Kirigakure

On the other side of the Land of Artisans.

A blue-haired youth with a spiky, flamboyant hairstyle stepped out of the cabin and onto the soil of the Land of Artisans. He wore a dark ninja flak jacket over black-and-white clothing, with two symmetrical blades strapped to his back that joined together into one enormous, flat sword.

The Kirigakure forehead protector around his neck and the enormous flat sword on his back made his identity obvious. He was Ran Shotaro, one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen and the wielder of the twin blades, Hiramekarei.

Ran Shotaro looked toward the Capital of the Land of Artisans, recalling the mission issued by the Third Mizukage before they had left Kirigakure: seize the ninja tools purchased by Sunagakure.

"Sir, are we heading to the Capital of the Land of Artisans now?" one of Ran Shotaro's subordinates asked cautiously from behind him.

Though they were both Kirigakure ninja, Kirigakure's elite-oriented policies meant that ordinary Chunin like them had to tread carefully around powerful figures like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, who ranked only below the Mizukage in Kirigakure.

They feared that one wrong move might offend them and get them killed on the spot. No one would condemn the Seven Ninja Swordsmen for their deaths; they would simply die for nothing.

As Ran Shotaro considered how to complete the Third Mizukage's mission, he thought of the ninja principle of avoiding Nobles during combat.

He ultimately decided, "We're not going to the Capital. We'll wait until Sunagakure has finished paying for the purchase, then intercept them after they leave the Capital of the Land of Artisans."

"Yes."

At that moment, a seagull flew in from the direction of the Capital and circled around Ran Shotaro. When he extended his hand, it landed steadily on it, fluttering its wings.

Seeing the letter tied to the seagull, he carefully removed it. As though it possessed intelligence, the bird seemed to know its task was complete and promptly flapped into the sky.

Ran Shotaro immediately opened the letter and read it.

A moment later.

"Looks like we're in luck. Sunagakure's people haven't arrived yet." Ran Shotaro smiled.

According to the secret report delivered by the seagull, Sunagakure had yet to come for the transaction, so Kirigakure still had plenty of time.

"That's great. This gives us enough time to set up an ambush in advance." The deeply furrowed brows of a burly, fair-skinned Kirigakure ninja beside him relaxed as he spoke happily.

Clearly, this Elite Jonin of the Kaguya Clan had not had any good solution to the Mizukage's mission either. Killing people and stealing their goods had never been easy. If they could not wipe out the Sunagakure ninja immediately, then upon realizing the losses were severe, those ninja would, out of professional discipline, directly destroy the large quantity of ninja tools they had purchased in the Land of Artisans.

If that happened, the mission would naturally mean failure.

It was precisely because the mission was difficult that they had sent an Elite Jonin of the Kaguya Clan like him alongside Ran Shotaro, wielder of the twin blades Hiramekarei among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Even if the enemy had multiple Jonin, they could easily deal with them.

However, the two of them still had no way to kill multiple Sunagakure ninja in an instant. If they failed to kill several Sunagakure ninja immediately and gave them time to react, allowing Sunagakure's ninja the chance to realize the situation was unfavorable and destroy the Storage Scrolls, then the mission would still fail even if they slaughtered every Sunagakure ninja.

An ambush and surprise attack would therefore be one of the best options.

Ran Shotaro nodded, fully agreeing with his teammate's words. He had not expected even a madman from the Kaguya Clan to have clever moments, and he could not help giving Kaguya Daiki, the Kaguya Clan ninja from his own village beside him, another look.

"Let's go. To the west of the Land of Artisans."

Afterward, their group of ten set up an ambush and concealed themselves in the western part of the Land of Artisans, along Sunagakure's route, waiting for the moment Sunagakure finished collecting the ninja tools and withdrew.

Capital of the Land of Artisans, morning.

Hyuga Kazuya got up early with Kakashi, who was still reluctant to leave the warmth of his bed. After days of rough travel from Konoha to the Land of Artisans, sleeping in a soft inn bed all at once was truly a comfort Kakashi could not resist.

After using the Transformation Jutsu again, Kazuya went out with Kakashi for a local seafood breakfast. Thoroughly awakened by the delicious food, they happily returned to the inn.

Since Minato Namikaze had gone to scout the factory the previous night, he had not yet woken up when the two left for breakfast. Naturally, Kazuya had not disturbed him.

Upon returning to the inn, Kazuya used the Byakugan and saw that Minato Namikaze was already awake. He immediately headed to Minato Namikaze's room with Kakashi.

Handing Minato Namikaze the breakfast they had packed for him, Kazuya asked, "Teacher Minato, how did things go yesterday?"

"Thank you, Kazuya."

Taking the breakfast Kazuya had brought, Minato Namikaze ate as he replied, "I've confirmed the location. I also placed a Flying Thunder God Kunai among those ninja tools. As long as they move it or store the ninja tools in a Storage Scroll, I'll immediately sense the change in the kunai's location."

Hearing that he could sense it even inside a Storage Scroll, Kakashi asked curiously, "Teacher Minato, you can sense it even inside a Storage Scroll?"

Minato Namikaze was clearly taken aback. Both amused and exasperated, he said, "Of course I can't sense it inside a Storage Scroll. But I can determine where the kunai disappeared last and when it was stored in the Storage Scroll. Then we can immediately head to that location, can't we?"

Kakashi scratched his head. He had clearly gotten it wrong just now, but he continued.

"Teacher Minato, does that mean all we need to do now is wait?"

Shaking his head, Minato Namikaze finished the last shrimp bun and looked at Hyuga Kazuya.

"Of course not. The Flying Thunder God Kunai can only serve as a backup. We can't put all our hopes for the mission on that. The two of you, especially Hyuga Kazuya, should still get out and look around more these next few days."

Kazuya immediately nodded. That had been his plan from the start. He understood that one should not put all one's eggs in one basket.

Besides, he wanted to see more of the Capital of the Land of Artisans, compare it to Konoha, and observe the differences in people's lives, culture, and attitudes toward ninja villages.

He also wanted to see how a country like the Land of Artisans, whose economic pillar was craftsmanship and which centered around artisans, differed from a more diversified nation.

Kazuya looked forward to it greatly. Ever since he had discovered that the center of the Capital was not the Daimyo's palace, but one large factory after another, his curiosity had been piqued.

Why was that?

Did the Daimyo have no objections? Or was the Daimyo of the Land of Artisans a good Daimyo?

Or did he simply not dare object?

It was all intriguing.

Artisans had always been skilled workers in every era. If chakra did not exist, a nation like the Land of Artisans, centered around artisans, might have become the technological beacon of the Shinobi World.

Perhaps chakra was too distant from ordinary people. Perhaps the conservative forces in the Land of Artisans outweighed the innovative ones.

Yet in a nation like the Land of Artisans, which valued technology so highly, he had not seen anything related to chakra on the streets. That already clearly demonstrated the Land of Artisans' backwardness in chakra technology.

Even if it could still develop through certain technologies for now, without the cheat-like advantage of chakra, its future rate of development would remain far behind that of the Shinobi World.