(Aiki, 1 month later)
The walk from her apartment to the D-rank mission desk was, for better or worse, a muscle memory in Aiki's body.
It was a good thing too, since not a single D-rank mission of the 60 she had completed in the last 30 days was good enough to motivate her to go there on her own.
To make things worse, sometimes she would see random older genin more than twice her age standing in the same line as her...a palpable shame and hopelessness in their eyes that spoke of a dead-end career louder than Iruka-sensei's 'Big Head Jutsu' (unofficial name, Aiki liked calling it that) which he used to shout at unruly kids in the class.
It scared her, any reasonably optimistic/motivated person would be terrified of stagnation so early in their career. So she made sure to go above and beyond her mission quota prior to getting a C-rank mission. She desperately needed a C-rank mission, her first C-rank mission, lest she too lose sight of what it meant to be a shinobi.
And so today, was the day.
She made her way to the mission desk today too, but took a right turn instead of left at the very last corridor. Small though it may be, Aiki liked this change.
It was a proof of her growing from an academy brat to a real genin. A genin that will soon be entrusted with a somewhat exciting mission and not just another inconsequential chore...atleast she hoped.
Finally she was at the door. "C-rank mission desk" the plain sign on the door read. Aiki savored this optimism and sense of achievement for a moment and then pushed the door that stood between her mission and her.
The door swung inside slowly, with considerable effort...an ear-piercing shriek of metal against metal, and wood against metal, and wood against wood accompanying this action.
Her action.
All eyes in the room looked at her in that instant. Some faces showed amusement, some annoyance, most something in between the two.
"First time here kid? Pull the door next time." The clerk behind the mission desk told her.
Aiki was a good shinobi, she liked to think that.
So she only slightly bowed her head in embarrassment while walking to the back of the line and waiting for her turn.
Luckily for her, the wait was not as long as the D-rank mission queue...it seems the gap between D-rank missions to C-rank missions was enough to cut the line's length to a third!
Soon, she stood at the front of the line. The clerk now looked up at her and asked her to give her ID to him.
She complied.
"Hmmm...a little early for you to be taking C-rank missions, then again you do fulfill the criteria for it and it's your life at the end of the day.", The clerk spoke half to her and half to himself.
Aiki watched as the clerk picked up the top 3 mission scrolls and tossed them to her. She caught them before it registered in her brain properly.
"It's your first C-rank mission, plus that door stunt you pulled off is going to be the highlight of my boring day...I feel generous, so you get to choose." The clerk ended his sentence with a smirk.
His smirk soon turned into a frown, "Don't think this will happen everytime though, this one is special. You are a ninja now...you don't always get to choose your missions. Next time you are here...if you are here...you get the mission from the top of the pile like everyone else, got it?"
Aiki nodded.
"Good! Then out of the line. But stay in the room, I need two of those scrolls back on this table before you leave.", The clerk motioned her to move and Aiki complied.
"Well...this is it. I'll take my time and choose what I like the best!", Aiki planned.
She was not concerned with the toughness or reward of the mission.
If she wanted easy, a D-rank would have sufficed. As for the reward, grinding D-rank missions was by no means a lucrative trade but Aiki was just one pre-teen girl who lived alone and had no major expenses besides groceries for two (Naruto would still sometimes come over to visit her, Aiki liked that.)...she had enough saved up for a month.
No, her concern lied with her first C-rank mission...her baby-step into the world of shinobi...she wanted it to be something impactful (she was too mature to use the word 'Cool', thank you very much!)
She unfurled the first mission scroll and read what was inside.
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MISSION - C1628791
Directive: Surveillance
Mission Brief: Operative is assigned to Nishibori City as part of the domestic counter-intelligence framework under the command of Special Jounin Eihei and is to integrate into the local environment using a civilian cover. Cover identity will be assigned by the field handler prior to insertion. Location of first contact dead-drop to be revealed post mission acceptance.
Objectives: Conduct passive intelligence collection within low-risk civilian environments consistent with established cover identity. Weekly reports required. Immediate escalation in case of any suspected compromise required.
Communication protocol: All communication to be done over dead-drops. Methods for exchange of higher priority intel will be communicated by handler before insertion.
Rules of Engagement: No combat expected. Unless EXPLICITLY allowed, exposure will lead to mission failure.
Time: 2 months deployment, exfiltration after 2 months AND explicit orders from the chain of command.
Notes: There is little to no risk of death, this is a good assignment for new shinobi to get their feet wet.
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If Aiki remembered correctly, Nishibori was one of those cities that were super important back in the day but had since become irrelevant and a shadow of their former glory. Now it was just some fortified city in the western Land of Fire, surrounded by a moat and ancient walls, with 90% of it's GDP coming from tourists.
"I'm willing to bet a 1000 Ryo that this is the most stereotypical Ninja mission in the history of ninja missions since the dawn of time!", Aiki thought.
But stereotypical did not immediately meant it was bad.
She wanted her missions to give her atleast one of three things: Contacts, Ownership, Fun.
Contacts? Based on the briefing she would never even see another shinobi on the field unless it was an emergency...Or she would see them surely, she just wouldn't know if they were a shinobi or not (she could always sense chakra, but that was besides the point). There were no contacts to be made here.
Ownership? There was a higher chance of all 5 kages joining forces than of that ever happening! She was meant to be just another nameless pawn on Special Jounin Eihei's chessboard.
As for fun...The weekly reports and the existence of a handler limited Aiki's freedom, but as long as she maintained her cover...civilians have fun once in a while right? Well, that would depend on her cover...here is to hoping she doesn't get assigned the cover of a crippled beggar.
Overall...Nothing too good, nothing too bad.
She decided to check the other missions, and decided to select this one if the other two were worse.
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MISSION - C1628792
Directive: Security detail
Mission Brief: Operative is assigned to the security detail of a trade caravan from Hidden Leaf Village to Hofuna City under Chunin Shokko. Departure time and rallying location will be revealed post mission acceptance.
Objectives: Guard the caravan and the staff on their way to and from Hofuna City. Maintain professional and courteous conduct toward all protected individuals at all times.
Communication protocol: Any communication method is acceptable as long as it ensures that the civilian escort will not be too put off by it.
Rules of Engagement: To be set by Operative/Squad Leader based on the situation that calls for engagement. Lethal force authorized.
Time (estimated): 1 months deployment, round trip. Completion after safe return of caravan and traded items.
Notes: Safety of caravan staff till trading is complete in Hofuna city is of utmost importance. The traded goods are of utmost importance.
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The name Hofuna reminded Aiki of how trade with this city was one of the major sources of Konoha's import of reagents for the manufacturing of certain perfumes, poisons, antidotes and red color dye. No wonder the mission statement, although softly, put more importance on the cargo itself than the lives of the staff.
It wasn't explicitly stated of course, but Aiki was a good shinobi who knew how to read underneath and underneath.
That being said, it was a NO from Aiki. This mission had not a single thing that Aiki found attractive.
Contacts? A chunin contact is substantial, for Aiki it would have been super beneficial too, depending on the chunin...but she wasn't desperate enough to take this mind numbing mission JUST for the one contact...a contact with a person who could just turn out to be a total nutcase!
Ownership? She was under Chunin Shokko's thumb for this one. There was no ownership to be found on this mission either.
Fun? She would have more fun watching paint dry than babysitting a bunch of civilians! And the thought of a slow, crawling, SLOWER than civilian pace journey made her cry a little on the inside.
She didn't even CONSIDER this mission, and moved on to the third and final one.
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MISSION - C1628793
Directive: Bandit Suppression
Mission Brief: Commercial toll has dropped by 4% on the Torihiki-Shogyo highway despite peak trading season. Operative is to confirm or deny banditry as the reason of this decline.
Objectives: Operative is to undertake investigation on and around Torihiki-Shogyo highway for possible signs for banditry WITHOUT exposing their shinobi status. Exposure gives time for target(s) to hide and/or regroup somewhere else. As such, exposure will be treated as failure.
Secondary Objectives: If bandits are confirmed and the operative is confident in their ability to neutralize the bandit outfit WITHOUT exposing their presence at ANY time, then they should do so for an additional bonus worth the mission's pay and points.
If rogue/foreign shinobi are confirmed and the operative is confident in their ability to terminate the threat WITHOUT exposing their presence at ANY time, then they should do so for an additional bonus which will be decided after mission rank is re-evaluated by a panel of experienced judges.
Communication protocol: No updates or communication required before mission debrief.
In case enemy shinobi are involved, all relevant intel needs to be relayed to the closest communication relay as soon as possible.
Rules of Engagement: Lethal force authorized. Civilian collateral damage and losses MUST be kept to a minimum.
Time (estimated): 2 weeks
Notes: Not recommended for beginners. Stealth and Vigilance will be key.
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"Now THIS...this one is something I like!", Aiki thought and a smile stretched across her face, hidden from the rest of the world behind her mask.
This was to be Aiki's first mission out of the village, and call her immature or naive, but the idea of it spoke to her sense of freedom and adventure.
And this mission, it was almost as if it was made perfectly for her.
No oversight, 2 weeks, far away from home but also sufficiently close! The world was her oyster!
Sure there were no contacts to be made on this mission...But honestly? Contacts was the LEAST on her list of priorities when deciding these missions.
The mission, it's execution, hell even the outcomes from the looks of it...were completely under her control. She could choose whatever she wanted...as long as mission parameters weren't violated.
And THAT to Aiki, the freedom to choose execute and plan, was fun.
She rolled the other 2 mission scrolls and placed them on the pile where they were picked from, then gave the clerk her chosen mission scroll.
The clerk read through the contents, looked up at Aiki with knowing eyes, and then rolled the scroll up and tossed it to her with a sigh.
"Look...kid. Missions are NOT fun and games. Death can come anytime, and you would wish it came if you failed your mission or god forbid, got captured. But if you were smart enough to be swayed by my words, you wouldn't have chosen this one anyway...so go, I have registered your acceptance. Leave by 7 AM tomorrow at the latest, that's when your 2 weeks start." The clerk moved away his eyes from Aiki to the ledger on his desk.
Aiki wanted to say something, but didn't. She turned around and walked out of the room, towards her apartment, to prepare for the mission to come.
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(Next day, 11 AM)
The sun was up for a good few hours now, the air hot and dry like the desert sands.
Aiki hopped from tree to tree and skillfully flitted through branches as she made her way to her destination.
The journey was not going to be too long, going at shinobi speed...but it was just long enough for her body to run on autopilot while her mind went through the details about her mission, inventory, plan of action, and such.
"Let's see...2 kunai, 5 shuriken, 1 senbon...It's technically sufficient for missions, but it still feels a little less", Aiki thought as she mentally tallied the Ninja tools issued to her by the village as a one-time 'joining bonus' of sorts.
Aiki and every other ninja in a spot similar to her, knew that this was the maximum a village could provide the baseline genin without the cost of equipping them cutting into the village's profit margins...but the idea behind it was solid and so no one could complain.
Kunai were meant to be a ninja's primary weapon and multi-purpose tool combined into one. The weighted, balanced and double edged knife was what a ninja used to cut into their rations, prey, or enemies. Not to mention it's possible to bash something with the ring on it's hilt or use it to dig in a pinch. As such, kunai were not meant to be thrown except when the situation absolutely required it. A ninja was thus issued only 2 kunais, one for each hand.
Shuriken on the other hand, were optimized for throwing...to the point where kunai from different villages looked sufficiently different but no one could tell the shuriken apart. Used mostly for dispatching unsuspecting targets or to probe defenses, more shinobi had died from the humble shuriken than died by any number of flashy jutsus combined. The number of 5 was decided after analyzing years worth of blood soaked combat data and plotting number of shurikens used against the casualty rates.
5 was the bare minimum the village needed to provide to keep the attrition rate of genin from rising above the 'acceptable' limit for a given minimum budget.
Finally, the senbon. Not intended to be used as a sure-kill weapon, it was used more to deliver poisons or attack precisely to secure some mission objectives. As such, only one was issued to any new genin...AND only if they had an excellent score in the academy when it came to poisons, stimulants and related concoctions.
"Well...good thing I brought these along then.", She patted her thigh holster which held small doses of her home brewed suppressant, stimulant, poison, and a general purpose antidote.
She had spent the rest of yesterday submitting paperwork necessary for her new mission gear to be issued to her, and looking for the necessary ingredients for her home brew.
Searching for ingredients like this and designing her own recipe was one of her favorite memories from the academy. Simple though her recipes may be, they were effective.
"Maybe keeping the gear to a minimum was a good choice...God knows I'd have covered half the distance I have now if I let Naruto pack for me", she smiled under her mask and remembered how surprised Naruto was after learning she would be going on her first C-rank mission BEFORE him!
She had spent the rest of the day with Naruto, something that was becoming too much of a rarity these days.
A simple shopping trip for some good quality ingredients in the afternoon, cleaning prep and cooking as the sun went dipped below the horizon, and a peaceful (as peaceful as it gets with an excited Naruto) dinner in the evening. She had started this mission on a high note.
"A good start is half done, or so it's said...this mission might be a breeze if that's true.", Aiki's smile deepened.
She let the cheerful thought raise her morale a bit for a few seconds and then suppressed it.
At her speed, she wasn't going to reach Torihiki city for another 9 hours...a comfortable 50 KM/h. Nowhere near her top speed which was reserved for extreme bursts of speed that were needed for combat or evasion.
So she took this time to come up with a plan to achieve her objectives and her mind already started to recollect and compile the intel she had.
Torihiki city was one of the many cities built into the mountain ranges of the Land of Fire that ran from the Land of Earth to the Land of Woods. (Konoha itself was one such city.) What made it special was it's proximity to the Hiroi Pass.
Passes between the indomitable (for civilians) mountains that sliced the Land of Fire in two halves, East and West, were not uncommon. But, one as wide and of reasonable inclination as Hiroi pass was certainly a rarity. It allowed for easy transit for people, animals, cargo and all combinations of the three.
Over time it developed into a prominent trade-route connecting a small but significant chunk of the Western Land of Earth, rich in organic resources and crafts...to a proportional chunk of the Eastern Land of Earth, rich in minerals and such.
The gateway of the West, Torihiki city.
The gateway of the East, Shogyo city.
Connecting them, Torihiki-Shogyo highway.
"First step is for me to establish contact and register myself with the Torihiki city shinobi outpost, standard procedure.", Aiki decided her first step.
It was standard procedure for shinobis ranked Chunin or lower to register themselves with the local shinobi forces in the area so they could be factored into whatever intel the random Jounin in charge had, or be recalled for whatever emergency pops up.
"The Torihiki-Shogyo highway is a 200 kilometer stretch of road...I will need to limit my search to smaller parts or I will never find anything meaningful!", with this thought Aiki further recalled the details of the route.
The Highway's origin and end were decided by the two major cities, but everything in between wasn't just an arbitrarily drawn line on some noble's map. It had naturally evolved from a route that connected three small cities (or big villages) between the two major ones.
First, the Chojo village, 50 kilometers from Torihiki city.
In the middle, Nakaba village, some 70 kilometers from Chojo village (80 kilometers from Shogyo city).
Finally, the Donzoku village, 40 kilometers from both Nakaba village and Shogyo city.
"There is NO way a group of bandits would survive long enough to cause a tangible dip in revenue of a whole trade-route if they were operating near ANYWHERE near the cities...the shinobi stationed there would have taken care of them in a heartbeat.", Aiki thought as her brain worked to narrow down her search areas.
"The bandits...if they exist...will most certainly be somewhere away from the cities. That narrows it down a bit, but not significantly.", Aiki shook her head as the thought of searching a more than a 100 kilometer stretch of road AND surrounding wilderness made her dizzy.
"No use overthinking at this point...I'll have to plan out my approach based on the intel I gather on the field...It's a C-rank mission, if it were impossible, I would not have even seen the scroll for it...I can do this.", With this final thought she stopped planning and focused more on picking up her pace.
The sooner she reaches Torihiki city and the Hiroi pass, the better.
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(Same day, Near Torihiki City)
Picking up her pace had done the trick! She had reached her destination at 5 PM...3 hours ahead of time.
It had tired her out, so the registration process being quick and easy was a blessing for her.
She didn't even need to talk to anyone or even see another shinobi, it seemed that the Jounin in charge of this city's counter intelligence network was the cautious kind.
Just like mentioned in the supplementary data provided to her after she accepted her mission scroll, she had left behind an encrypted string of characters, each character small and carved into the bark of adjacent trees in seemingly random and meaningless clusters and patterns, some 5 odd kilometers out of the Torihiki city's borders.
To the average viewer, nothing would be out of the ordinary. For an out of loop shinobi, it would be meaningless.
But for the Konoha Analysts embedded in the city's intelligence network, the characters once collected, arranged and decrypted in a particular way...would reveal her Shinobi Registration Number, Rank, and Mission ID.
The entire 'registration' process took her less than 2 minutes and it was all done out of sight and mind of any civilian (and based on her chakra sensing capabilities, out of sight of any shinobi too.)
Once that was done, she decided that the best way forward was to just pick one end of the long Highway and start investigating from there.
The closest and most logical location for this, was the Hiroi pass.
So it was where Aiki decided to start.
She activated her Wind Veil jutsu to cut off her scent and sounds from leaking into the world (except the negligible ones that escaped through her point of contact with the surface below her), and cautiously made her way to her destination...careful to not be seen or heard.
It took her a little over 10 minutes to cover the 5 Kilometers that separated Torhiki city from the Hiroi pass at her slow and cautious speed.
By the time she found a perch that was suitable for observing the road and the traffic on it, it was already 5:15 PM.
The vast majority of trade caravans were not going to leave the safety of a big city to venture out into a lawless stretch of road when the sun was already on it's way down.
"Low traffic at night...Low traffic means no leads...I'll have to maintain surveillance tomorrow too, on this isolated rock...no warm meals and no soft beds...DAMN!", Aiki's mood soured, but she calmed herself down...she knew what the Ninja life was all about and still chose it.
"Still, Low traffic doesn't mean NO traffic...I can always observe the people making their way back to Torihiki city. Even that might reveal some insights.", With that thought she recollected her souring thoughts and began observing.
An hour passed. No caravan, no wagon...nobody, walked back from the road to the Hiroi pass checkpoint. The sun was well below the horizon now, darkness would follow in another half an hour.
"Odd...people on their way to Torihiki city should have reached here by now, but nobody has actually shown up in over an hour!", Aiki turned her gaze to the only guard standing outside the small sentry room directly in front of her on the other side of the road.
She could clearly see a bottle of cheap liquor held in the man's off hand. "They let anyone become guards out here huh...", she shook her head.
"He doesn't seem particularly phased by this inconsistency...perhaps this is common...I'll just wait and observe.", Aiki closed her eyes to give them a rest and instead kept her ears open for any sounds of wheels or hoofs approaching her position on the road.
Another hour passed. Nothing.
"Ok...perhaps a more...personal approach, is necessary.", with that thought Aiki started weaving hand signs.
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(5 minutes later, Hiroi Pass Checkpoint)
Of all the days that Nomisuke had lived...this was one of the better ones in his recent memory.
His uncle, a captain in Torihiki City's watch had caught him drinking on the job a couple weeks back.
Good News first...He was not fired! His uncle was pissed off, sure...but it seemed blood truly was thicker than water.
Now, Bad News...He was reassigned to night guard duty at the Hiroi pass checkpoint.
A Night guard...for a road that saw about as much traffic at night as the number of females attracted to him!...and that was only a slight exaggeration.
This was for all intents and purposes...a few months to years worth of coma for his career. At least until he showed signs of getting over his love for the bottle.
Not that he cared...he was starting to like the peace and quiet. Just him, his booze, and no responsibilities.
Then, as if the universe itself was trying to mock him...he heard someone approach him.
Not because that someone was particularly big or heavy, their footsteps giving their position away...it was the awful clicking raspy breathing.
"Just what I needed", he muttered to himself, his face turning sour.
"Who goes there?", he shouted out, his hand grabbed his state issued spear a bit tighter now.
He looked up, and felt himself deflate a bit as the tension left him.
A single, short, weak, wobbly, and wrinkly hag walked up to him.
Tension and Apprehension left him, anger replaced it.
"HEY! Crazy old woman! Why are you out here at this hour! Don't come any closer!", he tried pointing his spear at the old lady, now emboldened by the physical advantage he held over her.
His arm was too weak to hold both his bottle and the spear. The spear's tip crashed on the ground. He ignored this embarrassing display.
"Ah shut yer trap boy! Ahm here waiting for my sonny...went out on his way to God knows where down this road to sell whatever the hell! Told me he'll be back by today but been neither hair nor hide of his dumb ass anywhere I looked!", The old woman walked closer to the guard fearlessly.
"Dammit...another crazy bitch too dumb to even die! Doesn't even remember how this highway works", his face went through 50 shades of annoyance, each darker than last.
"NO ONE WALKS BACK ON THIS ROAD YOU DUMB OLD HAG! THE WHOLE DAMN ROAD IS A ONE WAY ROAD! EVERY SINGLE INCH OF IT! THE INCLINE IS TOO STEEP FOR CARAVANS TO COME BACK THIS WAY! YOUR BASTARD SON WILL EITHER SHOW UP ON THE MAIN GATE OF THE CITY OR HE IS ALREADY DEAD!", he shouted out angrily.
He bent down to lay down his spear and pick up a rock to chuck at the old woman. He didn't want a murder charge on his record...but a stone to the head, nobody could connect it back to him, especially when the victim is old, senile and prone to falling.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I SEND YOU TO HELL TO MEET H-...huh?", Nomisuke's words were caught in his throat.
When he looked up, the one he intended to throw the stone at...was no longer there.
"What?...She was right here...she was, right?", slight fear leaked into the trembling voice with which he questioned no one in particular.
He looked down at the half empty bottle in his hand.
"Maybe Uncle is right...I should cut back on this."
He took a swig to calm his nerves. Warmth flooded his gut and seeped into his body.
The unsettling incident got buried deep in his mind.
"Eh...maybe not!"
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Aiki undid the transformation jutsu after she settled on the perch where she had spent a good 2 hours waiting for any traffic to make it back to the city.
"So that was a waste of time! No wonder this road is emptier than that bastard's head...What demon's first instinct is to chuck rocks at old ladies!", Aiki couldn't help but feel a little bitter about wasting precious time.
But the implications of this new intel and the way it simplified things for her didn't let her dwell on her embarrassment.
If the Torihiki-Shogyo highway, or rather, 'every damn inch of that road', was a one way road...then it made things infinitely easier for Aiki.
"If bandits are hitting caravans on this road...and no caravans come back...then all the villages following their area of operations MUST be suffering due to the lack of resources!", The realization flashed in Aiki's mind.
The problem of searching the bandits on a 200 kilometer stretch of road was now simplified to finding the first village that was suffering from lack of resources, finding what sort of cargo attracted attacks, and then tailing a fitting caravan from the village directly before it.
"I guess I see why this was only a C-rank mission...or it could be that I was just really lucky this time", Aiki didn't spend much time deciding if it was one or the other or a bit of both.
"Now the problem is finding a cover under which I can investigate the 3 villages...showing up as a shinobi isn't really an option.", Aiki thought as she worked on planning out the next step of her plan.
In the Land of Fire, the Konoha headband carried a weight unlike any other.
If she were allowed to expose her Shinobi status, then investigating the village ledgers would have been easier than drawing breath!
Genin, Chunin, Jounin, the common man was NOT concerned with this classification.
All he knew, was anyone with a headband could kill on instinct and do it faster than he could react, and that was enough to ensure his survival.
But, the mission explicitly required her to NOT reveal her identity, unless it was to the bandits she was after...right before they were rendered unable to ever reveal it to anyone.
So now, she needed a cover identity...something good enough to let her pry into the village affairs and grand enough to not let curious people dig too deep.
"OK...I can't think of anything right now, so I should start by taking inventory. Lets see...what jutsus do I have on me...", Aiki went through a list of jutsus she had access to.
Transformation Jutsu...It was the obvious choice...she could change her appearance, but for the type of information she wanted to collect...just a single person showing up would slow her down at best and blow her cover at worst...she needed numbers.
Clone Jutsu then, but the issue with it was that the clones themselves were intangible! They could look pretty and act out however she wanted, but they couldn't speak, interact, or even leave their mark on the world...not even a shadow.
Substitution Jutsu? A useful bit of ninjutsu, but not in this case.
Her elemental manipulation abilities? Certainly helpful, but not on their own.
Aiki spent that night planning out her approach to this particular problem...and keeping the bugs away from herself.
By the next morning, Aiki had a plan and she silently, stealthily made her way to the first village on her list.
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(Chojo Village, 6PM)
The sun was going down again.
Aiki stood on a hill top overlooking the Chojo village.
Hidden among the trees, she finished observing the parts of Chojo village visible from her current vantage point.
That's what she had done the entire day.
Moving from one vantage point to the other and mapping out all the relevant details about the village.
And with this final bit of reconnaissance she knew enough about the village to execute her strategy.
Chojo village was a mountainous one, large steps cut into the mountains were it's foundation.
The steps provided places to build and farm alike. Chojo village was a primarily agrarian village but with no obvious sources of meat or animal products.
Aiki's reconnaissance couldn't reveal even a single livestock animal in the village...only a few scattered pack animals for labor but nothing beyond that.
It seems whatever meager farmlands were available to the village in this mountainous terrain, were all used up to grow just enough food to keep their people fed and some trade with the world at large.
"The people here have no livestock...but they look reasonably well built and have leather accessories...no doubt about it, that's what this village's major trade it.", Aiki drew a conclusion based on the facts she had gathered.
The average person from this village wasn't weak or scrawny...these people were not foreigners to the idea of meat on the dinner table.
They had plenty of leather to go about too.
That meant they HAD to trade for these animal products. And if the trade caravans on their way from Hiroi Pass to Chojo village were being targeted...then this village would certainly be facing a shortage of meat and such products.
Now Aiki only needed to confirm if it truly were the case or not.
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(Chojo Village, 11 PM)
Yutaka stood guard at the outpost some 100 meters from the Chojo village's main gates.
Being a guard in a farming village in the middle of no where...there were worse fates.
Atleast the place was peaceful, Nobody bothered attacking their quaint bit of land because it had little to offer.
Yes, the village had little to offer, little to do, and little to keep a young man like him entertained.
Even the guard job consisted of nothing more interesting than getting to see a curious critter wander out of the woods every once in a while.
It was no wonder then that he was already half asleep.
It would have been another slow and unremarkable night, were it not for a flaming torch (and the one holding it up by extension) making it's way to his outpost.
"Suspicious...What crazy bastard is out here strolling at this hour of the night? The road isn't exactly safe with the wildlife getting active at night.", Yutaka thought.
It was dark and Yutaka had no torches lit near him lest it kill his night vision...so he had no idea about the person who was approaching him...if it even was a single person and not a group.
It was when the flame came closer to his position that he understood why this particular wanderer was not concerned about his safety.
A man in regal robes led a few porters carrying some seemingly heavy cargo. Following him were 8 guards, each equipped with heavy armor and long weapons. At the front of the group was a hunched over man in robes that despite not being anywhere as regal as his master's (or so Yutaka concluded), were still fine and practical. It was this man at the front who held the torch and led the way.
"Definitely some rich guy or noble...why come out here in the sticks though...that's just stupid.", Yutaka thought but made sure it didn't show on his face.
At roughly 50 meters from his outpost, the hunched over man extinguished his torch and broke from his group, leaving them standing on the road. One of the guards followed him and they made their way to his outpost.
Yutaka could see it clearly now. A wobbly old man followed by a guard with weapons and armor which could be a piece of art on their own.
"Hmm...good of him to not torture my dilated pupils...I don't want my night vision to get messed up. But that also confirms it, he is 100% coming here to talk...I hope it's not trouble he brings here...", he silently wished.
The old man spoke in a horrible raspy voice, "This old man wishes a Good Day to you, hardworking sir...or should it be Good Night?", he chuckled.
Yutaka said nothing, his hand instead hovered over his matches with which he could light up the signal fire to alert the village militia in case he sensed trouble.
The old man continued, "Ah...not one for formalities sir? Well then, let this old man get to the point. I happen to be the humble attendant of the Young master of the Kiniro Trading Family."
Yutaka finally let out the breath he was holding but still remained cautious. "Awfully late for an old man like yourself to be wandering out and about, no? Think the tigers would sooner go for younger meat in your party or did growing old kill your fear of death?", he half asked and half joked.
The old man, to his credit, took the joke in stride and did not get visibly angry or upset. "These weary bones would rather sleep in a warm bed at this hour, but the young master seeks adventure. And this servant must now naturally follow his liege...And as for the wildlife, these eight were once elite troops in the Daimyo's guard. One of them could take on no less than two tigers!"
The old man then tapped the soldier next to him on his arm, then they both took 2 steps back. The old man then pointed down at the ground where they had previously stood.
The footsteps left by the man in the soft off-road soil were nothing special...but the ones left by the soldier were DEEP.
Yutaka looked where the old man pointed, and for a moment his head felt empty before drawing a terrifying conclusion.
"That soldier!...All eight of them combined have more metal on their bodies than there is my entire village!", it took him a few seconds to suppress his panic. "Yeah...no more jokes and games...antagonizing these crazy rich bastards is NOT in our best interests."
This time, Yutaka started the conversation. "I understand sir, might I ask what the intentions of the Young Master of the esteemed Kiniro family are regarding my humble village?", he said as politely as he could after he was so on edge mere moments ago.
Internally his thoughts were no where near as smooth. "I don't know who or what the hell the Kiniro family is, but anyone capable of just parading around this much strength so casually is not to be messed with...I'll just pretend like I know." Yutaka thought.
The old man chuckled as if the sudden change in Yutaka's tone was amusing to him. "Well, this old man is glad to know that Kiniro family's name has spread to trade routes we have never walked before!"
Annoyance flickered on Yutaka's face for a second but he reigned himself in and let the old man continue.
"As for the young master's intentions...He intends to walk this road from it's start to it's end, scout out the trading opportunities along the way, establishing contact along the way...essentially either laying groundwork for future ventures or concluding that expanding here would be undesirable.", the old man paused after that.
He drew another clicking raspy breath and continued. "Speaking of trade and establishing contact, the young master's is carrying a big supply of cured and dried meat and top grain leather with him. Would you be interested in trading?"
The unease on Yutaka's face did not escape the old man's observation, who spoke further to sweeten the pot. "Hmmm...since it is our first trade, I'll give you a big discount too! Let's say...3 Kilograms of rice per kilogram of smoked sausage, and 6 Kilograms of rice per square meter of leather?"
This time Yutaka couldn't control his reactions. "Are you serious, old man! That's half the price that I would call fair, aren't you just giving your stuff away?"
The old man only chuckled, "The Kiniro family sees value in establishing friendly relationships, compared to them...a little rice is of little value. So, you think a trade can be arranged by the village?"
At this, Yutaka deflated. "Ah...well...you see, old man...Anyone would jump at your prices. But, we genuinely have NO rice left at all. All the rice harvested in winter was eaten, and what little we saved for trading...it's already all gone. Trade has been good this year...Think you can trade your meat and leather for wheat? We have huge stocks of it in the summer?"
The old man's expression and inflection remained neutral as he spoke, "Well...that's a shame then, it seems trade would not be possible at this time. But not to worry, if we ever come back, your advice will certainly help us better plan a trading excursion to Chojo village."
Yutaka still looked a bit agitated, so the old man spoke once more, "Don't worry, the Kiniro family never holds grudges or causes trouble over missed trades. Don't be so tense young sir, be at ease."
Yutaka loosened up a bit. The old man tapped the soldier again and they both made their way back to their group, the soldier leaving behind deep footprints in the mud.
Soon the old man reunited with his group, lit his torch, and the entire party slowly walked away into the distance.
Once they were out of sight, Yutaka finally relaxed.
This was the first of the rare few times Yutaka would ever see anything interesting over his career as the village's guard.
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(Chojo Village Outskirts, Forest, 11:30PM)
Smoke engulfed the old man with a sudden pop, Aiki emerged from the smoke.
She then dispelled the clones she made when under Transformation jutsu to look like the soldiers, the porters, and the "Young Master".
The problem of numbers, or rather looking like she had numbers was easily solved by clone jutsu. As long as nothing touched the clones or looked too closely, they would look as real as real people.
As for the problem of applying Transformation jutsu on clones being impossible on account of their intangible illusionary nature...Aiki overcame it with clever application of clone jutsu while ALREADY under the effects of transformation jutsu.
She had first performed the transformation jutsu to assume the form of her choice, in this case the young master...and then fired the clone jutsu while maintaining her transformation.
It took every bit of focus and chakra control that Aiki could muster, and it had failed more times than Aiki could count...but it worked enough times for her to generate a whole trading party for herself.
"Good thing I chose the night time for my investigation...were it day time, the traffic on this road would have caused even a blind man to see through my deception", Aiki shook her head.
She chose the Night to minimize anyone being able to see anything suspicious.
Extinguishing the torch before approaching the guard was again a way to stop him from noticing a lack of shadows.
Even when she used her Earth manipulation to dig out the ground her 'soldier' clone's feet, she was a bit nervous...it added to the intimidation but if she overdid it, it would have looked VERY suspicious.
"That guy...even under intimidation and with this good a deal...he didn't take it. That means this village is NOT suffering from a lack of trade. I'll rule out the bandits operating between Torihiki and Chojo for now...Tomorrow, lets investigate Nakaba village.", Aiki decided and started preparing for another night out in the open.
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(Nakaba Village, Next day)
Today too, Aiki had investigated the village the best that she could.
There were no tall hills surrounding Nakaba village from all sides for her to easily scout out the whole village...but what little she did see, told her enough of a story to figure out the entire village.
This village...had no production capabilities of it's own!
There was no farming, no mining, no manufacturing...nothing of the sort.
This village existed solely to be a spot of rest and respite for travelers on the Torihiki-Shogyo highway.
It's only industry were Hospitality and Entertainment.
It was lined with inns, restaurants, hotels, theaters, bars, and such...every street designed to hold down traders on their way to Shogyo City for another day, get them to spend another coin.
Realistically, this village would depend completely on trade for ALL of their needs. From food, to tools, to medicine, everything!
That made things easier for Aiki, even a small interception of trade by bandits would cause MASSIVE ripples in this village's economy.
It made her wonder why they never invested heavily in security, only security she found was limited to an establishment or small area...nobody patrolled the road.
But then again, the village just wasn't big enough to sustain a standing militia big enough to reasonably suppress the average bandit group with tens of people...so why even bother wasting money.
Whatever the case may be, she had another round of investigations to do tonight.
.
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(Nakaba Village, Next Morning)
Aiki used a strategy similar to the one she had used for investigating Chojo village.
This time she had played the part of an attendant for a young lady belonging to a made up trading family.
She had talked about trading wine because she figured it might be the one thing this city would always need...but to her surprise the gate guard had almost desperately asked if she had any food or fabric she was willing to trade for.
Hell when told that they only had a small amount of it and they needed to sell it in Shogyo city, the man assured her that she could get away with selling it for 10% more than the normal price!
The sourness on his face when Aiki left with her 'party'...Aiki could almost taste it!
She spent the night like the one before it, alone and in the open.
By the morning she had a few conclusions drawn about the whole situation and a new lead to pursue.
"A 10% discount in a village built around fleecing the traders...this village must be facing a food and fabric shortage of no less than 20%", Aiki knew even in desperation no one was willing to get a bad deal.
"If bandits truly are behind it, they are certainly working somewhere between Chojo and Nakaba village", Aiki narrowed her area of search.
"But...in an arrangement like this, where trade flows one way losses only add up down the way...then why is this village suffering 20% loss of food and fabric...but the highway revenue has dropped by a mere 4%?", Aiki silently thought about it for a few minutes.
And then suddenly realization hit her, "Someone...is specifically targeting low profile trading parties and caravans! Getting their hands on stuff that is little to non-taxable."
It explained why this village suffered from a lack of food and fabric, both were in the lowest taxable cargo brackets and tended to fetch modest prices.
As such only newer or poorer traders primarily traded in these commodities.
If someone was specifically targeting these people...then they could keep themself, or their group...fed, clothed and even have enough left to flip for a modest chunk of cash or resources.
As long as the high volume trade or luxury goods trade was not disrupted...The overall impact of this on the revenue stream of the major cities would be small enough to be negligible! And as long as the situation for the villages on this road did not get worse beyond a certain threshold...they would never spend the money and resources necessary to request an investigation by the authorities or shinobi.
"This...this is 100% the work of an organized group. Bandits! No animal is paying this much attention to maintaining a low profile and hiding behind negligible fluctuations in trade based revenue", Aiki's eyes hardened.
"There are bandits between Chojo village and Nakaba village...hunting small caravans with goods that the big city won't miss and the villages won't miss too badly...It seems they got too confident or careless though...or perhaps the village does not work with margins wide enough for any bandits to take advantage of.", Aiki's had her answer.
Now, she needed visual confirmation.
She knew what she had to do.
She made her way to Chojo village. Where she would wait for a small caravan trading in food or fabric to leave towards Nakaba village.