After they had talked for a while, Princess Xiaoyue asked Uchiha Sora and Tsunade to escort her back to the Daimyo Mansion.
Uchiha Sora thought it over and agreed.
He had realized that neither he nor Tsunade had any money on them, and Princess Xiaoyue had promised him a generous reward if they escorted her back safely.
And so, the four of them changed course and headed toward the Daimyo Mansion.
Along the way, chatting with Princess Xiaoyue and the female ninja named Keiko gave Uchiha Sora a better understanding of the situation in this Warring States Period.
The countries were arranged much as they had been in his previous world. There were five major nations: the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Water.
Beyond those were smaller countries, along with other powers such as wealthy magnates and feudal lords.
Apart from ninja operating as clans, the distribution of other powers did not seem all that different from that world.
However, this world had yet to produce massive powers such as ninja villages, and there were no jinchūriki to serve as a form of "nuclear deterrence." As a result, battles between ninja were almost entirely unrestrained and exceptionally fierce.
Furthermore, without the one-country, one-village system, the only way ninja could make a living was by completing missions for the commissions paid by wealthy magnates and feudal lords.
Thus, to survive, ninja were constantly fighting and killing one another, whether to compete for missions or eliminate rivals.
Ninja were deeply wary of anyone outside their own clan and its allied clans.
Some even had rules forbidding them from telling others their surnames while away from home.
Once their clan affiliation was exposed, they could easily be killed by