Chapter 26
Set-Up
Land of Earth
Sukima Village
Naruto got up very early the next day and hit a map shop and managed to get away with an extremely accurate map of all the major roads and villages within the country for very cheap as well, it seemed that this city had an abundance of resources due to being a huge merchant town.
It was very different from any other village he had been in, even the port city in the Land of Lightning seemed quiet compared to this village, he did find our the name was simply Sukima Village which made sense since it was literally located in a canyon.
Right now he was setting up his small medicine box at the side of another stall, he was at the end of the main street right by the village main square which had a red clay fountain spraying out water, it was nice to look at especially in the early morning when there were only merchants setting up for the day.
"New here kid?" The merchant in the stall next to him asked, he was an older man with white hair and a bent back so he looked shorter than he was.
"Yes," Naruto answered as he opened the box and turned it around to face the street away from him.
"Ah! A medicine peddler eh. That's a good trade for a kid." He continued the conversation.
"It's mainly an excuse so I can look for my dad who's a merchant." Naruto lied easily.
"That's a common start to many merchants, it seems they like to spread their seed even more than Ninja do." He said with a small chuckle.
"Tell me about it." Naruto said back.
"Let me give you some advice kid, keep your head down around Ninja, and give them a discount on whatever they buy that way you'll keep them off your back and if you come across another merchant who wants to buy you out just run so he can't send thugs or Ninja after you." He advised Naruto who mentally noted it.
"Is there many Ninja around here?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Some times, most of them like to stay in the north and fight each other for the Daimyo's favour. They only come down here to check the border or buy goods." He answered.
"I see." Naruto went silent after that answer, so he was probably safe in this part of the country but the further north he could go the more dangerous it got.
Soon more people began to appear on the streets as they went about their daily business, Naruto smiled at those who went past and made sure to remember the information about the medicine that Kakashi beat into his head.
'If you're going to disguise yourself as a medicine peddler then you need to learn about the medicine you're selling.' Kakashi had told him before dropping a huge tome in front of him.
That slave driver then had Naruto read the entire thing back to front at night after his training with his Dad and Jiraiya, then he would get quizzed on what each plant and herb did and if they could be mixed together beneficially things like that.
So Naruto now had genuine knowledge of herbs and medicine that he would probably never use except in this situation where he was undercover.
The day actually passed quickly for Naruto as he had a lot of people coming up and buying the rare Land of Lightning herbs so he made a bit of money but more importantly, he found out about there was apparently trouble brewing in the north and one of the Ninja Clan involved in said trouble had a Kekkei Genkai, he didn't find out what Kekkei Genkai but there was the rumour and that was enough for him.
Later
Naruto after selling out all of his goods, packed up shop then went on to refill with the small number of herbs present in the Land of Earth. Then his stomach grumbled so he looked around for a ramen stand and easily found one in what was called the 'restaurant quarter' of the village.
This ramen stand was huge, it was like a giant square with the chefs in the middle and the patrons on the outside, Naruto was sat on the bottom bar which was empty except for 2 old men who were sitting together the other bars, however, were mostly full of people eating ranging from young children to elder couples.
"Can I get a Miso Ramen?" He asked one of the Chefs.
"One Miso Ramen coming right up!" He replied cheerfully and set to work on Naruto's meal.
"Did you hear about the Ninja in the north?" The old man closest to Naruto asked his friend.
"Just there was fighting going on, some of the merchants were complaining." He replied.
"It's worse than that apparently some Ninja Clan was forced out of the Land of Grass and they came here to get a new home." He gossiped.
"The Land of Grass? Why would some soft grass dwellers come here to the land of rock and stone." The other was offended at this apparently.
"Well, they say this Clan uses a strange NInjutsu something revolving around music and illusions." He continued talking and Naruto was fully paying attention to this conversation now.
"Music? How the hell can someone weaponize music?" The other was back to confusion now.
"I dunno Ninja are a weird bunch of people they'll try and use anything to kill each other won't they." He replied with a dismissive wave.
"That's true." His friend nodded and the conversation ended there.
"Here you go one Miso Ramen!" The chef placed a steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of Naruto and his stomach instantly gurgled in response.
"Thank you! Itadakimasu!" Naruto snapped his chopsticks and dug in enthusiastically.
The two old men gossiped a bit more next to him but it was about things going on in town rather than this mysterious music using Clan which was the only thing Naruto was interested in apart from his Ramen obviously.
Naruto finished his ramen and let out a deep sigh of pure happiness.
"Thank you for that." He said to the chef who cooked it.
"You're welcome, It's always nice to see someone who enjoys our ramen." He said to Naruto cheerfully.
Naruto sat there a little while longer while enjoying some tea, he was mulling over his next move he could just leave tomorrow but even with that map and information, he heard today Naruto was not confident enough in having a full picture.
'I'll stick to my plan and spend one more day around here before making a move.' Naruto thought as he finished his tea, he left a generous tip for the chef before leaving back to his Inn.
On the way back he found a small stall which was for children's games and Naruto bought an armful of water balloons in order to practice the Rasengan, he had not forgotten about the Ninjutsu he was a step away from learning and decided in his idle time away from other people he could practice it.
This was how Naruto spent the rest of his day it was only early afternoon when he went back to his room and applied the privacy Seals that his Father had taught him, it was just two Seals that reduced noise and stopped eavesdroppers along with an alert for if anyone crossed the boundary set.
Naruto spent the rest of his day bursting water balloons in an attempt to complete the final step of the Rasengan, each time it was taking longer for the balloon to burst which meant to him that he was making progress as he contained more and more swirling Chakra within the balloon.
The Next Day
Naruto woke up early again and this time he had to actually put effort into his cover identity as a medicine peddler he spent his morning mixing herbs with a mortar and pestle and creating salves and medicines with them in order to restock everything he lost the previous day.
After getting that chore out of the way, he set about the same routine and went out onto the main road of the village and set up beside a stall again, it was a different one from yesterday since he felt that he needed to move around the hear more gossip and rumours and if he was lucky actual information.
Today he made conversation with an old woman who made pottery, she had apparently been making it for over 50 years and inherited the techniques from her father she was a very nice woman and Naruto spent some time with her before people came.
He had fewer customers than yesterday though there was still a good amount and he made money even though he didn't really need it, he had not even used half of the funds he stole from the Kaguya Clan so he was well off.
It was a boring day right up until Naruto caught a conversation from two people passing by him a man and a woman who were both well dressed and obviously more well off than most people in this village.
"The fighting in the north is getting worse, those foreigners are putting up a fight against the Kazan Clan." The women said.
"Really! I would have put money on the Kazan crushing them to the last." The man was shocked by the news it seemed.
"They use a strange type of Ninjutsu apparently the Kazan are at a loss at how to deal with them except by collapsing mountains on them and of course using that monstrous lava Ninjutsu as well." The woman reported as she covered her mouth with one hand.
"I see, does that mean it's time for us to move on?" He asked her looking around nervously.
"Yes even if the Kazan crush the foreigners tomorrow, it is still going to cause problems in the south. There is more profit to be made elsewhere now." She said with a dismissive wave.
"If that's what you think is best Yuzu-San." He nodded at her in acceptance.
"There's always profit to be found but these Ninja are a bother constantly fighting and disrupting trade." The woman-Yuzu sniffed in disgust and both of them walked away from Naruto.
'Kazan Clan huh, not to mention it seems like things are getting chaotic up north, probably the best time for someone to go missing.' Naruto thought as he began to pack up early, he had bought a map for the surrounding areas and the like but now he was looking for a different kind of map, the kind of map which shows the territory of the Ninja Clans which were almost constantly changing but all Clans had a core region of power and that was what Naruto was looking for.
'It was a good idea to do this today, it looks like patience won out for once.' Naruto thought to himself proudly because he had decided to follow Hiruko and Kakashi's advice of holding back and not blindly rushing in.
Naruto walked through the streets and got some Dango and tea while keeping an ear out on any more gossip or information from the passing people, he did find out bits and pieces as it turned out the Kazan Clan had blocked one of the main roads out of the north and that was why the news was so slow to travel out, but now Naruto had a clearer picture of just what was going on up there.
'The Kazan are one of the Clans that Hiruko noted down along with the Tsuchi and the Jishaku Clan as well. All of them have strong Kekkei Genkai which means their difficult to defeat not to mention Hiruko mentioned that they're very squad oriented and don't go on missions alone.' Naruto planned with his new knowledge and what was written down in Hiruko's Scroll.
"I'll get supplies now." Naruto said to himself finished his Dango and tea then began to do spend the rest of the day doing that.
He found a supply shop easily enough, he had been looking to get a tent and camping supplies which he bought and then also got more rations, he probably had enough ration food like dried salted meats and hardtack he probably had enough to last him a month or 2 at the most.
He had enough kunai and shuriken to last him years even if he was fighting every day, the Bofu Clan were more than generous with their stockpile of weapons along with their Ninjutsu.
Naruto was careful not to draw attention as during his shopping spree he spotted a Ninja jumping across the rooftops, this was a rookie error if he wanted to go unnoticed there was a reason why the rooftops were often called the 'Ninja Highway' as only Ninja would jump from roof to roof.
He went and bought some blank scrolls along with plain sheets of paper, he would be turning these into various Fuinjutsu scrolls and the paper sheets would become Explosive Tags if there was one thing that the Uzumaki Clan appreciated it was the humble Explosive Tag one could never have too many of them.
Naruto shook his head and after he finished getting what he needed, he retreated back to his Inn room for the final preparations he needed to do.
Naruto arrived at his room just after midday and before the evening truly set it, he laid everything he need out on the floor and then once that was done he sorted them by how much he thought he would need them in the future.
After that step was completed he went about packing things up in a specific order and then, after all, that was done he sealed what he wasn't using away in scrolls then got to work on creating more Explosive Tags, he had a feeling he would need them fighting against primarily Doton users.
After that was done the sun was gone and the moon was rising in the sky, Naruto went and had a bath and then for the first time since coming to the Inn actually had some of the food which wasn't bad but Naruto would have preferred Ramen.
Naruto spent the rest of his evening getting everything else ready along with trying the Rasengan training again, he only had a few balloons left but he was determined to master this Jutsu as soon as he could.
After everything, Naruto was lying down in his futon looking at the wooden ceiling while a dying candlelit his room.
'Right! I'm as prepared as I'm ever going to be so tomorrow at dawn I'll move out to the north and see for myself what's going on up there and if there are any Kekkei Genkai wielding Ninja on their own.' Naruto thought with determination shining through his blue eyes.
The Next Day
Naruto woke up just before dawn just like he intended, he had already packed everything up and was ready to move out within 2 minutes of waking up, he left his room and left a couple of hundred Ryo on the table for the cleaners.
He went out into the cold streets and there was a biting wind blowing through the stone streets that made him shiver and bring the just a little too large haori around his body tighter to stop any warmth escaping from his body.
There was very little activity this early in the morning and Naruto noted that the only people awake were drunks who were wandering the streets after being kicked out of the bars, the guards of the village and the merchants who had to make deliveries.
The sun was just barely peeking out over the horizon as Naruto got through the north gate, he kept on track on this 'Great Northern Road' as the map he bought said it was named.
He kept a steady pace going north and when the road was truly empty he sealed the medicine box away and began a full Ninja sprint down the road while keeping an eye out for anyone.
The huge cliffs on either side began to get smaller the further north Naruto went and he also noticed that there was a noticeable rise in the road as if it was gradually getting higher and higher.
It indeed did and it was not that the cliffs were getting smaller but rather that the road was going higher and higher. Naruto ended up on a plateau of stone and rocks that was very similar to the one he came into the country on.
He noticed that the ground was not flat and smooth like the one he walked through was instead this one was craggy and uneven and seemed to be dangerous to traverse as sharp jagged rocks were pointing everywhere, the only safe spot appeared to be the road which cut through it like a blade, the road was paved and to a civilian was the only way through the area.
Naruto decided to ditch the road and instead traversed the uneven dangerous terrain by jumping from rock to rock and sticking to the ones he landed on with Chakra.
"This is more what I was expecting from the Land of Earth." Naruto commented as he took in the sight around him.
He continued through the area occasionally taking a stop to check his map and gauge just how much of his journey he was cutting out in order to reach the north faster, he knew that the Tsuchi Clan ruled in the far north while the Kazan ruled more centrally and the Jishaku were more reclusive and supposedly resided in the iron-rich mountains in the eastern part of the country, while the western half was split between numerous small Clans and the South was essentially the Daimyo's private territory since it had all the roads and trade routes and as such made the most tax money.
Naruto continued on his journey keeping always keeping one eye on his surroundings, it wouldn't be good to get ambushed on uneven terrain like this. He also had to keep on a lookout for canyons and crevices in the ground, some of them reminded him of the time he had to jump over one with Jiraiya in the Land of Hot Water.
You could just fall down one of them and disappear forever and no one would ever know, which was a thought that did not sit well with the young blonde boy.
"I should be coming up to this 'Crossroads Village' soon.' Naruto went over the mental map he constructed in his head.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Then an explosion rocked the ground and almost caused him to slip.
"What the Hell was that!" Naruto shouted as he stopped himself from falling.
"Argh! That's not good." Naruto complained as he watched the flames rise up.
"Why does this always happen." Naruto jumped up and made his way to the source.
'It looks like no matter where I go, there is always death and fighting in the world.' Naruto's thoughts turned to the one constant he had encountered since leaving the place where he was born which had always been relatively peaceful.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Another explosion rocked the area but with far less magnitude than the first. Naruto kept his balance this time and he was closer to the specks of lava flying through the air along with the smoke.
"Looks like the Kazan Clan." He said and kept going.
As always Naruto would find himself in-between inter-clan conflict and as always he would involve himself far more than he should have, especially this time.
AN:
Here is Chapter 26, hope you all enjoyed reading and look forward to more, there probably won't be any updates over the weekend as normal but I'll probably have chapter 27 finished sometime Monday.