Our journey through the Land of Valleys continued, though the deeper in we got, it wasn't just that stops and villages became scarce—everything also grew worse in quality, from roads to places to stay.
It was very clear that the place grew poorer the further away from its wealthier neighbours it got.
This seemed to be due to simple logistics: with all these small roads and bridges one had to pass through to reach this place, fewer merchants came by here, which led to less investment, and that caused the infrastructure to deteriorate, which led to fewer merchants.
It was a vicious cycle indeed, one only made worse by bandits and other lowlifes that grew from the desperation and lawlessness out here.
This situation had led to the rise of Takeda Shōsa, as his fortress stood between the Land of Valleys and the Land of Bears, stopping the criminals from entering there.
The more need for him, the greater his power grew, until he rebelled and became a headache for both of them. Yet politics and his own strength made him difficult to deal with.
Indeed, while he was far from an S-ranked shinobi himself, there was no doubt that it took one to deal with him—or a full team of jōnin, and with likely casualties.
Even Iwa couldn't just get rid of him without sending out their best, or paying a price far beyond the worth of the mission, which led to the political situation. Iwa would do it… but strings would no doubt be attached.
And so I had the task now. A good bounty to hunt; someone strong enough to boost my reputation while refilling my dwindling supply of money.
"What is that smell?" Kanna suddenly asked.
"That's sulphur. There are some sulphur mines in these parts. That's why our target is so infamous: his blasting powers are made in part from the sulphur mined here, which is likely why he hasn't left, since that would cut off his supply."
She merely nodded at my words, not fully understanding what sulphur was. And who could blame her?
The general level of education across the world was pretty low. I had only been given what I got because I was groomed to be Hiashi's wife.
If not, one's education was limited to what one needed.
Plenty of people in smaller villages didn't even know how to write their own names. Reading and writing weren't really needed when you were just a poor rice farmer.
And who would even teach them?
There was no need for schools outside the most significant towns and cities, and even then, they were limited to the few.
One shouldn't forget that Konoha had changed the world by introducing the shinobi academy—a school that taught shinobi skills, which was completely unheard of—and it was only with that that even the idea of schools teaching other things started to come about.
And as for something like what sulphur was? That was something only very few people needed to know. For those working with it in the initial stages, it was enough to know to keep fire away from it.
I didn't think more than a handful of people around the entire world knew how to use sulphur when it came to explosions; chakra was still the way to do it. Using explosive powders was still new and only really done by a few mining powers to open new mines.
Well, and by my target, who used it to create something similar to a kekkei genkai—though it was mostly just Fire Style and some Wind Style tricks mixed together to mimic something akin to an Explosion Release.
"The earth seems darker here, like black," Kanna commented a while later.
And indeed, the terrain around us was covered in ash and soot.
"That means we are getting close; it's the result of the so-called Red Wyrn playing around," I noted.
Kanna looked around once more, trying to see any signs of that. "Why would someone do this?"
I snorted. "Because boys like their explosions."
That made Kanna smile a little, because indeed, boys always loved Fire Style.
As we continued, the surroundings only grew darker: the earth blackened further by ash and soot; the valleys too were darkened, and with my Byakugan, I could spot hundreds of marks left behind by explosions.
Indeed, this was the personal playground of a madman, someone not too dissimilar from Deidara.
Those two would likely have gotten along, until one of them blew the other up to prove their explosive art.
Though Deidara was just a kid at this point. He wasn't very old when he died… honestly, I doubted whether or not he was even a genin right now.
I think he was in his early twenties when he died, and that was around sixteen years from now, so yes—he might have grown up hearing about the legend of the Red Wyrn, though the man would have been long dead by the time he was starting to throw around explosions of his own.
"Kanna, I want to remind you that you have nothing to worry about. With me here, nothing can harm either of you." As I spotted the fort that our target used as his base of operations, I saw dozens of chakra signatures.
Most civilians, four genin, one chūnin, and one jōnin—no doubt my target.
"Kaguya-hime?" Kanna asked, surprised by my sudden words.
"We will reach it in another two hours at our current pace, and it's possible that things will get loud, so I don't want you to get afraid."
Kanna nodded, clearly worried, but trying to hide it, trying to be brave.
I, however, was getting slightly excited. It had been far too long since I had a good fight, and while I didn't expect too much, it was still a new type of situation I would be in.
Soon enough, cut into the mountains themselves, a massive fort of blackened stone and rock towered over us.
Once a defensive stronghold and home of large parts of the forces from the Land of Bears, it was now a stronghold of crime and oppression. From here, evil now moved as bandits used it as a place to hide, all while paying the Wyrn a protection fee they looted from both sides of the border.
Kanna gasped as she could finally see it all. "It's huge."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I formed a shadow clone next to me. "Stay close to my clone. It will keep you safe."
"Kaguya-hime?" Kanna asked, concerned.
"My target uses large-scale attacks. While they won't be able to harm me, it's better if I don't have to worry about you getting caught up in it."
The clone moved immediately. Since it was my clone, it knew what I was thinking when I made it. It had its orders, and I didn't need to say a word.
I admit, the Shadow Clone Jutsu was indeed one of the most useful pieces of ninjutsu the Second Hokage invented. Being able to double your offensive output was incredible, not to mention the countless other uses it had.
With my clone, I had nothing to worry about.
"Stay here," I said calmly. "Do not move from this spot unless my clone tells you to."
Kanna hesitated. I could see it in the tension of her shoulders, the way she hugged Karin in her arms. But still, she nodded, trusting my words and my clone. "Just please, be careful."
"Good."
-----
The fortress loomed larger with every step, its blackened stone pitted and scarred by countless explosions. This place had been carved and reshaped by force rather than craftsmanship—walls reinforced after the fact, towers added where the rock had cracked instead of where they should have been.
Sloppy.
Effective, but sloppy.
With my Byakugan active, the interior of the fortress unfolded before me like a crude map.
Civilians moved around—servants, or maybe even slaves—as well as bandits, many bandits, though it wasn't easy to tell the difference based on chakra alone. So I could only confidently identify some of them, and that was based on their actions.
For those with a bit more chakra, it wasn't too hard to tell who and what they were.
Chakra told a tale of its own once it was used and shaped.
One of them was a kunoichi, just at the genin level—not all that different from a civilian, really.
Why, one seemed to be my target's pleasure companion, a rather thankless task given what his file said about him. A sadistic man who loved to inflict suffering and pain on his partner.
The remaining genin seemed the typical runaway shinobi who figured doing missions for a few ryō wasn't the life for them and went down the bandit route.
The chūnin seemed like the same situation from his chakra, though given its strong earth nature, I suspected he might be from Iwa.
Which might mean his head might be worth a little more than a normal, random chūnin missing-nin.
Though, far more importantly, he knew I was here—and was currently running to alert the others.
It was hardly surprising that they spotted me; after all, I had taken no measures to hide.
Still, now that I had alerted my host, I should be ready for his warm welcome.
Takeda Shōsa. He was famous for his so-called Blasting Kekkei Genkai, though it was just filling the air with his blasting powder and igniting it. And indeed, the place was filled with the powder, covering everything.
It was cleverly disguised as dust and grime, allowing him to blast any intruder from all around.
This setup was indeed troublesome; only my Byakugan allowed me to spot it. If someone was caught off guard, even an elite jōnin might very well die.
This danger did indeed justify the bounty. Should he be pushed to a dead end, he might detonate his entire fortress.
Water Style would be useful here; wet blasting powder would likely be less effective, but I had something better—something I had been aching to try since I succeeded in achieving it.
Taking a deep breath, I started shaping my chakra. I called upon the great well of power, and turned the attributes into what I needed.
Water.
Air.
As I had seen so many years ago, I combined them.
"Ice Style: Great Winter Technique!" I clapped my hands together.
Instantly, the air around me filled with mist as the temperature dropped rapidly. Ice started to spread around me, covering the ground, the floor—even the ceiling was covered in ice as the world around me turned into a land of frost, snow, and ice.
"Let's see you ignite anything in these conditions," I whispered with a smirk on my lips, as I once more started moving forward, and with every step I took, the ice spread to cover yet more of this fortress.
(End of chapter)
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