"Ah." Terumi Mei looked at the young ninja who pushed the door and left, sighed, and shook her head helplessly. Then, she lowered her head again to look at the documents she needed to process...
She should be considered an administrative personnel of the Land of Whirlpools now, mainly managing the affairs of the Kiri-nin. If she couldn't handle something, she needed to propose it upwards to her immediate superior, that man called Muroto Sosuke.
Recently, people came to seek her help every day. After all, they were originally respected ninja-sama in their hidden village, but coming here meant working for a group of people less capable than themselves. One could imagine the resentment in their hearts. But...
Everything takes a process. She had asked the Yuki clan about it. When they first arrived here, they had it even worse, working until very late every day and only receiving half their wages. But they slowly endured it, until now...
They had completely integrated into the Land of Whirlpools!!!
They established their own companies for fishing, or sold that thing called ice cream. She tried one last night when she passed by; the price was reasonable, and the taste was pretty good. It could be said the Yuki clan was living very well in the Land of Whirlpools!
Just think, what kind of people were the Yuki clan members who came to the Land of Whirlpools back then?
Those with little potential, the elderly, or the very young. Basically, the ninja with potential, like Chunin and Jonin, were all killed by the Fourth Mizukage. But when they came here, they still didn't face discrimination. They even lived better here than in Kirigakure.
Terumi Mei also understood why the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools wanted the Yuki clan to supervise the Kiri-nin. First, to let the Kiri-nin know that as long as they obediently followed the law, the Land of Whirlpools would not discriminate against any ninja, and could even let them live well. Second, to stir up their jealousy, making them think they could do better and live better in the Land of Whirlpools. Third, to have the Yuki clan, their fellow countrymen, help them integrate into the Land of Whirlpools.
But now, it seemed the jealousy was indeed stirred up. As for integration...
It was even worse. It seemed many among them had started complaining about their current life and wanted to return to the Land of Water.
"Such a headache."
She had reported it to the higher-ups, and the result she got was...
Wait!!!
So, she didn't bother with it anymore. Probably the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools had some plan.
She slumped into the soft office chair, lazily stretching...
"The office is so comfortable. It's too hot outside, I don't want to go out."
She would go for lunch later.
For now, a nap...
...
"Long time no see, Sosuke Uncle." A young man with orange spiky hair looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and said with emotion, "Sosuke Uncle is still so young."
"You kid." Sosuke shook his head with a smile at the young man's words, looked at him, and said, "Back then, you three were mischievous, always fooling around outside. If not for your young age, I would have beaten you up. Who would have thought now..."
He sighed with emotion...
"You've all become remarkable people."
"Hehe." The young man smiled sheepishly and said, "Thank you for going easy on us back then, Sosuke Uncle." He gave a thumbs up. "When we were little, Sosuke Uncle was a very impressive police officer in our area. Everyone admired you."
"Alright, stop the flattery." Sosuke pouted dismissively and said, "I know you guys. The one you admired the most should be Chief Fugaku."
Handsome and powerful. And back then...
He was already a bit older, there was a generation gap.
"What brings you to me? Leader of the Land of Rain."
To think the little kid from back then was now the leader of a country.
"Same, same, we admired you both." Yahiko laughed it off, pointed behind him, and quickly changed the subject, saying, "I'm here to deliver steel. Lord Jun said this place is under construction and needs a large batch of steel, so he decided to give the Land of Rain some business."
"It is indeed in short supply." Sosuke nodded and said, "I just didn't expect the leader himself to come?"
They had discovered iron ore here, but hadn't started mining or smelting steel yet.
He sighed...
"If we don't find new industries soon, things might not go well for the Land of Rain."
"Yeah." After hearing Sosuke's words, Yahiko nodded with feeling and said, "The rainfall in the Land of Rain is heavy. I don't even know what to do."
Of course, he understood what Sosuke Uncle meant. But only when you're in charge of a country do you realize how difficult development is. Indeed...
There is only one Lord Jun.
This was also why he always wanted children from the Land of Rain to come study in the Land of Whirlpools.
He hoped they could find a development path suitable for the Land of Rain in the future.
"By the way."
Yahiko seemed to remember something and said, "There's another important task for this trip."
He patted his head...
"I almost forgot."
"What is it?" Sosuke had his assistant arrange for people to unload the goods. He looked at Yahiko and said, "Tell me. If your Uncle Sosuke can help, he definitely will."
"It's about the rainfall in the Land of Rain. It's just too much, and we still haven't built a drainage system. The damage from waterlogging every time is really..." Yahiko scratched his head sheepishly and said, "This time, I plan to ask Master Tazuna if he has time to help design a drainage system for the Land of Rain."
The drainage system was crucial for the future development of the Land of Rain, so he wanted a good one.
"In that case, I can't help." Sosuke spread his hands helplessly upon hearing this and said, "That old man has a terrible temper, acts all high and mighty. This time, if Lord Jun hadn't stepped in to ask him to design the bridge, he probably wouldn't have come."
Professor and Academician in Architecture and Design, tsk tsk. He's planning to retire and enjoy his old age now.
"Is that so?" Yahiko sighed helplessly and said, "Then I'll try asking him myself later. If it really doesn't work, I'll have to ask the teachers at the academy."
"Suit yourself." Sosuke patted Yahiko on the shoulder and said, "I can't help you with this. By the way, let's have a meal together later?"
As soon as he finished speaking...
"Chief, sorry I'm late." Terumi Mei walked over, looking apologetic, and said, "I overslept a bit."
She then looked curiously at the Yahiko in front of her, wondering who he was to make the Chief come personally.
"It's fine." Sosuke glanced back at Terumi Mei and said, "It's not work time yet." He then glanced at the handsome man and beautiful woman in front of him, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "This is one of the Land of Whirlpools' proud sons, the current leader of the Land of Rain."
"Hello." Yahiko greeted Terumi Mei with a smile and said, "Yahiko."
"Hello." She already had a rough idea who he was from Sosuke's introduction. Now, hearing Yahiko introduce himself, her eyes narrowed slightly, then returned to normal, also smiling as she said, "Terumi Mei."
So...
This man in front of her was the powerful ninja from the Land of Whirlpools who defeated the former Demigod of the Shinobi World, Hanzo of the Salamander...
Yahiko.
"Come on, let's eat first." Sosuke nodded slightly and said with a loud laugh, "I'm getting a bit hungry."
"Then I'll trouble you, Sosuke Uncle." Yahiko didn't stand on ceremony and nodded with a smile, saying, "It's been so long since I had the Land of Whirlpools' delicious food, I'm really quite hungry."
Even though this wasn't the small Land of Whirlpools he was familiar with back then, as long as it was the Land of Whirlpools...