Chapter 17 — The Land of Waves
And so, after a night full of shouting and chaos, the sun rose as usual.
Since no one had gotten hurt, and the scene everyone woke up to was terrifying enough, even though many livestock had been lost, few were willing to dig deeper into the matter.
Better to consider yourself unlucky than to have lost your life!
After waking up, Shinji and Hidan prepared to leave and continue their journey.
Unexpectedly, the old man who had been missing all night returned.
In his hands, he carried a simple lunchbox.
"Ho! Whose chicken egg is this?!"
Even after a night of rest, Hidan's external injuries had mostly healed, but the fire that had burned off his hair and eyebrows hadn't grown back yet.
So when the old man pushed open the door, he saw Hidan's smooth, shiny bald head—and for a moment, it looked just like a peeled egg had come to life!
"You old fart, you actually dared to come back?"
Their eyes met, and Hidan immediately spoke with hostility. He hadn't forgotten what had happened yesterday.
Adding new grudges to old ones, there was no way this would end peacefully.
As for Shinji…
He had received professional training and wouldn't laugh at anything no matter how funny it was.
Unless he couldn't help it.
"Hahahaha… a chicken egg!" Shinji laughed until his stomach hurt.
In truth, seeing Hidan like this had him wanting to laugh all along.
He had just been holding back, considering Hidan's murderous glare and the fact that he himself bore some responsibility.
Now that the restraint was gone, he laughed heartily, rolling back and forth, completely uninhibited…
Hidan, listening to the piercing laughter beside him, turned pale and green alternately, his eyes filled with murderous intent, wishing he could tear these two fools apart on the spot!
Seeing the situation turning bad, the old man quickly forced a smile and hurriedly raised the lunchbox to change the subject.
"You're all up, right? Haven't had breakfast yet? Come on, try it. Ayako worked really hard to make this."
Hidan was about to say who would eat this pig food!
But as soon as the old man opened the lunchbox, his eyes widened, and his stomach betrayed him with a growl.
Inside the lunchbox lay a neatly arranged layer of his favorite fried pork cutlets!
Golden and enticing, fragrant and mouthwatering, he didn't even realize he had swallowed multiple times already.
"Don't think that bringing food will make me forgive you!"
Hidan didn't hold back, snatching the box and still scolding.
Then, unable to resist, he began eating immediately.
"Phew… hot…"
Crunch, crunch—the golden, crispy pork cutlet paired with salty, savory sauce brought pure satisfaction to Hidan's face.
Delicious!
His mouth had been yearning for such food for days.
Combined with the old man's daughter-in-law's excellent cooking skills, Hidan couldn't stop, shoving piece after piece into his mouth.
"This good, huh? Let me try."
Seeing Hidan eat with such delight, Shinji felt a pang of hunger himself.
But what surprised him even more was that Hidan, that damn dog, was actually guarding his food?!
"Dream on!"
Hidan had no intention of sharing and blocked Shinji's reaching hand, then bolted away.
Shinji, hands on his hips, was laughing angrily.
"You little bastard, wait until I gut you for dinner!"
After cursing, Shinji turned his attention back to the old man, curious.
"Since you've already come back, why? Don't tell me you don't know what happened last night."
"Just a few lost livestock. As long as no one got hurt, that's enough," the old man said dismissively.
Shinji knew he was being deliberately casual, not wanting to stir up more trouble.
Then the old man smirked, eyes squinting. "Last night, I don't even know what drove those animals crazy. Each one tried to break through the fences to escape."
"And guess what? That huge old sow smashed herself against a tree and passed out."
The old man laughed until his mouth split.
Shinji was speechless. So last night, the old man had been gone, but he had actually been picking up a freebie.
He had somehow avoided a dangerous situation and ended up with a full-grown sow for free—luck like that was unheard of.
Judging by the old man's smug expression, he probably had no intention of returning it to its rightful owner.
After all, they had "lost" so many livestock last night; one more wouldn't matter.
"Time to go, Hidan!"
Shinji shouted outside. Hidan came over, wiping his mouth, and tossed the empty lunchbox back to the old man.
"Consider yourself lucky. The Evil God doesn't need sacrifices as old as you right now."
"But next time, that won't be certain. Let's go."
Hidan raised his head, looking defiant.
The old man wasn't angry. In his mind, he still pictured Hidan demanding fried pork cutlets the night before.
Clearly, this wasn't a coincidence.
Even small people have their own ways to survive.
...
A few days later, Shinji and Hidan crossed the Land of Fire and took a small boat from the port to the Land of Waves.
During casual conversation, Shinji learned some preliminary information about the current state of the Land of Waves from the boatman.
This included the familiar villainous side character, Gato.
At this stage, however, Gato didn't yet dominate the entire shipping business.
The Oshima family had originally been the wealthiest and most powerful clan in the Land of Waves.
But with Gato's rise and his frequent secret hiring of assassins, wandering ninja, and other underhanded tactics to undercut the competition, the long-established Oshima family was temporarily thrown into disarray.
Fortunately, the saying "a camel may be thin, but it's still bigger than a horse" held true. Once they realized Gato was secretly causing trouble and breaking the rules, the Oshima family launched a series of aggressive counterattacks.
Especially after an unexpected incident connected them to the Evil God Cult, which Oshima had always kept as a trump card and had never used lightly.
But this time, Oshima clan head wasn't going to hold back.
About twenty days ago, his beloved youngest daughter had died in a targeted terrorist attack against him.
Although he survived thanks to his bodyguards' desperate protection, his young daughter, still in the bloom of youth, was gone forever.
Fueled by this terrifying rage, Oshima was prepared to do whatever it took to make Gato pay.
This included enlisting the Evil God Cult's power to exact revenge!
Even knowing it might be like inviting a tiger into his home, he was willing to take the risk.
On this very day, an inconspicuous small boat docked at the port of the Land of Waves.
Two relentless agents of the Evil God Cult finally set foot on this land, destined to be stained with blood.