A few days prior, while accompanying Tsunami to buy groceries in the market, Sakura had been profoundly struck and saddened by the declining state of this country.
The once wide and bustling streets, along with the many grand shop buildings, indicated that this place had once been prosperous and a busy trading hub.
However, that prosperity was no longer visible.
Most shops were closed, their doors boarded up with wood or appearing old and unkempt.
The few small supermarkets that remained open looked deserted and gloomy.
Very few goods were left on their shelves, and some of the available items looked like they had been abandoned for a long time, dusty and exorbitantly priced, far beyond the reach of ordinary residents.
Even a senior engineer and community figure like Tazuna-san couldn't afford to buy too much food and basic necessities for his family.
"The Land of Waves wasn't always like this, Sakura-chan..."
Tsunami sighed deeply, her voice tinged with sadness and despair.
She had just politely refused an old beggar who had approached them with a pleading gaze.
Sakura knew clearly that the beggars here weren't lazy; they truly couldn't make a living and were forced to beg on the streets just to survive.
The beggars' faces were pale and gaunt, their steps unsteady and faltering, a stark contrast to Sakura's own healthy, rosy complexion and well-cared-for skin.
However, Sakura couldn't stop and be kind to all of them by giving them money.
As she looked around, she realized there were already a dozen other beggars on the street watching them, their gazes filled with hope and despair simultaneously.
Perhaps they thought Sakura, with her neat appearance so different from the locals, was a wealthy person from outside?
If she did give money to one or two, they would surely be surrounded by these beggars next, and that could create other problems.
Tsunami continued, her voice growing more desperate:
"Everything changed since Gato came here and took over everything. After he successfully monopolized all sea transportation routes in our country, he began to exploit us outrageously, raising prices for goods and taxes as he pleased just to make huge profits. There are no ninja and no ninja villages in the Land of Waves, so even a cunning and cruel ordinary man like Gato could easily bully and dominate our country."
She looked at Sakura with tear-filled eyes.
"That's why Father is trying so hard to build that bridge. Not just to break Gato's sea blockade, but more importantly, to reawaken the courage to fight in the hearts of our people!"
Sakura remained silent, listening intently. This was the bitter reality faced by many small nations.
If she delved deeper, the topic felt a bit too heavy for a Genin like her.
Sakura didn't know how to respond to Tsunami's pained words.
From a ninja's point of view, Sakura believed that as long as a country had adequate resources and requirements, it would be better to cultivate its own ninja village, or at least have a trained ninja squad for defense.
It was hard to say whether the decision of the Land of Waves' past leaders not to have ninja was a brave and idealistic act, or rather, a naive folly.
At least in the past few decades, when world wars between major nations frequently occurred, this choice by the Land of Waves had indeed managed to keep the country away from the ravages of war and turn it into a sort of isolated haven.
At least for the warring major nations, a small country in a remote corner like the Land of Waves held no significant strategic or economic value, nor did it pose any threat.
Occupying it would only cause more trouble and expense than any benefits gained.
Of course, they wouldn't waste resources and send troops to attack when their own combat strength was limited and needed on other fronts.
However, such a defenseless country had also become a tempting hot spot in the eyes of ambitious and greedy people post-war.
Gato, a cunning and ruthless wealthy businessman, realized that the Land of Waves had no strong military backing.
He relied on his wealth and underworld network, and hired rogue ninja and mercenaries to monopolize the Land of Waves' sea transport routes, turning the entire country into his personal playground for exploitation and extortion.
Sakura truly wanted to know what the past leader of the Land of Waves, who had established the rule that there should be no ninja village or ninja military force in the Land of Waves, would think if he could see this pitiful scene now?
Only ninja could effectively fight against ninja.
This was common sense and a harsh reality in the Shinobi World.
What made Sakura feel a bit ashamed and grim was that, in Gato's process of taking over the Land of Waves, the rogue ninja he hired had played a very disgraceful and crucially contributing role.
They had easily crushed the remnants of the Land of Waves' defense forces, which consisted only of ordinary soldiers.
A rogue ninja was still a ninja, with abilities far above ordinary humans. And ninja, whether loyal to their village or runaways, often became sources of chaos and conflict in this world if their power was misused.
Sakura wondered inwardly if Tsunami and the other residents of the Land of Waves would harbor resentment towards the entire ninja community because of the actions of Gato's hired ninja.
After considering for a moment, trying to find the right words, Sakura decided to give a moderate yet hopeful answer.
"Don't worry, Tsunami-san!" Sakura narrowed her eyes and said with a confident smile, trying to impart her optimism.
"Under our protection, Tazuna-san will definitely succeed in completing the construction of that bridge! Once the bridge is built, everything in the Land of Waves will surely get better! Gato won't be able to do anything anymore!"
The next day, which was the morning of the eighth day since they began their intensive protection, the bridge was almost complete.
This meant Zabuza and his group could attack at any time, as this was their last chance to stop the bridge's construction.
The air was thick with unspoken anticipation.
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke protected Tazuna at the bridge construction site, their eyes keenly observing every corner.
At Tazuna's house, Sakura accompanied Tsunami, who was doing household chores, while remaining vigilant.
As they were lightly discussing cooking recipes, Sakura suddenly frowned.
Her senses, sharpened by training and the enhancements from the System, detected several foreign presences approaching the house.
Although she wasn't purely a perception-type ninja, Sakura's perception of danger and enemy chakra was quite good and steadily improving.
Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing her hearing.
'Two... two enemies approaching quickly. Without concealment and without the dense chakra texture of ninja... are they hired samurai? But... there's one faint chakra source following behind them, hiding. It seems the ones in front are just bait or testers.'
"Shhh, Tsunami-san, Inari, don't speak and hide immediately!"
Sakura whispered quickly but calmly. She immediately stood up, shielding Tsunami and Inari behind her, and stared at the front door with a cold, wary gaze.
In her perception, the two samurai, without concealing their footsteps or their malicious intent in the slightest, had reached the front door.
CRASH!
The wooden door of Tazuna-san's house was instantly sliced apart and cruelly destroyed by sharp samurai sword slashes, turning into irregularly sized wooden splinters that scattered into the house.
Two fierce-looking and arrogant samurai walked in through the destroyed doorway.
They looked at Sakura, Tsunami, and Inari with disdain, then one of them said in a cold, haughty voice:
"It seems you are Tazuna's daughter, eh? In that case, please come with us quietly! As for the other two..."
The second samurai, who was larger with a bare upper body covered in gruesome tattoos, showed a cruel, bloodthirsty smile. He twirled his sword and said in a sadistic tone:
"Heh, it's just a useless little ninja brat and a small child. Let me take care of them. I was just feeling an itch to cut something to vent my anger this morning!"
In the blink of an eye, before the two samurai realized what was happening, the arrogance and sneers on their faces instantly froze and turned into expressions of horror.
Sakura moved with astonishing speed.
With two swift and powerful blows landing squarely on their stomachs – punches that felt like blows from a sledgehammer – the two samurai were instantly knocked down.
They coughed up blood, slumping weakly to the ground, unable to speak, their swords clattering from their grasp.
However, at almost the same moment, several kunai burst through the window from a different direction, heading straight for Sakura, Tsunami, and Inari.
It was the ninja hiding behind the two samurai who had apparently seized the moment when Sakura's attention was focused on the samurai to launch a sneak attack!
"Watch out!"
Sakura shouted.
A surprise attack of this level no longer posed a significant threat to an alert Sakura.
She waved her right hand quickly.
Using her Magnet Release, she successfully deflected the trajectory of all the kunai, causing them to embed themselves in the wall or fall to the floor without hitting anyone.