Chapter 211: Crossing the River by Feeling the Clouds
The expansion of the Hidden Cloud Village had brought about a wealth of business opportunities. But the village's policy was simple: the benefits should go to the ninja and their families first.
"Gokan" (The Grand Pavilion) was a product of this policy. Its owner had been running a well-regarded restaurant in the old village for years. He was a native of the Cloud, and though he had started as an ordinary citizen, his son had become a ninja and was even one of the "Three Hundred Spartans of the Cloud."
This was the owner's greatest pride.
With the expansion, he had taken a gamble. He had sold his old restaurant, pooled his life savings with the money his son had saved for his future wife, and bought a large, luxurious restaurant in the new village. It was three stories high, and he had named it "Gokan."
Today, Dana was hosting a banquet here for the three envoys from the Hidden Sand.
Gokan specialized in high-end luxury, so it was a fitting venue.
Rasa, Pakura, and Sasori had been in the Cloud for a few days, but Dana had been too busy to meet them until now.
But ninja didn't seem to care much about "protocol" or "etiquette," at least not the younger generation. The three of them showed no signs of displeasure.
Since they were all young, Dana had also invited Konan and Yusuke, two of the contestants from the Joint Chunin Exams who knew Pakura and Sasori.
Unfortunately, Hiroto and Kayo were out of the village.
Of course, there were also some dedicated liaison personnel, but Dana was clearly the host.
The Cloud's cuisine was heavy on protein, perhaps related to the physique of their ninja. He wasn't sure what the food in the Sand was like, but he guessed that meat must be more expensive there.
After all, you can't raise livestock in the desert.
Looking at the exquisite dishes, the three Sand ninja sat up straight, their faces expressionless. Even if the Cloud served them a plate of explosive tags, they looked like they would eat it calmly.
Perhaps in their eyes, only by doing so could they maintain the dignity of the "Hidden Sand." Whether they were secretly drooling or not, he didn't know.
In comparison, Yusuke and Konan were much more relaxed. Yusuke was eager to try the dazzling array of food, while Konan was carefully analyzing the competition for her future restaurant.
Once the dishes were served, the waiters temporarily withdrew, and Dana raised his glass.
There was no drinking age in the ninja world, but there was the "Three Prohibitions of Ninja," and most ninja did not drink. Dana had barely touched alcohol in this life, so even at a banquet for foreign envoys, only tea and juice were served.
"First of all," he said, "welcome to the three of you from the Hidden Sand. I've been busy the past few days. Please forgive my neglect."
Rasa and Pakura nodded. Sasori just stared into space, occasionally glancing at Dana.
The boy had always been a bit strange, so no one paid him any mind.
Once the banquet began, the Cloud ninja ate happily, but the three Sand ninja barely touched their food, only taking small bites.
Konan couldn't stand it. She picked up a piece of meat and put it in Sasori's bowl.
"You're young," she said. "You have to eat well, or you won't grow tall."
Sasori stared at the meat in his bowl, stunned.
Pakura, who hadn't been eating much either, picked up a piece of vegetable and put it in his bowl.
"You need to eat more vegetables to be healthy," she said. "Too much meat isn't good for you."
Konan added another piece of meat. "Protein is what a ninja needs most."
Pakura placed a vegetable on top of the meat. "The things people usually ignore are the ones they need most."
Sasori watched expressionlessly as a mountain of meat and vegetables grew in his bowl.
Higher and higher.
It became the highest peak on the table.
Dana watched the popular Sasori with amusement. Once upon a time, he had been the popular kid, relying on his handsome face. But since he had grown to 1.85 meters at the age of fifteen, he had lost that privilege.
Between toasts, Dana turned to Rasa. "Have you had a chance to look around the village?"
"We've walked around a bit," Rasa said cautiously.
Dana knew exactly where they had been. He even knew that they held a small meeting every night. He was just making conversation to probe them.
According to his information, except for the reclusive Sasori, Rasa and Pakura had visited every place in the Cloud that they were allowed to.
From the Ninja Academy to the popular shops, the old village and the new, they had seen it all. Not even a tourist would be so thorough.
It was said that because they weren't allowed into the Ninja Academy, Rasa had walked around the perimeter wall for two hours.
Though these were all public places, the intensity of their interest had been reported to Dana as unusual behavior.
And after being left hanging for a few days, the three of them had shown no impatience, not even mentioning the question of when the Cloud would give them an answer.
"What do you think?" Dana asked.
Rasa's hand froze on his teacup. "The style is different from our village," he said calmly.
Dana smiled but didn't press him.
They were clearly here to learn.
The Sand wanted to learn from the Cloud's experience.
If decades ago, all the villages were "crossing the river by feeling Konoha," now they were probably all trying to "cross the river by feeling the Cloud."
Including Konoha, who had been felt up so much they were raw, and now wanted to feel someone else.
But Dana knew that only by finding a path that suited them could they succeed. Simply copying a few reforms wouldn't have much effect. Many things were interlinked.
Like this table full of meat-heavy dishes. It might not be suitable for the Sand, which was built in the middle of a desert.
The founders of the Sand might have only thought about the defensive advantages of the desert, but not about how the lack of resources and terrible transportation would hinder the village's development.
Typical ninja thinking.
After giving Rasa a subtle hint not to go too far, Dana changed the subject and turned to Pakura, who was putting food on Sasori's plate. "Pakura-san and Sasori both achieved excellent results in the last Joint Chunin Exams. Have you been promoted to Chunin since you returned to your village?"
Pakura and Sasori shook their heads awkwardly. Of course not. The village wanted to host the next exams soon, hoping for a good result from their own team. Naturally, they had held back their promotions.
"What?" Yusuke exclaimed. "You're still Genin? The Sand's elite policy is really strict! With your strength, Pakura-san, you would have been a Chunin in the Cloud a long time ago."
Pakura lowered her head and didn't reply.
Konan interrupted Yusuke. "Every village has different rules," she said. "And Sasori is so young, what does it matter? Here, try this fish. Do you know how to eat fish? Can you get fish in the Sand?"
Sasori proved with his dead fish eyes that the Sand did indeed have fish.
After a decent meal, Dana had the three Sand ninja escorted back to their quarters. The owner of "Gokan" personally saw them out.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Dana said. "The food was excellent."
"I'm glad you liked it, Lord Dana!" the owner said, beaming.
After saying goodbye to the owner, Dana suddenly turned to Konan. "Gokuraku no Yu has already forwarded Lady Kohaku's resignation application to me. Since I was the one who brought you to the Land of Hot Water, it came to me."
Konan scuffed her toe on the ground, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Lord Dana... Gokuraku no Yu was great, and everyone was so nice, but my mom and I still want to run our own shop. And she wants to be closer to me."
"Do you think I'd be angry about that?" Dana said with a laugh. "It's a good thing that Lady Kohaku is willing to come to the Cloud. You'll be more at ease. If you have any trouble, come to me. But I'm warning you, I don't want you to become a poster girl. You can't neglect your training."
He didn't really care if a hot spring inn lost a head chef. From the village's perspective, having Konan's mother in the village would only strengthen Konan's loyalty, adding another lock to the loyalty they already had.
Konan was a very important part of the Cloud's future plans, and he had high hopes for her.
Konan happily hugged his arm. "Thank you, Lord Dana! I'll train hard! I'll reach the goal you set for me as soon as possible!"