Naruto: Chronicles of a Fire Ninja-Chapter 426 - 421: travel

The journey was anything but eventful, just like previous similar rides. The bandits stayed clear of such an obvious display of wealth; the presence of ninja on the top of the carriages was enough of a deterrent.

Even when some groups with rogue ninja as their leaders tried to gauge the strength of the caravan to try their luck, the caravan didn’t even have to stop for a second as they were dispatched way before they could reach the range of the first carriage’s sight.

Just a single Jonin moving in front of the caravan was enough for an entire bandit group. That’s why Shikaku was insisting that 20 Jonin was an overkill even for a region like the Land of Mist.

Even during wars, such a force was enough to guarantee the safety of merchant caravans, as caravans even traveled during war, or one could say they traveled more during that time, as that is the best time to make money.

The missions during those times were always much more profitable for the villages as well. They could charge any amount they wanted within limit; maybe ten times the normal rate during peacetime was not unheard of. That’s why many villages, big and small, go to war often when the resources they had dwindle or they gather enough and want to expand. In a sense, those were the best times to make money for all but civilians who were just escorted by all of the powers around them.

’This is the fate of the people with no power or money in the world. Well, depressing thoughts aside, what should I do when I finally reach Kirigakure? With how things are, the group should be able to hold their own against any foe unless any S-rank makes a move, so technically I should be able to move around without any problem.

Though the reality is anything but normal, there is a very high chance that something will happen when I go away, in that case these people will simply lose their lives,’ Kaida thought.

Various possibilities were coming to his mind, one more absurd than the other. In one, he was looking at the probability of Raikage attacking Konoha ninja in response to the destruction.

In another, there was the snake-like bastard trying to get more experimental subjects. There was also a chance of top powers of Kirigakure getting involved in the mission somehow, even though the merchant had already taken permission from both factions for this visit.

One can’t be too sure about anything at all.

’Fine, looks like I will have to be around all of the time. Finding Kimimaro is not as important as leaving so many to die like that. The caravan is going to move around half of the Land of Mist anyway. If I can’t find anything about the boy in the area, then let’s just assume that Orochimaru had already got him before me,’ Kaida thought. Sitting in the carriage all day did give him more than enough time to go through every possibility he could think of before coming to a conclusion.

With most of the things planned, Kaida finally came out of the carriage he was staying in.

"Kaida? Do you need something?" Taizen asked, who was sitting at the top of the next carriage.

"Yeah, something I desperately need." Taizen raised his eyebrow, with an expression of curiosity emerging on his face.

"I need some work. Sitting in the carriage all day is so boring. Please take some rest and let me also do work for my pay," Kaida said.

"Hahaha, well if you want, take the front position. Fushiro is a little tired there," the leader said.

"Yeah, maybe his age is finally catching up to him," the ninja on the next carriage said with the most serious face he could have mustered.

"Who are you calling old, huh? I am still more energetic than you folks," Fushiro said coming back. Kaida could tell that he was the oldest among the group.

Even though he must not be much older than 40, in a world where ninja are at their peak in their 20s-30s, he could be considered old.

But seeing the robust physique he had maintained and the years of experience he had under his belt of both countless missions and wars, he may have been the most important member of the team.

While those two started friendly bickering, Kaida took his position at the front of the caravan. But much like the carriage, there was not much to do here as well. Till they reached the border of Fire Country and were about to enter the Land of Hot Water, the journey was as smooth as it was going to be.

Only in the Land of Hot Water, where they don’t have any ninja village at all, the number of bandits increased slightly. The number was not over the top here as well because the daimyo of this country gives missions to its neighboring countries to eliminate the bandits once the number increases more than they could bear.

For them, this was cheaper than maintaining their ninja village, where the training of each ninja would cost an astronomical amount only for them to die during missions, or border skirmishes, or any small war. Also, in any great ninja war, it was almost certain that they would lose too many ninja due to sharing borders with two major ninja villages while a third would use their ports to send their army.

So they simply disbanded their army and became a truly peace-loving tourist location. Even though they have to give protection money to their neighbors, it was still better than seeing their highly invested ninjas die without doing anything for the safety of the country at all.

So when Kaida and the group entered the Land of Hot Water, even though they could have taken care of the bandits on their path, they didn’t.

This would just be free work, while they can do the same thing some months after and get handsomely rewarded for it, or so the leader had said.

’I could understand his point, but those top brass of any country don’t give a f**k about what is happening to the general public. They will only make a move when the tax money will be affected or the tourists start to complain too much. I know we can’t do charity work, but at least handling those who are in our way should not be a problem,’ Kaida thought.

So since he was already at the front, he just created a shadow clone to handle the few nuisances in the way, due to which the journey to the port of the Land of Hot Water was as comfortable for the merchants as possible. Not having to stop at any place, they reached there by the end of the third day.

...

"Thank you, Taizen-san, and everyone else. We really reached the destination on time. Now I have booked this hotel for us, so please take some rest here. I have some work to do here, so I will have to excuse myself," the merchant said. Though he didn’t say it explicitly, his tone and subtle hints made it clear that he didn’t want to go alone.

"How can we send you alone, Ryozo-san? I and two others will accompany you as well," the leader said. Kaida could see everyone looking elsewhere to not match Taizen’s gaze, in fear of being selected. Listening to hours of negotiations after such a journey was on no one’s to-do list.

"Can I come with you guys?" Kaida asked, hearing some sighs in the background.

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