In the days that followed, Team 7 remained constantly at Tazuna's side, protecting him.
Meanwhile, construction on the bridge accelerated under the workers' relentless efforts.
Although some laborers resigned out of fear of Gatō's retaliation, many still chose to stay.
The bridge carried all of their hopes. The closer it came to completion, the brighter the fire of hope burned in their hearts, and the less willing they became to let Gatō seize it for himself.
One day in early June, at Tazuna's home—
Team 7 had escorted their client to the construction site, leaving only Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, and his grandson, Inari, at the house.
That morning, two fierce-looking swordsmen barged in. Without a word, they tied Tsunami up and took her hostage.
The one-eyed man said, "Why's she the only one home? Where's that old bastard's grandson?"
The man in the hat replied, "Probably hiding somewhere. I'll go look."
Tsunami silently prayed that her son had hidden himself well while desperately trying to buy time aloud. "Aren't you just trying to take us hostage? Having me is enough. My son isn't home."
The man in the hat naturally didn't believe her. He searched the entire house inside and out, but found nothing.
The one-eyed man cursed, "So what now? Who knows where that damn brat ran off to. If I find him, I'm chopping him into seven or eight pieces."
The man in the hat shrugged. "Whatever. The woman's enough."
The two of them then carried Tsunami away.
Up in the attic, Inari hugged the memorial photo of his stepfather, Kaiza, while hiding motionlessly in the corner. His whole body trembled violently with fear.
Just moments ago, the man in the hat had already discovered him.
But strangely enough, the man had acted as if he couldn't see him at all, allowing him to escape disaster.
Yet now his mother had been taken away. Soon... she would probably end up just like his father, murdered by those people.
His grandfather—and everyone he knew—would all be killed too.
Makoto suddenly spoke, "Curious why that guy couldn't see you?"
The sudden voice nearly made Inari throw the picture frame out of his hands, but he quickly reacted. "You did that? Right—you're a ninja! It had to be you! Please, save my mom! She'll die!"
Makoto replied calmly, "Of course I can save your mother. But, Inari... this time, we're here. What about next time? What happens when more bad people come knocking in the future?"
"I... I don't know."
"No. You do know." Makoto pointed at Kaiza's photograph. "Your grandfather told us about him. I think that man already taught you what you should do."
"But... but I'm scared."
"You saw it yourself just now. Fighting back means death. Not fighting back also means death. Fear is useless. Since that's the case, why not try resisting?"
Inari stared at the photo in his hands as memories of his time with his stepfather surfaced one after another.
Soon, his trembling stopped.
Grinding his teeth, he stood up, grabbed his weapon, and rushed out the door.
He was a smart child. He knew his own strength alone was far too weak.
So he had to use his actions to awaken everyone else's courage.
Even if no one chose to follow him, he would still charge forward alone.
Just like that blond-haired ninja brother had said—
Dying on the road of resistance was better than rotting away at home.
...
In the shinobi world, the overwhelming majority of ordinary people living outside the ninja villages had no real understanding of the power ninjas possessed.
And that led to many unbelievably stupid decisions.
For example, everything Gatō was doing today.
Ever since Zabuza had left with his men, Gatō had grown increasingly convinced that ninjas truly couldn't be trusted. Furious, he gathered every subordinate he had and decided to kill those troublesome Konoha ninjas today, completely shattering the old man's fantasies once and for all.
Not only did he intend to seize the bridge for himself, he also planned to keep Tazuna under his control. Since the old man was a bridge-building expert, then he could obediently keep making money for him from now on.
As for ninjas?
In Gatō's eyes, no matter how powerful they were, could they really fight one hundred men alone?
The other side only had three people.
He had at least three hundred.
The advantage was his. He could bury those damn brats under sheer numbers alone.
And so, he aggressively marched his forces straight toward them.
The two sides confronted each other atop the unfinished bridge.
Looking at the massive crowd of subordinates behind him, Gatō wore a smug expression. The thugs carrying all kinds of weapons stared at the ninjas and workers before them with cruel grins.
Soon, they would chop every last one of these people into pieces.
The three members of Team 7 stood in front of the workers without the slightest trace of fear.
Meanwhile, the workers behind them were filled with both terror and rage.
These bastards had finally decided to steal the fruits of all their labor after all.
Gatō sneered, "Old man, instead of obediently finishing my bridge, you actually dared to hire ninja to deal with me? You think three little brats can do anything to me?"
Tazuna shouted angrily, "Bastard! This is our bridge, not yours! Don't even think about taking it away!"
"Oh really?" Gatō waved a hand and dragged over the bound Tsunami. "Then tell me now—who exactly does this bridge belong to?"
"Tsunami?!" Tazuna was furious and desperate, but completely helpless. In the end, he could only plead with the ninja. "Please save my daughter."
Sakura glared at him. "You despicable coward! Using someone's family as a threat—how shameless can you get?!"
"Cowardly? You ninja have no right to say that." Gatō sneered mockingly. "If you're not afraid of dying, then come save her. There are only three of you brats. I'd like to see how you think you can beat me."
"Oh? You want to compare numbers?"
After speaking, Naruto formed hand seals and unleashed the Multi Shadow Clone Technique.
In an instant, hundreds of Narutos appeared across the bridge.
When it came to human wave tactics, Uzumaki Naruto was the real expert.
"No way…"
"That's fake, right?"
"I've seen ninja tricks like this before."
"Yeah, it's called the Clone Technique. Just an illusion to fool people."
"But what if they're real?"
The thugs immediately fell into panic. Even with people trying to explain things, not a single one dared step forward to test it.
Seeing the situation turning bad, Gatō roared, "They're illusions! All of them are illusions! What the hell are you scared of?! Attack them! Kill them! Anyone who kills a ninja gets ten million ryō!"
Money was the greatest source of courage.
Heavy rewards always produced desperate men. Driven mad by the enormous bounty, everyone charged forward screaming at the top of their lungs.
And very quickly, they suffered a brutal beating.
Sasuke, Sakura, and the swarm of Narutos used sharp, lightning-fast taijutsu to show them exactly how enormous the gap in strength between ninja and ordinary people truly was.
They didn't even use kunai.
With nothing but their fists, they beat the gangsters until they cried for their mothers, filling the bridge with screams and wails.
"They're all real?!"
"How can there be so many of them?!"
"Are ninja demons or something?!"
The battlefield instantly descended into total chaos.
Still, very few people actually died. The vast majority of the armed thugs merely ended up with shattered bones.
It couldn't be helped.
Ninja had rules—they were forbidden from carrying out large-scale slaughter of ordinary civilians in public. Doing so would create widespread fear and completely turn ordinary people against the ninja world.
Every major hidden village had similar regulations. Even Kirigakure's purges of hidden bloodline clans were carried out secretly, with all evidence erased afterward.
Makoto had already explained this to Tazuna before.
And Tazuna understood something clearly:
Once Konoha's ninja left, Gatō's men would come back again.
Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the construction workers and shouted, "We can't let them leave alive! Beat these bastards to death! They've been trampling all over us this whole time!"
"Tazuna's right!"
"Kill them!"
"Beat these pieces of trash to death!"
The workers grabbed nearby tools and viciously began finishing off the groaning thugs lying on the ground.
Right then, a crossbow bolt suddenly shot in from behind and pierced one thug straight through the throat.
Inari had arrived with reinforcements.
Leading a crowd carrying farming tools and kitchen knives, he rushed onto the bridge.
Countless citizens of the Land of Waves who had long suffered under oppression had now become warriors, venting all their rage upon these bastards.
Seeing this, Naruto dispelled the Multi Shadow Clone Technique and said to Sasuke and Sakura, "That's enough. Let them handle the rest themselves."
Neither objected.
Sakura had already vented her anger, while Sasuke had little interest in beating up ordinary people.
Still, when he noticed many thugs trying to flee by ship, he used Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and blew up every vessel they had arrived on.
Now, those men had only two possible fates:
Either they would be beaten to death by the enraged citizens of the Land of Waves—
Or they would drown in the sea.
Either way, it had nothing to do with them.
Unfortunately, Gatō himself was a slippery little rat. The moment he sensed things going wrong, he fled by boat with several trusted subordinates.
But Sasuke was convinced the man wouldn't escape.
Out at sea, Makoto suddenly appeared aboard the ship.
With nothing more than a slight glare, Gatō's subordinates collapsed to the floor as corpses.
Gatō instantly dropped to his knees. "Ninja-sama! Please spare me! I'll give you all my money!"
Makoto patted the short man on the head. "At least you know how to recognize the situation. But it's not enough. I don't just want your money—I want all your businesses too. Go back and organize everything properly. Someone will come take it over."
"Yes… I'll organize everything properly."
The fear vanished from Gatō's face.
Makoto had planted a genjutsu into him, turning him into an obedient puppet.
And not only that—his mind had also been tampered with.
Once he finished everything he had been ordered to do, he would obediently go die.
Under the cover of legitimate shipping businesses, this man had secretly been running drug trafficking and human trafficking operations all along.
He absolutely deserved to die.
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