"Did you remember everything I told you?"
Faced with Mukai's nagging before his departure, Konan didn't seem annoyed in the slightest and nodded vigorously.
Still worried, Mukai checked the special everyday-form armor she was wearing.
He really was just checking the armor. He absolutely wasn't taking the opportunity to cop a feel!
Konan's close-fitting armor always carried six fully charged Shinobi World supercapacitors!
Even so, Mukai was still a little worried and reminded her:
"Repeat those precautions for me?"
"No problem!
I'll stay inside the puppet workshop base,
and I definitely won't go out whenever I please.
If there's danger, I'll use the supercapacitors to release electric arcs and protect myself,
or switch them straight to self-destruct mode and throw them!
Granny Chiyo has already stationed puppeteers nearby, and she'll come see me often too, so don't worry!"
Sasori, standing nearby, couldn't resist complaining:
"Hey, hey, Mukai, putting love before friendship, are you?
Didn't you tell us the supercapacitors were really expensive, and that self-destruct mode was only for when we had no other choice?
So how come you..."
Pakura clamped a hand over Sasori's mouth, and Mukai gave an awkward but polite smile.
After making sure everything was in order at the Oasis Workshop, they waved goodbye to Konan.
Chiyo and the Third Kazekage had gone to the Land of Birds' border to deal with friction with Iwagakure, so they couldn't come to see them off.
Konan, who had also grown much more cheerful, waved to Mukai while showing him the origami swift in her hand.
Her meaning was clear.
Even if Mukai went to Konoha, she could still send him messages through the origami swift!
It was wonderful to have someone who cared!
The four, led by Pakura, put on hooded cloaks commonly worn in the desert and slowly disappeared from sight,
and only then did Konan return to the Oasis Workshop.
Had she forgotten something?
(Yahiko and Nagato squatted in a corner, drawing circles. Konan hadn't written to them in quite a while!)
Land of Rivers
Rather than travel through the chaotic Land of Rain to reach Konoha, Mukai and the others chose to cross the border into the neighboring Land of Rivers and go from there.
The Land of Rivers lay much lower than the Land of Rain. It seemed that all the rain that fell in the Land of Rain ultimately formed rivers that flowed into this country.
Mountains and rivers were plentiful throughout the country, as were valleys, making for complex terrain.
The northern and central regions of the Land of Rivers were its main agricultural areas.
Compared with the barren Land of Wind, the soil here was fertile and suitable for growing grain.
Thus, although its territory was small, it could support a large population.
Its grain was also one of the principal goods traded with the Land of Wind.
In addition, the Land of Rivers had many mines, with abundant reserves of gemstones and mineral resources.
These rich advantages left Mukai and his companions green with envy.
Compared with the Land of Rivers, their Land of Wind had the second-largest territory in the Shinobi World (the Land of Earth was first).
But most of that territory was desert!
Despite its superior natural conditions, the Land of Rivers had no ninja village of its own.
Or rather, the neighboring Land of Wind and Land of Fire would not allow a ninja village to emerge in the buffer zone.
In this extraordinary world dominated by the power of Chakra, that put the country in an awkward position.
When faced with trouble, the Land of Rivers could only rely on protection from Konoha, Sunagakure, and other countries with ninja villages.
It submitted mission requests, exchanging money for military support.
Wars and the Chunin Ninja Exams were among the ways a village demonstrated its strength, and naturally affected how missions were distributed.
After the Second Shinobi World War, many missions that would originally have gone to Sunagakure were diverted to Konoha.
Perhaps, for the nobles and daimyo of this world, that made it easier to control ordinary people and keep ninja under control as though with reins.
But this situation meant that the Land of Rivers was frequently troubled by bandits and missing-nin, affecting people's livelihoods.
However, some border towns in the Land of Rivers prospered thanks to a peculiar balance.
In some towns, the various powers had reached an equilibrium,
and goods such as spices from the Land of Wind and mountain delicacies from the Land of Fire came together to create a unique commercial atmosphere.
The Land of Rivers, though small and serving as a buffer between the great nations, had its own governing institutions.
It had not only a daimyo who ruled the country and bureaucrats who kept it running, but also a contingent of sword-bearing samurai.
The samurai Mukai saw along the way were much like the Japanese samurai in films and television,
and he seemed to have gained some new insights into how this world had come to be.
Here, too, the daimyo was the country's supreme ruler, but without a ninja village, his governing power was relatively weak.
Overall, noble rule in the Land of Rivers lacked the powerful military backing of the Five Great Nations and often struggled to cope with external threats and internal instability.
One could glimpse that from the plainly fearful looks on the faces of those normally arrogant samurai when they saw Mukai and the others' Sunagakure Forehead Protectors.
This really was a warped high-martial world!
Mukai hadn't yet grown so full of himself that he wanted to unravel the truth of the Shinobi World.
He was still at the early stage of keeping his head down, farming, and developing.
This time, he was merely taking the opportunity of passing through the Land of Rivers to observe a small country under secular rule up close.
He hadn't wanted to look for trouble, but unfortunately, sometimes trouble came looking for him.
Just after they left a town, they heard a young voice crying for help in a canyon:
"Help! My lord, please spare me!
I'm still little. I can't serve you, my lord!"
Mukai, Pakura, and the others used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the source of the voice, only to be stopped by three ninja and more than ten samurai:
"Who goes there?! How dare you offend Lord Ogawa..."
The samurai in the lead was just about to shout at Mukai and the others when he saw the Forehead Protectors revealed as they pushed back their hoods.
Seeing that the newcomers were ninja from Sunagakure, the head retainer moderated his tone somewhat, though it still carried a noble's arrogance:
"So you're ninja from Sunagakure. We are Lord Ogawa's retainers,
and we have some business to attend to here. You'd best keep out of the way.
If you offend Lord Ogawa, we will demand an explanation from Sunagakure!"
As a ninja raised in the traditional ninja system, Pakura was instinctively somewhat fearful of the lofty nobles.
Although she was very displeased, she was still prepared to comply and lead the group away.
In the eyes of most people in this era, nobles were lofty and inviolable.
There were exceptions here, however.
Mukai, standing nearby, was unmoved. He suddenly formed Hand Seals at speed:
"Wind Release-Great Breakthrough!"
A Great Breakthrough, compressed vertically but covering a very wide area horizontally, burst from Mukai's mouth.
The Wind Release wasn't very powerful, but it was enough to tear the carriage body off the vehicle behind them.
Inside the Japanese-style carriage, a young man with a grayish complexion was tearing at a little girl's clothes.
The splendid clothing and that sickly face, covered in makeup, gave Mukai his first look at a so-called noble of this era.
He really was ugly as hell!
With the carriage body suddenly blown away, the gray-faced man looked displeased at Mukai and the others:
"Ahem, you're ninja from Sunagakure?
Out of my way! Don't meddle and spoil my fun!
Otherwise, the Ogawa Clan's missions will be given to Konoha instead!"