Through Harada Shintaro's story, Menma realized how miserable the people of Aomori Town were being exploited.
The wealthy gentry landowners in this town and the officials sent by the daimyo were colluding with each other, creating clever names, and constantly collecting money from the people on the pretext of offering sacrifices to the daimyo or donating to Konoha Village.
Shintaro Harada traveled abroad when he was young. When he returned to his hometown, he saw that the townspeople were being oppressed in this way. He was so angry that he led the townspeople to resist these gentlemen.
He said angrily: "Originally, the guards of those gentlemen were defeated by us. But that official invited Konoha ninjas to come, and the resistance was in vain!"
"You are all ordinary people. It's not surprising that you can't deal with ninjas."
"It's all the fault of those ninjas! Without them provoking wars everywhere, the people would not have to bear such heavy taxes!" Shintaro Harada blamed all this on the ninjas, and believed that without the powerful force of the ninjas, the people would not be unable to resist.
.
Menma scoffed at his idea: "Do you think that without ninjas everything will be fine and the world will be peaceful?"
"Before ninjas appeared, weren't the earth full of samurai fighting everywhere?" Menma looked at Shintaro Harada: "Or do you think that the common people who died at the hands of ninjas were human beings, and those who died at the hands of samurai were just human beings?
Not any more?!"
"That's not what I meant. I'm very sorry, sir." Harada thought that the mysterious man in front of him was probably a member of the ninja, and he immediately shut his mouth.
Menma withdrew that intimidating gaze: "But the fact that you dare to stand up and resist shows that you still have some courage. I am currently short of people to take care of things."
"Would you like to join me? If you are willing, I can save you from here."
Now that the hope of life has appeared, how could Harada Shintaro not seize it.
He immediately responded: "I do!"
When Shintaro Harada escaped from prison, looking at the clear and cloudless night sky outside, he suddenly felt an unreal feeling in his heart.
Was he rescued just like that?
Seeing that Uzumaki Menma seemed to be taking him away, Harada Shintaro suddenly said: "Sir, it is easy for me to leave. But I am afraid that those people will double their revenge on those innocent townspeople."
"You are already facing a desperate situation. If I hadn't saved you, you would have been dead this time." Menma looked at the newly recruited subordinate: "You want to take action? Then tell me why I should help you.
?”
Harada Shintaro was silent for a moment. Indeed, what price can he pay if he wants the adult in front of him to take action?
How can there be a free lunch in this world!
"I know a secret, I wonder if you are interested in knowing it," Harada said.
Menma wears a fox mask on his face, and his expression is completely covered, making it impossible to see his true thoughts.
His voice was as cold as ice as he said, "What secret?"
Shintaro Harada thought about the wording for a moment: "Those wealthy landowners in Aomori Town and the officials sent by the daimyo have been secretly collecting orphans, and they publicize that they are sending them to the daimyo."
"But I once investigated and found that those orphans did not go to the daimyo at all, but were sent to Konoha by them!"
"These children sent to Konoha have never appeared again! This situation has lasted for more than ten years, and all local orphans have been plundered!"
When Shintaro Harada said this, an expression of extreme disgust appeared on his face: "So, they bought the children from other places and sent them to Konoha!"
Human trafficking? The 'secret' Harada mentioned is indeed big enough, because it involves Konoha.
Menma was also thinking in his mind, if what Harada said is true, then where have these children gone?
Over the past ten years, Aomori Town has sent countless orphans to Konoha, at least hundreds of them. With so many people pouring into Konoha, why can't Naruto see any movement?
In Konoha Village, there are only two places that can secretly deal with so many children.
The first one is the dark part, and the second one is the root part!
"The ANBU is directly under the Hokage, so there is no need to do such a thing. They can recruit people into the ANBU openly." Menma thought in his mind: "So, it can only be [Gen]."
Danzo, this guy who hides in the dark side of Konoha and calls himself the 'Protector of Konoha'. This does seem like something he would do.
For Menma, he originally did not want to get involved in Harada Shintaro's affairs. But since it involves Konoha, there is nothing wrong with taking a trip.
"Lead the way." Menma said to Harada.
Late at night, in Aomori Town, at the house of a certain wealthy gentleman.
The group of people I saw during the day were having a big banquet in the living room.
On the dining table, there are plates of meat, various fresh fruits and vegetables, and there is a young maid beside each person who is responsible for pouring wine.
"Haha, what a joy." The official sent by the daimyo laughed while drinking. "Those unruly people! It's really impossible not to teach them a lesson!"
"That's right!" A certain landowner who looked like a fat pig said with a big belly: "Isn't it just for these untouchables that the gentlemen work day and night? They will rise up (rebellion) if they collect more taxes, and they are not grateful at all.
heart of!"
"Wait until tomorrow and kill that guy named Harada." A certain wealthy gentleman said. He ran several caravans under his command, and he was considered to have relatively strong financial resources among the people.
Shintaro Harada was not killed at first but was thrown into prison, which was his suggestion.
He originally wanted to take Shintaro Harada into his employ as a thug in the caravan.
But Harada actually escaped again and asked Konoha's ninjas to hunt him down. The wealthy gentleman finally gave up on conquering Harada.
As he talked, he came to another topic.
The initiator of this banquet, a landowner with a large amount of land, dismissed the maids, leaving only the invited guests.
He clapped his hands and attracted everyone's attention: "Everyone, it's time for delivery again." He looked at the wealthy gentleman who ran the caravan and asked: "How many people have you found over there?
"
"The world has been a little peaceful in the past few years, and only seven people have been found."