Chapter 197: Visitors from Another Village
On a slope on the road to the Hidden Cloud, a group of three was looking at the magnificent village in the distance.
"Is this the Hidden Cloud Village?" Pakura said, her voice filled with disbelief. "This is not like a ninja village. It's almost as big as the capital of the Land of Wind."
She was actually giving the Land of Wind a lot of credit. She could tell that the Hidden Cloud was already much larger than their own capital. She just didn't want to admit it.
Sasori, though he said nothing, was also stunned. The scale of it was breathtaking. It was hard to even call it a "village."
The Hidden Sand, with its harsh environment and its policy of quality over quantity, was one of the smallest of the five great villages. In front of the current Hidden Cloud, it was like a quail next to a rooster. Their pride had been wounded.
"The reports said that the Cloud was not like this before," Rasa said, his face grim. "They've recently undergone an expansion. Don't forget, we are here on a mission. We must remember everything we see and hear."
Just then, an old man passed by and, seeing the three of them standing there in a daze, sneered.
Country bumpkins.
The laugh drew their attention. Rasa's already grim face grew even darker.
Just a civilian.
But no matter how angry he was, he had to endure it. They were here on a mission. And with the Cloud's current strength, if they were to cause any trouble here, they would likely not be shown any mercy.
The three of them composed themselves and continued on. As they got closer to the village, the number of pedestrians and merchant caravans on the road increased. The Cloud was situated at a very high altitude, and the road to it was all uphill. Many of the carriages were struggling, but even that could not dampen the enthusiasm of the merchants.
In comparison, the Hidden Sand... well, let's not compare. It's too depressing.
Before they had even reached the new main gate, they were stopped.
"You must be the envoys from the Hidden Sand," a Cloud ninja said, surrounding them. "Come with me."
The three of them had come openly, in their ninja uniforms and with their forehead protectors. They had been inspected at the border and had stated their purpose.
After a body search, they were led through the main gate.
The keen-sensed Sasori clearly felt that he had been scanned by some kind of barrier.
The guide greeted his colleagues and then led them on.
Rasa silently observed, thinking, The ground is clearly not naturally excavated. There are traces of ninjutsu. Hmm, this is important intelligence. I must remember to report it to the village.
The surrounding buildings were all new, their colors bright. The streets were lined with shops, and the constant flow of merchants and customers was deafening. The place was more lively than even the bustling capital of the Land of Hot Water.
"This is the busiest part of the new development area," the guide explained. "Because it's closest to the main gate, everyone passes through here. This way."
Every now and then, they would see someone holding a snail shell, smiling foolishly.
That must be the unknown communication device from the intelligence reports, Pakura thought, observing them. I didn't expect them to be so open about it. It's said that a large number of them have been distributed. It must be a mass-producible item.
Rasa made another note in his mental notebook.
As they were walking, a flash of red hair caught their attention. It was the same color as Sasori's. In front of a shop was a sign that read, "Shop for Rent."
When they got closer, they realized that they were familiar faces. Two of them.
The red-haired one was Kayo Uzumaki, a famous figure from the Joint Chunin Exams. And the other, the one with the blue hair, was even more familiar to Sasori. It was Konan, the one who had defeated him in the third round.
The memory of being so utterly helpless against her explosions was still a bitter one. His calm eyes gradually turned into those of a dead fish.
"No," Kayo was saying, "the price can't go any lower. Our family took out a loan and used a lot of connections to get this shop. This is a fair price."
"Kayo-san," Konan said urgently, "please, just a little lower. When my mom comes, she'll give your whole family a discount! Really!"
"Even if you say that," she said, troubled, "I'm in a difficult position. Business is business. We can't just rent it to you at a loss."
"Then how about a partnership?" Konan said, her eyes lighting up. "You've tasted my mother's cooking at 'Gokuraku no Yu,' haven't you? She's one of the head chefs. If we put up a sign that says 'formerly of Gokuraku no Yu,' we'll be sure to get a lot of business. And she can bring two of her assistants with her. How about we become partners? We can forget about the rent and just split the profits, 30-70."
"30-70 is a bit much," she said, intrigued. "But we can talk about it."
Her mother was a housewife, but she was a good cook. She had had to take care of her and her brother before, but now that they were older, she had a lot more free time. If she could find a reliable partner to open a shop with, it would be much better than just collecting rent.
The two of them hit it off and were soon deep in conversation, not even noticing the group of people standing nearby.
"Oh," Kayo said, looking up after a while, "you're Sasori and... Pakura, right? From the Hidden Sand? What are you doing in the Hidden Cloud?"
It was rare for ninja from different villages to enter each other's territory, especially so openly.
Rasa didn't know them, so Pakura stepped forward. "The village sent us on a mission," she said. "What a coincidence to run into you here."
Konan looked at the dead-fish-eyed Sasori, but she had no hard feelings. She ran over and pinched his cheek.
"Hey," she said, "you haven't grown at all. Haven't you been eating?"
Though he didn't realize it himself, as the youngest of the contestants and with his incredibly good looks, he had been quite popular among the female contestants of the various villages.
He tried to swat her hand away, but missed. She seemed to have anticipated his reaction and was looking at him with a teasing, childish expression.
He was even more annoyed.
"It's rare to see ninja from other villages here," Kayo said. "Where are you heading? I can be your guide."
The three of them had no objections, and Konan joined them.
Rasa secretly sized them up. The more outstanding contestants from the Joint Chunin Exams had, of course, been noticed by the various villages. Kayo's report, for example, had described her as having a wide-range sensory ability, with average frontal combat skills.
And Konan's was: "Possesses a special secret jutsu, with the ability to stay in the air, and can freely control explosive tags. A terrifying explosion ninja."
But it seemed he would have to update his intelligence. This Konan didn't seem very rich.
Just then, the surrounding crowd began to stir.
"Quick, to South 1 district! Today's the day of the statue unveiling!"
"Is it today? Let's go, let's go! We almost missed it!"
The three Sand ninja were confused. Kayo and Konan also slapped their foreheads. "It's the day of the statue unveiling!" they said. "Let's go, let's go! Let's go and see!"