Naruto: The Tavern Speech Begins to Make the Land of Rain Great

Sunny days are extremely rare in the Land of Rain.

It rains for more than 310 out of 365 days a year.

Here, the rain is categorized into drizzle, light rain, moderate rain, and heavy rain.

There were almost no sunny days.

Today was no exception, except it was just a light drizzle.

Rainwater dripped down the edge of Kuroda's straw hat and hit the ground.

Kuroda crossed her arms and watched the man's speech with great vigilance.

This was the first time he had heard Watanabe Toru speak.

I don't know what kind of magic he has that makes the Rain Ninja behave properly.

Watanabe Toru pressed his palm down, and the originally noisy environment instantly became quiet.

Only the sound of raindrops falling to the ground echoed.

A moment later, he spoke from the stage.

"My fellow countrymen of the Land of Rain."

That's just right.

The audience members below the stage became excited, as if the word "compatriot" was a recognition of their identity.

Watanabe Tetsu gestured for everyone to calm down.

"I believe that all of you have heard my speeches before."

Watanabe Toru had a friendly smile on his face, as if he were chatting with a friend.

"The current situation is extremely complicated, with the Land of Rain facing both internal and external troubles."

"Externally, we faced invasions from powerful nations. They burned, killed, looted, and seized our territory, our wealth, and our loved ones."

"Internally, the Land of Rain is in a state of extreme chaos. Many Rain Ninja still harbor the illusion of exchanging compromise for peace, while those Rain Ninja willing to unite together are still a minority."

Kuroda was taken aback. He pondered for a moment, but found that Watanabe Tetsu's words were perfectly reasonable.

The current state of the Rain Country can be described as beset by internal and external troubles.

Externally, there was invasion from three major powers; internally, there was Hanzo's willful and unilateral actions.

Kuroda couldn't help but prick up his ears and continue listening.

Watanabe Toru raised two fingers of his right hand and pointed to the sky.

After a moment, he said with emotion.

"Today, I am calling on everyone to join the Xiaoguang Society."

"Not because the future is bright or promising."

Instead, all I see is endless darkness.

Kuroda closed his eyes, recalling his previous life.

Be vigilant, feel repressed, be in danger.

Darkness, indeed, is very fitting for the occasion.

But can all of this be changed?

I'm afraid not.

At least Kuroda doesn't believe he can change any of this.

Kuroda turned his gaze back to the podium, eagerly awaiting Watanabe Tetsu's answer.

He wanted to see what this leader, trusted by so many people, could do.

"In this darkness, no one can see hope."

As expected...

A hint of disappointment flashed in Kuroda's eyes.

"But we have nothing and nowhere to retreat."

Watanabe Tetsu paused for a moment, his tone becoming low.

A suffocating atmosphere swept over them, gripping the hearts of the ninjas in the audience.

"All we can do is keep trying until we get out of that darkness."

"If I can't do it, then you do it."

Watanabe Toru pointed to a tall ninja in the crowd.

"If he can't do it, you go."

Watanabe Toru then pointed to Kuroda.

I?

Kuroda's eyes widened.

Am I really capable?

"If one person can't solve the problem, then let's unite."

Unity.

Unite!

Kuroda's heart was pounding.

He could feel the ninjas around him trembling with excitement.

Watanabe Toru was still giving a speech.

"Xiaoguang will need everyone's support."

"That's why I'm encouraging everyone to join."

"Because I firmly believe it!"

Watanabe Toru clenched his right fist and raised it above his head.

"When we break through the darkness, we will be greeted by the rising sun."

Just then, the dark clouds dispersed as if they were afraid of something, until a ray of sunlight shone down.

The rain has stopped.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the dense dark clouds, illuminating Watanabe Tetsu's sharply defined profile, his figure bathed in the afterglow of the rising sun.

Kuroda stretched out his hand, but couldn't feel a single raindrop.

Is it sunny now?

The sunlight shone on him, bringing him a long-lost feeling of warmth.

miracle.

This is a miracle.

Kuroda looked at Watanabe Toru on the stage in disbelief.

That figure already possessed a touch of divinity.

After a while, the whole place was in an uproar.

"Unity!"

Watanabe Toru shouted, and his voice resonated in everyone's hearts.

The murmurs from the audience gradually coalesced into a single word.

"Unity".

...

"Take your time, line up properly, and be careful."

Under Watanabe Tetsu's call, the ninjas who came to "apply" gradually became more organized.

They lined up obediently, one by one, each in their own spot, with a safe distance between them to prevent trampling.

"Name?"

"age?"

What are you good at?

Why join us?

Watanabe Tetsu sat upright in his chair, writing and drawing on the assessment form on the table, assessing the ninja who was ranked first.

He mostly asked basic questions, including but not limited to name, age, abilities, number of missions completed, skills, and family relationships.

The purpose of asking these questions is quite simple.

Get a basic understanding of the other party by asking a few simple questions.

This also facilitates later deployment or arrangement.

After all, you can't exactly send a ninja skilled in medicine to assassinate someone.

Therefore, it is essential to understand in advance what each ninja is good at.

Moreover, Watanabe knew this.

Although the notice says it's recruiting ninjas of genin rank or higher, it doesn't mean that genin will definitely pass the test.

This also depends on the overall strength of the recruited ninjas.

He plans to recruit one hundred ninjas first.

However, there are over a hundred ninjas with Chunin or higher strength who are willing to join the Akatsuki.

Then there's naturally no need to recruit those weak genin.

It's important to know that there's a significant chance that these recruited ninjas will be tasked with dangerous missions.

As a class with high attack and low defense, ninjas can be said to only have the ability to survive when they reach the Chunin level.

Recruiting a large number of genin only adds to the death count and serves no other purpose.

Even a genin's fate is fate.

Behind them are families.

While Watanabe Toru may not be a great philanthropist, he is by no means an evil person who doesn't value life.

He looked up and continued questioning the next ninja.

"Name."

...

Ninjas who pass the initial assessment will be registered with Hayakawa Hitomi.

After screening, they will be incorporated into the Ayatsu-cho branch of the Akatsuki-kai.

To facilitate management, Xiaoguang Society established branches around the larger towns in the eastern part of the Rain Country.

Only members of the Xiaoguang Society knew the addresses of these branches.

In addition to Amatsu Town, there are six other branch bases in the eastern part of the Land of Rain.

As for the headquarters...

It's naturally the place that used to be in the sewer.

To ensure security, the headquarters was only known to Watanabe Toru and other high-ranking members of the Akatsuki-kai.

It can be said that there are currently only about a dozen people who know about the headquarters of Xiaoguang Society.

For security reasons, Watanabe Toru also plans to renovate the headquarters.

The interior should be equipped with a complete oxygen supply system, a built-in research laboratory, weapons storage, and other modules.

It can ensure that even if the door is blocked, one can live peacefully inside for a period of time and also has a certain ability to retaliate.

However, Xiaoguanghui's current technological and human resources capabilities are not yet sufficient to achieve this.

But you have to have dreams.

More than twenty people have already been assigned to Hayakawa Hitomi's group, but there are still quite a few ninjas waiting in line for Watanabe Tetsu's first trial.

After waiting for a while, it was finally Kuroda's turn.

Watanabe Tetsu raised his head and looked the young man up and down.

He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a long knife at his waist and a woven straw hat on his head.

He looked like a samurai.

After just one glance, Watanabe Tetsu lowered his head and asked.

"Name?"

...

After waiting a moment without getting an answer, Watanabe Tetsu raised his head again and met Kuroda's serious gaze.

That look in his eyes...

There was a hint of admiration, but also a degree of wariness.

"Kurodai".

Watanabe Toru took notes on the paper.

"age?"

Sixteen years old.

"strength?"

"Chunin".

Chunin?

Watanabe Toru looked up and checked again.

In other ninja villages, a sixteen-year-old Chunin might not be considered anything special.

But this is the Land of Rain, a country without traditions or teachings.

A sixteen-year-old Chunin is quite a remarkable achievement.

Watanabe Toru's gaze toward Kuroda changed.

That's the kind of look you get when you're looking at gold.

Kuroda felt very uncomfortable under that gaze. He was about to speak when Watanabe Tetsu spoke first.

"What are you good at?"

Kuroda fell silent.

He didn't even know what he was good at.

As for assassination, he hadn't systematically learned any secret techniques for concealing his presence.

As for sealing techniques? Medical ninjutsu?

Stop joking, okay?

If I had to pinpoint my only strength...

Kuroda looked at the long sword hanging at his waist.

"fencing."

Which school of thought?

"Original creation".

Watanabe Tetsu looked up in surprise, then a kind smile appeared on his face.

"You're very good."

Watanabe praised it.

These are his true feelings.

In the Land of Rain, there are many skilled in chain techniques, but I've never heard of anyone skilled in swordsmanship before.

If everything is as true as Kuroda said.

The genius of this ninja who can become a Chunin by relying on his self-created swordsmanship is self-evident.

We've struck gold!

It seems like we can give him some good training.

Watanabe Tetsu nodded in satisfaction, drew a big checkmark on Kuroda's file, and then drew a five-pointed star next to it.

Not far away, a figure wearing a black raincoat and a headband from Amegakure Village quietly retreated from the corner of the wall.