When the caravans and carriages started moving and exited Konoha, it was already 9:56 AM.
Although they were supposed to leave at 9:30 AM, with tens of caravans, carriages, and more than sixty guards preparing, a slight delay of 26 minutes was natural.
Shiraishi Genzo rode the largest carriage, to be more precise, a sturdy carriage. The carriage alone had him, four ninjas with Elite Chunin-level chakra, and three senior-level samurai with robust physiques and sharp blades.
Genzo made sure to put his carriage in the middle of the entire traveling group. This way, even if his caravan were attacked, the enemy would need to breach the front and rear defenses before they could reach his carriage.
This gave Seimei's group and other guards enough time to regroup and protect Genzo.
This positioning was recommended by one of the ninjas guarding Genzo. Since the strategy sounded good, Squad 13, of course, had no issues.
Additionally, the carriage carrying Seimei, Reina, and Natsumi was moving just behind Genzo's own carriage.
With all this in order, the merchant caravan kept moving for the rest of the day without any trouble. At most, they had encountered a few D-rank and lower C-rank chakra beasts.
Seimei and his team didn't even have to take action.
The moment the chakra beasts approached, the samurai and ninjas hired by Genzo surrounded them and chopped them into bits.
Those brave, hungry chakra beasts could only howl in misery as their souls departed to the Pure Land, if the souls of the beasts even had a place in there, that was.
Natsumi, who had activated her Byakugan, of course, saw the chakra beasts being ganged up on without leaving the carriage.
Natsumi couldn't help but describe the chakra beasts' plight and say to Reina, "This is the first time I have seen those chakra beasts dying so miserably."
At that time, Seimei just happened to climb back into the carriage after making sure the client wasn't in any form of danger.
Hearing Natsumi's words, his expression became a little strange.
He suddenly remembered his first chakra beast hunt. During that hunt, his first kill was a pair of chakra beasts engaged in a delightful act of reproduction.
Seeing that chakra beast couple in love, he couldn't bear to separate them. So, Seimei sent their souls to the land of the dead together with a single Wind Cutter Technique.
Was that a miserable way to die? Probably not. After all, they had died in ecstasy while exchanging yin and yang…😇
Apart from those minor interruptions, the journey through the Land of Fire went rather smoothly.
By the time the sun was about to set and the daylight dimmed, they were less than a hundred miles away from the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water.
Since traveling at night with such a large group wasn't safe, they decided to find a good, open piece of land near the main road, set up their camp, and rest.
The sky was still cloudy. At night, the entire environment would become pitch-black, significantly decreasing the overall visibility.
Even for Chunin-level ninjas with relatively better eyesight than most people, seeing beyond a few meters in such a dark night would be extremely difficult.
Not everyone was like Seimei, Reina, and Natsumi, who had dojutsu to see clearly at night. In the open, deserted lands, even a Jonin squad would refrain from travelling at night, unless necessary, due to a significant reduction in visibility.
Additionally, many nocturnal chakra beasts, all of which had pretty good night vision, were quite active at night.
Traveling on the dark roads at night would mean being ambushed by these nocturnal chakra beasts.
So, the best solution was to pick a good place, set up traps to secure the perimeter, ignite a campfire, and spend the night resting while entrusting some people with nightwatch duties.
And that was exactly what Shiraishi Genzo was planning to do.
------------
"Quick. Set up the camps. Light the fire. And secure the perimeter. The sun is about to set, and soon it will be dark. We must set up everything before it gets completely dark."
"Move."
Genzo quickly organized his men and issued clear orders to prepare the camps as soon as possible.
Right now, they were in an area surrounded by rolling green hills. The main road flowed through the gaps of those hills like a curved snake.
The roadside and the surrounding hills were filled with green grass, common flowers, shrubs, sparsely populated tall ancient trees, and many other local flora.
Fortunately, Genzo's scouts found a relatively open base beneath one of the flatter hills. It even had a small stream nearby that seemed to branch off a larger river network.
With his years of travel experience and the suggestion of one of his trustworthy hired ninjas from an independent ninja clan, they found this place to be the most suitable to assemble their camps.
As Genzo watched his men organize everything, he turned his head toward the man on his right.
This man, in his late twenties, with black hair, black and blue ninja attire, and a katana on his back, was Fukada Ren, the most powerful ninja.
He was the leader of the group of ninjas from the independent ninja clan that was following Genzo on this journey to the Land of Frost.
His chakra capacity was just a bit shy of that of an average Jonin. However, his skills, nature transformation development, taijutsu, and combat prowess had already reached the full-fledged Jonin standard.
Genzo lowered his voice to a whisper and asked, "How's the container? Did you inspect it? Is it protected well enough?"
Hearing this, Fukada Ren answered without hesitation, "Don't worry, Lord Genzo. We inspect the container every three hours. Our last inspection a few minutes ago showed no problem either."
"We understand the importance of the mission. We won't fail you."
Genzo nodded, but he was still a bit worried.
He didn't beat around the bush and directly asked, "The Konoha team has a girl from the Hyuga clan. Are you absolutely sure she won't notice a thing?"
Fukada Ren nodded solemnly. His voice lowered even more.
"Yes. Not even the famed Byakugan can see through the container. Besides, that object is completely dormant. It doesn't react to anything or anyone's chakra. If the records are true, then the object will only react once it's planted in its rightful place."
"If not for the density of the chakra and other strange energy inside that thing being too conspicuous, we wouldn't have needed to hide it inside that container. We could have openly placed it in front of others, and they wouldn't notice a thing."
Listening to Fukada Ren's words, Genzo felt his heart settle a little.
He sighed and smiled ever so slightly. "With your assurance, Fukada-san, I feel relieved."
Fukada Ren smiled back. "Rest assured, Lord Genzo. With us here, nothing will go wrong."
Then, Fukada seemed to think of something and asked, "But Lord Genzo, was it really necessary to hire a ninja squad from Konoha. Without their presence, we wouldn't have to act with this much vigilance."
"Plus, they are just kids. How strong can these kids be, even if they are hailed from the greatest noble ninja clans of the Warring States Era?"
Genzo shook his head and clarified, "That's where you are wrong, Fukada-san."
"Regardless of our purpose, we are still transporting strategic-level military resources. Those ores, once refined, can produce weapons harder than steel. Not to mention, they have a chakra-containing effect, which greatly decreases the chakra dispersion phenomenon."
Genzo looked at Fukada Ren and continued, "You are an experienced ninja. You know how difficult it is to control chakra precisely. It takes decades of hard work. Even then, many samurai and ninjas fall short."
"They can't even learn, let alone master, the chakra flow technique. They spend their entire youth trying to attach and circulate chakra through their weapons to increase their lethality. Yet, when the chakra reaches the body of the blade or any weapon, it quickly disperses due to a lack of advanced chakra control."
"Such people, with extensive training, might perform well against human enemies; after all, we, humans, are fragile. But against high-tier chakra beasts, those weapons, without proper chakra imbuement, are too fragile as well."
"The ore I am transporting this time has a special chakra sealing property, which seals chakra within itself, not allowing it to escape. It acts like an adhesive that stops the chakra dispersion phenomenon."
"So, even if a ninja or samurai isn't proficient in the chakra flow technique, just normal chakra channeling will keep their chakra within the blade, making their weapons sharper, sturdier, and more lethal."
"For most people, a blade made of this ore is nothing short of divine, probably even more valuable and practical than the weapons made of chakra metal."
"This ore…"
"The Daimyo wants it. Konoha wants it. The independent ninja clans want it. And the clans of samurai want it."
"The moment I transport it, all eyes will be on us."
"It will be troublesome. Once these people start investigating, our main purpose will be exposed. And we can't let it happen."
Genzo looked into the distance. The sun was dipping down the horizon.
After a few seconds of pause, he finally spoke, "So, this ore…we will sell it all to Konoha. They can have it. Then all focus will be on Konoha. Then, Konoha can supply it to whoever they want. When that happens, who would have time to focus on a mere weak, powerless merchant like me?"
"Since we need Konoha's help to reduce suspicion, we must hire their ninjas. Let them witness the ore mine firsthand. Otherwise, they will surely investigate heavily, which has a significant risk."
Fukada Ren understood and asked, "So, we will still be investigated. But since we have hired Konoha ninjas, it won't be too intense. After all, they already know the mine location. Once we fulfill our objective, even if you sell the mine to Konoha or the Daimyo, you will still profit."
Genzo nodded. "Indeed. The ore vein is mine. Who I sell to wouldn't matter at that time. Of course, the Land of Frost's Daimyo might be displeased, but that's something our Daimyo and Konoha have to figure out."
"The mine will be theirs, and the manpower they would need to allocate will also be theirs."
"What does it have to do with me, a merchant and citizen of the Land of Fire?"
With that, Genzo chuckled, "Besides, I asked for elite ninjas. And they sent elite ninjas. Don't look at their ages, Fukada-san."
"The moment I saw those three kids, I sent my men to investigate them. Otherwise, why do you think we were delayed by a full 26 minutes?"
"Those three kids aren't simple. Even though they are incredibly young, they seem to have the combat power of seasoned veteran Jonins. Anyway, that's a good thing."
"We have more security. And if we face an extremely dangerous enemy on the way, they can deal with it."
"This, at least, will save the lives of our men."
Genzo chuckled again.
And hearing him, Fukada Ren chuckled, too.
"A good plan indeed, Lord Genzo."
With that, Genzo and Fukada Ren separated. Both busied themselves with their own tasks.
Time passed slowly as they finished setting up the camp, and before long, the sky turned dark.
----------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and get access to the 14 Advanced chapters!
patreon.com/Seigan
You can also help me by sharing the story around. Thank you for reading!