Around two years ago back, in a small village.

The door opened and two handsome youths entered an inn.

Chisato sighed, this was the only inn in the village, so she wasn't surprised that those two handsome youths were dressed in shady cloaks.

Only merchants, wanderers, or shady characters would visit this tiny village out in nowhere.

"Damn, this was kinda a letdown..." - the more mysterious but more easygoing out of those two walked towards a random table (since they were all empty) while complaining.

The more cool looking one followed him without a word.

She sighed again and put up her business smile before approaching their table: "Welcome to our humble inn, dear guests. Do you want to order something, or want me to prepare rooms for you?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. Something to eat and drink would be nice." - the easygoing one replied.

"Do you want me to bring a menu?"

"Nah, just bring something you recommend."

She bowed respectfully before leaving for the kitchen.

"Hmph, you wasted so much time searching for that dragon-temple and now look disappointed?"

"Come one, don't be like that. And it's not like it was a complete flop. At least I learned about the characteristics of divine jutsus, though it really won't help in getting stronger, precisely because of those characteristics..."

Eiji started to fall into contemplation again: 'Connecting to the divine, you always have to pay a price...looking at Hidan or the Reaper Death Seal jutsu I should have expected something like that...so this means if I want to "connect" to the dragon god, this will result in a one-time use jutsu similar to the Reaper Death Seal jutsu or opening all eight gates...but I'm not noble enough to use a kamikaze jutsu to save the world or something like that!'

He started to smile wryly, while Sasuke was thinking about his own stuff with eyes closed.

"Well, even down it was a bit disappointing, it wasn't a complete time-waste. So with that out of the way, we should head back tomorrow and meet up with Ukon. Let's just hope he listened to me and negotiated peacefully...it would hinder our plans if he just killed the broker we managed to find..."

Chisato returned with a plate of food when the door shut open suddenly and a bunch of no-good thugs busted in.

'I-it's them again!' - she gritted her teeth.

Always when there was a shinobi war, the small countries and villages between the five great shinobi countries are always the ones who suffer the most. Most of the battles take place in these locations, which is why a certain village where it always rains gave birth to a certain group. But unlike that village, this rundown village had problems recovering their civil-forces. With that, it was easy for a group of bandits to take control and extort money for "protection".

No one dared to go against them, except for 2 fools. It was her husband and her son who had enough and tried to chase them away.

But since they were just ordinary civilians who owned an inn, it didn't end well.

She grieved a long time over the death of her husband and son, but in the end, she was powerless and could only endure.

"HAHAHAHA!!! Did you see their faces when I smashed my club on his head? HAHAHA!!! HEY, YOU! The usual!" - the bandit leader sat down on a chair with his feet on the table.

This was the worst in her opinion.

They not only killed her family but visit the inn to "remind" her of what they did.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, but she endured as always and took out 6 bottles of sake from the bar.

"Jeez, do you ugly bastards have to be so damn loud?" - Eiji said with a soft smile while eating.

"HA!! You damn kid must have a death wish! Or you are just stupid. Haven't you hear of us? We are the White Horseshoe Gang!" - the bandit group stood up with dirty smiles.

"Sigh, I wished Ukon was here with us. He actually enjoys dealing with trash...alright which one of us will do it, Sasuke?"

"You, since this happened because you can't keep yo-"

"Alright, let's decide with Rock paper scissors."

"..."

"Rock, paper..." - Eiji started to raise his hands while Sasuke watched at him silently.

"HEY, YOU!! ARE YOU IGNORING US?!" - the bandit leader was furious and charged at him.

Chisato closed her eyes, not wanting to see how those brutal ruffians will torture those two handsome youngsters.