Morning of day 463. In the vicinity of Nakayama Family territory.
Abe Keitashi barely contained his anger, enduring the unpleasant jolting during the ride over the familiar off-road, eager to try again the most wonderful treat, whose name he had memorized the first time.
On a business trip in Konoha territory, he tried not to linger, but he couldn't help himself when he accidentally tasted a piece of some unknown black treat and learned that this delicacy was sold only by some filthy mercenaries.
He didn't want to deal with scum that should fall to its knees at the sight of a high-ranking noble and relative of the Daimyo, but the desire to obtain this treat and treat his picky lady of the heart—who repeatedly refused such a magnificent man, taking advantage of the impunity granted by her status as the daughter of an Elite Jonin—was stronger than a little displeasure from dealing with society's dregs.
Keitashi sank into his thoughts and only belatedly realized that the strong jolting had suddenly stopped, and there was no usual column of dust visible outside the window. Stunned, he stuck his head out the window, and Keitashi froze in shock, seeing an absolutely smooth road made of unseen stone.
"What is this road made of?" he asked the coachman, sliding open a small latch that allowed passengers to open the window for talking with the driver.
"I don't know, sir. I've never seen anything like it!" the coachman replied enthusiastically, literally enjoying the pleasant silence in his ears and the cessation of pain in his backside.
While Keitashi was talking to the coachman, the man sitting next to him on the passenger seat leisurely climbed out of the carriage, tore off a piece of asphalt the size of a cobblestone, and returned to his seat, handing his lord the test sample.
Keitashi turned the piece of unknown, as if glued-together stone in his hands, then tossed it out the window, deciding not to bother with questions he didn't understand.
After riding another half hour, the carriage finally stopped near some very strange houses. Sticking his head out the window, Keitashi looked in surprise at the three-story stone building and smirked at the builders' stupidity, for it was well known how unstable pure stone buildings could be.
There were several old men in the yards warming their old bones in the sun, as well as children inventing various entertainments and lively discussing the knowledge they had learned in school yesterday.
Just as Keitashi was about to order his bodyguard to bring one of the old men for questioning, the man suddenly jumped out of the carriage and took a stable stance, eyeing the approaching young man.
"Do you need something on Nakayama Family territory?" Thirteenth asked respectfully.
Seeing that he was facing merely a Chunin, Tosh relaxed a bit and silently waited for his lord to exit the carriage.
"You're one of the mercenaries selling chocolate?" Keitashi asked coldly, feeling nothing but disgust from talking to the rabble.
"Yes, our Family is engaged, among other things, in selling chocolate..." Thirteenth began, but Keitashi had no intention of listening and exclaimed gladly:
"Excellent! Bring everything you have; the Daimyo will be very pleased with your gift." Keitashi stated shamelessly. He was so used to weaving court intrigues that he wasn't even embarrassed to use such mechanisms, even if his true intentions were obvious to everyone.
"With all due respect to the Daimyo, our family will decide what gifts to send him. And now I would ask you to leave the territory." Thirteenth replied in a cold tone, just in case calling for reinforcements.
Keitashi merely raised an eyebrow, and in the next second, the strongest kick flew into Thirteenth's face, which he dodged only by a miracle. The next miracle didn't happen, and right after the first strike came another that crashed into an invisible barrier with a mighty thud.
"Hm?" Tosh grunted in surprise when he realized that the strike, which should have broken all the little Chunin's bones, was completely blocked by an invisible membrane.
But in the next instant, Tosh felt an overwhelming heaviness and nearly stumbled, feeling something like this for the first time. Gravity amplified tenfold couldn't break him but slowed him greatly, allowing even Thirteenth to easily avoid several subsequent strikes without issue.
Kenshin immediately sensed the presence of a Jonin on his territory but didn't rush to take any actions, merely passing instructions to his older sons to be on guard.
He continued training little Karin, developing her predatory agility through engaging games. Her task was to catch him and land a punch. He relaxedly limited his speed to the point where Karin had to push her limits to complete it.
However, the training was spontaneously interrupted, and Kenshin suddenly burst out the window, heading to the scene. Absolute, primal fury burned in his chest, and murderous intent was clearly readable in his eyes.
Feeling that the shield, powered by a massive node of formations, was handling the Jonin's attacks without issue, he calmed a bit but didn't slow down, wanting to tear the intruder into a thousand pieces.
All his sons with Jonin-level strength hurried to the scene, filled with the desire to protect their brother. And though no one but Fifteenth had fully reached Jonin level, the Patriarch's Aura combined with increased gravity helped all peak Chunin confidently fight against not the weakest Jonin.
The longer this "fight" dragged on, the more Tosh fell into rage, gaining bloodlust and wanting to wash away this shame by killing the cunning and slippery Chunin. But at one fine moment, Thirteenth suddenly stopped fleeing and attacked.
"Wh-what?!" Tosh thought in surprise, taking the unexpected attack on block.
His opponent's speed and power doubled in an instant, and the "little cowardly Chunin" suddenly proved only slightly weaker than him. However, his weakness was fully compensated by the advantage of the unbreakable barrier's impenetrable defense, so for a time, a stalemate reigned between them.
Keitashi couldn't keep up with what was happening at all and decided to stay away from the battle, observing only the extremely fast exchange of blows between the shinobi. Seeing that one of the strongest people he knew couldn't cope with the enemy, he was about to stop the fight and spare this shinobi, absolutely sure his words would have effect, but froze in surprise, seeing a man flying at tremendous speed.
"Very bold, trying to kill my child on my territory!" Kenshin roared thunderously and landed not far from the battle site.