Great Merchant Gato (2/5)

The Land of Waves was a tiny island nation east of the Land of Fire, facing the Land of Water across the sea.

Setting out from the Land of Rice, where the Sound Ninja Village was located, one could reach this remote and impoverished place by crossing the Land of Hot Water.

Though it was an island, the Land of Waves was not far from the mainland—one could even say it was very close. All it needed was a bridge to connect the two shores and allow its economy and trade to develop rapidly.

But unfortunately, the great merchant Gato, who controlled all maritime transport in the Land of Waves, had sabotaged the bridge-building plans again and again for his own benefit.

As everyone knew, once an island nation’s waterborne transport was controlled by outsiders, it was practically equivalent to having all of that country’s lifelines in their hands.

Using the massive profits from smuggling and trafficking contraband, Gato had not only hired large numbers of thugs, hooligans, and samurai to suppress those who resisted him, but had also hired rogue ninja to eliminate his competitors and achieve his unspeakable aims.

It could be said that this man’s existence fully demonstrated just how evil and bloody capital could be in the process of primitive accumulation and expansion.

Looking at the bleak scene around them and the numb expressions on people’s faces, Karin could not help asking softly, "This is the Land of Waves? It clearly hasn’t been affected by war, so why is it this poor?"

"Simple! The fruits of their labor have basically been taken away by a greedy merchant. By monopolizing maritime transport, he monopolized the right to set prices. He sold daily necessities from outside at high prices, then bought local goods at low prices and resold them elsewhere. The enormous profits from that back-and-forth trade are enough to make a person wealthier than a nation." Allen explained meaningfully.

"Huh? A merchant can go that far?" Karin widened her eyes in shock.

Allen nodded slightly. "Of course! If this Gato had enough foresight, he could even use the wealth he earned to recruit rogue ninja, establish his own ninja village, then marry the daughter of the Land of Waves’ Daimyo. That would allow him to step into the spotlight openly and complete his transformation from merchant to ambitious schemer. Unfortunately, he is too shortsighted. He does not understand that while money is important, power is the most important thing in troubled times. Otherwise, no matter how much money he makes, he is nothing more than a fattened pig."

"I understand! You want to kill this merchant named Gato while we’re at it, then seize his assets and turn them into funds for our future operations, right?" A thoughtful expression appeared on Karin’s face.

"More or less, but that is only one of our objectives, and the least important one at that."

Allen glanced at the bridge that had yet to begin construction and realized he might have arrived too early. Kakashi and Team 7 had not arrived yet.

After all, their mission was to escort an Ordinary Person, so they would inevitably spend a great deal of time on the road. Coupled with Zabuza’s interception, it would probably take them several more days to arrive safely.

Karin had clearly noticed this as well and asked uncertainly, "Then what do we do now? Find somewhere to stay first?"

"No! We’ll go straight to Gato." Allen made his decision without hesitation.

A few minutes later, dozens of thugs, hooligans, and samurai armed with swords, clubs, and sticks lay sprawled densely across the inside and outside of the shipping company headquarters.

There was no need to ask. These people were all Gato’s subordinates, trying to stop two unfamiliar strangers of unknown origin from approaching their boss.

But how could people who usually only bullied commoners possibly be a match for ninja? In less than half a minute, Karin had punched them all to the ground.

The lucky ones had only broken a few bones or suffered fractures in their hands and feet. The unlucky ones were currently suffering from massive internal bleeding and dying in agony.

"Y-You… what do you want?" Gato demanded in a trembling voice.

He could not believe that the many enforcers he had spent so much money raising could not even handle two people.

No!

That was not right!

Not two!

One!

From beginning to end, only the little girl with long red hair had fought.

The other boy, who looked even younger, had not lifted a single finger.

"I heard you’re recruiting ninja?" Allen looked Gato up and down, the man reputed to be one of the greatest merchants in the ninja world.

"Y-Yes! Are you here to accept employment?"

Realizing that they might not be here to kill him, Gato immediately regained a little of his composure.

"Hmm! If you can offer a price that satisfies us." Allen’s harmless smile appeared once more.

But in Gato’s eyes, that smile was filled with threats and intimidation. Gritting his teeth, he raised two fingers. "I’ll pay each of you two hundred thousand ryo per month to protect me."

"Two hundred thousand ryo? Fine!"

Allen pretended to ponder for a few seconds before immediately agreeing.

You must know, two hundred thousand ryo was roughly the upper limit of a B-Rank Mission reward. As a base salary, it was not low.

Besides, he had not come for the money, but for other purposes.

Hearing that these two young ninja, who looked like children but possessed terrifying strength, had agreed to accept his employment, Gato immediately relaxed. He dropped into his chair, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked through gritted teeth, "Since you came to accept employment, why did you injure my men?"

"Your men? You mean those useless fools outside? Believe me, even genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy could deal with them easily. There is no point in keeping so much trash. On the contrary, you should thank us for clearing out this garbage and preventing you from wasting more money on them." Allen’s tone carried naked, undisguised contempt.

"Hmm… You seem to have a point." Gato stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.

After all, he had personally witnessed the entire process of how those men, who usually bullied civilians as if each were worth two, had been utterly unable to fight back before ninja and been beaten to a pulp.

Moreover, nearly all of them were crippled. If he fired them outright, not only could he save this month’s wages, but he could also avoid a large amount of medical expenses. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

A capitalist’s conscience was like a bone without a scrap of meat on it—good for nothing but feeding dogs.

After weighing the pros and cons, Gato decisively threw the injured, crippled, and dead outside, leaving them to fend for themselves.

In any case, none of them were good people. What awaited them next would probably be the anger and revenge of the Land of Waves’ civilians.

Meanwhile, Allen and Karin took the opportunity to become Gato’s bodyguards. They began accompanying him through the company’s daily operations, especially its cash flow and real estate holdings, all of which were exposed completely in just a few days.

Allen even used Hypnosis and genjutsu to learn every one of the locations where Gato hid his cash.

Poor Gato still did not know that he had long since become meat on the chopping block. Whether he went into the pot depended entirely on the two of them…