Chapter Nineteen: Flood of Tears

“I see… I understand.”
Bai Mu’s expression was full of disappointment and melancholy.
“Our hometown is terribly poor, and nearby there’s a band of wicked Yordle people who slaughter, plunder, and commit every imaginable evil. This year, all our crops and livestock have been destroyed—if we can’t find a way, I don’t know how many villagers will die this winter…”
“I only heard that the Leaf is the kindest village in the shinobi world, so I crossed mountains and valleys to come here seeking help. I hoped to earn enough with my meager abilities to buy some food and clothes before the bitter winter arrives, so that the people back home won’t starve to death…”
“We can die in battle… but we must never die of hunger!”
With tears streaming down his face, Bai Mu’s few words vividly painted the image of a suffering, disaster-stricken village, and a young boy struggling to save his people.
“Our village is in dire straits… Elder Madara, our village chief, is over ninety years old now… trying to hold on all by himself…” Afei wept alongside him.
“The Yordle people are truly despicable! Here, this is all my pocket money! You must hold on!” Obito, fighting back tears, pushed over a shriveled cat-shaped coin purse.
He didn’t know what the Yordle people were, but if Bai Mu said they were evil, then that was enough.
“You shouldn’t…” Bai Mu gripped the coin purse tightly, continually refusing Obito’s offer.
“So… Bai Mu’s life has been so tragic…” Hayate Gekkou also silently took out his wallet.
“You must have suffered a lot coming such a long way… Please, accept this little token, don’t refuse.” Rin Nohara’s face was full of sympathy as she handed over a cute little cat wallet.
“I didn’t suffer much, just missed a lot of meals.” Bai Mu patted his flat stomach, which rumbled right on cue.
“To think… just so his village could eat, he didn’t even dare eat himself. I can hardly imagine how he made it all this way,” Obito’s mind filled in the scene on its own.
“All thanks to unwavering, mature, and unbeatable…”
“Conviction?” Obito suggested.
“Confidence!” Bai Mu’s eyes shone with unyielding resolve.
“Kakashi! What are you waiting for? Have some sympathy, hurry up and donate!” Obito began to wrestle for Kakashi’s wallet.
Obito was naïve, Rin was kind, but the adults were not so easily moved to donate by a few words.
Shikaku Nara remained expressionless. He thought Bai Mu might be telling the truth and did sympathize, but rules were rules. As the Leaf’s chief commander, he was responsible for everyone on the front lines—a stranger with an unknown past absolutely could not be taken in.
If a spy managed to sneak in and leak intelligence, who knew how many lives it might cost.
“Sensei… can’t we really let Bai Mu stay?” Rin looked pleadingly at Minato Namikaze.

Minato scratched his head. “These are the rules of war… there’s nothing I can do.”
“It’s all right, I can’t burden you with my own suffering. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Obito and Rin. I’ll think of something myself.” Bai Mu wiped away his tears.
“If you won’t accept it, I’ll just stomp off cursing, and if people back home ask, I’ll say the Hokage is an old pervert with no sympathy!” Afei raised a middle finger.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Bai Mu rapped Afei on the head and turned to leave.
One step… call me back.
Two steps… stop me.
Three steps…
“Wait a minute…” Shikaku Nara really called out.
Bai Mu’s heart leapt—so the Leaf still couldn’t escape the power of reputation.
“No matter what, you killed three Iwagakure ninja and saved our own. The reward you’re due, the Leaf will never shortchange you.” Shikaku managed a smile.
“One jonin, two chunin—if they were our own, that would be sixteen hundred merit points. I’ll personally raise it to two thousand for you. Here’s the merit exchange chart, but according to the rules, you can’t exchange for jutsu, only supplies—I hope you understand.” Shikaku looked apologetically at Bai Mu.
Is that it? Bai Mu was taken aback. It seemed the Leaf was dead set on not taking him in.
There was no helping it—even in peacetime, accepting a talented bloodline ninja required a Yamanaka clan mind probe, and more serious cases might even be restricted by Root’s sealing techniques.
He glanced over the exchange list. The cheapest items were mostly kunai and shuriken, then smoke bombs, soldier pills, explosive tags—single-use tools. Pricier items included standardized swords, or for a thousand points you could custom order a unique weapon. The most expensive was a storage scroll, costing a staggering five thousand points.
In other words, you’d have to kill five jonin to get one storage scroll. No wonder Tenten’s family was so wealthy.
Unfortunately, none of these things were of much use to Bai Mu.
“May I ask, can you convert it all to money for me?”
“Money?” Shikaku blinked in surprise. “Our ninja tools and medicines are the finest in the whole shinobi world, far better than anything you’d find on the black market—it's much more cost-effective than cash.”
In fact, when ninja earned merit, they almost always exchanged it for ninja tools—sometimes a single explosive tag or a smoke bomb could save your life.
Civilian ninja especially needed to exchange merit for jutsu to grow stronger, earn more, and survive.
Such is the sorrow of the working man: no one knows when they’ll be swallowed up by the grind for money.
Few ever exchanged merit for cash—though plenty would trade cash for merit.

“No, thank you. I want to earn more money, buy more food. I’ve calculated: a hundred thousand ryo worth of food is enough for a villager to survive the winter in comfort.” Bai Mu smiled sensibly and patted Afei’s head.
“Mom, we’re rich now. When we get back, I’ll buy everyone some meat.”
“Son… I want some sausage too.”
“We’ll eat… as soon as we get back.”
Tears flowed.
Everyone started wiping their eyes, glaring at Shikaku Nara as if he were a villain.
“Ahem… three million ryo, that’s the exchange value for two thousand merit points. I’ll have someone write you a check, guaranteed by both the Leaf and the Hokage—you can cash it at any bank in the shinobi world.” Shikaku could only raise the price a bit.
Three million ryo? How much was that in the world of the Hokage?
For big spending, you measured by Asuma’s bounty; for small, by bowls of ramen.
An Asuma was thirty-five million ryo. A bowl of ramen was sixty.
Reto’s death was really not worth much—just three thousand bowls of ramen.
“Mom, let’s go. I’ll catch some fish for you, then we’ll find a nest of grass to sleep in.” Bai Mu’s face was sunny as he hobbled into the sunset.
“As long as I’m with my son, even living off sunlight is fine… but are you really all right? Will your injuries affect your… bowels?” Afei rubbed against Bai Mu’s leg.
“I’m fine, just chakra exhaustion. We can’t trouble them any further.” Bai Mu stroked Afei’s head.
In the sunset, the long shadows of one boy and one cat stretched out, lonely and forlorn, telling of fate’s injustice and the bitterness of their journey.
Shikaku Nara glanced at Minato Namikaze, slapped his thigh hard, and sighed deeply. “What a sin!”
“Tonight… stay at our camp. We can’t neglect our savior. Kakashi will look after you—make sure you eat your fill and get a good night’s sleep.” Minato smiled gently.
Kakashi, though only thirteen, was already calmer and more cautious than most adults, and his strength had reached jonin level. With him watching Bai Mu and Minato himself in camp, even if Bai Mu were a spy, there would be no problem.