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Chapter 17 – No Smoke Without Fire
🕑 Added 2025-06-25 23:33:51 +0000 UTCChapter 17 – No Smoke Without Fire
"When you strike, make sure the world knows why."
The salty wind from the sea tugged at Hajime's cloak as he stood on the wooded ridge, just beyond the borders of the village he had called home for months. His expression was calm, but his eyes were sharp, scanning the trade road that wound along the coast. The village was quiet now. The people were safe. Koji had returned to his mother. Haku had been handed over to Zabuza. And Gato…
That was what he was here to confirm.
The sun was climbing through the morning haze. Traders passed sporadically on the dirt road below, merchants, peddlers, and fishermen hauling salted catch in woven baskets. A few oxen carts rolled by, loaded with dried lumber and crates of fruit. Hajime's ears filtered every conversation.
He remained still under the shade of the trees, letting time pass like a slow breath.
Then he heard it.
A squat man with a toothless grin, driving a cart pulled by two stubborn donkeys, called up casually to no one in particular:
"You hear the news? That bastard Gato got chopped in half! Ha! Right in his own damn office!"
Hajime stepped forward, boots crunching slightly on the underbrush. "What happened exactly?"
The man blinked, surprised someone had been listening. "Word is, some crazy swordsman walked right into Gato's place, cut him down in front of his guards. Blood everywhere. Poof! All his thugs ran like rats. Whole operation's fallen apart since."
He waved a hand and drove on, whistling a cheerful, off-key tune.
Hajime watched him go.
So it was true. Zabuza had kept his word. Gato was dead.
Hajime exhaled slowly and turned east.
The next village was a half-day's walk inland, nestled in the low hills between the sea and the mainland roads. Though smaller in size, it thrived with disciplined efficiency. Here, carpenters worked in teams, hauling thick beams and setting them into the first skeletons of a long structure stretching across the water.
The beginning of the bridge.
Hajime observed from a quiet slope. He spotted the man he had come to see: Tazuna.
The bearded builder moved among his crew like a captain among sailors. His voice was sharp, impatient, but his instructions were sound. He waved a gourd of sake in one hand and a rolled-up design plan in the other, barking orders with pride.
"That support beam needs to be higher! If you think that post is going to survive a monsoon, you're all drunk!"
Laughter followed, but the workers moved faster. There were no shinobi in sight. No guards. No signs of fear.
Hajime listened closely.
"Lucky Gato croaked when he did," one of the younger men said, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Yeah," replied an older worker. "Boss was about to send someone to Konoha. We'd be out a fortune hiring ninja."
Hajime smiled faintly.
That confirmed it. Tazuna never filed a mission request. Konoha would never send Team Seven. The cycle had broken here.
Because he had acted first.
Because of him, Koji and the others were safe. The bridge would rise without bloodshed. The story had shifted.
And now it was time to move on.
Hajime returned to the hidden tunnel beneath the Land of Waves, walking with quiet steps. His base was unchanged, sealed and silent beneath the stone. He lit a chakra lantern and checked every mark and lock.
The chamber where Haku had been bound was smooth now, cleared of traces. Just another memory.
Hajime stood in the center of the chamber and closed his eyes.
He didn't feel triumphant.
Only... forward.
He packed carefully: food for a week, sealing chalk, ink, map scrolls, his personal journal, three kunai, and the worn carving Koji had given him. Then he sealed the base one final time, hiding its entrance beneath a fresh layer of earth and moss.
The road north was long. He did not know what lay ahead.
But he had a direction.
At dawn, as the village slept peacefully behind him, Before Hajime left, he said goodbye to the kind old woman Grandma Kiko, now Hajime crossed an old moss-covered gate that marked the boundary of the Land of Waves.
He didn't look back.
He followed the inland road, letting the forests grow deeper and the ocean fall away behind him.
He was heading toward Tanzaku Quarters, a place of wandering shinobi, banned jutsu scrolls, and lost knowledge.
He had a goal there. A purpose.
And That Goal There Are Very Important.
End of Chapter 17 – No Smoke Without Fire
