Playing As Gojo Satoru in Naruto

Zabuza and Haku exchanged glances, quickly weighing their options in their minds.

The Mizukage's latest mission was to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the last remaining Uchiha clan member alive.

These two missions actually overlapped.

Gato didn't have any real ninjas around him, just some weak armed thugs. Zabuza and Haku could easily take them all down.

They could handle these small fry, then return to deal with the real job.

"Hmph, this is extra work. Double the pay next time."

Zabuza disdainfully threw his suit jacket to the ground, picked up his sword, and kicked open the door, walking out with Haku.

Gato sat on the sofa, his small eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, narrowing in a sinister way.

...

The sea was covered in thick fog, and the unfinished bridge could barely be seen rising above the mist.

The ship's engine was off, and it moved slowly.

The boatman nervously looked around the surroundings.

"But... I still don't get it. Since the enemy is a super-rich guy who can hire ninjas, why ask us for help?"

Kakashi wasn't really lacking in money, he just wanted to raise the price a bit.

The problem was that the C-rank and B-rank personnel were mismatched. Fortunately, Naruto and Sasuke weren't too bad, otherwise, this mission would have had to be restarted.

"The Land of Waves is a small country surrounded by water. Before Gato came, we were able to develop normally with the protection of the Land of Water."

"But after Gato showed up, he monopolized the nearby shipping routes. On the surface, he still deals with the Land of Water, but all the money ends up in his pockets."

"Now, the whole country is broke. I can barely afford to pay for a B-rank mission."

Gato was a world-class billionaire, so it wasn't unreasonable for him to control a small country.

But no matter how you looked at it, this was a huge pressure for them.

If they could only send Chunin-level characters now, there were probably jonin-level threats waiting for them in the Land of Waves.

"Ah..."

Kakashi hesitated, opening his mouth, but didn't quite say the words to outright refuse.

After all, restarting the mission would be troublesome.

Though Kakashi looked conflicted, he didn't outright refuse.

Tazuna sensed there was still hope, realizing that Kakashi and the others might not cancel the mission after all. His face shifted, and he suddenly looked like someone who had seen through the struggles of the world.

"Forget it. If you cancel the mission before you escort me home, I'll definitely be dead before I get back."

"Not that it matters much. After all, my only granddaughter, who's eight, will cry herself to sleep every night."

"My daughter will hate Konohagakure's ninjas for doing nothing, and she'll die alone in the end. Oh well, it's not really your fault…"

What the heck, isn't this old man just guilt-tripping us?

Kakashi scratched his headband, looking conflicted.

The three kids, who had never seen guilt-tripping in action before, hung their heads.

Getting talked to like that really does make you feel bad.

But because Tazuna laid it on so thick, it actually started to feel a bit off.

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. We'll keep protecting you."

Kakashi exchanged a glance with the three kids and let out a helpless sigh.

They'd already come this far, even crossing the sea—going back now would be pointless.

Might as well see it through to the end.

"We won."

Tazuna gave a barely noticeable smug smile and quietly flashed a peace sign.

"It's only because of the thick fog today that I dared to bring you over.

Otherwise, Gato's men would've seen us for sure."

The boatman looked around carefully, but they had already come far enough that things should be okay.

As the boat passed under the bridge, the heavy fog around them slowly faded.

The buildings inside the Land of Waves came into view all of a sudden.

The boat quickly made its way to shore and dropped them off.

There were still quite a few houses built along the coast—

all of them standing right above the water.

It was the kids' first time leaving Konohagakure,

and they couldn't help but widen their eyes at the sight of buildings so different from home.

"Alright, let's go. You guys better get me home safe."

Tazuna waved at the three kids who were still looking around in awe.

Kakashi halfheartedly nodded and replied,

"Yeah, yeah."

Past the dock was a forest.

After the Land of Waves' trade got taken over,

people could only scrounge for food in the woods like this.

Surrounded by sea on all sides and with barely any land,

there wasn't much room for farming either.

From the outside, the place might look like a peaceful paradise.

But once they walked through the trees and stepped deeper into the Land of Waves,

they saw the truth—it looked almost like a slum.

"Huh? But it looked pretty nice from the outside…"

Naruto looked around in confusion.

He remembered things looking kind of fancy when they had just gotten off the boat.

But now, everything looked worn down and falling apart.

Thin, ragged kids sat on straw mats at their doors.

People walking by looked tired and lifeless.

Most had hats pulled low over their faces, walking the streets with gloomy expressions.

Some wore signs that said they'd do anything for money.

Even though the streets were full of people,

it was strangely quiet—like a bunch of zombies were wandering around.

"…This place gives me a creepy feeling I can't explain."

Sakura, staring at everything around her, couldn't help but move closer to Sasuke.

Kakashi looked thoughtful as he took it all in.

Maybe Tazuna wasn't exaggerating—

a place like this probably really couldn't afford much.

The Land of Waves used to be on good terms with the Land of Water,

and only had basic dealings with Konohagakure.

It was mostly just a stopover; nobody really cared how the people here lived.

So even Kakashi didn't know much about this place before now.

Seeing the kids' surprised faces,

Tazuna kindly explained things to them.

"There's nothing strange about it. Gato fakes a good life on the outside

to fool the big countries on both sides and keep them from getting suspicious."

"We used to have some decent buildings here when the Land of Water was helping us out."

"But Gato sold off all the good stuff just to make money.

That's why it all looks so run-down now."

"He even put up fake scenery facing the Land of Water,

so everyone got tricked."

"It's just the regular folks stuck in the middle, suffering because of it."

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