"Might as well go take a look, it doesn't seem too far from here. After all, we'll need to recruit a lot of people in the future, even the smallest things add up."
The opinion of the Insect Man was agreed upon by all four of them.
Although the organization's salary was quite good, having only been established a few years, many places still required money.
With money, they could attract talent.
The talent required, as stipulated above, wasn't just ninjas. It encompassed all sorts of talents.
Craftsmen, research, education, medicine, and so on.
They needed to quickly complete the initial accumulation in these areas, solidify the basic framework of the organization, and then develop rapidly.
Even mosquito legs should be scoured clean. Not a single stitch or thread should be missed.
◎
The path in the cave was extremely bumpy and damp, with a dirty and foul smell permeating the air.
This was the smell of poverty and death.
The five from the Insect Man group were extremely familiar with this smell. In the past, and in today's Land of Rain, it could be found everywhere.
This was where the group of wanderer ninjas had their lair, and their 'secret' transaction with an unknown buyer was here too. The scroll mentioned that this 'secret' was significant and could fetch a good price.
As such, the five of them were naturally very interested in coming here in search of treasure.
They only hoped that this secret would not disappoint them too much.
Because it was so dark inside the cave, the Fire Man picked up a stick, lit it, and used it as a torch for light.
The cave was littered with food waste and scraps, indicating that these wanderer ninjas must be living very miserably and frugally.
"Is it here?"
After dismantling all the traps along the way, the five from the Insect Man group arrived in front of a closed wooden door.
There was a sealed iron lock on it, already rusted and stained.
An indescribable stench, along with the smell of decay, emanated from within.
This was the only place in the lair where the 'secret' could be hidden.
In their senses, they couldn't identify what the 'secret' was inside, but behind the door, there were quite a few living people.
The number was eight.
In this room, there were eight living people.
Locked inside, they couldn't be the wanderer ninjas' comrades. Were they captives?
Were they attacked by those wanderer ninjas and brought here?
The Insect Man hesitated briefly, then destroyed the lock on the door and opened it.
The light from the fire shone in, and although the room inside also had light, it was very faint and flickered. The electrical condition wasn't good, but it was enough for the five of them to see the situation of these people clearly.
Emaciated, appearing to have been abused for a long time.
There were men, women, old and young, like members of one big family.
With cracked lips and gloomy faces, the wanderer ninjas provided them with the bare minimum of food and water.
They all bore heavy shackles on their feet and hands.
The Insect Man glanced over these eight people and finally fixed his gaze on a child only a few years old.
The hope and yearning in their bright eyes reflected a tenacity for life.
And a hint of tension and unease.
"Boss, they seem a bit different from normal people."
The Fire Man whispered beside him.
"Even after being abused like this and given the bare minimum of water and food, the life force within them still exceeds that of others, and they all have red hair..."
The Insect Man squinted his eyes, realizing that all eight, regardless of gender, had incredibly vibrant red hair.
"Survivors of the Uzumaki Clan..."
The sellable secret must be this.
A truly excellent 'treasure.'
The Insect Man stepped forward a few paces, coming in front of these people.
Their bodies emitted an unbearable stench, their faces covered in dust, their wounds infected without any medicine, and there were cockroaches climbing on the lunchboxes beside them.
Here, they could only cling to life feebly.
"Truly pathetic, the once magnificent Uzumaki Clan in the Ninja Realm has fallen to this point."
Not only did their country fall, but even the clan members were scattered everywhere, wandering in the Ninja Realm, living day-to-day lives.
"Since you're alive, why didn't you seek help from Konoha? Allowing yourselves to be captured by wanderer ninjas, living worse than underground rats?"
The Insect Man stroked the little head of the Uzumaki Clan child, asking in puzzlement.
The Uzumaki Clan and Konoha had had an alliance relationship since ancient times.
Even the Jonin uniforms of Konoha bore the Uzumaki Clan mark, indicating the friendly relations between the two.
Losing their country, their first reaction should have been to turn to Konoha for support, not to live this beggarly wandering life in the Ninja Realm.
"We sent out a distress signal at the time... but they only took one person..."
A red-haired middle-aged man said this with his head lowered, the sound of his sobbing audible. The Insect Man's question seemed to provoke bad memories from his past.
The downfall of the Land of Whirlpools was less than ten years ago.
For this middle-aged man, it was a personally experienced tragedy.
Bearing the name of a country's fallen slave, wandering the Ninja Realm, being shunned and captured.
And at that time, he clearly remembered that Konoha had not extended any help.
Whether before or after, the distress signals sent out were like stones sinking into the sea. What they received was always despair.
The thought of seeking help from Konoha had long since faded.
A moment of silence for the downfall of the Land of Whirlpools was all the Insect Man could offer.
Perhaps in the future, his former country, the Land of Rain, would also walk down this road, becoming a sacrifice under the great nations.