Two days later, on a plain near the Fire Capital, the white clouds in the sky were floating slowly. The warm southern wind blew, bringing in along the fresh breath of springtime soil.
Wu~wu~clang~chi~clang~chi… A pitch-black steam train slowly traveled through the fertile fields. Uchiha Tonan was sitting in a carriage, wearing a hunting cap and drawing on a board.
On the opposite seat in the carriage, a couple was sitting along with a little girl. It was obvious they were a family of three. The little girl was standing on the seat, supporting her hands on the table, curiously looking at Tonan’s drawing board.
With the rumbling chugs of the train, Tonan’s drawing was finally completed as well. “This is for you,” he smiled gently at the little girl and tore off the drawing paper to hand it over. The little girl was not shy of strangers. She grabbed the paper with her fair and tender little hands and sat back on her seat with a smile on her face.
The woman beside her whispered, “Aren’t you going to thank uncle?” The little girl sweetly said, “Thank you, uncle,” and then pointed at the beautiful painted girl and said, “This is me.”
Tonan wasn’t surprised by her addressing him as an uncle. His physical development was much faster than his peers. Coupled with the recent substantial enhancement of his physique, which led to a rapid increase in his height, his age seemed to be a bit unclear.
The middle-aged man who was leaning on the door also opened his eyes and turned sideways. He looked at the drawing paper in the girl’s hands for a while. The appearance of the girl taking support on the table and looking around curiously was lifelike. It looked more like a photograph.
The middle-aged man couldn’t help gasping in admiration, “You draw very well… are you a painter?”
Tonan leaned back on his seat. Holding the drawing board in one hand and spinning the pen with the other, he shook his head, “No, I’m a Leaf ninja who protects our homes and defends our country. Drawing is only a hobby and I’ve just started to learn.”
Hearing this, the man had a respectful look, “You are a ninja-sama.”
Tonan chuckled lightly, “Please don’t call me that. The occupations aren’t divided into high and low.” Hearing he was a ninja, the man wanted to form a relationship. He coughed lightly and said, “In fact, I wanted to make Keiko a ninja, but it’s a pity that she has no talent.”
Tonan glanced at the scenery outside. The pen in his hand began to move around the drawing board, and he leisurely said, “If you want a leap in social class unless your talent and efforts far surpass ordinary people, most people have to accumulate over generations. Konoha has several genin who find it difficult to support their families with mission rewards.”
“They are still reluctant to give up their ninja status because they want to pave the way for the next generation. Networking, resources, knowledge… there are too many benefits,” Tonan continued, “In some small clans, every genin is the clan’s hope. They are all children but Konoha children are different from the ones outside. From medicinal baths to the food they eat… they even learn basic chakra refining techniques from their parents at an early age, taking the lead from ordinary people from the starting line.”
Hearing this, the man sighed and touched the girl’s head, “Who doesn’t know this? But it’s too difficult to settle in Konoha. It’s not something that ordinary families like us can afford.”
Tonan narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “The future is not determined, the world will not bury talent.” The man didn’t share the belief but he nodded in agreement anyway, “I wonder if you are a genin or chunin?”
Tonan lowered his head carefully drawing out lines on the board, and casually replied, “Titles like these are not too important to me because that’s not my goal.”
At this moment, the man had already put his hand into his pocket as if he was searching for something. He asked, “What’s your goal then? Can you talk about it?”
Tonan frowned slightly and pondered, “It’s not very good to talk about but thinking about it, there are many kinds of goals. If I’ve to talk about the ultimate goal, then, that’s…” Pausing mid-way, Tonan turned his head to look at the sky outside and slowly added, “I want to have only the sky above my head.”
The man was startled and said with a smile, “It’s a little difficult to understand the words of an elite person such as you.”
He took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Tonan respectfully, “I’m in the herbs business and I do business in Fire Capital. If your family has any requirements, you can send someone to take a look. The price is not an issue.”
Although this person was very unlikely to contact him again, he still warranted a minimum amount of respect. Tonan nodded and took the business card out of courtesy. He glanced at it and put it in his bag.
The steam train’s speed was very slow, not much different than the walking speed of a normal person. Tonan had seen it by accident and rode it for the experience.
The Ninja World’s trains had been developed for some time but they had been relatively tacky and hadn’t been popularized. But from now on, it might be different. It seemed that his good student Naraku had listened to him attentively.
He had never forgotten Tonan’s teaching that if one wanted to be rich, build the road first. There were not many passengers in the steam train and ninety-nine percent were merchants and their guards. Their cargos were in the back carriages.
The only advantage of the steam train was that it could transport a lot of goods at once, which was much better than traditional horse carriage transportation.
This worked well for merchants but was useless for ninjas. A genin with a storage scroll was faster than any shipping method. Suddenly, a white pigeon flew into the window and landed on Tonan’s drawing board, cooing.
Tonan reached out and patted it lightly, “You don’t need to remind me about such trivial things.” The white pigeon flapped its wings as if it was protesting against Tonan. Finally, it tilted its head and jumped on the table. It picked up the little girl’s candy and flew out of the window.
Tonan saw the girl looking at him with big innocent eyes like she wanted to cry but didn’t dare. He immediately gave her an apologetic look. Soon after that, he activated Wind Communication. The train’s roar, passengers’ chatter, the sound of the wind, insects crawling, and the sounds of wildly running footsteps entered his ears.
“It seems like there is some trouble,” Tonan chuckled as he gently put down the drawing board and shook his head. At this moment, the iron door in front of the carriage was opened and the conductor wearing special clothes said with a serious look, “Be careful everyone, there seem to be vagrant ninjas blocking the path ahead.”
Tonan raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn’t expected this person to run over and open the train.
“Damn it, why is this happening to me?”
“What can we do? Can you stop them? If this batch of goods is lost, my family will be under a lot of pressure.”
Tonan looked at the flustered appearance of the passengers and couldn’t help rubbing his chin. He always maintained a clear self-advantageous position. He was not a hero. If one had to say it, he should be the biggest villain in the entire Ninja World in the future.
If everyone in the car knew that there was such a big villain aboard the carriage with them, would they feel safer or more vulnerable?
