The Hand of God Creates the Strongest Hidden Mist Village

Chapter 71 The Paradise of the Waterfall

Of course, Makoto's interests are normal; at most, he's only slightly interested in Konan. As for Nagato and the like, the biggest reason is still those eyes.

Rinnegan!

The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, the supreme eye technique in the legendary ninja world, a symbol of creation and destruction!

Without a doubt, for Makoto Karatachi, who possesses the Hand of God, this is an absolutely irresistible ultimate temptation.

If the Rinnegan could be successfully copied, even if it only lasted for ten minutes or had a one-hour cooldown, the resulting power boost and understanding of the essence of ninjutsu would be revolutionary!

"Hey, sir, is this your first time visiting the Land of Waterfalls? Judging from your attire, are you a merchant?"

In a tavern in a small border town of the Land of Waterfalls, an old hunter with a weathered face and a missing front tooth approached Makoto Kuriki's table with a wine bowl and struck up a conversation as if they were old friends.

At this moment, Gouju Cheng was a merchant in his thirties, with an ordinary face and a somewhat weary appearance from his journey.

Upon hearing this, he looked up, a friendly smile typical of businessmen plastered on his face.

"Brother, you have a good eye. This is indeed my first time here, and I'd like to buy some mountain products. I've heard that the medicinal herbs and animal hides from Takino Country are of excellent quality."

"Of course!"

The old hunter became interested and lowered his voice, "We live off the mountains and rivers here. The forests are deep and there are many waterfalls. The best things are hidden in places that are rarely visited by people."

"And right now, the fighting is fierce outside, so it's only relatively peaceful here, but it hasn't been very peaceful lately either."

"Oh, what's wrong with things?"

At the opportune moment, Makoto Kuraki revealed a curious yet slightly nervous expression and poured the old hunter another bowl of wine: "We rely on this for our livelihood. If the land of Taki is in turmoil, then there will be nowhere to buy this stuff."

Due to its unique geographical location and the village's overall strength, Takigakure is one of the few places in the ninja world that has never been involved in war since its founding, making it a veritable paradise that countless small countries and ninja villages envy.

For example, the land of rain.

They're either getting beaten up by the major ninja villages every day, or on their way to getting beaten up. Only in the last few years has Hanzo emerged, showing a bit more backbone.

As for the Land of Grass, let alone a ninja village, even the country itself has been destroyed once!

"It's all because of the war!"

The old hunter took a swig of wine and smacked his lips: "The fighting outside is in full swing. The Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning... all these great nations are fighting like madmen. Although our Land of Waterfalls has been relatively peaceful for years due to its natural defenses, things are getting increasingly turbulent on the borders lately."

"Just last month, a small border town in the east, near the Land of Earth, was inexplicably attacked by a group of unidentified ninjas. Many people died, and a lot of supplies were also looted."

"The village sent people to investigate, but they found absolutely nothing."

"Then what?!"

Gouju Cheng showed concern at the right moment and poured the old hunter another half bowl of wine.

"And then?" the old hunter sighed. "Then the village got tense."

"While our Takigakure village isn't afraid of trouble, we don't want to get dragged into the messy wars between those great powers. Especially now, with Konoha and Iwagakure locked in a bloody battle, and the front lines getting closer and closer to us, who knows if any defeated soldiers from one side or some wandering ninja looking to take advantage of the chaos might set their sights on us?"

"However, the village's higher-ups have spent a lot of money to hire mercenaries from outside to help with garrisoning and patrolling the border, just in case. The situation should be much better now."

"Hiring mercenaries?"

Karatachi Makoto's heart skipped a beat, but he appropriately feigned surprise and confusion: "Isn't Takigakure quite powerful? Why do they need to invite outsiders?"

"Sigh, they're impressive as they are, but manpower is ultimately limited." The old hunter shook his head. "However, I've heard that this mercenary organization is very capable, with an extremely high success rate in completing missions, and they charge low prices. Although I don't know exactly how good they are, having them around makes us border residents feel much more at ease."

"Oh, right, their leader gives a speech in the square every afternoon, and we can get eggs if we go!"

"……ha?"

Gouju Cheng's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

speech?

Send eggs?

In an instant, an image flashed through his mind: an orange-haired boy standing on a high platform, passionately proclaiming that people should understand each other and create peace through dialogue, while below him sat a group of villagers and wandering ninjas holding eggs, not quite understanding but feeling they could get something for nothing...

The scene is utterly ridiculous.

But it fits that guy's character perfectly.

really.

The style of the Akatsuki organization in its early days was completely different from the later terrorist organization that consisted entirely of villains and constantly talked about carrying rice.

However, this is precisely where the opportunity lies.

At this time, Akatsuki was just a small mercenary organization with a pure ideology, mainly operating around the Land of Rain.

As the leader, Yahiko is quite strong, but he is relatively idealistic and lacks sufficient vigilance towards outsiders.

More importantly, they have now accepted a job in the Land of Waterfalls and will inevitably stay here for some time!

"A speech, and they even give out eggs?!"

Gouju Cheng's face showed a hint of shrewdness and curiosity: "That's interesting. Brother, where do they usually give lectures? I'd like to go listen to them, and while I'm at it... pick up a couple of eggs."

The old hunter chuckled and pointed to the west end of the town.

"It's at the old oak square on the west side of town, starting every afternoon when the sun is setting. Go check it out; the guy with the orange hair leading the group talks really enthusiastically, even though we don't understand much of what he says. But they really give out eggs, a bag of twelve for each person, no cheating!"

"Okay, I'll go join the fun this afternoon."

Gouju Cheng smiled and agreed, chatted with the old hunter for a few more minutes, paid for the drinks, and got up to leave the tavern.

Instead of heading straight to Old Oak Square, he wandered around the town.

The Land of Waterfalls truly lives up to its reputation as a paradise on earth. While the Third Shinobi World War raged outside, this place seemed completely unaffected, even more peaceful and tranquil than the Land of Hot Springs.

However, because this place is so isolated from the world, there are no entertainment facilities or leisure venues in the entire town. At most, there are only one or two izakayas, which is very different from the Land of Hot Springs.

Makoto Kujira wandered around for a while, and as dusk approached, the square indeed gathered a considerable number of people. There were local residents, passing travelers and vendors, as well as some seemingly down-on-their-luck wandering ninjas; the place was bustling and lively.

A group of people dressed in standard black robes were warmly greeting these people.

The old hunter I met in the morning was looking around, and when he saw Makoto Koji arrive, he quickly greeted a girl with blue-purple hair.

"My lord, my lord, that person was the one I called. Yes, that's the one. He promised to give me a few extra eggs!"

"..."