(The ANBU Fox is named Kitsune, it's just the japanese translation of "Fox")
The Capital of the Land of Fire—a fairly large city.
Though to call it a "city" might be generous. Given how underdeveloped the world's tech tree was, most buildings barely rose above two or three stories.
"Hey, Kakashi—how many times have you been to the Capital?" Nara Kazuki squatted on a rooftop, watching the hurried flow of pedestrians below with an amused look.
"A few times on missions. Haven't really been back since I joined the ANBU," Kakashi replied, crouched beside him.
Kitsune hadn't shown up yet, but the two of them weren't exactly idle. Kitsune had already handed down their task: inspect the capital for potential spies or hidden threats.
In short: collect intel.
"Tch tch," Kazuki clicked his tongue as he watched a richly dressed woman walk by, a well-groomed dog with a gold chain around its neck in tow. Just as she passed, another woman—emaciated, clutching a bundle of wilted vegetables—walked by in the opposite direction.
Some things never changed. The wealth gap was insane.
"Let's take a walk," Kazuki stood up. If they were going to do this, they might as well take it seriously. Kitsune would definitely expect results.
Kakashi nodded and followed him down into the bustling city streets.
"Where are we gathering intel, exactly?" Kakashi asked.
Kazuki tapped his chin thoughtfully. He had an idea.
He led them to a low, guarded compound just outside the noble district—the capital's central prison.
"The prison? Really?" Kakashi blinked. He had expected Kazuki to suggest infiltrating the Daimyō's palace. After all, that would logically be the most intel-rich location in the city.
But Kazuki shook his head. "Of course. If you want to understand the state of a city, you go where the trash gets dumped."
In other words: the prison would reflect what kind of crimes were common, what people were struggling with, and where the social tension was.
Petty theft existed in every era, but a lot of it? That said something deeper.
The prison's security was laughable for shinobi—especially two ANBU-trained ones. Soon enough, they found themselves in the records archive.
"Thirteen hundred twenty-one people jailed for theft and robbery this month alone?" Kazuki frowned at the report in his hands.
"Last month was 1,057," Kakashi added, scanning another scroll.
Kazuki scratched his head. That was a lot. Either the laws here were disproportionately harsh—or petty crime was surging because the population was truly desperate.
Economic downturn? Widespread poverty?
Still, they couldn't jump to conclusions.
Kazuki moved on to the next most common charges: fraud, assault, treason, and murder.
"Treason is ranked third?" he muttered, raising a brow.
Kakashi glanced up. "Says here seven hundred thirty-nine people were executed for treason just last month."
Kazuki's scroll showed only fifty-seven arrests for treason this month—quite the drop. But that probably just meant they'd caught a major group last time, and the rest had gone into hiding.
The seeds of rebellion still lingered.
"Let's go," Kazuki said, rolling up the scroll.
Once outside the prison, Kakashi finally asked the question hanging over them both.
"So... what did you see in there?"
Kazuki summarized it plainly. "The people here are starving. Many can't even fill their stomachs. Meanwhile, the wealthy waste food like it's nothing. The poor clearly resent the Daimyō—but it's not idealism. It's desperation."
If this were any other world, Kazuki figured some rebel general would be shouting "The Heavens ordain Kazuki's rule!" by now. Or "The Daimyō is dead, long live Kazuki!"
But this wasn't that kind of story.
This was the Naruto world.
When ninja exist as superweapons, there's no uprising from the common folk—unless someone pulls out a nuke or the Twelve Guardian Ninja all decide to turn traitor.
Kakashi gave Kazuki a long look.
"How do you see all that from a bunch of records?"
Kazuki shrugged. "Some people stole food from shops. Some fought over scraps from the trash bins in noble districts. The ones charged with treason... they all confessed to plotting to kill the Daimyō."
Kakashi didn't know what to say.
To him, the Daimyō had always just been there. He was a fact of life, untouched even by ninja wars. Villages fell, shinobi died—but the Daimyō remained, signing checks and funding missions.
"You two gathered intel pretty well," came Kitsune's voice.
Kazuki wasn't surprised. They had left the appropriate ANBU signals along the route—Kitsune would've followed them.
"Mission complete, Captain?" Kazuki asked. He was itching to get out of this corrupt, bloated city. Even breathing the same air as the Daimyō made him feel sick.
"Yeah. We're heading back," Kitsune nodded. He didn't say how much they'd secured, but it was clear the Council of Elders had gotten what they wanted.
Kazuki guessed they'd extracted at least a quarter of the requested sum. Maybe more.
The three of them made their way out of the capital. Kitsune looked unburdened—and that was good.
If they had been expected to physically escort a fortune out of the city, things would've been dicey. Kazuki figured someone else—maybe an escort squad—would handle the transport.
This was a key opportunity for Konoha to breathe. Minato would never risk it on just three shinobi.
But then Kitsune suddenly slowed his pace.