Hitching a Ride

Shimura Clan, early morning.

"Young Master, where exactly are we going?" asked Shinozaki Ayumi, who had spent quite a while packing their belongings.

Xian Yu tucked the Eternal Spirit Blade he was holding into the ninja tool pouch at his waist and gave a mischievous smile. "How about we elope, my dear Ayumi?"

Shinozaki Ayumi's cheeks flushed slightly as she complained, "Young Master, stop teasing me. Where are we really going?"

"Hmm... this is a journey for experience. We'll head to the royal capital first. The caravan is departing soon, so we should hurry and meet up with them." Xian Yu touched the unassuming Eternal Spirit Blade at his waist; as his fingertips brushed the blade, a faint emerald luster flickered.

Ever since he had eaten ramen with Uzumaki Mito that day, the strongest person in Konoha now frequently sent Tsunade to invite Xian Yu to visit the Senju compound.

The building complex where the Shimura Clan resided was originally adjacent to the edge of the Senju Clan's territory. The two families were very close, making visits quite convenient.

Nowadays, Xian Yu didn't even need to announce himself when entering or leaving the Senju compound; he had long since become familiar with the Senju clansmen. When Uzumaki Mito was in a good mood, she would occasionally even guide Xian Yu in his ninjutsu training.

While practicing chakra recently, Xian Yu felt that his chakra had faintly touched the lower threshold of a Chunin.

This made him overjoyed! He was about to break through!

However, as the days passed, this excitement slowly cooled... his strength had stagnated!

Because the Spirit Rice had finally run out!

Right now, there was only one Bronze Treasure Chest in the village that he could see but couldn't reach, and he had already self-studied all the theoretical knowledge taught at the ninja academy.

Although he could apply for early graduation with his current strength, what would happen even if he did? Become a Genin and spend his time on D-rank and C-rank tasks like catching cats and chasing dogs?

He knew his own situation best. Once the Spirit Rice was cut off, if he continued his training step-by-step with his current talent, by the time he reached the level of a Chunin, Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, and the others would likely already be Jonin.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

After experiencing the feeling of his strength skyrocketing, having his training speed suddenly stagnate was a very, very painful thing!

Not only that, once he became an officially registered ninja, he would be subject to the village's regulations. He would have to report before leaving the village for any business, and failing to return within a certain period would result in being branded a missing-nin!

In the original story, Tsunade left the village for many years because she developed hemophobia, which was understandable, not to mention her status, strength, and position.

In the original story, Jiraiya left the village for many years to pursue his close friend Orochimaru, and he had been assigned a mission by the Third Hokage to collect intelligence. He had always maintained contact with the village.

Back to the point.

There were treasure chests outside the village—or rather, all the treasure chests were outside the village! This destined that if Xian Yu wanted to become strong quickly, he had to head out.

Thus, this spur-of-the-moment journey was born.

A cruel war had just passed, and children in the ninja world rarely had the luxury of thinking like flowers in a greenhouse.

When Xian Yu proposed that he wanted to leave the village for two months to travel, Danzo not only agreed with his idea but also provided support:

"You want to leave the village to travel? You little brat, that's a good idea! Don't worry, I'll handle the paperwork for your two-month leave from the ninja academy. There happens to be a caravan staying in Konoha, and their next stop is the capital of the Land of Fire. Go contact them yourself."

At the largest logistics market by the South Gate of Konoha.

"Ninjas?" A fat merchant wearing exotic clothing looked at the young boy and girl dressed as ninjas in front of him and asked with some surprise.

Shinozaki Ayumi was 11 years old this year, standing 142cm tall.

Xian Yu had just celebrated his birthday not long ago and was now 6 years old, standing 137cm tall. Due to the long-term consumption of Spirit Rice promoting his development, he looked like a child of eight or nine.

"Uncle, we just want to hitch a ride," Xian Yu smiled slightly, stating his intention.

Generally, when transporting goods over long distances, merchants would choose to hire ninjas for protection.

Naturally, no caravan would choose to hire children like Xian Yu and Shinozaki Ayumi who were clearly underage, but if it were just hitching a ride, most merchants were very willing to spend a little extra food to gain a sense of security.

After all, as long as they weren't rookies who had just entered the ninja academy at six or seven, they would have at least some combat capability.

"Fine, one thousand ryo per person. Go find a spot on the last carriage yourself."

Xian Yu's smile stiffened, but he didn't say anything, neatly taking the money pouch from his waist and pulling out two one-thousand-ryo banknotes.

People traveled far and wide, risking their necks to earn some money, so it wasn't easy for them. Besides, he wasn't short on this bit of money.

"Oh, right. I'll tell you both in advance—I see you're both ninjas, so you should be able to protect yourselves, right? If any accidents happen on the road, I won't be held responsible!" The fat, exotic merchant beamed as he took the banknotes, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly turned back to add a warning.

"You..." Shinozaki Ayumi was a bit indignant and was about to speak, but she was stopped by her Young Master beside her.

"Understood, Uncle. We know," Xian Yu frowned slightly, but ultimately responded.

In truth, he and Shinozaki Ayumi were only looking for a caravan to hitch a ride with because they had never left the village before and this was their first long-distance trip. They didn't really care about these things.

This caravan was quite large, with seventeen carriages in total, but Hua Qi was not a major merchant guild.

These seventeen carriages were all loaded with rice. Rice was the most important food in this world, and in these relatively peaceful times, the price of rice was not expensive.

At Konoha's current grain prices, a catty of rice was worth only 3 ryo.

According to Xian Yu's observation, each carriage held about a thousand catties of rice.

The value of these seventeen carriages of rice was not even as much as half a carriage of spices or medicinal herbs; even at Konoha's retail grain prices, the total value was only about 50,000 ryo. If bought wholesale at the source, the cost might be only 30,000 ryo or so.

Hua Qi was a small merchant guild from the emerging major power, the Land of Rain.

Because of the abundant rainfall, the Land of Rain was a major producer of grain, while the neighboring Land of Wind suffered from perennial droughts and food shortages.

Although the Land of Wind lacked daily necessities, it relied on the rich mineral resources in its deserts, making its military and financial power not to be underestimated. It was somewhat similar to the "oil-rich" nations of his past life—a synonym for people who were foolish but wealthy.

One only had to look at the ninjas of Sunagakure to know; each of them always carried a few puppets. Even the smallest puppet consumed a large amount of precious mineral materials.

Why were almost all the top-tier puppeteers in the original work from my past life from Sunagakure? It didn't seem like Sunagakure's puppetry heritage was all that impressive, did it?

Only after arriving in this real world did Xian Yu finally understand.

Because they have mines at home.

Magnet Release is used for fighting? No, no, no... you're outdated!

Magnet Release is used for mining...

Returning to the main topic, since the Land of Wind has plenty of money but lacks grain, the final destination of this caravan must be the Land of Wind... as if.

Although the Land of Wind is the primary target for grain merchants from the Land of Rain.

However, the journey to the Land of Wind is desolate and treacherous; the vast desert alone buries countless bones every year, not to mention the human threats one might encounter along the way.

Therefore, only powerful merchants with real strength can handle this trade.

Thus, the Huaqi Caravan had to settle for second best, choosing to sell their grain in the populous Land of Fire. After selling a portion of their grain in Konoha, they immediately set off for the next major city, with their final destination being the Capital of the Land of Fire.

Although the profit margin isn't high, they can still make a decent return through high-volume sales.

At this moment, the caravan had already slowly set off. Shinozaki Ayumi sat leaning against the carriage, while Xian Yu rested his head on her lap, pondering how to acquire kill points...