Trade

Konoha's gates looked quite imposing from a Real World perspective.

But to people accustomed to all kinds of world fragments and situations, they were nothing special.

From the moment they entered the village, they could see the Hokage Rock in the distance.

The statues of the four Hokage stood before them, broadly indicating the current state of affairs.

"Kushina isn't mentioned in the intelligence on Konoha's strong fighters. But Minato is still alive, so she's most likely still the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. Information about Jinchuriki is relatively confidential, so it's no surprise that the pioneers' intel doesn't mention her."

Tao Yu made a rough estimate of what time it was.

He had no idea whether Naruto and Sasuke had been born yet.

But Obito had been recruited, and Rin was still alive. Who knew how much the story had been altered...

"If Naruto's already been born, then he's the Crown Prince..."

Compared to the other major ninja villages, Konoha was far too strong. It could take them all on at once and beat them senseless.

That was precisely why Konoha had more autonomy.

"This is the village. You're our guests, so feel free to move about. Just don't trespass in any areas marked as sensitive..."

After escorting them to Konoha, the squad signed off on the handover at the gate and explained a few things they needed to know.

Konoha had commercial supply routes of its own, and ever since the village entered the Abyss, it had been stockpiling wartime supplies, making merchant caravans a frequent sight.

And since pioneers had visited before, a routine had already been established.

With patrol ninja, the Konoha Military Police, and Anbu on duty, security and surveillance were quite thorough. The village didn't seem particularly worried about them.

"Thank you for showing us the way.