On the yellowish, dirt-paved street, a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat was hunched over, his face ashen.
Around his neck hung a large, handwritten wooden sign, its crooked words seemingly screaming with despair:
"Willing to do anything."
Around the street corners, many young children squatted, their bodies emaciated, limbs as thin as branches, as if they would snap with a gentle bend.
Their tattered clothes hung loosely on their bodies, making their figures appear even more fragile.
Their vacant eyes revealed confusion and helplessness; they sat there quietly, like a forgotten corner of the world, evoking pity.
Chizhao squatted in a corner, silently observing the desolate scene before her, her heart growing heavy.
Is all of this because of Gato?
That notoriously wealthy man?
Since he's already the undisputed richest man, why does he still oppress such a small island?
"Chizhao...." A faint voice interrupted her thoughts.
Torune, whose limbs were wrapped in bandages and who was lying on the ground pretending to be sick, was gently tugging at her sleeve.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Are you sure this can really gather intelligence?"
The two had been squatting there for an unknown amount of time; Torune had even fallen asleep on the ground, yet they still had no Harvest.
But for Chizhao, information was already stored in her mind.
Any random memory from her past life would be useful information, which was why she was calmly squatting in the corner, searching for her target.
"Don't worry, information will definitely come to us. We just need to wait patiently."
"Clink."
A crisp sound fell into the broken bowl in front of them. Chizhao was stunned; she looked up to see a child younger than them standing before her, his gaze lowered.
His black hair and sympathetic eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of a fisherman's hat. He sighed softly:
"So pitiful...."
Then he lowered his head and walked away.
He appeared....
The target she had been waiting for—Inari!
Her gaze fixed on his receding figure, Chizhao pushed herself up from the ground, preparing to chase after him.
"Torune, you can sleep a bit more here. I'll be back soon!"
"Eh! Wait... Chizhao?"
Watching the girl run off, Torune glanced at the copper coin in the broken bowl, pulled the straw mat covering him, sighed helplessly, and lay back down.
Chasing the figure, she ran to the corner, just in time to see an older boy grabbing Inari's collar, shouting with an unfriendly expression:
"Kid, hand over all your money, don't try any tricks on me!"
Inari looked at the person in front of him with vacant eyes, pulled out the last few copper coins from his bag, and handed them over.
"This is all I have. Take it."
The boy, about to take the money triumphantly, suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand, causing him to drop Inari in fear.
"Who! Who's messing around! Come out!"
He looked around but didn't see anyone else.
Suddenly, scattered shadows appeared from the air. Looking closer, they were countless stones raining down on him.
He frantically held his head, ready to flee, but the rain-like pain had already struck him.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
The boy dodged frantically, fleeing the scene in a sorry state.
【Bad Deed Progress +2】
At this point, the rain of stones also stopped. Inari sat on the ground in a daze, a gentle voice coming from above his head:
"Are you alright?"
He looked up and saw that the shabbily dressed girl in front of him was the one he had just given alms to. He opened his mouth in surprise, and after a long moment, a questioning sound emerged.
"You... why did you do that?"
Chizhao thought for a moment and came up with a clumsy reason: "I was worried you'd be badly bullied, so I wanted to help you...."
Inari surveyed her from head to toe and scoffed: "You look like you're in a worse state than me...."
Chizhao looked down at her tattered clothes. Compared to Inari, who was neatly and cleanly dressed, she did seem more pitiful.
She quickly thought, preparing to trigger some keywords to extract information about Naruto and his group from Inari.
"Because you also gave me the courage to live, so I'm here to thank you!"
"Courage? That kind of thing... that kind of thing doesn't exist in this country anymore!"
Inari clenched his fists, the scene of his father's murder flashing before his eyes, his body trembling slightly.
Seeing his intense emotional reaction, Chizhao immediately seized the opportunity and firmly shouted at him:
"No! Courage exists! Everyone building that bridge is full of courage. As long as that bridge is completed, my brother's illness will have a chance to be cured, and we won't be controlled by Gato anymore, right?"
Inari froze there, his legs gave out, and he fell to the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes:
"It's impossible, it's impossible. No one can defeat Gato's subordinates. Grandpa hasn't returned... that bridge will never be finished!"
With a roar, he scrambled up from the ground, his face streaked with tears, pushed Chizhao away, and ran into the alley.
Chizhao stumbled. After his figure disappeared from her sight, she withdrew the foot she had stepped out with.
From Inari's words just now, she already knew that old man Tazuna was not in the Land of Waves.
So it's possible he's currently on his way to Konoha, or perhaps he's already on the way with Naruto and his group.
If they sped up, perhaps they could really kill Gato before they arrived?
"You're back, Chizhao. Did you find out anything?"
Torune propped himself up from the ground with his arms. His white bandages were covered in dust, and his pitiful appearance made passersby cast sympathetic glances.
Chizhao gently moved to his side, crossed her legs, and gently but firmly pressed Torune back to the ground. Her palm lightly touched his forehead, and she whispered softly:
"Don't worry, it's all in my head."
Then her gaze drifted to the two copper coins Inari had left in the broken bowl, and she clutched them in her hand.
She looked around, then looked at Torune on the ground.
"The necessary information has been obtained. There's no point in staying here. Let's go back."
"Okay."
So, under the astonished gazes of the surrounding people, Torune stood up from the ground, neatly rolled up the straw mat and slung it over his shoulder, then picked up the broken bowl, and walked out steadily behind Chizhao.
The onlookers: ?! This... this is a deathbed resurgence, isn't it?!!!
Night fell. In a forest on an island in the Land of Waves, a small wooden hut blended into the dim night. The incandescent light from a few flashlights illuminated the interior of the hut.
The Special Intelligence Squad Team 6, exhausted from a day of travel, sat around a wooden table, the atmosphere solemn and heavy.
Yamato sat there with his arms crossed, the white light illuminating his face, creating eerie, flickering shadows. His reassuring voice slowly resounded:
"Then I'll start by sharing the intelligence I gathered."
They all focused their gaze on him in unison, except for Chizhao, who, after glimpsing his slightly deep, somewhat unsettling eyes, involuntarily shifted her gaze to the tabletop.
Why does this atmosphere feel a little terrifying?
Ugh, I'm probably going to have nightmares tonight!