Despite its small territory and lack of military power, the Land of Medicine had its advantages and even some hidden secrets.
The most important bit was, of course, the country's namesake.
The Land of Medicine's climate and environment was perfect to grow a myriad of medicinal plans, critters and more.
Being a universal source for all kinds of medicine, the country was considered neutral, with none of the major nations making a move for it.
During the chaos of the First Great War, there were some smaller countries eying it but the Land of Medicine successfully defended itself.
There were three main villages in the country, the Howling Wolf Village, the Awakening Wolf Village and the Nourishing Wolf Village.
They were all small clan based settlements with a few shinobi. Even all of them put together would barely equate to a standard Hidden Village from a smaller country.
Still with their medicines and a little shinobi work on the side, quality of life was good and the small territory was easy to defend from threats like bandits chakra wielding wild beasts.
Shiki's interest laid exclusively in the Howling Wolf Village.
It was the strongest of the three, enough to function like a Hidden Village by itself though by the time of the original series, they stopped functioning like one.
This was due to the invention of Blue Fire Powder, essentially, supercharged gunpowder that used water to detonate.
Using it, the people of the Howling Wolf village would be able to defeat an annexation attempt by Amegakure around the time of the Third Great War or just after it.
However, the boy doubted this invention had already appeared. It was very likely to be a recent thing based on the way it was mentioned in the canon novel it appeared in.
But Shiki knew the other two things that aroused his interest were definitely around.
Saegenzai, a genjutsu inducing medicine and its refined form Kotaro which was produced exclusively by the Kodon clan of Howling Wolf Village.
Even more important, was the existence of a powerful beast by the name of Roen, it was the village's namesake, a wolf-tiger monster whose size and power could match some of the weaker Tailed Beasts.
For Shiki who wished to increase his strength despite the cap of his young age, this was the most important target.
In the canon novel where Roen appeared, it was sealed within a boy and affected him in much the same way a tailed beast affects its jinchuriki.
Of course, it was considerably weaker, an immortal tailed beast, it could be killed and, without a steady supply of chakra to feed upon, it would eventually starve and die.
Not to mention it was a rabid animal, no intelligence at all, purely bestial instinct.
But that last part worked in Shiki's favor as it would make Roen far easier to subdue. After all, rather than an intelligent being continuously trying to take control, the boy would simply have to deal with the violent instincts of the beast.
With his current sealing expertise, he would be unaffected unless he directly drew upon Roen's power but even then, Kukyo would completely void the effect on his mind.
So, compared to intelligent beings like the Tailed Beasts or even the weaker Zero Tails, Shiki much preferred the powerful but dumb and easy to control Roen.
*
The three ladies and the boy headed inward into the Land of Medicine after disembarking.
According to their original plan, before Saburo decided to make trouble, the ladies had no intent of sticking around the Land of Iron, merely passing through without drawing attention and continuing their medicinal business.
As such, the Land of Medicine was a perfect place to resupply which, considering they would not be going to the Land of Iron, became the natural course of action.
Howling Wolf Village, the comparatively most prosperous location in the Land of Medicine, renowned for its countless medicinal herbs, became their destination, as if destiny itself was telling Shiki to move ahead with his plans.
"Tomoe-dono, Shiki-san, please go ahead and look for temporary lodging while Beni-sama and I go to purchase medical supplies." Ema requested.
Ema was the true healer of the group while Beni's Shuigan was great at finding the best quality supplies.
Tomoe and Shiki accepted their roles without any resistance, Tomoe even seemed somewhat eager to get some time alone with Shiki to talk.
This did not go unnoticed at all and caused all around sighs.
Benihime did not want Tomoe to bother Shiki.
Ema understood her older companion's wish to return to the Land of Iron but considered her current actions pointless and more likely to antagonise their only current allies.
As for Shiki he knew what was coming and would much rather avoid the conversation if possible.
*
"Shiki-kun, I would like to speak with you." The pair had barely settled into a rented room at an inn and Tomoe was already getting into it.
The boy internally sighed.
"Tomoe-san . . . I know what you want but in the current situation, it just isn't feasible." Shiki spoke.
The older woman paused for a bit at the preemptive shutdown.
"But if we can obtain Konoha's help-" Tomoe tried to argue.
"Konoha won't help. Not when it means interfering with the Land of Iron's politics. It is a diplomatically suicidal move." Shiki attempted to explain.
The woman seemed to wilt at the words.
Seeing this, the boy did, at the very least, make an attempt at consolation.
"Look Tomoe-san, this is just a temporary state of affairs. I already made the decision to help you three out so it is just a matter of time before the opportunity arises."
"Although I might not act like it. I am very young, with a few years to grow, my power and position will be much higher, making it much simpler to help you out." Shiki explained.
Tomoe took a deep breath and went silent for a minute or two.
"Alright Shiki-san. It seems I got too impatient. With my wish seemingly so close at hand, my vision became narrow. I apologise." The woman finally responded.
"No need for apologies. I understand the feeling, it's only human nature after all." The boy replied and Tomoe smiled.
It was a faint, elegant smile, fitting for a distinguished noble beauty.
'How far have I fallen to try and depend on a literal child, even being consoled by him.' She shook her head with exasperation at herself.
Without hesitation she reached out and ruffled Shiki's head, laughing at his displeased expression.
'That's what I get for acting nice . . .' The boy internally grumbled but said nothing.
He just assumed a meditative pose and focused on his Kukyo - Seven Senses, driving the sensory jutsu to its current limit.
Shiki's goal couldn't be more obvious, he was raring to get back to his information stealing ways.
All of the secrets held by the people of Howling Wolf Village would soon be his. Roen would come right after that.
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Saw the day wrong, this is tomorrow's chapter so I won't be posting tomorrow as you already got it today.
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Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -