Transfer Station

Yuhi Shinku did not have the three youngsters take turns keeping watch, choosing instead to shoulder that important task himself.

During the day, the pace of travel, which far exceeded that of a typical genin, had truly exhausted the three of them. Now, with Yuhi Shinku on guard duty, the three of them lay down on sturdy tree branches and fell asleep almost without a second thought.

This was only because they felt so secure with an elite jonin like Yuhi Shinku by their side; otherwise, under normal circumstances, they would have felt compelled to find a hidden spot to conceal themselves before daring to rest, and even then, they would not have dared to sleep too soundly.

As for Yuhi Shinku, after confirming that the three youngsters were truly asleep, he found a branch for himself and sat down quietly.

As he settled into the stillness, Yuhi Shinku could not help but recall the specific instructions the Hokage had given him when he accepted the mission.

While this mission was partly intended to let Kawaki Aoba lie low for a while, there was always the possibility of unexpected incidents occurring along the way.

Judging by the movements reported from Sunagakure, there was a high probability that they would cause trouble for Konoha, and the possibility of them reigniting the war could not be ruled out.

In other words, besides executing their assigned mission, their squad had to constantly scout for any rumors or signs within the Land of Wind. Once they discovered that Sunagakure ninjas were harboring malicious intent toward Konoha, they were to transmit the intelligence back to the village immediately.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen had entrusted him with such an important task, Yuhi Shinku did not feel much pressure.

This was simply because this task was merely secondary; the Hokage had not issued this mission to their squad alone.

Almost every squad executing missions in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers had received similar supplementary orders.

Moreover, based on past experience, even if Sunagakure wanted to provoke a war, it would take a considerable amount of time; after all, how long had it been since the Second Shinobi World War ended?

In that amount of time, aside from Konoha, the other four great ninja villages likely could not even manage to restore their full ninja rosters.

As for why he had described the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind as so perilous to the three youngsters earlier, Yuhi Shinku felt that, as a ninja, maintaining a high level of vigilance toward the outside world was always correct, and besides, he hadn't exactly been lying.

In the ninja world, under normal circumstances, small countries were indeed much more dangerous than the great nations.

And so, under Yuhi Shinku's watch, most of the night passed in silence, without a single ripple of trouble.

In the latter half of the night, around one in the morning, Yuhi Shinku finally woke the three of them to continue their journey.

With a good rest, Kawaki Aoba and the others 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 in the Land of Rivers, the four 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 still had plenty of time; they could afford to be as thorough as possible with their disguises, and since this was not a time of true war, there was no need to rush as if their tails were on fire.

It was not until the sky began to turn gray that the four-man squad arrived at their transit point.

Tuyuan City was a small border town that, while technically within the Land of Rivers, sat very close to the border of the Land of Rain.

Do not be fooled by the fact that this small city epitomized the words "dirty, messy, and chaotic"; in reality, it was a place where "hidden dragons and crouching tigers" could be found.

Wandering samurai, rogue ninjas, and even missing-nin from various villages could be seen here.

Along the way, Kawaki Aoba and Sarutobi Asuma had seen more than one missing-nin pass them by.

Yes, that was correct; the four-man squad had now split into two groups to act separately. This was necessary, as four people walking together as a standard squad would have been far too conspicuous.

At this moment, both Sarutobi Asuma and Kawaki Aoba were disguised; compared to ninjas, they now looked more like orphans drifting through the ninja world.

Sarutobi Asuma wore tattered clothes prepared in advance, carried a medicine basket on his back, and held a stick in his hand to lead the blind Kawaki Aoba behind him.

With this getup, anyone who saw them would know this was an older brother bringing his blind younger brother from the Land of Rain to the Land of Wind to sell medicinal herbs.

Although the "older brother" looked a bit too mature, his height made it clear that he was still just a child.

Furthermore, to make the act complete, the two had indeed entered the city from the direction of the Land of Rain, and they had certainly encountered quite a few people along the way.

Their combination did not look the least bit out of place in a crowd.

Thinking of the address that their teacher, Yuhi Shinku, had given him, Sarutobi Asuma circled the city a few times before finally finding the place.

Circling the city a few times after entering was also intentional; after all, Sarutobi Asuma was a fresh face visiting for the first time, and appearing too familiar with the layout would have been suspicious.

But then again, they were being cautious; after all, if there was one thing Tuyuan City didn't lack, it was the strange faces one saw every day.

Fortune Street—a simple and plain name—was Sarutobi Asuma's destination, and the transit point for their journey.

Although the name was old-fashioned, many of the people coming and going were genuine "wealthy" merchants.

Of course, "wealthy" was relative to commoners; even compared to the lowest-ranking nobles, they were just people earning a hard living.

Moreover, most of them were small-time merchants; those who did truly big business would only go to formal ninja villages to recruit escorts, and would never come here.

Exactly, this was one of the main reasons why there were so many ninjas in Tuyuan City. Here, small merchants would pool their resources, and once there were enough people, they would hire wandering ninjas or missing-nin to escort them to various towns in the Land of Wind or the Land of Fire to conduct business.

The two great nations turned a blind eye to this, as both great ninja villages understood that these small merchants had limited capital and could not afford formal ninjas, yet the trade in each city required their help.

And so, these people managed to survive in the cracks.

"Hey, you're a merchant caravan heading to the Land of Wind, right? Take me along, too!" Upon spotting a team that was about to depart, Sarutobi Asuma stepped up at the right moment, shouting in a loud, booming voice before he had even reached them.

Sarutobi Asuma's shout brought the departing caravan to a halt, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"You're heading to the Land of Wind, aren't you? Take me with you, and I can protect you on the road," Sarutobi Asuma repeated.

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