Chapter 23: The Transit Station

Kurenai Yuhi did not have the three youngsters take turns standing guard, choosing instead to shoulder this important task himself.

During the day, the pace of travel, which far exceeded the usual speed of Genin, had truly exhausted the trio. Now that Kurenai was on watch, they didn't even hesitate; each found a sturdy tree branch and fell fast asleep. They were only this at ease because a Jounin like Kurenai was by their side. Under normal circumstances, they would have had to find a hidden spot to conceal themselves before daring to rest, and even then, they wouldn't have dared to sleep too soundly.

As for Kurenai, once he confirmed the three youngsters were truly asleep, he found a branch for himself and sat down quietly. As he settled in, he couldn't help but recall the specific instructions the Hokage had given him when he accepted the mission.

While the mission did involve getting Kawaki Aoba out of the village to lay low for a while, there was always the possibility of accidents along the way. Judging by the movements coming from Sunagakure, there was a high probability they would cause trouble for Konoha, and the possibility of them inciting another war could not be ruled out. This meant that, in addition to their assigned objective, the team had to constantly monitor for any signs of trouble within the Land of Wind. If they discovered any Suna ninja plotting against Konoha, they were to report the intelligence back to the village immediately.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had assigned such an important task, Kurenai did not feel much pressure. This was because this mission was merely secondary; the Hokage had not just issued it to their team alone. Almost every squad operating in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers had received similar supplementary orders. Furthermore, based on past experience, even if Sunagakure wanted to incite a war, it would take a long time to prepare. After all, how long had it been since the Second Shinobi World War? In that amount of time, aside from Konoha, the other four major hidden villages likely hadn't even managed to restore their full complement of ninja.

As for why he had described the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind as so perilous to the three youngsters earlier, Kurenai felt that as a ninja, maintaining a high level of vigilance toward the outside world was always the right thing to do. Moreover, it wasn't exactly a lie. In the ninja world, under normal circumstances, small countries were indeed much more dangerous than major ones.

Thus, under Kurenai's watchful eye, most of the night passed in silence, without a single ripple of trouble.

***

In the latter half of the night, around one o'clock in the morning, Kurenai woke the three of them up to continue their journey.

With a good night's rest, Kawaki Aoba and his companions were much more energetic. Under the cover of night, the four-man squad crossed the border between the two countries and entered the territory of the Land of Rivers. However, upon arriving, they did not recklessly head straight for the Land of Wind, but instead took a detour toward the border of the Land of Rain. Because they had been traveling at a rapid pace, they had plenty of time to spare, allowing them to disguise themselves as thoroughly as possible. Besides, this wasn't a time of actual war, so there was no need to rush as if their tails were on fire.

By the time the sky began to gray with dawn, the four-man squad arrived at the transit point for their journey.

Tuyuan City was a small town located within the Land of Rivers, yet very close to the border of the Land of Rain. Though the city practically embodied the words "dirty, messy, and poor," it was actually a place where "hidden dragons and crouching tigers" could be found. Wanderers, ronin, and even missing-nin from various villages could be seen there. Along the way, Kawaki Aoba and Asuma Sarutobi had seen more than one rogue ninja pass them by.

Yes, the four-man squad had split into two groups to move separately; this was necessary, as the four of them walking together as a standard squad would have been too eye-catching.

At this moment, Asuma and Kawaki were disguised. Compared to ninja, they looked more like orphans drifting through the ninja world. Asuma wore tattered clothes prepared in advance, carried a medicinal basket on his back, and used a stick to lead the blind Kawaki behind him. Anyone who saw this getup would know it was an older brother bringing his blind younger brother from the Land of Rain to the Land of Wind to sell herbs. Although the "older brother" looked a bit too mature, his height made it clear he was just a child. To ensure the performance was convincing, they had indeed entered the city from the direction of the Land of Rain, and they had encountered quite a few people along the way. In a crowd, their combination was completely unremarkable.

Keeping the address Kurenai had given him in mind, Asuma circled the city a few times before finally finding the location.

***

Circling the city after entering was also intentional. After all, Asuma was a fresh face here; if he had appeared too familiar with the place, it would have been suspicious. Still, they were being cautious; after all, if Tuyuan City lacked anything, it certainly didn't lack new faces.

"Fortune Street"—a simple and plain name—was Asuma's destination, their transit point for this trip. Although the name sounded old-fashioned, many of the people coming and going were genuine "wealthy" merchants. Of course, "wealthy" was relative to commoners; compared to even the lowest-ranking nobles, they were just people earning a hard living. Most were small-time merchants; those who did truly big business would only hire ninja from formal villages for protection and would never come to a place like this.

Exactly, that was one of the main reasons there were so many ninja in Tuyuan City. Here, small-time merchants would pool their resources to hire groups of rogue ninja or missing-nin to protect them as they traveled to trade in various towns within the Land of Wind or the Land of Fire. The two major nations turned a blind eye to this, as the major villages understood that these small-time merchants had limited capital and could not afford formal ninja, yet their help was needed for the trade between cities. Thus, these people managed to survive in the cracks.

"Hey! You're a merchant caravan headed for the Land of Wind, right? Take me along too!" Upon spotting a team about to depart, Asuma seized the moment and approached, shouting loudly before he was even close.

Asuma's shout stopped the caravan, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"You're going to the Land of Wind, right? Take me with you, and I can protect you along the way," Asuma repeated.

"What's this? A little brat? Kid, you want to come with us? Put up 1,000 ryo, and I'll let the two of you tag along." A middle-aged man in the caravan, dressed slightly better than the others, stepped forward to answer.