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Between the Akatsuki and Tsunade, a game was being played without either side knowing the other was involved, a contest they themselves were not even fully aware of.
The participants on both sides were now decided. Before long, these two groups would officially meet. It was highly likely that this would be the first time Nagato's Rinnegan displayed its sharp edge in the eyes of the Five Great Nations!
In the original story, the Rinnegan's first major display to the Five Great Nations was at the cost of Jiraiya's life. This time, as the Rinnegan makes its initial, significant appearance, one wonders who the sacrificial offering will be?
On Kagaya's side, after a period of conversation, he finally understood the story of this boy named Araki Mumei before him. To be honest, it was somewhat disappointing for Kagaya. He had originally thought it might be some dark faction in this shinobi world that he wasn't aware of.
Araki Mumei was merely a byproduct of war—an orphan, just like Karin and Kimimaro. A byproduct left adrift due to large or small-scale conflicts.
However, unlike Karin and Kimimaro's fortune, Mumei never encountered anyone willing to take him in. To survive, he could only try to help small merchant caravans transport goods. But unfortunately, he had no horse-drawn carts, nor money to hire guards. No one was willing to let him help.
He had also considered joining a caravan to work, but similarly, being so young, no one wanted him. Even for manual labor, such a child wasn't a good choice.
As for joining another country? That was truly wishful thinking. Take Konoha first: in recent years, Konoha had been in a relatively weakened state, with no spare capacity to take in such wanderers.
Then Sunagakure: located in the desert, ordinary people like them would likely die in the desert before even reaching the village. Even if they made it, Sunagakure wouldn't accept them—unless they had the talent to become shinobi.
Next, Kirigakure: that place was difficult even for Kagaya to reach. Situated within the sea, Kirigakure was inherently a relatively closed environment. Ordinary people could hardly find its location. Moreover, the reputation of the "Bloody Mist" era still lingered. Even though Mei Terumī had taken over, that reputation couldn't be erased overnight. Anyone with a will to live wouldn't seek refuge in a village known for its bloody rule.
Iwagakure: similar to Sunagakure. They would accept people, but only a small number of talented wanderers.
Kumogakure: among the Five Great Nations, this was the country most enthusiastic about military power. They were more extreme: unless you were useful, don't even think about being taken in. Even if you had some use, if it wasn't significant enough, they absolutely would not accept you.
It's important to understand that shinobi villages were essentially a country's military force. Simply put, their purpose for existence was war.
This wasn't Kagaya's previous world. In his past life, sometimes greater numbers meant greater power. But in the shinobi world, it was different. In this world where great power resided within individuals, a hundred ordinary people were less valuable than one Chunin; a thousand ordinary people were less valuable than one Jonin.
For a shinobi village, numbers never equaled greater power.
And as war machines, why would shinobi villages take in people with no combat capability?
A famous incident illustrates this: during the Third Great Shinobi War, the Third Raikage fell into an ambush set by Iwagakure. Iwagakure surrounded him with over ten thousand shinobi. The result? The Third Raikage single-handedly fought over ten thousand shinobi, hammering away for three days and three nights, ultimately dying from exhaustion. Note: he wasn't killed; he died from exhaustion.
One can imagine how worthless "quantity" was in this world. Over ten thousand shinobi took three days and three nights. If they were ordinary people? Forget ten thousand; a hundred thousand probably couldn't kill the Third Raikage. On the contrary, ordinary people wouldn't even cost the Third Raikage much energy. Potentially, if it dragged on, the Third Raikage could single-handedly kill a hundred thousand ordinary people.
Therefore, in this world, ordinary people without the talent to become shinobi truly had no human rights. If born in one of the Five Great Nations, it was somewhat better. But if born in a small country, a single war was enough to destroy everything for that person.
Araki Mumei was someone without shinobi talent. Being born into this world was his misfortune.
Wars were frequent in the shinobi world. Basically, every ten to twenty years, a Great Shinobi War occurred. And between those ten to twenty years, there were countless smaller-scale wars.
One could say this was a world perpetually filled with conflict.
In this world, lacking shinobi talent, lacking the ability to kill, was an original sin!
To survive, Mumei painstakingly persuaded a group of wanderers. They gathered together to transport goods for small merchant caravans. Seeing they had quite a few people, and even though they had no carts, the caravans thought more people meant more manual labor, so they agreed to their proposal.
This way, Mumei began the journey of transporting goods with his small caravan.
Kagaya's arrival ruined everything. Most of these wanderers were byproducts of war. Their trauma regarding shinobi was immense!
For them, shinobi were a group of bloodthirsty devils!
Yes, this wasn't strange at all. If someone had their entire family killed by shinobi, their village slaughtered, their country destroyed, they would certainly think the same way.
The moment they saw Kagaya appear, these wanderers keenly realized this person was most likely a shinobi. And Kagaya wasn't wearing a forehead protector—that was the most terrifying part. Everyone knew shinobi without forehead protectors were either rogue ninja or missing-nin. Both types were the most unrestrained! For such shinobi, killing a group of people over a mere disagreement was completely normal!
Therefore, the first reaction of these wanderers upon seeing Kagaya was to run!
To calm these people, Mumei had no choice but to step forward, assuring them he could drive Kagaya away.
Originally, Mumei should have properly negotiated with Kagaya—that would have been the best choice. But when he stood before Kagaya, he was still afraid. He too was a byproduct of war; he also understood the terror of shinobi, understood that shinobi were a profession born specifically for war. So, in the end, he was still scared.
Scared, he instinctively raised his sword in self-defense. Unexpectedly, this only piqued Kagaya's curiosity. Then, after Kagaya knocked the sword from Mumei's hand, the wanderers in the distance thought Mumei had failed and the shinobi was going to kill them. Naturally, without another word, they immediately fled.
Mumei's envisioned path to survival—helping caravans transport goods—failed right then and there.
To be honest, after understanding all this, Kagaya felt somewhat awkward. By all that was good, he only wanted to take a look. If he had known they were just a group of wanderers, Kagaya certainly wouldn't have done anything. He wasn't a murderous demon.
However, this couldn't be entirely blamed on Kagaya. Who knew those people harbored such immense fear of shinobi?
"What will you do next?" Kagaya asked, looking at Mumei. Having disrupted the boy's livelihood, if possible, Kagaya hoped to help him.
Mumei asked curiously, "Huh? You're not going to kill me?"
Kagaya frowned. Once again, he realized just how these people viewed shinobi.