The Land of Fire.
Rich in vegetation and abundant in resources.
Occupying the Land of Fire meant being able to support more ninjas.
This was also the reason why Konoha Village was the most powerful village in the Ninja World.
Cultivating ninjas.
Wasn't just something done with words.
Everything required money to maintain.
Otherwise, asking a malnourished person to become a ninja was basically impossible.
A ninja's Chakra volume.
Was matched with their physique.
People with weak bodies simply couldn't become ninjas.
Therefore, to cultivate ninjas, one couldn't lack food or clothing.
And not lacking food or clothing required massive amounts of wealth to maintain.
However!
The Land of Fire being rich in resources.
Didn't mean the entire country was wealthy.
The only ones with money were the nobles; the lives of ordinary commoners were still difficult.
Otherwise!
How could they receive escort missions?
Wasn't it because, along the roads, many commoners who couldn't survive chose to become mountain bandits and robbers?
Rokuro followed the carriage caravan all the way toward the royal capital of the Land of Fire. The towns along the way looked relatively prosperous. When he arrived in the towns, he also bought some good things to eat.
From Badan Town to the royal capital of the Land of Fire.
At carriage speed, it would take three days.
Rokuro and the others traveled for two days, passing through three towns.
On the night of the second day, when everyone stopped to rest in the wilderness, Murano Sei brought some food over to Kuro and Rokuro, saying to the two of them, "My two Lords, tomorrow morning we will pass by Moon River Slope. There are some bandits entrenched there, numbering around one or two hundred. I hope that when we encounter them tomorrow, you two Lords can intimidate them a bit so we can cross Moon River Slope early!"
Kuro didn't open his mouth.
As if he was just passing through, not caring about anything.
Rokuro glanced at Kuro and asked Murano Sei, "Did you issue a mission in Konoha Village just because of that group?"
Murano Sei nodded. "We deliver goods to the royal capital three times a year, and every time we have to hire Konoha ninjas for protection. Those bandits fear Konoha's power and generally won't make a move!"
Is that so?
Rokuro's eyes narrowed!
His mission Experience Points increased with the mission's difficulty.
If he just made the bandits retreat in the face of difficulties, he estimated he wouldn't get much EXP at all.
For the Experience Points!
He had to blow things out of proportion.
So he stood up, cast a glance at Murano Sei, and asked, "Do you know where that group of bandits is stationed?!"
Murano Sei froze for a moment and nodded. "I know, it's inside Jiazi Mountain on the left side of Moon River Slope. Lord Rokuro, asking this... could it be that you want to go over and make trouble for them?!"
Rokuro said with a straight face and righteous indignation, "Mere bandits dare to cause trouble within our Konoha Village's jurisdiction? They truly don't know how the word 'death' is written! Since I've bumped into them, then I will send them underground to see their parents!"
Murano Sei was speechless!
Kuro also couldn't help but cough and say, "Rokuro, this is an escort mission, not a bandit extermination. By doing this, you are exceeding the scope of the mission. Lord Hokage will be displeased!"
Rokuro glanced at Kuro and curled his lip. "That cunning old man, I bet he's deliberately not exterminating the bandits so he can collect money every year. I won't let him have his way. Those bandits must die under my kunai today! This is my very first C-Rank mission; it can't be so ordinary!"
Kuro was very speechless!
The smelly brat saying he wouldn't let the Hokage have his way was just pure nonsense.
His fundamental goal was highly likely just wanting to show off.
Grumbling a couple of sentences inwardly, Kuro smacked Rokuro on the head. "Don't cause trouble for Lord Hokage! Just do what you're supposed to do, and stop spouting nonsense here!"
Rokuro rubbed his aching head, snorted coldly, and began to form hand seals.
On the ground.
A lump of dirt was quickly squeezed out of the earth.
And that lump of dirt, in a very short amount of time, transformed into a giant earth bird.
After completing its transformation.
The earth bird seemed to come alive; with a flap of its wings, it flew into mid-air.
As for Rokuro.
With a Violent Movement Technique under his feet, he leaped lightly and jumped onto the earth bird in mid-air.
This entire process.
Took less than ten seconds.
Kuro finally snapped out of his shock at this moment and yelled at Rokuro in the air, "Smelly brat, have you already cultivated your Form-Shifting Illusion Technique to this level?!"
Up on the earth bird in the air, Rokuro looked proudly at Kuro. "Master, I'm not the kind of guy whose strength doesn't improve for months! You'll know just how amazing I am in the future. Now I'm going to exterminate those bandits; you just rest here, Master!"
Having said that!
Rokuro controlled the earth bird and flew off into the distance.
Seeing this, Kuro hurriedly said to Murano Sei, "Mr. Murano, I'm going to go over and take a look first. You all wait here for us to return!"
Murano Sei looked blankly as Rokuro and Kuro both ran off within a minute.
After a long while!
He snapped back to reality.
He looked at the food in his hands.
His expression looked a bit bizarre.
He truly hadn't expected that little brat Rokuro to actually be such an incredible ninja.
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion, but inwardly Murano Sei was actually quite happy. If that group of bandits was exterminated, the next time they took this route, they wouldn't need to hire ninjas for protection anymore.
Saving another sum of money.
As for why he hadn't spent money to exterminate the bandits before.
That was because exterminating bandits was a B-Rank mission, with a starting price of over one million ryo. Meanwhile, hiring ninjas for escort work only cost about three hundred thousand.
He had too little cash flow on hand.
A B-Rank mission was simply something he couldn't afford.
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