Arrival

"Are you kidding me? I don't have that kind of money to pay you, and I'm a ninja. I can protect you on the road. You should be grateful I'm not charging you a fee!" Sarutobi Asuma once again deliberately shouted at the merchant caravan.

He could afford a mere thousand ryo, but with his current identity, bringing out that much would look far too suspicious. Even a fool would know something was wrong.

"Where'd this brat come from, calling himself a ninja? Let's see what you're made of. If you can last a little while against me, I'll let you travel with us for free." The one who stepped forward this time was a man wearing a damaged Shinobi Flak Jacket. He had no Forehead Protector from any hidden village, so he was probably a rogue ninja.

No one else in the caravan said a word, which amounted to tacit approval. This sort of thing wasn't unusual for them; every time they went on a trading run, they'd run into one or two cases like this.

If the kid really had some skill, as he claimed, then taking him along wouldn't hurt. He'd be another fighter if trouble came their way. But if the kid was just bragging, they wouldn't mind adding a basket of processed medicinal herbs to their cargo.

As for the chance of getting anything else out of him, give them a break. What valuable things could a kid like that possibly have?

After Sarutobi Asuma settled Kawaki Aoba off to one side, he went to the open ground and began a one-on-one match with the rogue ninja.

That's right, a match. Compared to a fight to the death, this was more like a test of their abilities.

In a lawless place like this, even finding an ordinary doctor was extremely difficult. So even against an unassuming kid, they had to be careful not to get hurt.

The truly foolish ones had already died here, without a trace left behind.

The rogue ninja cautiously tested Sarutobi Asuma's strength, while Asuma kept Yuhi Shinku's lessons in mind and acted like someone who had never been in a proper fight, but knew how to use Chakra.

As he fended off the rogue ninja's attacks, he did his best to make himself look worse for wear. To sell the act, he even rolled around on the ground a few times, getting his already shabby clothes even dirtier.

After exchanging blows several times, the rogue ninja thought he had figured out Sarutobi Asuma's strength and withdrew from the fight.

"Hmph, not bad. Your combat experience is a complete mess, kid, but you can just about pass for a ninja. I'll accept you. You and your little brother can join the caravan.

"But understand this: we won't provide you with any food or water along the way, and you'll have to fight when the need arises. If you can accept that, then come along."

After putting on a show of toughness, the rogue ninja put away his Kunai and returned to the caravan.

His words made Sarutobi Asuma suck in a sharp breath.

That was it? And the guy had just said he accepted me as a ninja. Is becoming a ninja really that easy?

The rogue ninja's ignorance had opened up a whole new world for Asuma.

The standard of ninjas in these small countries didn't seem much higher than that of bandits in the Land of Fire.

If Asuma hadn't known he was still a Genin, he might have started thinking he was invincible.

Still, even though he had plenty of complaints he wanted to voice, the good news was that they had successfully joined the caravan without arousing anyone's suspicions.

Once they joined, Sarutobi Asuma was assigned to the caravan's left flank.

If sand bandits attacked from the left, his position would be the first to take the hit.

After joining the caravan, Sarutobi Asuma couldn't help taking a good look at its makeup.

With a single glance, he spotted more than a dozen groups of all sizes.

The hired ninjas, ronin, and other assorted characters were a mixed bag. They came in every shape and size.

Among them, Asuma also noticed a guard dressed as a samurai accompanying a child in a small merchant group closer to the center.

There was no doubt about it: that was their team leader, Jonin Yuhi Shinku.

Asuma had no idea what Yuhi Shinku had done, but at that moment he was chatting and laughing with another samurai in the group.

Compared to the treatment they were getting, things were a whole lot better for those two.

After a full day, the entire caravan had only traveled from Tuyuan City, near the Land of Rain, to just beyond the border of the Land of Wind. For ninjas, that was slower than a tortoise.

They were moving so slowly that Sarutobi Asuma found himself thinking they would have been better off skipping the caravan and having all four members of their squad travel straight to their destination.

But that thought vanished once the whole caravan entered the heart of the Land of Wind.

The environment in the Land of Wind was downright bizarre. Apart from a few patches of barren land near the border, all they saw along the way was rocky desert and endless yellow sand.

The moment they entered the desert, even Sarutobi Asuma, a ninja with above-average theoretical knowledge, lost his sense of direction.

The blazing sun hung overhead, making it impossible to tell east from west.

Without an experienced caravan to follow, a ninja who hadn't received any relevant training could easily get lost in the desert.

Of course, with a ninja's mobility, they'd have to be extraordinarily unlucky to get trapped and die in the desert. But there was no doubt they'd lose time on their mission.

After traveling for a day and a night, they finally reached an oasis town in the Land of Wind. Everyone in the squad except Yuhi Shinku finally understood why no one had tried to invade the Land of Wind and attack Sunagakure during the first two Shinobi World Wars.

There was simply nothing worth coveting in this godforsaken place.

And Sunagakure lay deep within the heart of the Land of Wind.

They could only marvel at what a genius the First Kazekage, Retto, had been. He really knew how to pick a place.

Dahu City was the first city the caravan had encountered in the Land of Wind, nestled in an oasis. It was also the caravan's first destination.

It was likewise the place where the Yuhi Shinku Squad was to meet the spy embedded in Sunagakure. Naturally, this wasn't a coincidence; Yuhi Shinku had arranged it himself.

That was the advantage of having an experienced Jonin as your team leader. With someone less familiar with missions, they might have wandered all over the Land of Wind—and still not known whether they'd left themselves exposed. But now, everything seemed perfectly reasonable.