The Land of Waves, a tiny island nation located to the east of the Land of Fire, separated from the Land of Water by a stretch of ocean.
Starting from the Land of Sound where the Hidden Sound Village resided, one could reach this remote and impoverished place by crossing through the Land of Frost. Although it was an island nation, it was not far from the mainland; in fact, it was so close that building a single large bridge could link the two shores, facilitating rapid economic and trade development.
Regrettably, Gato, a wealthy merchant who controlled the entirety of the Land of Waves' maritime transport, had repeatedly sabotaged the bridge-building plans for his own selfish gains.
As is well known for an island nation, once maritime transport falls into the hands of outsiders, they essentially hold the country's lifeblood. Leveraging the massive profits from smuggling and trafficking illicit goods, Gato did not just hire a vast number of thugs and samurai to suppress dissent; he also employed rogue ninja to eliminate competitors and achieve his ulterior motives.
It could be said that this man's existence was a living testament to just how evil and bloody capital can be during the process of primitive accumulation and expansion.
Taking in the desolate scenery and the vacant, numb expressions of the people, Karin couldn't help but whisper, "Is this the Land of Waves? It hasn't been touched by war, so why is it so poor?"
"It's simple. The fruits of their labor are systematically stripped away by a greedy merchant. By monopolizing maritime transport, he monopolizes the pricing power of goods. He sells imported necessities at exorbitant prices and buys local products at rock-bottom rates to flip them elsewhere. The staggering profits from this cycle are enough to make a man as wealthy as a nation," Allen explained meaningfully.
"Eh? A merchant can go that far?" Karin's eyes widened in shock.
Allen nodded slightly. "Of course. If this Gato had enough vision, he could even use his wealth to recruit rogue ninja, establish his own hidden village, and marry the daughter of the Land of Waves' Daimyo. He could step into the limelight legitimately, completing the transformation from a merchant into an ambitious warlord. Unfortunately, he is short-sighted. He doesn't understand that while money is important, power is the only thing that truly matters in a chaotic world. Without it, no matter how much money he makes, he is nothing more than a fattened pig waiting for slaughter."
"I see. You intend to kill this merchant Gato when it's convenient and seize his assets to fund our future activities, right?" A look of realization crossed Karin's face.
"In a way, yes, but that's only one of the objectives, and the least important one at that."
Allen glanced at the bridge, where construction had yet to begin, realizing they might have arrived too early. Kakashi and his Team 7 had not yet appeared. Since their mission was to escort a civilian, they would inevitably take longer on the road, and with the added delay of Zabuza's ambush, it would likely be several days before they arrived.
Karin sensed this as well and asked tentatively, "What should we do now? Find a place to stay first?"
"No. We're going straight to Gato," Allen decided without hesitation.
...
Minutes later, inside and outside the shipping company's headquarters, dozens of thugs and samurai armed with swords and clubs lay scattered across the floor.
Naturally, these were Gato's men, who had tried to stop the two mysterious strangers from approaching their boss. But these men, who usually only bullied civilians, were no match for shinobi. In less than half a minute, Karin had flattened them all with her fists.
The lucky ones suffered only broken ribs or fractured limbs; the unlucky ones were currently experiencing internal hemorrhaging and the agonizing process of dying.
"W-what do you want?" Gato asked, his voice trembling.
In his wildest dreams, he couldn't believe the thugs he paid so much to maintain couldn't handle even two people. No, it wasn't two. It was one! From start to finish, only the girl with the long red hair had lifted a hand. The boy, who looked even younger, hadn't moved a finger.
"I heard you were recruiting ninja?" Allen appraised the man claimed to be one of the top merchants in the shinobi world.
"Y-yes! Have you come to accept employment?" Realizing they might not be there to kill him, Gato regained a sliver of composure.
"Mm. Provided you can offer a price that satisfies us," Allen said, his face once again sporting a harmless, innocent smile.
To Gato, however, that smile was laden with threat and intimidation. He gritted his teeth and held up two fingers. "I will pay you each 200,000 Ryo per month to ensure my safety."
"200,000 Ryo? Fine." Allen pretended to ponder for a few seconds before agreeing. 200,000 Ryo was roughly the upper limit for a B-rank mission reward; as a base salary, it was quite high. Besides, he wasn't here for the money, but for other purposes.
Relieved that these two young ninja, terrifying despite their youthful appearance, had accepted his offer, Gato collapsed into his chair and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Since you're here for work, why did you injure my men?"
"Men? You mean those piles of trash outside? Believe me, even a Genin fresh out of the Academy could deal with them easily. There is no point in keeping so many useless scraps around. Quite the opposite, you should thank us for clearing out the dead weight and preventing you from wasting more money on them," Allen replied with blatant, undisguised contempt.
"Hmm... You actually make a fair bit of sense." Gato stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.
He had witnessed firsthand how these thugs, who were great at oppressing peasants, were utterly helpless and broken before a ninja. Furthermore, most of them were now crippled. If he fired them immediately, he could save on this month's wages and a massive bill for medical expenses. It was killing two birds with one stone.
A capitalist's conscience is like a meatless bone, fit only for the dogs.
After weighing the pros and cons, Gato decisively threw the injured, crippled, and dead out to fend for themselves. They weren't good people anyway; they would likely face the bottled-up rage and revenge of the local civilians.
Allen and Karin thus became Gato's bodyguards. They used the opportunity to observe the daily operations of the company, especially its cash flow and real estate holdings. In just a few days, everything was exposed. Through hypnosis and Genjutsu, Allen even mapped out several secret locations where the merchant hid his cash.
Poor Gato had no idea that he had long since become meat on a chopping board. When he would be tossed into the pot depended entirely on the duo's mood.