Traveling from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain and then to the Land of Wind, the weather suddenly became extremely hot. It was as if they had traveled from the rainy season into summer. A huge sun hung in the sky like a furnace, mercilessly scorching the earth.
The excessive heat evaporated the moisture from every living being on the land.
Haruki pulled open the curtain and infused Chakra into the air. Immediately, a cool breeze began to surge into the carriage from outside.
Tsunade and the other four heaved a sigh of relief. Their tense bodies gradually relaxed as they felt the coolness.
"Teacher, there's a small town in the distance," Minato Namikaze suddenly shouted.
Haruki looked up. Through the window, he saw an oasis about a hundred meters away.
It was like a distorted oil painting.
Green was the only sign of life, black were the traces left by Fire Release, yellow was the mess after the sandstorms, and humans seemed like insignificant embellishments.
They were wearing clothes full of holes. No, it would be more appropriate to call them rags. They didn't seem to care even if they exposed themselves.
They were gaunt, unkempt, and completely numb.
The houses were dilapidated, either because there was no time or no money to repair them.
Further out, the fertile fields near the flowing lakes had disappeared, replaced by the marks of fire and wind blades.
It showed that this place had been affected by battles.
Some people looked up and noticed Haruki and the others, but they didn't react much. At this point, it was hard for anything to arouse their emotional fluctuations.
The world seemed to have turned into a mirror.
Outside the mirror was prosperity and glamour, inside was ruins and desolation.
The rich feast while the poor starve to death on the roadside.
It was exactly like this.
"Teacher."
Mikoto Uchiha couldn't bear to look anymore. She turned to Haruki and asked, "Let's help them, shall we?"
"How?"
Haruki retracted his gaze and shook his head expressionlessly.
"Give them food and clothes? You can save them for a while, but not forever. Do you think it's just this town? The whole war - torn area is like this. Konoha Village still has the ability to help some parts of the Land of Fire, but what about the Land of Wind? They usually buy their food from other places. How could they have any extra food now?"
Speaking of this, he suddenly snorted.
"The Land of Wind Daimyo and the nobles may have food, but most of them would rather let it rot in the granaries than take it out to help the people."
"Why?" Mikoto Uchiha was puzzled.
"Because they're afraid of starving to death. The more food they hoard, the more secure they feel. And these civilians are of no use to them."
"How could this happen?" Mikoto Uchiha was shocked and murmured.
"And they can take the opportunity to raise prices and make a fortune. It's really killing two birds with one stone."
There was a sneer on Haruki's lips. The nobles lived for profit. The greater the disaster, the more money they could make.
As long as they could maintain their ruling position.
Both civilians and Ninjas were tools.
It's just that Ninjas were a bit more advanced and dangerous, so they were treated differently.
But in essence, it was the same.
Haruki glanced at everyone's expressions.
Mikoto Uchiha and Tsunade looked pity.
Minato Namikaze was lost in thought. After being taught by Haruki, he had gradually understood the power and meaning of civilians and was trying to figure out how to solve the problems.
But due to the limitations of his knowledge, it was destined that he could hardly come up with a very good solution.
"Minato.
Haruki took out the Storage Scroll and said, "Go and help them."
Minato Namikaze was slightly stunned. He thought Haruki had decided not to offer help after speaking those words.
"Go."
Haruki didn't explain but urged again.
"Okay."
Minato took the Storage Scroll and took out a kunai in his hand. He dashed towards the town and disappeared in a moment.
Haruki sighed.
He wasn't really heartless.
He had personally experienced such a scene when he first transmigrated. Without Tsunade, he would have died long ago.
Although he had some insights before, he truly realized at this moment that reforming only Konoha was not enough. The reform of the Land of Fire should probably be put on the schedule.
His original plan was to control the Land of Fire through the transformation of Konoha and carry out reform from top to bottom.
After a moment, Minato Namikaze came back.
Haruki saw through his super - strong eyesight that the people in the town were kneeling in their direction.
A glimmer of hope appeared in their numb eyes.
At least it was the hope to survive for a short time.
"Minato, if you were the Kazekage, what would you do?" Haruki took back the Storage Scroll and asked, looking at his excited expression after saving people.
Minato Namikaze fell into deep thought upon hearing this. A few seconds later, he said, "Inform the Daimyo and rescue the people together."
It was a proper and the most appropriate approach.
According to the current situation, the Daimyo and the Kazekage each had their own duties. If the Kazekage interfered without permission, it might arouse the dissatisfaction of the Daimyo.
Sunagakure had long received aid from the Daimyo. Even if they wanted to save the people, they were powerless and could only place their hopes on the Daimyo.
"The Daimyo may not be unable to save them, but only one - tenth of the food will actually reach them."
"Why?" Minato Namikaze asked.
"Exploitation at every level." Haruki said with a faint smile on his face. "These are the nobles. No matter what gets into their hands, they always try to keep some for themselves. They don't care what the civilians get. And the Daimyo won't know because he doesn't get information from the civilians."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
Minato and Mikoto hadn't had contact with the nobles and didn't understand much.
But Tsunade and the two from the Hyuga clan knew their nature very well.
It was like a chicken passing by; in the end, there would probably be nothing but a mess of feathers.
No matter in which era or country, as long as there were nobles, this kind of result was inevitable.
This was determined by the system.
Unless the lifeline is in the hands of the country.
Haruki smiled and said, "What should you do at this time?"
Minato Namikaze said uncertainly, "Try to get the Daimyo to replace these nobles with fair - minded officials."
"It's a palliative measure." Haruki waved his hand. "How can you be sure that the ones you replace them with are really fair? You can know a person's face but not their heart. If they still act the same way secretly, isn't it even more dangerous?"
Minato was stunned and then sank into deep thought.
Haruki waited for a while but didn't hear an answer.
After all, Minato grew up in this system. Without someone to guide him, he would never think of overthrowing it.
"Teacher, what's the solution?" Minato looked up and asked honestly.
"Change the system."
"
"Huh?"
Minato Namikaze was jolted, a bit slow to react.
Were there other systems?
"It's nothing. I'm just sharing my random thoughts. Don't take it to heart," Haruki shrugged. "After all, we're just Ninjas. It's none of our business how things are actually handled."
Minato Namikaze glanced at him. His expression seemed the same as before.
Just a Ninja? But one doesn't have to be just a Ninja.
He felt there was a hidden meaning in Haruki's words, but since he said so, he didn't ask further.
The carriage fell silent again.
Tsunade, dressed as a Silver-Haired Loli, subconsciously looked up at Haruki.
Haruki noticed and gave a faint smile. He hugged her frail body and stroked her hair, looking rather like a doting father.
Tsunade squinted slightly.
Since the end of the war, the changes in Haruki had surprised her.
Outsiders might not notice, but as his girlfriend who considered herself to know him best, she had quite clearly sensed these changes. Even so, there was still an element of surprise.
If publishing novels, holding celebrations, and creating a daily newspaper are signs of so - called business talent, then today's insights about the system are beyond what a Ninja can achieve.
Ninjas follow the Ninja code and only know how to complete duties. They won't think about such things.
Change the system?
Tsunade was actually looking forward to it.
She was indeed a bit disappointed with the current Land of Fire and even Konoha.
She also knew a thing or two about what Tanzo Shimura had done.
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