Land of Artisans

In a dense forest several dozen li from the bandit stronghold.

Inside a huge hollow at the roots of a large tree.

Crackle, crackle.

Hyuga Kazuya watched the flickering flames before him, feeling the warmth of the fire on his face and listening to the soft crackling of wood burning in the flames.

His thoughts had long since drifted somewhere far away.

There had been fifty-seven people in the bandit stronghold. He had killed twelve, Kakashi had probably killed around twenty, and Teacher Minato had eliminated every one of the rest who fled the stronghold in panic.

Hyuga Kazuya did not know what he was supposed to feel right now, nor did he know what happened after one killed someone.

Would he gain a new understanding of the species known as "humans"?

Or something else?

When he had been killing them, Hyuga Kazuya's mind had gone completely blank.

He only vaguely remembered people who had been terrified, begging for mercy, furious, or hurling insults, dying one after another before him as he effortlessly crushed their hearts and shattered their brains.

He looked down at his hands. They were pale as jade, with long, slender fingers.

Yet Hyuga Kazuya knew that these very hands had easily killed twelve people just moments ago.

Even the bandits whose chakra reserves were merely equivalent to a Chunin had been easily killed beneath his profound Gentle Fist.

Although those wandering ninjas possessed chakra reserves comparable to Chunin, they were far weaker than Chunin from the major ninja villages.

The occasional ninjutsu they cast was easily seen through by the Byakugan, which perceived the flow of chakra in advance and allowed him to dodge with ease.

So, overall, the bandits had not posed much of a challenge.

Ever since arriving in the world of Naruto, he had mentally prepared himself for killing. But when it had suddenly happened to him for real...

Hyuga Kazuya still felt unsettled. Yet as he sensed the wondrous energy of chakra circulating through his body, he gradually calmed down and overcame some of the discomfort brought on by killing.

Looking at Kakashi, who was already sound asleep beside the fire, Hyuga Kazuya could not help shaking his head.

In some respects, this "senior" of his was truly no match for Kakashi.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Why was a seven-year-old child like Kakashi so calm?

Perhaps, for a native of the Shinobi World like Kakashi, killing was one of the things they had been taught since childhood.

But for someone like him, raised beneath the red flag, casually taking another person's life was unimaginable.

Thinking about the difference between himself and Kakashi, Hyuga Kazuya could only conclude, "This is a chaotic age. Perhaps it is just as people in my previous life said: better to be a dog in peaceful times than a person in troubled times!"

Human lives were worth less than grass.

The ancients had truly not deceived him.

No longer paying attention to those chaotic thoughts, Hyuga Kazuya returned to his sleeping bag.

He had to switch shifts with Teacher Minato in the latter half of the night and take turns standing guard. Even though he still felt uncomfortable and strangely exhilarated from his first kills, reason dictated that he sleep now.

The night passed without incident.

At dawn the next morning, after packing their things and eating some dry rations, the three set off once more.

A day later, they arrived at a town in the far southeast of the Land of Fire and bought tickets for a ship bound for the Land of Artisans.

It had to be said that the Shinobi World's system was truly bizarre.

For a military organization like Konoha, mission teams sent to countries on the mainland could simply travel there on foot. But if the mission target was an island nation, they actually had to buy tickets for civilian ships.

All he could say was that Konoha had its own unique national conditions.

Fortunately, the technology of the Naruto world was a hodgepodge. Some places had everything from computers and televisions to refrigerators, while others remained completely stuck in the ancient Middle Ages.

Therefore, in regions away from the center of the Shinobi World, ninjas—spies with extraordinary abilities—only needed to use a simple Transformation Jutsu to buy a ship ticket. There was no proper household registration system, and no one checked their identities.

They only needed to use a little genjutsu and pay the money.

The three finally boarded the ship in disguise and, after sailing across the sea for three days, arrived in the Land of Artisans.

Compared to the hurried travel of the previous days, these three days were a rare chance to rest. Since they were posing as tourists visiting the Land of Artisans, they rented a room with three beds.

Over those three days, aside from their necessary daily training and trips out to look at the sea,

the three stayed together, chatting about everything under the sun—about ideals and the future.

Of course, there were also the board games Hyuga Kazuya enthusiastically contributed from his previous life, such as Gomoku and Tic-Tac-Toe, along with other casual puzzle games.

As a result, the bond between the three grew even deeper over those days.

Whooo!

The ship's horn alerted the passengers that they had arrived at their destination.

After reaching the territory of the Land of Artisans, the three did not linger in Port City and immediately hurried toward the Capital of the Land of Artisans.

Though they had merely passed through Port City, one could see the whole from a single part. Electrical wires everywhere, streetlights, and dazzling advertisements glowing along the streets all demonstrated how different the Land of Artisans was from the mainland nations.

According to the village's intelligence, although the Land of Artisans had no ninja village, it was a neutral country that possessed extensive ninja tool manufacturing techniques. Its products were of excellent quality, reasonably priced, and sold to anyone without discrimination, allowing the Land of Artisans to flourish internationally.

Hyuga Kazuya did not understand where the Land of Artisans' ninja village had gone. As far as he remembered from the anime, the Land of Artisans was supposed to have a ninja village.

But if there was none, there was none. When he asked Minato Namikaze where the Land of Artisans' ninja village was,

Minato Namikaze told him that Takumi Village had never existed. Originally, the Land of Artisans itself had not existed either. Before ninja villages emerged, the major ninja clans of the Shinobi World had constantly fought one another—today you attacked me, tomorrow I attacked you—and the entire Shinobi World had been in chaos.

Both commoners and Nobles had suffered beyond endurance.

A Noble who could no longer survive in the Land of Fire brought his retainers to the land that was now the Land of Artisans, where he settled and founded a country.

Later, after discovering the Land of Artisans' abundant coal and iron resources, that Noble declared permanent neutrality and vowed never to prohibit coal and iron trade with any country.

Because of its coal and iron resources and peaceful environment, more and more craftsmen came here. Later, in order to establish a precise position for itself internationally, the country was renamed the Land of Artisans.

Upon arriving at the Capital of the Land of Artisans, Hyuga Kazuya saw prosperity entirely unlike Konoha's. There were high-rise buildings everywhere, ninja tool stores lining the streets, as well as Izakayas, inns, seafood restaurants, and Land of Artisans craft shops.

The architecture was filled with a streamlined, modern urban style, completely different from Konoha's traditional buildings.

It was so prosperous, so lively.

Had he not known this was merely one corner of the Shinobi World, Hyuga Kazuya might have mistaken it for an ordinary town from his previous life.

After arriving in the Capital of the Land of Artisans, the three did not wander around under Minato Namikaze's lead.

Instead, as soon as they entered the Capital, Minato Namikaze brought them to an Izakaya in a secluded area.

Since it was still early, there were not many people inside the Izakaya.

As all three had used Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves as adults, their arrival at the Izakaya together did not draw attention.

Hyuga Kazuya had no idea what method Minato Namikaze used to exchange the code phrase.

The three were then led into the rear courtyard by the Izakaya's Boss.

The Izakaya's Boss was a beautiful woman who still retained her charm. Judging from her appearance, she was around thirty years old.

Once they reached the rear courtyard, the female Boss shed the playful manner she had displayed while joking with customers in the shop.

After seeing Minato Namikaze reveal his true appearance, she immediately bowed to him. When she saw Hyuga Kazuya and Kakashi, however, the female Boss could not help frowning. Hyuga Kazuya was fine; after all, he was one meter seventy tall and, though he looked young, could still be considered standard combat strength in the Shinobi World.

But Kakashi was different. At seven years old and only one meter thirty tall, he was indeed a child. While children as young as four or five could go to war in the Shinobi World, it was undeniable that four- or five-year-olds were cannon fodder.

Still, the female Boss knew this was not something she should worry about.

Upon seeing that Minato Namikaze had come, the female Boss already regarded the mission as all but certain. Then, in a gentle voice, she said,

"My lord, according to secret reports from our spies, we have confirmed that Sunagakure purchased a large quantity of ninja tools. However, we cannot determine exactly when the transaction will take place. Through information obtained by bribing the ninja tool factory workers, we learned that the large order of ninja tools has already been completed. Sunagakure will likely conduct the transaction soon."

Hearing the female Boss's words, Minato Namikaze frowned and asked, "Is the information reliable?"

"It is reliable. We have confirmed it repeatedly and sent spies to the Ninja Tool Factory. They did indeed see a large quantity of ninja tools. Since we cannot determine how many Sand ninjas will come for the transaction, we could only report it to the village and request support," the female Boss said firmly. Then, after thinking for a moment, she respectfully added.

"After all, the Land of Artisans is only a small neutral country and is not situated at the borders of the major ninja villages, so there are not many Anbu personnel here. I simply did not expect that you yourself would come, my lord."

Minato Namikaze nodded. He believed more than half of what the female Boss said, because it was indeed true.

However, Minato Namikaze would not let down his guard. For people like the female Boss, who had spent a long time outside the village carrying out espionage missions, necessary information verification and personnel screening were indispensable.

After all, there were too many methods in the Shinobi World for controlling people. Trusting unfamiliar ninjas from the same village too casually after leaving the village, only to fall into a trap and die, had never been anything unusual in the Shinobi World.

After the female Boss informed them of the Ninja Tool Factory's location and gave them a map of its terrain, the three used Transformation Jutsu again and left.