Chapter 25: Tax, Choice, and the Cripple

"Five times?!"

The villagers' mouths dropped open.

"Lord! Five times… aren't you trying to kill us?!"

"Kill you?"

Sawamura sneered. "Your lives aren't worth much. If you have money, pay with money. If not, pay with food. If you have neither, then pack up your belongings and come with me."

The scandal in Mist Village had caused a huge stir, even the remote Snowy Village had heard about the human trafficking trade. Someone cried out in alarm,

"You want to sell us?!"

Second Brother walked over and kicked the speaker in the stomach.

"Say 'my lord'. So rude. Typical unruly peasants, no manners at all."

Sawamura waved his hand, still smiling kindly.

"Don't be like that. In Lord Senmura's words, they're simply 'means of production.'"

"Everyone, this isn't selling. It's inviting you to work somewhere where making money is easier."

"This village has limited your potential, to the point that you can't even afford a tiny bit of tax. I'll send you to a place where you can show your true value."

For example... the coal mines.

"You have one night to gather the money. Go."

The villagers scattered, running back to their homes. At first, there were arguments and weeping. But before long, there was looting and violence.

These were the households that couldn't gather enough money, robbing grain and valuables from others.

So-called years of close village bonds were shattered the moment real life-and-death danger appeared.

Sawamura sat atop the carriage, eyes half-closed. The wailing, cursing, and screaming were his appetizers. He lightly tapped the scabbard of his blade, drinking and humming, utterly pleased.

The remaining four brothers circled the village perimeter, ensuring not even a bird could fly out.

The chaos lasted from dusk to the next morning.

Some brought money and grain.

Some resigned themselves to fate.

Some died.

Sawamura drank the last sip of wine and tossed away the gourd.

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, take them and head back to the county. I'll wait two more days. If that 'Doctor Ryosuke' still hasn't returned, I'll come myself."

"Yes, Big Brother!"

Third Brother pulled out a whip from his waist, crack!, and used it like he was herding livestock, driving the villagers forward.

Among them, there were Haku and his family of three.

At that moment, a carrier pigeon flew in and landed in Sawamura's hand.

He glanced at the encrypted message, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait a moment."

"What is it, Big Brother?"

"I'll go instead."

Sawamura licked his dry lips. "Lord Senmura said two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen have arrived. I must go and entertain them."

The deal between Yagura and the Daimyo of the Land of Water… the status of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen… Magistrate Senmura's career prospects… countless thoughts flashed through Sawamura's mind. And his instincts told him, the time had come.

The moment when Magistrate Senmura would soar to the heavens, had arrived.

He had to be there, as a witness.

As for Ryosuke?

Sawamura didn't believe the four remaining brothers wouldn't be able to handle him.

One jonin, three chunin, that was more than enough.

The carriage had three horses. Sawamura rode off with one, taking more than forty people to the county seat.

Now, only less than twenty people remained in Snowy Village.

Some were those who had paid enough tax.

Others, those deemed unworthy of being taken.

For example, the elderly who couldn't work. Or the disabled.

They were left behind to die in the village.

The blacksmith stood at the window, looking at the desolate village. His hand gripping the hammer bulged with veins.

If only his right arm weren't injured.

If only he were thirty years younger.

He would've smashed in those bastards' skulls himself.

Knock! Knock!

The door was knocked.

The blacksmith walked over and opened it, to see the cripple.

His wife had been taken away again.

This time, without Ryosuke to speak up for him, he could only watch helplessly as Sawamura's whip lashed his wife's body, dragging her away like livestock.

The cripple knelt at the door.

"Master Blacksmith… I beg you… lend me a blade."

He was thin and delicate in appearance. Many said he was effeminate, a coward who always hid behind his wife.

But today, the look in his eyes was resolute.

"You want to fight to the death?"

"I want… to bring my wife back."

The blacksmith shook his head.

Let alone a cripple, even a healthy person couldn't possibly beat a ninja.

He stayed silent for a long time, then pulled a short blade from his waist and tossed it in front of the cripple.

"Leave the village. Head north. Before you freeze to death or get killed by a bear, find Ryosuke. Bring him back. That is… the kind of 'fighting to the death' you should be doing."

"Me? But..."

The cripple looked down at his broken leg.

"Wouldn't you be better suited, Master?"

The blacksmith gripped the hammer tightly, and reignited the forge.

"I have to finish making his blade, so that when he comes back, he can kill."

The cripple understood.

He picked up the blade and limped out the door.

The village's perimeter blockade had long been lifted. After all, all the valuables and able-bodied had already been taken. The rest, whether they left or stayed, no longer mattered.

The cripple's figure, accompanied by the sound of hammering, vanished into the snowstorm.

———

Terumi Mei sat by the lakeside grilling fish.

Sasuke and Rei were nearby, playfully practicing hand-to-hand combat. Under the effects of the breathing technique, the two kids fought energetically, punches and kicks faintly glowing.

As for Ryosuke, Terumi Mei looked at the frozen lake and turned to Sasuke.

"That guy's been down there almost twenty minutes. He's not going to suffocate, is he?"

After days of observation, Terumi Mei had roughly figured it out. The so-called Ripple was the power between one breath and the next.

Ryosuke had sunk into an icy lake, how was he supposed to breathe down there?

"I believe in Brother Ryosuke!" Sasuke said.

Terumi Mei rolled her eyes. "Stupid brat. All you know is blind hero worship."

Rumble~

She heard thunder and looked up.

The sky was gloomy, but anyone with common sense knew that during the snowy season of deep winter, lightning was extremely rare.

Terumi Mei quickly realized, the thunder didn't come from the sky.

It came from under the lake.

Golden lightning streaks began appearing on the thick ice surface. Another rumble, crack!, the ice collapsed, and the lake water surged.

Sasuke and Rei ran over to her side.

They watched as the water parted, forming a staircase made of flowing water.

Ryosuke stepped onto the stairs, walking upward one step at a time. Not a single drop of water clung to him.

Terumi Mei handed over a grilled fish.

"Fully mastered divine arts now?"

"Divine arts… where'd you learn that phrase?"

She raised her hand and pointed at little Sasuke.

"Still a bit to go," Ryosuke said.

He had become very familiar with the crimson, blue-green, and silver-white Ripple attributes. But the most powerful one, the Amber Ripple, he still couldn't fully transform into.

To train, Ryosuke had left Snowy Village for this perpetually frozen lake, using the cold over days and nights to refine his Ripple power.

The icy lake water covered his skin, forcing him to resist. It pushed him from simply breathing with the environment… to focusing on the flow of air within his body.

It was not a comfortable process.

Ryosuke repeatedly flirted with suffocation, each time sensing the Ripple's movement at the very edge of death.

Still a bit more.

Still one trigger away.

He took the grilled fish from Terumi Mei and ate in big bites, replenishing his lost strength.

"Why are you training so hard?" she asked.

Ryosuke replied, "Getting stronger, does that need a reason?"

In his memory, aside from a few slackers, most ninjas were either training or on missions, never truly resting.

"Usually it does," Terumi Mei said. "Ninjas train either to protect the village, to climb the ranks, or to earn money. There's always a goal, to push you through something uncomfortable."

She stared at him.

"What's your goal, Ryosuke?"

He had no ties to any village.

He didn't lack money.

As for making a name, someone of his strength could easily become a retainer under the Daimyo anytime.

Terumi Mei had been watching him for a while. She realized his personality was very simple, black was black, white was white, no hidden agendas.

But it was precisely this simple, straightforward man she couldn't see through.

"A goal…"

Ryosuke looked at the lake that had returned to calm.

"Maybe I just want… for myself and those around me… to have the right to 'choose' no matter the hardship we face."

The opposite of "choice"… was "submission to fate."

Ryosuke didn't want a future where, his friends get captured, and because they can't resist, they just give up.

His family falls sick, and because they can't afford treatment, they just give up.

"So you're driven by the fear in your heart," Terumi Mei said.

"People are driven by fear or desire. I thought you'd be someone driven by desire. But Ryosuke, have you ever thought that some people… don't want the power to choose?"

"When faced with choices, they become anxious… they may even beg those above them to strip away their choices, so they can be whipped like livestock."

"That way, they feel safe through their suffering."

Ryosuke stared at her in surprise. "Are you talking about some weird kink?"

"Pervert!" Her face flushed red, but quickly recovered.

"Back in Mist Village, when you saved the survivors, you said, 'Get up. No kneeling.' But wasn't that also stripping away their right to kneel?"

Ryosuke thought for a long time. Just as Terumi Mei thought he wouldn't reply,

"People must first stand, look at the world as human beings. Only after that, whether to kneel, stand, or march to death, that's their own choice."

"I just can't stand seeing certain people and things always pressing down on others. I want to overthrow everything I can't stand."

Terumi Mei chuckled softly.

"So what you want to overthrow… is the entire ninja world."

Ryosuke didn't smile. "Who knows?"

The two fell silent, only the crackling of the bonfire grilling fish could be heard.

Terumi Mei hugged her knees, looking at his side profile.

This man… was unlike anyone she'd met before.

'So different.'

'If it's him… maybe, just maybe…'

She took a deep breath. "Ryosuke, you..."

"Doctor Ryosuke!"

A distant voice from the woods interrupted her.

Ryosuke stood up and looked, seeing the cripple stumbling toward them.

One arm gone. A deep gash across his chest, Terumi Mei recognized it immediately as a bear's claw mark.

His padded jacket was gone, only wearing a single shirt.

The village was 40 km away. No one knew how he made it here.

Seeing Ryosuke, the cripple collapsed into the snow with a thump.

Ryosuke rushed forward, picked him up, and transferred Ripple energy into him, trying to spark vitality.

No use.

The cripple had long used up every ounce of life force getting here.

"Doctor Ryosuke… I beg you… save the village…"

"Okay."

Hearing Ryosuke's answer, the cripple finally smiled, and closed his eyes.

Many had mocked him for not being a man, always hiding behind his wife.

But in this moment, he fulfilled a man's duty.

The cripple, was dead.

Ryosuke stood up.

And today, he knew the dead would not be just one.

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