Hozuki Castle was built on an island. Though called a city, it was really more like an enormous castle.
The carriage took Tetsuya to the docks, where he boarded a boat to the island. Only after stepping ashore did he realize that the island was far larger than it had looked before.
As he disembarked, Tetsuya saw several uniformed men and a sedan chair.
"Mr. Chiba Tetsuya, I presume?"
"That's right. You're from Hozuki Castle, aren't you?"
Tetsuya studied the uniformed men. Their outfits didn't look like anything that belonged in the shinobi world. They looked more like something the prison guards in One Piece would wear.
"Yes, Mr. Tetsuya. Our lord has been awaiting your arrival for quite some time. He specifically sent us to receive you. Please take a seat in the sedan chair, and we'll set off for Hozuki Castle."
"All right. Thank you for your trouble."
Smiling, Tetsuya calmly settled into the sedan chair, which had clearly been converted from a cage.
He had to admit that the scenery outside Hozuki Castle was rather nice. Plants called Chinese lanterns covered the hills, bearing orange-yellow fruit that looked just like tiny lanterns.
Kakuzu had told him that the normal fruit was edible, but eating the white ones would leave the entire body paralyzed for at least a day before the effects began to subside. Prisoners at Hozuki Castle would generally eat the white fruit when they wanted to get out of working.
The sedan chair continued along the road and soon reached Hozuki Castle.
The imposing, majestic gates slowly opened, and two squads of guards marched out to line both sides of the entrance.
The sedan chair stopped, and Tetsuya stepped out.
"Salute! Welcome the lord of the castle!"
At the command, all the guards saluted in