information. That was her old profession.
However, they were also worried that their efforts might backfire and that if they were caught, they would be suspected of plotting against the Land of Rain.
They were caught in a dilemma.
After all, before she came, she had already labeled Shiba Kiyokawa, the leader of the Land of Rain, as a war maniac and the source of chaos in the ninja world, almost equating him with Danzo. This made her extremely careful with every step she took.
However, the surprises that the Land of Rain brought her today were only just beginning.
Shortly afterward, the person who introduced the job actually came to her door, arriving so quickly that Yakushi Nonou was caught off guard.
"Is Yakushi Nonou home?"
"Yes, I am. May I ask who you are?"
"Oh, I'm here to ask if you need a job? The construction sites in the city are short of people right now, and ninjas who can use earth-style techniques are preferred."
By the way, you're new here, so you probably haven't gotten your ID yet, right? We can pay you daily wages first, and your points will still be calculated normally. Would you like to consider it?
Many unfamiliar terms appeared, and Yakushi Nonou, wanting to gather information, nodded in agreement and followed the other party to the construction site.
She was stunned when she arrived at the destination!
I expected to see a group of ninjas repairing a nobleman's mansion.
In reality, there were no nobles at all, and no employer could be seen. There was only a group of ordinary people with blueprints directing ninjas to use earth-style techniques to dig pits and ash.
Following her usual practice, Yakushi Nonou immediately asked, "Who is the employer of this project?"
One of the men smiled and explained, "This place is contracted by a merchant guild from the Land of Rain. They've already paid taxes to the Akatsuki, so you don't need to worry. I'm the person in charge here. If you want to work here, just come to me if you need anything."
Yakushi Nonou was surprised, "How can a trading company made up of only ordinary people afford to hire so many ninjas?"
The ninja who led her here appeared to be a veteran of the Akatsuki organization, someone who had witnessed many changes here firsthand. Hearing this, he smiled and spoke.
"We definitely wouldn't have had this capability last year, but everything changed after the Akatsuki took over here."
With trade routes opened up, the merchant guild became wealthier, and at the same time, the wages for ninjas dropped significantly. A portion of their compensation could be deducted using points, which could be considered a form of support from the Akatsuki organization.
"What are points for?" Yakushi Nonou asked.
Points can be exchanged for ninjutsu.
A very simple answer once again shocked Yakushi Nonou.
"Ninjutsu can be obtained so easily? These missions don't seem difficult at all. Will everyone be able to exchange for ninjutsu in the future?"
In the many places she had traveled to, ninjutsu was a powerful tool for ninja villages to control ninjas!
Of course, they also had their own high-sounding reasons: for example, they couldn't let spies easily obtain the ninjutsu of their village.
But in reality, there are always far more of our own ninjas who are choked by ninjutsu than spies from other villages.
In response to Yakushi Nonou's question, the ninja who brought her there replied with a smile, "Our leader, Shiba Kiyokawa, has already answered this question before."
He said that if someone is willing to work diligently in the Land of Rain for one or two years just to exchange for a common ninjutsu that doesn't even reach the level of a forbidden technique, then whatever their initial motivation, it's worth it.
Pharmacist Nonou was deeply shocked by such magnanimity, and she keenly realized another benefit of doing so—
Such soil is destined to be unable to nurture the kind of local ninja clan that prefers to stick together for warmth and is monopolistic and selfish.
The problem that had plagued the major ninja villages for decades seemed to have been easily resolved by the Akatsuki organization.
What shocked Yakushi Nonou even more was the next sentence spoken by the ninja who brought her there.
"Furthermore, Shiba Kiyokawa, the leader, said that ninjas are also human beings. Even though many of them are not keen on fighting, it is not wrong for humans to want to become stronger and to collect more skills."
Instead of suppressing it, it's better to guide it.
The meaning of our struggle should be to pursue a better life, not to suppress our desires for the sake of so-called righteousness, loyalty, or inexplicable will, ultimately turning us into puppets who only know how to fight.
In that instant, Yakushi Nonou's heart was struck hard!
She suddenly thought of her past life in Konoha, recalling those years when someone was always talking in her ear!
"For the Will of Fire, you must make a sacrifice!"
"For the greater good of Konoha, you must continue your covert operations!"
"To prove your loyalty, you cannot retire, you cannot leave; you must dedicate your entire life to the village, until your dying breath!"
Such brainwashing messages filled almost every corner of Yakushi Nono's mind in the past, leaving her no time to think about whether these statements were right or wrong.
Just then, a fellow ninja stood before her and casually told her, "Ninjas are human too," and "The purpose of fighting should be for a better life, not to continue enduring torment."
In that instant, Yakushi Nonou felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears.
"Do you offer jobs to every ninja who arrives here for the first time? Is it also for... a better life?"
The ninja leading the way scratched his face, answering somewhat guiltily, "Yes, that's right, for a better life."
The real reason is that Shiba Kiyokawa, the leader, once said: any ninja who is unemployed but has a certain level of strength is a major threat to social stability!
The original saying was to suspend them with a carrot and find them a class to do, so that they wouldn't have nowhere to vent their boundless energy.
Fortunately, this Akatsuki ninja was perceptive and knew to conceal the organization's true intentions from outsiders, choosing a more elegant explanation.
However, he did not know that these words, which were already commonplace to the old members of Akatsuki, sounded like sacred words to Yakushi Nonou, a lost traveler.
Having roamed the ninja world for many years, this was the first time she had felt an unusually strong desire to stay in one place.
She even began to think: if someone is like that, even if they become a war maniac and sweep across the entire ninja world, it doesn't seem so bad.
(End of this chapter)