Thanks to the king’s gift, Daka Village—whose residents had once struggled below the poverty line—underwent a tremendous transformation.
The villagers now had money to purchase ample food, wear clean clothes, and repair their dilapidated homes.
Under the leadership of the master bridge builder Tazuna, Daka Village began a series of infrastructure projects, including the construction of roads, bridges, and dams.
In just one month, the entire village had been completely renewed!
“My king.” “Good morning, honored king.” As Akira patrolled the streets, the villagers bowed respectfully to him one after another.
He walked along the smooth concrete road and examined the houses lining both sides.
At the very least, they had been repaired well enough to keep out the wind and rain.
Akira nodded with reluctant satisfaction and murmured, “Well~ Although this place is no longer quite so shabby, it is still far from worthy of being the chosen land where the king first set foot.” Everything was developing in a positive direction…
However, the changes taking place in Daka Village gradually began attracting the attention of outsiders.
The Land of Waves was a small island nation.
Because villages frequently interacted with one another, it was impossible to hide the fact that Daka Village had suddenly transformed from a destitute settlement into an extraordinarily wealthy one.
This development soon drew the attention of Gatō, the most powerful criminal figure in the region.
On the surface, Gatō was the president of a shipping company and one of the wealthiest men in the world.
In secret, however, he employed gangs and shinobi to smuggle drugs and other contraband.
He was an infamous and thoroughly despicable criminal.
Several years earlier, Gatō had used his wealth and violence to seize control of every sea route in the Land of Waves.
For an island nation isolated overseas, controlling maritime transportation was equivalent to controlling the country’s lifeline.
It allowed Gatō to enslave its people however he pleased.
Because Gatō secretly delivered a portion of his illegally obtained profits to the Land of Waves’ daimyo, the latter chose to turn a blind eye to his crimes.
The people of the Land of Waves suffered immensely, yet they could not afford to hire shinobi.
As a result, Gatō continued squeezing every last drop of blood and sweat from them until they eventually died in numbness and misery.
Now, Daka Village had suddenly become wealthy overnight.
Like a starving wolf catching the scent of meat, Gatō immediately gathered a group of subordinates and stormed toward the village.
Bang!
The newly constructed village gate was violently forced open by Gatō’s men.
“Lord Gatō has arrived!
The village chief of Daka Village is to come out and receive him immediately!” A burly man wielding a katana shouted arrogantly.
Realizing that the newcomers had come with hostile intentions, the villagers hurriedly retreated.
“This is bad.
Quickly inform Mr.
Tazuna…” Daka Village had once been so impoverished and run-down that it had not even possessed a village chief.
Akira’s arrival had changed everything.
Tazuna was the only person who had received two pieces of gold and silver treasure from the king.
Moreover, he had led the villagers through their large-scale construction efforts.
With the overwhelming support of the residents, he had been elected chief of Daka Village.
“Gatō!” Tazuna rushed over after receiving the news.
The moment he saw Gatō, uncontrollable fury appeared on his face.
His son-in-law, Kaiza, had once been regarded as the hero of the village.
Several years earlier, Gatō had viewed him as a dangerous symbol of resistance.
He had ordered his men to capture Kaiza, brutally break both of his arms, and publicly behead him before the entire village.
From that day onward, the villagers of Daka Village had completely lost their courage and become slaves exploited by Gatō.
“Oh?
I remember you.
Aren’t you the foolish old man who kept shouting about building a bridge?” Gatō adjusted his sunglasses and smiled sinisterly.
“I also heard that you intended to hire shinobi from Konoha to help you.
Hehe…” Tazuna’s eyelid twitched, and his hands clenched involuntarily.
After obtaining money, he had indeed considered traveling to the Land of Fire and hiring Konoha shinobi to drive Gatō out of the Land of Waves.
However, Akira had rejected the proposal.
Akira had ordered him to concentrate on the village’s construction and leave everything else alone.
Tazuna had anticipated that Gatō would inevitably cause trouble once Daka Village became wealthy, so he had appealed to Akira a second time.
Akira, however, had not bothered wasting words on him.
He had given only one response.
It was the king’s command.
Tazuna had not dared disobey and could only follow the order obediently.
Today, just as he had feared, Gatō had truly arrived with his men.
“What do you want?” Tazuna forcefully suppressed his anger.
For the sake of the villagers, he temporarily restrained the hatred he felt toward Gatō.
“Our shipping company has maintained security across these waters for many years and protected you from pirate attacks.
It is only reasonable that you pay us a protection fee, isn’t it?” Gatō immediately revealed the purpose of his visit— Money.
Protect us?
What a joke!
You are the greatest bandits of them all!
Unable to contain his fury, Tazuna shouted, “Daka Village is poor!
We don’t have any money!” “Stop pretending, you miserable old bastard!
Over the past month, your village has purchased enormous quantities of food and supplies.
You obviously have plenty of money!” Gatō’s informants were spread throughout the Land of Waves.
He knew perfectly well that Daka Village had suddenly become wealthy.
“That wealth was bestowed upon us by our king!
We will never hand it over to a bastard like you!” Tazuna spoke through gritted teeth.
“Your king?
What ridiculous dream are you living in?” Gatō could not suppress a mocking laugh.
Then he declared coldly, “In the Land of Waves, I am the king!” The instant those words left his mouth, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
“Killing intent!” The samurai beside Gatō possessed at least some ability to sense danger.
“Could there be shinobi lying in ambush?” Sweat poured down their faces as they warily prepared themselves for battle.
A golden-haired boy slowly approached from the middle of the street.
An incomparably radiant smile adorned his handsome face.
“My, my~ I could have sworn I just heard a mongrel claiming to be a king.”