Chapter 104: Land of Artisans (Part 1)
It was obvious that the target of these ship-raiding craftsmen-nin were the four young men from wealthy families.
From their extravagant clothing and the three women who had been thrown into the crowd, it was clear that these four came from influential backgrounds.
A team-building trip, perhaps.
Living the good life, huh.
Among the other passengers, there were also people dressed in high-end clothing, but even they weren't the focus of these craftsmen-nin.
There were eight of them in total. The one who had just emerged from the captain's quarters, dragging the captain along, was most likely their leader. Including him, five of them were surrounding the four rich young men, while only three were left to keep an eye on the rest of the passengers.
The ship started moving again, heading toward the port.
That meant there was at least one more craftsman-nin still in the captain's quarters.
Yagura quickly assessed the group, gathering intelligence on their numbers and formation.
As for their strength, he wasn't particularly impressed.
A ninja should complete a mission with maximum efficiency, minimal exposure, and the least amount of effort.
If their goal was truly just to capture these four well-dressed young men, they should have acted after the targets disembarked rather than launching a full-scale ship hijacking like common pirates.
Dragging in unnecessary people, causing a massive commotion—
Their lack of basic professionalism spoke volumes about their actual combat ability.
Yagura scoffed internally. If this was what passed for ninja in the Artisans Village, then that place was nothing more than a group of warriors and mercenaries with chakra, masquerading under the title of a ninja village.
With enemies like these…
Yagura rolled his eyes. No wonder the Third Mizukage was confident that he could handle this mission alone and wasn't even worried about the safety of the tailed beast.
(Though, to be fair, he did have the Anbu following in the shadows.)
...
"Write!"
One of the craftsmen-nin made no effort to hide his disdain toward the four captives. He tossed a brush and paper onto the ground and kicked one of them down.
The unfortunate young man trembled as he picked up the brush, adjusting his glasses with shaky hands.
"W-What should I write?"
"Still don't get it? Too scared to think?"
A mustached craftsman-nin yanked the bespectacled young man up, pulling him close. His expression twisted into a sneer as he threatened,
"You're our hostages now. Write to your fathers. Tell them if they want you to live, they'd better cooperate."
Yagura: Are you guys ninjas or just common thugs…?
Having spent so long in Kirigakure, he found this kind of amateurism almost unbearable.
Other craftsmen-nin were similarly "attending" to the rest of the hostages. Even the one who had fainted earlier was doused with cold water to wake him up.
The guards keeping watch over the other passengers were much more relaxed now.
Most people, having initially been frozen in fear, were beginning to realize they weren't the targets.
A sigh of relief spread through the crowd, and with that relief came a different kind of reaction—whispers and gossip.
...
"Dear, doesn't that chubby guy look familiar?"
"No doubt about it. He's the young master of the Tsuchimikado Mining Group. We met him at one of their company banquets."
"The one with glasses must be from the Fodo Group."
At first, the murmurs were hushed, with people stealing glances at their captors, wary of their reactions.
But when they realized the craftsmen-nin weren't paying them any attention, the whispers grew bolder.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Would I lie?"
"So what's this about? A ransom?"
"You don't know? You need to spend more time keeping up with the news. These corporations have been targeted by our nation's ninja for a while now. Their cargo ships have been hijacked, their iron mines seized, and their workers unable to operate. We're just caught in the crossfire."
"Why, though?"
The hunger for gossip pushed people past their usual social barriers.
Yagura, naturally curious, perked up his ears and moved closer to the man who seemed to know a lot.
"Aren't the craftsmen-nin part of the Land of Artisans's ninja village? Why would they attack their own country's corporations? Are they exploiting cheap labor or something?"
Mining. Corporations. Workers.
The keywords alone painted a clear enough picture.
String them up! String them up!
The informant, a square-faced man with a wild, frizzy hairstyle and sharp, beady eyes, looked down at Yagura in surprise.
A child's voice?
He scanned the area—no adults nearby. A well-dressed, pretty-faced kid, alone on a ship traveling from the Land of Water to the Land of Artisans.
An upper-class child… running away from home?
The square-faced man silently filled in the blanks, constructing a backstory for Yagura in his mind.
A rebellious young master from the Land of Water, huh?
The thought amused him. His gaze toward Yagura softened slightly, as if he'd just stumbled onto a particularly juicy piece of gossip.
After confirming that none of the craftsmen-nin were paying attention to him, he leaned down and said in a hushed tone,
"Kid, is this your first time in our Land of Artisans?"
"I'm not a kid. My name is Kagura," Yagura corrected him before nodding. "Yeah, first time. I'm from the Land of Water."
...
"I see. You don't know much about our country, then. Let me explain, Kagura."
Since no one was stopping him, the square-faced man continued, lowering his voice.
"Our Land of Artisans is famous across the ninja world for our expertise in crafting ninja tools. Even the Five Great Nations rely on our products."
"I know that much," Yagura interjected, impatiently tapping the floor. Get to the good part already.
The man chuckled.
This kid…
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if Yagura would even understand the more complicated aspects of the issue. But seeing how sharp he seemed, he decided to give it a shot.
"Alright, kid, imagine you're a craftsman. To forge a single ninja tool, you need at least a hammer and a piece of iron, right? Even to craft a hammer, you need iron."
His gaze flickered toward the hostages, his eyes filled with resentment. "The problem… is the iron."
"Our Land of Artisans has plenty of iron mines, but most of them are controlled by major financial groups. The biggest among them are the Tsuchimikado and Fodo groups."
"They export iron to other nations for massive profits, and at the same time, they sell iron to our own craftsmen—at outrageously high prices."
"Recently, it looks like the Five Great Nations are gearing up for war. Demand for our iron and ninja tools has skyrocketed."
"So these corporations raised their prices even further, selling more and making more profit. But the price they charge our own craftsmen is even higher than what they charge the Great Nations. They refuse to lower costs for their own people."
"They sell cheap scrap metal to us, but how can anyone forge real ninja tools with that garbage?"
Yagura listened, putting the pieces together quickly.
So, in short—rampant corporate greed and market manipulation.
The upper class controlling resources and squeezing out the lower class.
Classic.
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