Laborers

Hidden Mist had sent Utakata to escort him, so information on the matter was fairly easy to obtain. Utakata had made several high-profile appearances in the Land of Fire, and combined with what the drivers had said, it was clear they had not been lying.

After several futile attempts at persuasion and explanation, the Fourth Kazekage ultimately decided to agree to the other party’s request for the sake of this profit.

Gaara was only five years old now, but that plan had not yet been carried out. There was no need to worry about him accidentally harming innocents yet. As long as he operated within the Land of Wind and Baki stayed by his side to protect him, nothing should go wrong.

At most, it was just for appearances.

Within the Land of Wind, the Fourth Kazekage was confident he could control the overall situation in those small towns responsible for trade.

Even if hostile forces really infiltrated, Baki could fully activate the One-Tail if necessary. Although Gaara could not yet control Shukaku, letting Shukaku go berserk and automatically clear out all enemies would not be a problem. If anything truly went wrong, there would be enough time for him to arrive.

With multiple layers of protection in place for activity in the nearby towns, he felt it was acceptable for funds sufficient to keep the village running for a year.

After agreeing, the rest naturally went smoothly, and they began flattering each other.

It was not until the Kazekage’s assistant came to inform him of new developments that he reluctantly rose to leave. Yet just before departing, the Fourth Kazekage still turned back and asked,

"I still feel like we’ve met somewhere before."

"Haha, haven’t we met now, Lord Kazekage?"

Xu Yue’s smile was equally brilliant…

"Are you messing with me? Why is he just a kid?"

Xu Yue pointed at the little boy with dark circles under his eyes, his face filled with anger.

"Lord Yue, he is indeed our One-Tail Jinchuriki. Lord Kazekage should have expressed his helplessness to you before. You were the one who insisted on this."

Gaara’s maternal uncle, Yashamaru, spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly. He greatly disliked the merchant before him.

Did he really think money meant he could do whatever he wanted?

And the Kazekage was being far too reckless!

The village might be short on money, but how could he rent out his own son and the Jinchuriki…

"Why didn’t you tell me directly that he was a child? You tricked me into signing the employment contract first, then told me afterward. Isn’t that fraud?"

Xu Yue looked furious.

"No matter what, a Jinchuriki is an important weapon of the village. If we could not be certain that an agreement would be signed, we would not reveal such vital information for no reason."

Yashamaru still spoke casually. Before the agreement was signed, the other party was the honored guest. But once it had been signed, matters would proceed according to the employment contract.

For the sake of their reputation, a legitimate ninja village would never kill an employer. But if someone wanted to breach an agreement after making one? Then they would learn how terrifying the Five Great Villages could be.

"What about my protection, then?"

Xu Yue said reluctantly.

"Rest assured. With Lord Baki and me here, you can do whatever you wish in the Land of Wind…"

Yashamaru had come to understand this stingy merchant. Please, they valued the Jinchuriki even more than his goods.

Why would they bring him out without sufficient security?

"Hmph. I hope so. I spent so much money only to rent a little brat. What rotten luck."

Xu Yue walked over to Gaara, whose face was full of fear. Looking at the young boy who had not yet turned dark, he grabbed him and lifted him up.

The sand around Gaara immediately began to shift.

Yashamaru and Baki hurriedly intervened, afraid that Gaara, unable to control his own power, might accidentally kill the employer…

Extracting the One-Tail’s Chakra was more troublesome than Xu Yue had imagined.

The main problem was that Gaara could not control the sand at all yet, making it difficult for Xu Yue to ever be alone with him.

If there were few people around, an Illusion Technique would be enough to fool them. But the key was that Gaara’s security was extremely tight.

Baki and Yashamaru were openly guarding him, while dedicated Anbu watched from the shadows.

Xu Yue’s business activities were nearly finished, yet he still had not found a suitable opportunity. It was starting to make him a little impatient.

If he still had no chance by the final day, he would make his move even if it aroused suspicion. He had already figured out the groups rotating through covert protection. Combined with those in the open, knocking all of them out with an Illusion Technique at once would be difficult, but it was worth trying.

He would first set up the Flying Thunder God mark in advance…

But just as Xu Yue arrived at the final town and began selling his prized goods while purchasing diamonds and gemstones, several Asian faces that stood out sharply from their surroundings entered his sight, leaving him somewhat surprised.

He had previously learned quite a bit from that Elite Reincarnator among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Because Sunagakure was so barren, few large corps were interested in the place apart from those who wanted to study puppet techniques and poison.

At least, according to his corps’ intelligence, there were no corps here.

Yet there were quite a few of these people, and they were gathered together. Could they be Reincarnators from Japan sneaking over to do something?

Like the Asian faces he had seen in Konoha?

But Xu Yue soon realized that was probably not the case.

Because these people were actually interested in the ordinary goods he was selling!

They were actively bargaining with the peddlers he had hired. Xu Yue could tell that this was clearly not an act; they genuinely wanted to buy them.

At first, Xu Yue thought they might have received some hidden mission, but he soon discovered that was not the case.

Most of these Reincarnators were somewhat timid. They seemed to be doing this purely to make money, earning silver within the Naruto World.

Were they really Reincarnators?

Gradually, however, Xu Yue vaguely came to understand that these people seemed to be of Chinese descent…

Based on the information Xu Yue had learned in the France Reincarnation Zone, along with a few details that Elite Reincarnator had casually revealed earlier, France did indeed have a Chinese corps formed from the Chinese Labor Corps who had come to support France during World War I.

Though their numbers were considerable, their overall strength was completely unimpressive.

Even in France, with its small population base, they ranked below fiftieth among corps. They were a strange corps with the scale of a large corps but the strength of a small one.

They were simply a group huddling together for warmth and self-preservation.

If these were members of that team, then it made sense for them to be in the godforsaken Land of Wind, still thinking about businesses and missions that could earn silver.

The sight inexplicably stirred a rare strange emotion in Xu Yue’s heart, but it soon settled back down.

"The quality of this coral is excellent. We can take it over here, then sell it deeper inland. Based on the silver evaluation we earn, each person should be able to make five hundred Reincarnation Points."

A callused, honest-looking man with a sand veil wrapped around his head rubbed his hands as he spoke to those beside him.

"Yeah, we’ve long since learned the trade routes. There’s no real risk either. I think it’s good."

"Right, right."

"Agreed."

Aside from the newcomers who had passed their Promotion Missions with a bit of luck, most of them usually relied on all sorts of low-reward but risk-free minor missions, grinding away at them relentlessly.

They rose early and returned late every day, expending enormous effort and exchanging time and diligence for Reincarnation Points.

This time, they had discovered fresh goods here. After several days of price investigations, they were preparing to make another purchase and earn a few points.

"Dear customers, this is a rare opportunity. This is our final stop, and we don’t have much stock left. I’ll give you a twenty percent discount."

Xu Yue approached them with the shrewd expression of a profiteer, rubbing his hands as he spoke.

Mei Terumi, who had been following him the entire time, wore a look of utter disdain. During this period, she had become completely certain that this stingy fellow had absolutely nothing to do with that mysterious powerhouse behind the scenes. It was simply too beneath him.

Still, this was rare. It was the first time he had offered a discount. He had probably grown sick of the harsh environment of the Land of Wind.

He clearly had enough money to live comfortably, yet just to earn a little more, he was willing to endure the wind and sun amid the sandstorms.

The fact that he could earn so much money was not merely luck.

"Oh, aren’t these the folks from the Labor Corps? Didn’t expect to run into you again. What a coincidence."

But at that moment, several more roguish figures appeared from the other side, vaguely surrounding the laborers.

"Since we’re so fated, hand over this round of protection money."