"Excuse me, which one of you is Mr. Hamajiro? We are the ninjas here for the mission." Mokgetsu asked, looking at the somewhat strange trio before him.
Why did Mokgetsu say they were strange? Between two burly men was a somewhat timid and frail man, and it just didn't look like they were bodyguards. It seemed more like a hostage situation.
However, Mokgetsu felt it couldn't really be a hostage situation. If someone truly dared to hold a client hostage in Konoha, Mokgetsu would call them a brave soul; after all, that's not how you seek death.
"I... I am Hamajiro." The frail man in the middle stepped forward and said quietly.
"I have a question here. Did the black giant eagle in the mission description exhibit any special abilities, like breathing fire or spewing lightning?" Mokgetsu asked.
If it had special abilities, it would likely be a ninja beast, and one with combat abilities at that.
"Ah, Big Black just has a lot of strength; it doesn't breathe fire or spew lightning." Hamajiro shook his head and said.
"Big Black?" Mokgetsu initially thought that the residents would give it such a nickname; wasn't it supposed to be some scary name like Deadly Black Eagle?
"I have no further questions. We can set out at any time." Mokgetsu said.
"Then let's set out now. We can't let this creature cause any more trouble." One of the burly men next to Hamajiro said.
Mokgetsu looked at Hamajiro, and the burly man also looked at Hamajiro. Finally, Hamajiro nodded.
Since the client had already given the word, Mokgetsu and his team hurried towards Kawakita Town in the Land of Rivers.
Kawakita Town, located in the northern part of the Land of Rivers, seems to have gotten its name from its location because Kawakita Town really is in the north of the Land of Rivers.
To the west of the Land of Rivers is the Land of Wind, mainly desert and desert plains; to the east is the Land of Fire, with mostly forest and plains; the north is near the Land of Rain, and the south is coastal.
Thus, the southeastern region of the Land of Rivers is more developed, while other areas are relatively underdeveloped. The Kawakita Town that Mokgetsu is heading to is also a less developed part of the Land of Rivers.
Although the environment in the north is better than the west, the north is close to the chaotic Land of Rain. Additionally, without a ninja village in the country, the northern environment is quite chaotic and hard to develop.
"Hamajiro, move faster, if we're late returning, everyone suffers the loss." On the road, the burly man continuously urged Hamajiro to move forward.
Hamajiro could only silently quicken his pace.
When they reached a deserted forest, Mokgetsu led Obito to scout ahead, while Might Guy and Kakashi prevented sneak attacks from the rear.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, I feel this mission is a bit odd. Why does the client seem so timid?" Obito said, cutting through the thorns on the road with his kunai.
"There must be something wrong. We'll communicate with the client tonight." Mokgetsu nodded and said.
If even Obito noticed the problem, it must be quite obvious.
On the first day of departure, Mokgetsu and his team encountered no obstacles. From the previous mission, Mokgetsu already knew that the current law and order in the Land of Fire is quite good.
When it was almost resting time in the evening, Mokgetsu directly used genjutsu to knock the two burly men out.
"You all?" Hamajiro looked in panic as the two burly men instantaneously fell down, then looked at Mokgetsu and his team.
"Mr. Hamajiro, don't worry. At Konoha, we never let the client suffer any harm." Mokgetsu said with a smile.
"Upon our observations, these two do not seem to be your bodyguards. What is your relationship with them?"
"They were sent by the Town Mayor to protect me while I went to Konoha to release the mission." Hamajiro said honestly.
He had never seen a ninja fight before; seeing the two burly men fall silently truly frightened him.
"Since they are supposed to protect you, why are they treating you so poorly?" Mokgetsu asked, somewhat puzzled.
Hamajiro glanced at the unconscious burly men, confirmed that they had lost consciousness, and then spoke:
"Actually, Big Black didn't bother the town's residents at all; it only grabbed the Town Mayor's poultry."
Mokgetsu squinted slightly, then signaled Hamajiro to continue.
"Big Black isn't fierce at all. It was found in the woods and raised collectively by us. But that foolish Town Mayor wanted to catch Big Black as a pet for his own family. When he failed, he got his comeuppance from Big Black."
"There's such a despicable person? If I meet him, I'd certainly give him a good pounding." Obito said, angered.
"Then why did you come to Konoha to release a mission to drive away Big Black?" Obito continued asking.
"There's no other way. Our fields are rented from the Town Mayor. He wanted us to pool money to release a mission with a ninja village to drive Big Black away, or else he wouldn't rent fields to us." Hamajiro answered helplessly.
"And you have to pay out of your own pocket?" Kakashi was a bit shocked; he had just been wondering why the Town Mayor sent Hamajiro to release the mission.
"Such a person has lost their youth; they should be awakened with a good beating!" Might Guy said, indignantly
Mokgetsu's expression remained unchanged. He felt that the Town Mayor had some issues; not extreme enough in wrongdoings, considering how things were, he still dared to force the villagers to release the mission. Besides, the villagers' money didn't have villagers' faces on it, he could simply take the money to release the mission himself.
"Could it be he's afraid of ninjas?" Mokgetsu speculated now.
People from remote areas who have not seen proper Great Ninja Village ninjas might indeed be more fearful, and those two burly men watching probably feared Hamajiro would take the money and run.
Of course, there's also the possibility that Hamajiro is lying, but based on the current performance, this possibility seems lower.
However, Mokgetsu does not care; information can be collected once they reach the place.
If that Town Mayor really is someone who oppresses the villagers, Mokgetsu wouldn't mind playing the justice hero for once.
Mokgetsu did not dislike the ninja from Hidden Rock or Hidden Cloud - killing them was simply because if he didn't, they would kill Mokgetsu.
Unlike other Konoha ninjas, Mokgetsu was a transmigrator who had only been here for less than a year. He had no feelings for the Konoha village. He would develop feelings for individuals through various matters but, to date, had no feelings for Konoha as a concept.
Mokgetsu found it difficult to develop emotions for a military base that could send ten-year-olds or even younger into battle based on perspectives from his previous world.
Compared to other ninja villages' ninjas, Mokgetsu detested feudal exploiters more.
"If it can't be rented, then don't rent it, just farm what you own." Obito scratched his head and said.
He didn't understand why they had to rent fields. Konoha residents couldn't even manage to plant their fields; occasionally, D-Class missions would be released for ninjas to help.
Obito's words left Hamajiro speechless for a moment.
The notion of owning his own land seemed so distant, yet it wasn't that far in the past. Roughly a decade ago, his family did have land, but gradually, due to increasing struggle, they had to sell it to the Town Mayor.
"Because we don't have land in our family anymore. In this town, nearly all land belongs to the Town Mayor." Hamajiro finally sighed and said.
He wasn't sure why; even though everyone worked hard at farming, they somehow grew poorer. In contrast, despite the Town Mayor doing nothing, he grew richer and richer, owning more and more land.
"Ow! That hurt!" Just as Obito was about to say something, Mokgetsu flicked his finger on Obito's head, harder than usual, making Obito gasp.
"Konoha is one of the most developed areas in the Land of Fire. Don't compare Konoha's environment with others." Mokgetsu said.
If there were per capita GDP metrics in the Hokage world, Konoha's would undoubtedly be very high, because Konoha truly had a lot of land and wealth.
The Chunin Examination took place in a training field with a radius of ten kilometers. For comparison, the third ring of his previous life's Capital City wasn't even fifteen kilometers in diameter, which illustrated how resourceful Konoha was in land.
After saying this, Hamajiro seemed to relax a lot and soon fell asleep.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, what should we do?" Obito turned to Mokgetsu and asked, momentarily unsure of what to do.
Truly driving the giant eagle away, pleasing that Town Mayor, he found it rather distasteful.
"Let's go to Kawakita Town first to check out the creature that's been bothering the residents." Mokgetsu said, calmly.