Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Chapter 977 When you raise your hands above your head, you are the sun of Amegakure.

The Rain Country was once shrouded in rain and clouds, but its natural environment was surprisingly good. The huge inland lake surrounded by tropical rainforest was rich in fish and shrimp, which was the main source of income for the surrounding people. If we remove the impact of uncontrollable factors such as war, the residents of the Rain Country could not be said to be rich, but at least they could be self-sufficient with the gifts of nature.

After briefly adapting to the lingering industrial fumes, Uchiha Gin looked up at the vast lake shrouded in thick fog in the distance. His gaze was quickly drawn to the huge metal pipes erected along the bare shore. He frowned slightly. He remembered that when he was passively transported here last time, this area along the shore was still a dense thicket of bushes. How could it have been ruined like this in just a few years?

As he watched the grayish-brown unidentified liquid continuously being discharged into the lake from a pipe several meters high, Uchiha Gin's brows furrowed even more deeply.

"What on earth is Amegakure up to here?"

Filled with doubts, Uchiha Gin followed the seemingly endless pipe in the opposite direction, determined to see who was the culprit behind the environmental destruction.

On the other side, at the end of the pipeline, a brightly lit steel factory was operating overtime, its deafening roar echoing everywhere. Dozens of massive chimneys at the top spewed out thick, strangely colored smoke, and the intense heat emanating from the building shone through its surface.

A blurry, visible pattern appeared inside the factory. A burly ninja, wearing a gas mask and a headband from Amegakure, held a long whip and glared menacingly at the busy crowd below. "Hurry up, all of you! If you delay production targets, Hanzo will feed you to the salamanders!"

The workers near the high-temperature furnace dared not look up upon hearing this. Their lowered faces were filled with resentment and despair. Facing the molten iron so close at hand, they were all shirtless, without even the most basic protection, letting the scorching heat and thick toxic fumes devour their health and lives.

"Snapped!"

Seeing the slaves below slacking off, the overseer, Yu Ren, curled a cruel smile. He lashed out with his long whip, instantly sending a spray of blood. "Ah!"

The unlucky fellow who was chosen screamed and fell backward, the high-quality ore in his hand rolling to the ground. "Sir, they've been working for thirty-six hours straight. If this continues..."

Seeing this, the surrounding slaves rushed forward to help the bloodied, unfortunate man up, only to find that he had already fainted. One of the older men turned his head with pleading eyes and said to the Rain Ninja overseer, "He will die."

"Hmph! Don't try to scare me with your death threats. If he dies, his quota will be split among all of you. Get back to work!"

The overseer, Yu Ren, seemed unfazed, raising his whip and letting out a cold snort. His sinister eyes swept over the slaves below, who dared not speak out in anger, and his tone was particularly chilling.

"We are residents of the Land of Rain, we are not slaves, we demand to see Lord Hanzo!"

Under immense pressure, these slaves rebelled, shouting desperately to meet the supreme ruler of Amegakure. It turned out that their true identities were not those of slaves without human rights, but rather native-born citizens of the Land of Rain.

Snapped!

Snapped!

Snapped!

Before they could even finish shouting a few words, a dense barrage of whips rained down, sending them scattering in terror. Looking at the terrified slave laborers, Yu Ren, enjoying the thrill of spinning a top, sneered repeatedly. "Residents? Heh, only those who have paid their taxes deserve to be called residents. You poor peasants, you're already lucky to be slaves and pay your taxes!"

"This is an immense favor from Lord Hanzo."

"Who can afford to pay taxes thirteen times a year?"

Some of the bolder laborers couldn't help but shout their protests, only to be met with another round of whipping from the furious Rain Ninja overseer: "Being able to pay taxes for Lord Hanzo is a blessing you earned in your past lives!"

Ordinary people are no match for ninjas. Under the tangible killing intent of the Rain Ninja overseer, the chaotic crowd quickly returned to normal and resumed their work as if nothing had happened. "Pah! You bunch of guys are like spinning tops, you deserve a beating."

The overseer, Yu Ren, who had taken back his whip, spat disdainfully. He didn't treat these laborers as human beings at all, but rather as amusement to satisfy his perverted psychology.

He glanced at the slave he had first whipped to the ground, then casually waved his hand. "Drag this guy away. Don't let him affect the work progress. If he dies, just throw him into the wastewater pipe."

Upon hearing this, the two Rain Ninjas behind him, whose status was clearly lower than his, immediately stepped forward.

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

Soon, the half-dead slave was dragged to a huge manhole. A gray rat lurking in the shadows poked its head out, as if observing something, before disappearing into the darkness a few seconds later.

"He's still breathing, what should we do?"

One of the Rain Ninja checked the slave's breathing and hesitated before asking, "Let's throw him away. He'll suffer more if he lives on."

Another, more mature Yu Ren sighed. It was clear that he had handled many similar cases and was quite experienced. Rather than lingering in this factory where he could never leave, it would be better to die sooner and be reborn sooner.

"All right."

The younger Rain Ninja nodded in approval, grabbed the slave's legs, and was about to throw him into the churning wastewater manhole when "click!"

"Who's there!?"

The Rain Ninja, who were carrying out their orders, were startled by a sudden sound from the darkness. They drew their kunai and stared warily at the source of the sound. "Chirp chirp chirp..."

A few seconds later, a small mouse peeked out from the darkness, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just a mouse."

"Senior, did you pee your pants in fright? Why are your pants all wet?"

"I'm sweating buckets!"

The two people arguing didn't notice why there was a rat in this godforsaken place, especially one wearing clothes.

That's right, this unassuming little gray mouse is wearing a red handmade vest.

"Let's do it!"

Seeing the two Rain Ninja arguing fiercely, several figures lurking in the darkness exchanged glances. One of them, with clear eyes, waved his hand, and "Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"enemy..."

The group filed out, and the young Rain Ninja, who had just discovered everything, was about to shout for help when he was stopped by a man with strange facial markings.

The young man's first elbow strike silenced him, and the second strike knocked him unconscious.

The other older Rain Ninja fared no better; just as he raised his kunai, a blow to the back of his head fell.

Behind him, a bald man with a Buddha-like face put away his black stick and gave the tattooed young man a "done" gesture, "Yahiko, all done."

After completing their respective objectives, the tattooed young man and the bald Buddha man turned to look at the orange-haired boy who was examining the wounds of the unconscious slave. "Phew...that's good, he's just a little malnourished."

Upon hearing this, the boy, who had finished his inspection, looked up and gave a simple smile on his honest face. "Kyusuke, Daibutsu, thank you for your hard work."

"Now is not the time to say thank you."

The young man with the facial markings, called Kyusuke, curled his lip upon hearing this and pointed to the smelting workshop in the distance, where scorching heat was surging.

"I know there are still many people who need help and are waiting for us."

Yahiko, now a young man, nodded, his gentle gaze instantly sharpening. "Yahiko, I've investigated. Hanzo isn't at the factory today. This is a good opportunity to rescue everyone!"

Just then, another figure emerged from the darkness. A red-haired boy with a punk-style fringe excitedly exclaimed, "Great! Nagato, but where's Konan?"

Yahiko's face lit up with joy upon hearing this. Their biggest fear in their slave liberation operation was encountering Hanzo. "She's on guard outside. If anything unusual happens, she'll notify us immediately."

"Okay, everyone come out!"

At Yahiko's command, one figure after another sprang out of the manhole. In no time, dozens of men and women in uniform had assembled, and an operation codenamed Liberation officially began.

"What's wrong with those two? Are they slacking off again?"

On the other side, the Rain Ninja overseer, who hadn't seen his subordinates for a long time, frowned in displeasure. The veins on his large hand, gripping the long whip, bulged as he pondered the situation. "Thump!"

Just then, a laborer who had been working continuously for two days and two nights finally collapsed from exhaustion. Having nowhere to vent his frustration, he immediately raised his long whip and cried out, "Sir, the tonic!"

Seeing the whip glowing with chakra, the slaves, knowing its power, began to plead for mercy, "Stop making such a racket!"

To everyone's surprise, the overseer, Yu Ren, didn't even bother to look at them. His long whip lashed out at the unconscious slave. The other slaves present immediately closed their eyes, their faces filled with pity. "Crack!"

Just at this critical moment, Yahiko, leading his companions, descended from the sky. He tossed a kunai that struck the Rain Ninja overseer's whip precisely, successfully deflecting its trajectory. "It's you again!"

The Rain Ninja overseer, his face grim, threw down his whip and stared coldly at Yahiko, who was leading his companions down. "Salamander God, how have you been?"

Yahiko, with a resolute expression, nodded. This wasn't their first time coming to this factory to rescue slaves, and they were old acquaintances with the Rain Ninja overseer before them.

"Tsk! Is it really worth it for a bunch of poor peasants?"

Sanshoku Shinta smirked disdainfully, his eyes blazing with fury. "Doing one good deed a day is my motto, and being helpful is my guiding principle."

Yahiko, pulling out another kunai, replied with a smile, "Do you know how many Rain Ninja this factory supports and how much economic revenue it generates for the Land of Rain?"

"I don't know. All I know is that since this factory appeared, the mountains of the Rain Country are no longer green, the water is no longer blue, and the smiles on the faces of the people are gone."

Yahiko shook his head, the smile on his face slowly fading. The factory beneath their feet was originally the prison of Amegakure, but it was later transformed into a smelting plant by Hanzo of the Salamander in order to generate revenue, specifically for refining ores imported from abroad.

Initially, the labor camp was for criminals, but as manpower became scarce, Hanzo, unwilling to give up the readily available benefits, began to use various pretexts to capture ordinary residents and force them to work for him in factories for free. Working 12 hours a day was the norm, and working overtime for three days and three nights in a row to meet orders was standard practice. Basically, people had to work as soon as they opened their eyes, and those who didn't open their eyes were thrown into the sewage pipe for a water burial.

Yahiko, who harbors the ideal of peace and whose mission is to save the people of the Rain Country from suffering, has regarded overthrowing sweatshops and liberating the poor as the first step in realizing his ideal since his official debut.

Their team initially consisted of only three people, and they were outnumbered and outmatched. Even if Yahiko raised his arms high, it would be difficult for him to achieve great success.

Fortunately, he has a good habit of helping others, and by chance, he met one like-minded partner after another, and the team grew bigger and bigger.

In just a few years, this team has grown into a force to be reckoned with, and even Hanzo has begun to take notice of them, trying to recruit them for his own use.

Unfortunately, the sweatshops that destroy the environment and ruthlessly enslave the people stand there, and there was no room for negotiation between the two sides from the very beginning.

With the help of his companions' diverse abilities, Yahiko raided sweatshops several times, rescuing countless people. This act thoroughly angered Hanzo, and their group is now on Amegakure's bounty list, with each kill earning a substantial reward.

Even so, he could not stop Yahiko's determination to liberate the people of the Land of Rain.

"Let everyone go, and I might spare your life."

Seeing the lone salamander, Yahiko didn't kill him. Instead, he spoke earnestly, "Do you really think Lord Hanzo can't see through your little tricks?"

Sanshokujin looked around, his face showing no fear but rather a mocking sneer. "Yahiko, there's an ambush!"

Nagato, who had been following closely behind Yahiko, suddenly widened his eyes as he sensed the chakra energy surging in from all directions. His face paled slightly. "Lord Hanzo's departure was just a ruse, an attempt to lure you out. I didn't expect it to actually work."

Shinta tilted his head with a sinister grin. Their sweatshop had been ambushed by Yahiko and his gang so many times. If they didn't learn their lesson, how would they survive in the ninja world?

"A deception? Hanzo didn't leave... Oh no, Konan!"

Looking at the smug-looking Jinta, Yahiko's heart sank to the bottom. If what he said was true, then Konan, who was keeping watch outside, might be...

Outside the factory, a slender girl with blue-purple hair turned her head and glanced at the Rain Ninja pouring into the factory. A faint look of worry appeared on her still-childish face. "It seems that Yahiko and the others have fallen into a trap this time."

"Little girl, you still have the nerve to worry about your accomplices?"

Turning around at the sound of the muffled noise, the blue-purple-haired girl looked at the mysterious masked man surrounded by the Rain Ninja in the distance, and coldly...

A sickly smile curved Tan's lips. "Lord Hanzo, do you believe I can't match your firepower?"

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