NOVEL NEXT Chapter 423: Like Cutting Leeks
"Are other Ninja villages not on good terms with our Konoha?" Naruto asked Kakashi suddenly after a moment of silence.
"Although in the lessons at the Ninja Academy, the history of wars is briefly mentioned in just a dozen sentences, to spare you the cruelty of war," Kakashi spoke indifferently, "but one can imagine, wars involve deaths, many deaths. How could those dozen sentences ever mask the pain?"
Sasuke snorted coldly and said in a deep voice, "If they dare to invade Konoha in the future, I, Uchiha Sasuke, will definitely make them realize how formidable we are!"
Naruto remained silent.
War, this topic, is always cruel.
Haruno Sakura quietly pondered a question her master had once asked her about her ideal.
At that time, she couldn't give an answer. Becoming Hokage was only the goal she could see then, but now, she felt she had more thoughts, yet they were somewhat jumbled.
Red Team had walked more than twenty kilometers and finally saw some signs of population ahead.
There was a small river cutting through about forty to fifty households, beside which lay verdant wheat fields swaying in the wind, resembling a lake with waves fanned by the breeze.
And the arrival of Haruno Sakura and her team also disrupted the tranquility of Pasture Village.
The village head along with the villagers warmly welcomed them, saying, "Ninja lords, you have finally arrived, we are saved!"
The villagers were dressed very simply, their clothes patched and mostly grey, presenting a stark contrast to the villagers of Konoha.
Most of their bodies were thin, but not exactly skin and bones; there was still some flesh.
Despite being humans, the disparity was so great.
"Tell us about the situation, village head," Kakashi said respectfully, as no matter what, the village head of Pasture Village was still a village head under the lordship of the Land of Fire, and as a ninja, one must show respect in their words.
However, in a small village like Pasture Village, the village head generally wouldn't dare show displeasure towards ninjas, as they were in need of help.
"This is the situation, Ninja lord," the village head respectfully reported the situation. "A month ago, suddenly a group of bandits came to the mountains north of us, declaring that during the autumn harvest, we must give up half our grain, or they would seize all our food!"
"This absolutely cannot happen!"
"If we give up half, we won't have enough to pay the lord's taxes!" Kakashi nodded, "Indeed, tax is very important."
Haruno Sakura then asked, "How much tax do you need to pay to the lord?"
The village head answered, "Sixty percent of each season's grain harvest."
Sasuke exclaimed, "Isn't that even more than what the bandits are demanding?"
He was somewhat incredulous.
"The lord and the bandits are not much different," Naruto said frankly, "actually, I think even less of the bandits."
"You can't speak carelessly like that."
The village head immediately intervened, righteously stating, "We pay taxes to the lord because his existence allows our country to remain stable; they provide us with the land to live and cultivate."
"Really now." Naruto was about to say that it was them, the ninjas, who ensured their safety but to credit everything to the lord was going too far, wasn't it?
But he was stopped by Kakashi, who said, "Thank you for this important information, village head. We will now go and deal with the bandits."
After briefly learning that one of the bandits could expel water and realizing that they specialized in water-style techniques, Kakashi led Haruno Sakura and the others away from Pasture Village.
"Kakashi-sensei, why did you stop me just now?" Naruto complained.
"This time, I stand with Naruto here; the taxes the lord is demanding are crueler than the bandits, and there must be a big problem," Sasuke said, despite often clashing with Naruto, but he also felt that the taxes imposed by the lord of the Land of Fire were excessive.
Of course, they thought that if they had a chance in the future, they might speak to the lord or even have the Hokage write him a letter to reduce the taxes.
Taxes were necessary, being one of a country's main sources of revenue, but sixty percent was indeed too high!
Kakashi sighed and said, "As ninjas, our priority is to complete missions; this matter is not within our jurisdiction, and we can't handle it because the lord of the Land of Fire is our primary employer, and other Ninja villages are facing the same issue. The best solution is not to think about it."
"That's too irresponsible!" Naruto argued. "Sakura, what do you think?"
Sakura pondered for a moment and said, "We shouldn't just look at the surface of things; we should look more closely, for instance, why the villagers of Pasture Village would rather willingly pay sixty percent in grain taxes to the lord than give a portion to the bandits."
"Why?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
"Firstly, in the eyes of the villagers, the feudal lords and their officials are credible. Once they have collected the grain tax, they won't come again, but bandits are less predictable," Haruno Sakura explained.
"Isn't that just like small-time thugs?" Sasuke interjected.
"You could say that," Haruno Sakura nodded slightly, "The nature of bandits and thugs is not much different, only that bandits have an even lower moral bottom line and are quick to kill."
"Secondly, we don't know if they are loyal to the feudal lord, but we can be sure they are ordinary people who fear the armed forces under the feudal lord, which means us, the ninja." Always read from the source: M|V|LE4MPYR.
Naruto took his hands from behind his head and said, "Why? We are clearly on their side, helping them, so why should they fear us?"
Haruno Sakura spoke dispassionately, "Ninja are hired by feudal lords to complete missions and rely on the finances of lords and nobles to survive. Although what I'm about to say is unpleasant, in a sense, ninja are like mercenaries for the feudal lords, the rules of the realm, even the strongest armed force."
"The power of ninja is extremely strong and has long been known throughout the ninja world by word of mouth. Everyone knows of it," she continued.
"Hmm, except for newborns," she added.
"Even if their taxes are a bit heavier, they dare not revolt because they know they don't stand a chance against even a high or intermediate ninja, who can handle hundreds of common people single-handedly."
"Inferiority is etched into their bones," she remarked.
Kakashi looked deeply at Sakura and suddenly smiled, "Sakura, don't talk about such a heavy topic."
"I think I must say it, because Naruto and Sasuke are still young, they should know the truth," Sakura said with a light smile, then continued.
"Exactly, Kakashi-sensei is too serious," Naruto said energetically, then asked, "Sakura, what does the feudal lord need so much grain for anyway? Can he eat it all by himself?"
"Idiot!" Sasuke answered first, "The feudal lord isn't alone, he has officials to pay, and... have you forgotten how the wife of the feudal lord got so fat?"
"So, that's how it is," Naruto immediately realized the crux of the matter, thinking that much of the money from grain sales was used by feudal lords and nobles to lead luxurious lives, while ordinary people were as thin as skin and bones.
"Although a part of what feudal lords and nobles take is indeed for tax, another part is used as compensation for ninja missions," Sakura said darkly, "In a way, by becoming ninja, we are already complicit in helping feudal lords exploit the villagers."
"And the benefit of being 'accomplices', is that even though Konoha Village also has to pay taxes to the Land of Fire's feudal lord, it has been reduced to one-tenth of the annual income," she added.
"Doesn't that seem like a good deal?"
Naruto exclaimed, "That's not a good deal at all! Everyone in the village works so hard, yet even for ninja, to eat a good meal requires careful budgeting... not to mention, like in Pasture Village, they probably can't afford meat more than a few times a year."
This reminded Naruto of his own memories before he turned six.
Even though the reasons for the hardships were different, the results were much the same, which led him to empathize deeply.
"When a person's hard work cannot lead to prosperity, it is not the fault of the hard worker, but rather, somewhere else, there are parasites that steal the fruits of labor," Sakura said meaningfully.
"Sakura is right, those bandits are the parasites," Kakashi quickly added, cutting the conversation short to avoid danger, despite having answers for the various tragic scenes he had seen in the past from Sakura's explanation, but—
Ninja ultimately serve the nobility.
If they were to deny the nobility, wouldn't that deny the purpose of the ninja's existence?
Sasuke frowned deeply, feeling that when Sakura mentioned "parasites," she wasn't referring to the bandits, but... the feudal lords.
Hiss—
Was Sakura crazy?
Or was he crazy?
"Kakashi-sensei, you are stupid, Sakura obviously meant the feudal lords when she mentioned parasites," Naruto spoke bluntly, causing Sasuke to flinch, then think: Perhaps all three of them were crazy.
Kakashi said sternly, "Keep this discussion secret, don't talk about it outside, just pretend it never happened, or it could be troublesome. Now, let us go and eliminate those bandits!"
"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should dig deeper into the root of the problem," Sakura said, "Why do bandits arise? Do they enjoy being bandits?"
Kakashi of course knew that these so-called bandits were originally common people who, driven by sheer desperation and unable to revolt, grouped together to rob homes and vent their frustrations while trying to survive.
But as ninja, they couldn't change such matters.
"Accept missions, complete them, receive payment, that is the life of a ninja," Kakashi said, "During missions, don't harbor too many illusions."
"But, Kakashi-sensei, only by understanding the essence of a problem, can it truly be solved," Sakura asserted seriously. "Otherwise, like the bandits we're about to confront, once one batch is dealt with, another will appear, just like cutting leeks."