Chapter 302: Why Did You All Show Up?

The walls of the Wind Country Capital glowed a dusty yellow under the scorching sun; Lian Ye pressed his hat down to keep the dry hot wind from hitting his face.

"Meow! This damned place is so hot!" Dao Ba couldn't help complaining; in this sweltering weather he felt his fur was about to catch fire.

The capital lies in the central region of the Wind Country, and is even hotter than Sand Hidden Village. Such an environment cannot grow crops at all; they can only purchase them at high prices from other nations.

Water resources are likewise extremely scarce; the ninja are mostly proficient in Wind Release Ninjutsu, and very few can use Water Release Ninjutsu, and even those cannot meet the country's daily needs.

Most people here wear headscarves for sun protection; for them, bathing is a great luxury. Only the wealthy can afford to bathe frequently; ordinary folk bathe on a monthly schedule.

The two walked along the main street, where the sides were lined with typical Wind Country architecture—

Low, dusty‑yellow houses, their windows fitted with sand‑proof wooden grilles. Street vendors hawked desert specialties: wind‑dried sand scorpion skewers, cactus fruits, and specially preserved jerky.

"I'm dying of thirst, meow!" Dao Ba irritatedly shook the sand off himself; this sweltering environment is still worse than getting rained on in Rain Country.

Lian Ye that guy just loves traveling to such harsh places; can't he pick a country with clear mountains and rivers?

If Lord Ban hadn't instructed him, he wouldn't have agreed to come.

What good food could a country like this possibly have?

Even though Lian Ye is very rich now, he still needs a way to spend his money!

"There's a tea house ahead; let's go inside for water," Lian Ye, also a bit thirsty, had already drunk all the water he was carrying on the road.

Though called a tea house, it actually resembles a restaurant.

Lifting the curtain marked with an hourglass, a cool breeze brushed the face. Inside, the lighting was dim; a few Sand Hidden Village ninja who had just finished a mission whispered in a corner, falling silent the moment they saw Lian Ye's attire.

The three still had leisure to drink tea here, evidently unaware of the village's destruction by Shou He.

"Outsiders?" The Tea House Owner, an elderly woman, scanned Lian Ye's hat, his waist‑tied tachi, and the plump black cat beside him, then asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"Two cups of Red Tea," Lian Ye pulled out a silver note and placed it on the table, "and prepare two servings of food as well."

"Three servings! This guy has been on the road for three days!" Dao Ba shouted loudly.

The elderly woman squinted, "A talking Ninja Cat… interesting." As she turned, Lian Ye noticed a kunai at her waist engraved with the Sand Hidden Village symbol.

Lian Ye: "……"

Good grief, Sand Hidden Village is truly broke to the point of madness, actually coming to the capital to do business.

Seeing the Wind Country Capital like this shows that the Wind Country daimyo is tightening his own belt, unwilling to allocate funds to support Sand Hidden Village, especially after losing the first war and paying Konoha a huge sum.

A nation that poor has no wonder of wanting to start a war. If they don't invade other countries, where would they get resources?

Lian Ye shook his head helplessly; even just the issue of resources makes Hashirama's peace ideals unattainable.

The Wind Country's mission resources are tight, a situation of many wolves and little meat. There were already few missions, and the mission pay was even lower.

If this continues without a war, Sand Hidden Village's ninja will starve to death.

Even if Hashirama and Madara Uchiha had unified the Ninja World back then, such unequal resource distribution would still occur.

Perhaps Madara Uchiha saw this clearly, which is why he was willing to pull everyone into the Genjutsu World. In doing so, the uneven resource distribution could be perfectly solved, and every person in the Ninja World could have a bright future.

From another angle, Madara's plan has no major flaws.

Living happily and dying painlessly in the Genjutsu World is far better than enduring a miserable life in the real world. The weak in the Ninja World have no right to choose their own lives, especially ordinary people living in dire hardship.

Lian Ye has no grand ambitions; Ninja World peace doesn't concern him. He just wants to spend a happy life in the Ninja World. His motive to grow stronger is merely to avoid becoming cannon fodder to be slaughtered at will.

Madara Uchiha's plan has nothing to do with him; he doesn't want to be drawn into the "Moon's Eye" scheme.

But lacking strength, he can only let events unfold. If he could defeat Madara, he could tell him the truth and make him kneel and sing of conquest.

Just as Lian Ye was pondering, two people also wearing hats entered the tea house and walked straight to Lian Ye's table.

"Kid, you ran really fast!" Madara Uchiha said.

If Dao Ba hadn't told them on the road that Lian Ye was heading to the capital, they wouldn't have known where the kid had gone.

"Madara, Lord Ban," Lian Ye said, feeling a bit guilty; he had just been thinking about making someone kneel and sing of conquest, and didn't expect to meet the main person.

"Hahaha, Lian Ye, long time no see!" Hashirama sat opposite Lian Ye without any reservation.

Earlier he had thought that Lian Ye had activated the Kaleidoscope Sharingan to destroy Sand Hidden Village, which had terrified him half to death, fearing Lian Ye would join Madara's side; fortunately it turned out to be a false alarm.

"Lord Ban, you finally arrived," Dao Ba affectionately nudged Madara's trouser leg.

"Well done, Dao Ba," Madara Uchiha praised, looking at Fat Cat, "you may go back and rest."

Saying that, he unilaterally terminated the Spirit Summoning Contract.

Lian Ye, seeing Fat Cat finally scram, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

That Fat Cat had been feeding Madara information all the way, even reporting to him face‑to‑face, as if there was no need to put on a show.

Wait... if Fat Cat scrams, does that mean Hashirama and Madara will now follow me?

Damn it, it'd be better if Fat Cat stayed with me.

"Uncle Hashirama, Lord Ban, why did you both come?"

Although he already had suspicions, he still asked tentatively.

If—if he meant if the two were merely passing by?

Madara Uchiha said nothing, pretending not to hear. The illustrious Ninja World Asura deemed it beneath him to offer an explanation.

"Ahahaha, we were bored staying in the cave, so we came out wanting to travel with you," Hashirama scratched his head and laughed foolishly.

Even though he didn't want Madara and Lian Ye to get along, the situation left no choice. Besides, it had been several years since he last traveled with Lian Ye.

Lian Ye: "……"

I knew that when you two came, nothing good would happen; bringing along two dead weight means we can't roam the Ninja World as we please.

The country I wanted to go to became the one they wanted to go to.

Lian Ye felt as if the sky itself had collapsed.

The innately evil Hashirama and Madara Uchiha!

When I get stronger, I'll personally…