Chapter 204: Tragedy

The next morning.

After a full day and night of rain, it finally stopped.

On the horizon, a faint fish‑belly white appeared just in time.

After a whole night's rest, the teammates had mostly recovered.

Except for a few people.

For example, Shisui Uchiha.

At this time he had huge dark circles, was distracted at breakfast, and looked listless.

Obviously, Dong Shilang's remarks last night had unsettled him, so he didn't rest well.

"Dong Shilang, are you going alone again this time?"

Looking at Dong Shilang wearing an oversized cloak that could cover his whole body and had a hood, Yuzhibo Zhe asked.

"Sure! I'll go alone. You all be careful; if anything happens, send a signal and I'll rush over right away…"

Dong Shilang, who had originally planned to go alone to this destination according to the plan, just then saw Shisui Uchiha in a dazed state, immediately changed his mind and said:

"Let Shisui Uchiha come with me too! Gaining more experience is good!"

While saying that, he also pulled out an identical cloak, threw it to Shisui Uchiha, and gestured for him to put it on.

"???"

Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Dong Shilang didn't answer right away but gave a mysterious smile, keeping it a secret.

Not only Dong Shilang, but Zhe, Yan and the others also showed the same expression, looking at the question‑mark‑filled face of Shisui Uchiha.

As if saying, "You'll know once you go."

The ninja training of the village was indeed successful; faced with the captain's completely puzzling demand, he didn't pursue it further but silently began to gear up.

But this oversized cloak, on his petite frame, looked extraordinarily baggy. Even though he had used some special methods to make his height appear no different from an adult's,

From a distance it still looked comical, but Dong Shilang didn't press the matter further.

Once the other had finished dressing, Dong Shilang tossed a bottle of special liquid into Shisui Uchiha's arms, telling him to apply it himself.

Only then did he turn, bring Shisui Uchiha, and head toward a deserted village in the distance.

Shisui Uchiha, meanwhile, played the role of a subordinate well; seeing that Dong Shilang had no intention of clearing up his doubts, he simply followed silently behind him.

As they drew nearer, this abandoned village revealed a side unknown to him.

Feeling glances that swept over him from time to time, Shisui Uchiha said nothing on the surface, but his inner doubts grew ever larger.

He didn't know that this seemingly deserted village, unseen by anyone from afar, hid some unknown secret beneath its desolate appearance.

Merely approaching it attracted so many probing gazes.

What followed shocked him greatly; despite being only eight years old and naturally kind, he never imagined that such a tragic thing could happen in this deserted corner.

As they went deeper, reaching the central area, rows of sparsely spaced 'shops' were opening for business.

From time to time, one or two passersby dressed similarly in wide cloaks that covered their whole bodies would go in and out of these 'shops'.

And the goods in those shops were all kinds of things.

Antiques, food, firearms, medicinal herbs, or kunai used by ninjas, and so on; even explosive tags and large crossbows used by ninjas were sold here.

What he found most unacceptable was that in a few of those shops the 'merchandise' consisted of living human beings.

Whether intentional or not, Senior Dong Shilang deliberately brought him around those places for a stroll, even went inside to chat with the boss and get a sense of the market.

Thus he also gained a rough understanding of the prices of those 'goods'.

The most expensive were the clean‑looking girls aged thirteen or fourteen; next came the young, strong youths; after that were slightly older women, who usually brought one or two small children, making them less popular.

As for solitary elderly or weak people, he didn't see a single one; hearing Senior Dong Shilang say, such folks basically disappear on the road on their own.

As for the so‑called 'disappearance,' the senior didn't explain it in detail, merely giving him a meaningful look.

Although he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, a little thought made him understand what the senior meant by 'disappearance.'

This made the young him grow ever more silent and withdrawn; thereafter he could only mechanically follow behind Senior Dong Shilang, silently observing everything here.

After wandering a while in this black market, having ruled out a few stalls that might be from a major ninja village gathering intel, Dong Shilang brought the dazed Shisui Uchiha into a shop that looked not very big.

From his observation, this place was likely a gathering of local forces from the Grass Country, set up specially to collect supplies.

He ignored the clerk trying to sell him a beautiful young woman, and directly handed a sealing scroll to the middle‑aged man smoking in the shop.

In Dong Shilang's perception, this medium‑built man wearing an ordinary black kimono, with a sorrowful face, had a chakra response close to that of a Chunin nearing a Jonin.

From the attitude of the women treated as merchandise toward him, it seemed they were very familiar; Dong Shilang judged that they must have known each other before, merely forced by life to act this way.

At the same time he also lamented!

The more chaotic the place, the easier such things happen—for example, that beautiful young woman just now had a fine figure and appearance, but the infant she held in her arms made her less welcome.

And a woman carrying an infant still in swaddling clothes, especially one with some beauty, could not survive in this troubled land.

She could only become a commodity, hoping that her beauty would earn her someone's protection, with the sole demand that the other party let her keep her child.

If she didn't do that, not only she but also her child might not live past a month, ending up as roadside skeletons.

This is the tragic plight of those small‑nation citizens……

And he could do nothing to help them at all.