Escape From Konoha

Konoha 47, mid-January.

Although the weather is not clear, the milky white sky is much brighter than the snowy sky.

In the cold and frozen forest, there are no flying birds or lush vegetation. There are only twos and threes of footprints on the snowy ground, proving that someone is active here.

Then, in the silent forest, the sound of gunshots tearing through the air suddenly appeared.

The bullet penetrated through the center of the target hanging on the tree and penetrated deep into the tree behind the target, where a deep hole the size of a peanut could be clearly seen.

The hard trees have been penetrated so deeply by bullets. You can imagine what would happen if they hit a human body made of flesh and blood.

"It seems that I have practiced my marksmanship very well. With the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, I can accurately hit the enemy's body even in complex environments."

Asuka said in a good mood while watching Chiba Aya use a short flintlock gun.

Because it was a day off, he rarely went to work in his workshop. Instead, he took advantage of the New Year atmosphere to spend as much time with his family as possible.

Ichiji also nodded. Compared to the others, he had a white eye and was able to capture the enemy's movement no matter what the environment was, greatly reducing the difficulty of use.

"It's good, but I think the bullet's range is still a little short."

Cai frowned, although she also felt that the flintlock rifle was very helpful to ninjas in battle, especially when they were caught by surprise, and could quickly kill the enemy.

But for him with the Byakugan, this range is still a little too close.

"The effective range is already over 40 meters. Under normal circumstances, no ninjutsu can reach this level."

Asuka explained.

Because of the operating space, or due to today's technology, the effective range of the flintlock gun could only be adjusted to the limit of 40 meters.

In fact, when it exceeds 30 meters, the bullet will deviate from the original trajectory, but the angle of deviation cannot be detected without careful observation, so Feiniao thinks it is not a big problem.

At least it's much better than a heavy, low-range weapon like the Kunai Gun.

"That means you can't adjust the range further? Brother Asuka?"

Cai asked.

"Well, because the maneuverable space of the flintlock gun is very small, and there are no breakthroughs in technology and materials today, although mass production is intended, it is currently impossible. But..."

Asuka took a serious look at Ai, smiled and said: "What you said can also serve as a reminder. You are right. If it is an ordinary ninja, this range of shooting is enough, but for the Hyuga clan, There are some real problems with such a short range.”

Yi Ji, who was on the side, also pondered for a while and quickly understood the key.

"It's because the effective observation distance of the Byakugan can reach more than two kilometers. If the effective range of firearms and bullets is increased to more than two kilometers, then the Hyuga clan ninjas who possess the Byakugan can safely reach the target without contacting the enemy. Snipe the enemy in the area.”

Because the Byakugan can see through all obstacles and accurately capture the enemy's position.

No matter how complex the environment is, it cannot affect the performance of Byakugan, unless targeted techniques are used to disrupt Byakugan's insight ability.

In this way, Aya's idea actually matches the characteristics of Byakugan.

For an adult Hyuga clan ninja, the observing distance of Byakugan starts from two kilometers. As powerful as Ayane, the effective observation distance can reach more than ten kilometers, and no vegetation or trees can escape.

"What you said is an ideal situation. Technological progress does not happen overnight, but depends on daily accumulation and experimentation. Moreover, it takes a lot of effort to break through one meter of range, and the requirements for bullets will be higher. Even if you can increase the capacity of the firearm and operate it, it will still take a long time."

Asuka looked at Kazuki speechlessly.

How can such a thing exist?

"How to improve the convenience of weapons is the job of your researchers and has nothing to do with me. I just need to use this to fight and kill the enemy."

Yiji paid no attention to Asuka's complaints.

Asuka sighed, still having his own way of doing things.

"Anyway, I'll give it a try. Okay, it's almost time, let's go back."

Yi Ji and Cai did not object and nodded in agreement.

…

"Hey, the eldest lady and the young masters are back. It's been really hard going out."

Entering the courtyard, you can see Lei Mingwan, who is like a watchdog, lying on his property basking in the sun while eating snacks he found at home.

After returning from the Kingdom of Waves, it basically spends every day here eating and doing nothing. After all, there is no special war in the Kingdom of Ghosts, so his combat avatar is useless. Moreover, there is no need for such things as cultivation. Their own 'system' does not have the ability to practice.

So, life was very leisurely.

After seeing Yiji and the others coming back, they immediately said hello.

This sentence made Asuka unable to complain.

Obviously he is the eldest brother, why is he called 'young master'.

As the younger sister, Yiji is called the 'eldest lady'.

Asuka felt that Thunder Pill was becoming more and more like a loyal dog wagging its tail at its master.

The differential treatment is too serious.

"By the way, Father asked Miss you to go to his study. It seems that something unexpected happened in the Country of Waves."

Thunder Maru remembered something and said to Kazuji.

"The Kingdom of Waves?"

Ichiji frowned and thought for a moment, still not knowing what changes had taken place in the situation in the Country of Waves.

"I understand, then I'll take the first step."

Yi Ji quickly left the team, entered the villa building, and walked all the way to the study on the second floor.

In front of the study door, Yi Ji knocked on the door first, and soon a "come in" came from inside. Yiji then unscrewed the door handle, opened the door and entered the study.

The study room is very large, with no less than 100,000 books placed here, and there is also an office area.

On the desk, there are more important confidential files placed in categories.

"Old man, are you looking for me?"

After Yi Ji came in, she asked straight to the point.

Shiraishi, who was sitting on the office chair, was looking out the window. After Ichiki spoke, he turned to look at her.

"Yes, there is a small situation in the Country of Waves. Although it is not very important, I still want to tell you so that you can be mentally prepared."

Shiraishi said.

"What's the situation? The merchant alliance on the isolated island has been eradicated, and the remnants have been captured and sent to the construction sites for labor reform. I don't think the current Fire Country dares to do anything excessive."

Yiji said based on her own guess.

"Today is different from the past. A few years ago, the Third Hokage secretly took Nara Shikaku, the Jonin squad leader, to visit the Fire Country Daimyo privately. We have no way of knowing the content of the conversation between them, but the decision to cooperate was made at that time It has been decided. Moreover, there is a hard-line leader Shimura Danzo in Konoha who is more difficult to deal with than the Sandaime. With our side and the Kingdom of Thunder pressing closer, the Kingdom of Fire will inevitably change its attitude. Reach out to us.”

Shiraishi said.

Although I couldn't believe that the Sandaime Hokage had such a strong day, the Fire Nation's strong turnaround was originally a possibility among the alternatives.

Unlike the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, the daimyo of the Fire Nation and the root leader, are both ambitious.

If these two people fully agree to the tough external plan, then the Third Hokage must compromise the decisions of these two people in order to consider the balance between the country and Konoha.

In political matters, the two parties are constantly compromising, and then trying to run in with each other.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo, all three of them have been friends since childhood and know each other well. It would be troublesome to completely unite.

The most important thing is that unlike the daimyo of the Kingdom of Wind, the Daimyo of the Country of Fire has no control over the Kingdom of Ghosts. Like an old fox, he wraps himself up tightly and does not give the Kingdom of Ghosts a chance to infiltrate.

It is basically impossible to disintegrate the cooperation alliance of the three from the inside.

"Can't the informants in Konoha Village stop the Third Hokage's footsteps?"

"Let's not say it can't be done, even if it can be done, now is not the time for them to stand in front of the stage."

Shiraishi shook his head.

"So, what happened in the Land of Waves?"

"The branch of the Workers' and Citizens' Cooperative established in the Country of Waves was closed down by the soldiers of the Daming Prefecture of the Country of Waves just this morning. The reason was that it would harm the national defense security of the Country of Waves."

"..."

The country's national defense?

Is there really such a thing as national defense in that country?

The people of our own country are very clear about the matter, and even the pirates can't solve the Daming Mansion. How can there be anything that can be used as a national defense force?

Isn't this just telling lies?

Yiji was slightly speechless.

“Although the workers’ cooperative is just a start-up, the response from the people of the country has been very good, and it has also helped many poor families in the country to survive this difficult winter... In addition, I bribed many workers before. With such nonsense, is the Kingdom of Waves planning to push all of its own people to our side?"

Ichiji frowned and said.

She could have predicted that when the worker-minor cooperative was shut down, the voices of the people in the Land of Waves would definitely boil up.

That affects not thousands of people, but thousands of families.

For a small country like the Country of Waves, the public opinion united by these thousands of families is enough to eat a pot of Dai Mingfu, and if the situation cannot be controlled, it can easily lead to riots by workers and farmers.

Originally, in order to crusade against pirates, the country of Bo lost a lot of young and middle-aged people, and the tax was also increased every year, but the income of workers and farmers did not increase year by year.

This also led to poverty in the country of Waves.

It made the country of Bo, which was not rich at all, become even poorer.

We managed to make a living through the workers' and civilians' cooperatives, but now we have been seized by the soldiers of Daming Prefecture. We have been squeezed for so long. It would be strange if we don't get up and struggle.

"It's hard to say that the daimyo of the country of fire is not behind this."

"I don't think the Fire Nation Daimyo is such a fool."

Yiji said so.

Although the name of the Fire Nation is very greedy in dealing with the isolated island and intends to take it all for himself without giving other countries a chance, it also proves that the Fire Nation has the ability to deal with the subsequent impact. It was only the kingdom of ghosts intervening and wooing the other big countries that made the plan of the kingdom of fire fail.

Being able to dominate such a huge country, the Daimyo of the Fire Country would not know the consequences of sealing down the workers' cooperative.

"It's because a back-up plan has been launched. Either in the Kingdom of Waves, or..."

"The Land of Rain!"

Yi Ji said these three words on behalf of Shiraishi, and her face became solemn.

Such reckless suppression of the influence of the Kingdom of Ghosts in the central part of the continent only shows that the Daimyo of the Kingdom of Fire have the next move.

Although the Kingdom of Waves and the Kingdom of Rain are located in different locations, their properties are actually the same.

The Fire Nation and the Ghost Nation both intervened.

If one side is troubled, the other side will also be greatly affected.

"According to the report of the wandering witches in the Kingdom of Ghosts, no changes were noticed in the Damingfu ninja troops. This is natural. After all, Danzo is the leader behind the scenes, arranging the chess game in the dark. He is a veteran, and he will definitely not It is easy for us to detect the traces of his actions. Just like when he and Orochimaru plotted against Hanzo in Amegakure Village."

Shiraishi took a sip of tea.

"Knowing that there is going to be a big action in the Fire Country, old man, aren't you anxious at all?"

Seeing Shiraishi still drinking tea leisurely, Kazuki asked.

"It's not just me who is anxious. Don't forget, the country in the northeast corner is also anxious."

Shiraishi smiled.

Ichiki nodded. Indeed, the Kingdom of Oni was not the only one targeting the Kingdom of Fire. The Kingdom of Thunder, located in the northeast of the ninja world, was more eager to suppress the Kingdom of Fire than the Kingdom of Oni.

The traditional five major kingdoms also fought fiercely with each other, even more fiercely than the fight between the Kingdom of Ghosts and the Kingdom of Fire.

"Since this has happened, I will return to the Country of Waves now. I will handle this matter as soon as possible."

Yiji said.

"There's no problem going back, but there's no need for you to come forward now. We can't help them all the time. We have to rely on self-reliance. Otherwise, it's spoiling! The ones we cultivate in the end are just a bunch of useless people."

Shiraishi looked directly into Kazuki's eyes.

Yiji was stunned for a moment and then understood something.

"Indeed, although it is not good for the Kingdom of Ghosts at the moment, this is also an opportunity."

With the help of this closure of the workers' and farmers' cooperative, the public resentment of the people of Wave Country may boil again.

After all, there is a very important seed buried there. The bud has already grown in the soil, and now it just needs to break through the soil and bloom and bear fruit.

◎

"These bastard soldiers from Daming Mansion are really ruthless!"

The country of Waves, the Tatsuna family.

Dazna was sitting upright on the straw mat. There was only an oven for heating in the room, but most of the room was still cold.

He took off his clothes, and his waist was bruised and swollen, obviously from being beaten.

His daughter Tsunami was taking out medicinal liquor and wiping his wounds with cotton balls, making Dazuna hiss with cold air.

"Tsunami, please wipe it slowly, this old bone is about to fall apart."

"You're not dad yet, why are you trying to show off your authority? You're so old, why are you still acting like a young man, going to a famous family to make trouble? Isn't this looking for trouble?"

Tsunami glared at her father angrily, blaming him for causing trouble in front of the daimyo's mansion.

Is that a place where civilians can go?

Since ancient times, people have not fought with merchants, and merchants have not fought with officials.

They couldn't even fight against the merchants, so they went to make trouble in front of the daimyo's house, just to seek death.

"I don't want to either... But the daimyo has gone too far this time. Let's not talk about the factory. This time, he also closed down the worker-minor cooperative established by the ghost country. That is the bottom line for many workers. Now When this bottom line is gone, it’s natural to go to the famous experts and reason with those big masters.”

Dazuna smiled bitterly.

With the workers' cooperative, even though the construction of the factory has stopped, the family can still barely live a good life.

There is no need to work hard to go fishing. If you are attacked by bandits, it is really unreasonable to say anything.

But strangely enough, in the past month or two, there have been no rumors of pirate attacks on coastal areas.

However, fishing in the country of waves is still a dangerous thing.

Who would want to do such dangerous things if they could have a stable source of livelihood? The fish they caught could not be exchanged for much money from stingy businessmen.

Rather than money, what they lack are the necessities of life.

Salt seasoning, brown rice flour, and cotton-padded clothes for the winter, stove and the like.

Workers' cooperatives can exchange for these daily necessities with very low-cost labor, allowing them to have enough food, sleep and warmth in their daily lives.

This is why the workers' and farmers' cooperative, which has only been open for less than two months, has such great appeal.

At first it was just workers, but later many farmers also joined.

That is a favor that no one can bestow on them. As the saying goes, eating people is short of mouth and taking others is short of hand. Naturally, they have to help the citizen cooperatives to be judged by famous people.

No matter how hard you squeeze them, you can't deprive them of their right to survive.

If even this is taken away, then everyone gets together to confront the daimyo and reason with him.

As a lord, it is impossible for a daimyo to not even speak the truth.

One person cannot do it, but a thousand people will always have an effect.

"Even if you go to sue the officials, Dad, don't act like a leader. We can't be the opponents of those officials."

Tsunami whispered.

In this world, there are not only ninjas, but also powerful daimyo and nobles.

Although suing an official is a 'fair' appeal path for civilians, the person who sues the official will definitely be executed.

In the past, when nobles bullied men and women among the people, some people would go to the famous family to file a lawsuit.

In order to show his virtuousness, although the daimyo punished the noble who bullied men and women, he also executed the common people who complained afterward.

The Country of Waves is a traditional country, and each class cannot be crossed casually.

Once you cross it, it's a dead end.

This is why Tsunami is worried.

Even if the reason for going to the daimyo is settled, executing Dazna afterwards is still the responsibility and obligation that civilians have to bear to sue their superiors.

Dazna is the only breadwinner of the family now. She doesn't know if something happens to Dazna, leaving her as an orphan and a widowed mother, and they don't know how to survive.

Dazuna also fell silent.

He understands the truth, but they always have to survive.

When the factory closed down, they just had resentment in their hearts, but they didn't dare to express it because they could barely survive until the bottom line was reached.

However, this time even the citizens' cooperatives were sealed, and all supplies were forcibly confiscated, and the daimyo conducted unified management. This is equivalent to confiscation and embezzlement by the daimyo.

Even survival is problematic. If we continue to endure it, who knows if the Daimyo will go even further next time.

Every year, only a small part of the food that is turned over to the farmers for their own consumption is left for their own consumption.

However, the total population of daimyo and nobles is less than one percent of theirs, but they enjoy more than half of the country's food... The food they hand over in a year can feed these people for more than ten years. But, why is the amount of food handed in every year increasing and not decreasing? Can these people really eat so much food?

Why did the daimyo and nobles collect food that could never be eaten.

Why would we rather hoard food in warehouses to rot instead of distributing it to help them?

The food was originally produced by their hard work.

The Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom of Ghosts rescued them, but as a result, the factory was forced to stop construction. The workers' cooperative, which could exchange low-cost labor or money for daily necessities, was also closed down by the famous masters.

As long as their own officials and businessmen have some conscience, they, the workers and farmers, will not go against their own country for the sake of businessmen from other countries.

Therefore, Dazna believed that he had done nothing wrong.

But he still didn't understand why the daimyo and nobles were still not satisfied after he handed over the food, and continued to squeeze their power of survival in different ways.

"Is Dazna home?"

Someone shouted at the door.

Dazna recognized the owner of the voice.

"It's Kiki here, Tsunami, go and open the door."

Dazna put down his clothes and covered the wound on his waist.

Tsunami nodded, walked out of the room and opened the door.

After a while, Kiki, led by Tsunami, came to Dazuna's room.

Kiki was holding fishing nets and other fishing equipment in his hands. Dazna felt strange and asked: "Kiki, what are you doing?"

Kitchen replied: "Of course I went out to sea to fish. If I continue to sit here and eat nothing, I guess I will have to tighten my belt next month. Not only that, this year's taxes seem to have increased by another 10%, so it is better to work more now." Well, otherwise if we don’t get it together by then, we’ll probably go to jail.”

"..."

Dazna opened his mouth, speechless.

The arrival of the Ziyuan Flower Merchant Association finally improved their living standards a little, but as a result, they had to return to the fishing industry, which was more painful, tiring, and life-threatening.

"Taxes have increased again. Who did you listen to?"

Dazuna asked.

"The leaflets have been distributed. Can the family emblem of the Daimyo family be fake? These nobles are really a bunch of greedy vampires. It would be great if Miss Ichiki was here."

Kitchen took out a leaflet from his arms and put it in Dazna's hand.

Dazuna looked at the content on the flyer and the emblem of the great family of the Kingdom of Waves at the bottom. It was indeed from the official name of the Kingdom of Waves.

Dazuna also sighed and stood up from the straw mat.

"It seems that now is not the time to rest. Then I will go with you. I hope this old bone can still be of some use. Tsunami, you stay at home and look after the house."

"Dad, your body..."

"Don't worry, it's okay. Let's go, Kiki. Compared to daimyo and nobles, I suddenly feel that pirates are much cuter."

"Well, you are the only one missing. All our old friends have already taken the lead."

Kitchen nodded and took the lead.

Watching the two people leaving, Tsunami could only silently pray for a safe journey.