Land of Rain, Asuka Shrine Ruins.
Naruto passed through a dilapidated torii gate and entered the shrine ruins. It was said that during the Warring States Period, this shrine was the most prosperous one in the Land of Rain, its incense smoke perpetually burning.
But due to the First and Second Great Shinobi Wars, the Land of Rain became a battleground for three factions. The number of pilgrims dwindled, leading this once glorious shrine to fall into decay.
Arriving at the location Yahiko had mentioned, Naruto glanced around. Within the ruined shrine, there was no one else besides him.
"Am I early?" he thought to himself.
Finding a relatively clean, flat spot, he sat down cross-legged, Kusabimaru, still sheathed at his waist, laid horizontally across his knees. He closed his eyes and quietly awaited the arrival of his trading partner.
Two hours later.
A faint chakra source slowly entered the vicinity of the Asuka Shrine.
Naruto opened his eyes, a look of puzzlement filling them.
Although a ninja's strength wasn't solely determined by the amount of their chakra, generally speaking, powerful ninja rarely had small chakra reserves.
He seriously suspected that someone unrelated to the transaction had mistakenly wandered in.
But as the chakra source gradually approached him, Naruto understood. There was no mistake; that person was the representative sent by the Outer Ring for the trade.
"Outer Ring?" Naruto asked.
Although the other person's body was tightly concealed beneath a black robe, subtle movements indicated she was female.
"Akatsuki?" Her voice was unnaturally hoarse, likely not her original tone, possibly altered through some voice-changing means.
"Yes." Naruto nodded.
He tossed her the storage scroll Yahiko had given him yesterday. From every angle, the person before him felt like a weakling, but to ensure there were no issues with the chakra metal, he had no intention of trying any tricks.
The woman caught the scroll. After verifying the amount of money, she also took out two storage scrolls and tossed them to him.
"Two large-capacity storage scrolls? What kind of backing does this organization have?"
Naruto was inwardly surprised. To be honest, even he wasn't entirely confident in creating storage scrolls of this specification. After confirming the items and quantity were correct, he put them back into his own storage scroll.
Seeing the transaction completed, the woman directly left from another direction of the shrine. Naruto withdrew his gaze, tucked the scroll into his robe, and left the shrine in the opposite direction from her.
The entire transaction, from start to finish, took less than two minutes—concise and decisive.
Outside the Asuka Shrine, Naruto sensed the Flying Thunder God formula he had left on his way here and was about to return to Amegakure.
Suddenly, his expression flickered. He turned his head towards the Land of Wind.
Since arriving in this world, he had only left one keepsake.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
Handing the storage scroll containing the chakra metal to his shadow clone, Naruto turned and headed towards the Land of Wind.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique and Kurama Mode, even a shadow clone could deliver the chakra metal to Yahiko safe and sound.
Rouran.
"Why isn't anything happening?" Sara stared at the wooden stick that had burned to ashes, her cute little face filled with confusion.
"Could it have expired?"
"Ouch!" The words had barely left her mouth when Sara yelped, clutching her forehead.
"Even with the fastest carrier hawk delivering a letter, a round trip takes a considerable amount of time." Seramu retracted her finger. "Go find a broom and clean up the ashes on the floor."
"Your Majesty, you are indeed here." Just as Sara took a step, a sharp male voice came from outside.
A portly man with a prosperous-looking face walked in.
"Anrokuzan? Is something the matter?" Seramu turned to look at him and asked.
"The new batch of puppets requires your Dragon Vein energy support to be deployed," Anrokuzan said slowly after a bow, his fleshy face creasing into waves as he smiled.
People are a product of their environment. A year ago, he was the skinny Mukade. Nourished by the land and water of Rouran, he had gradually rounded out.
"Is that so…" Seramu murmured, hesitating whether to grant Anrokuzan further access to the Dragon Vein only after Lord Naruto arrived.
Truth be told, the power Anrokuzan currently wielded was already enough to overthrow Rouran.
"Your Majesty, the sand stabilization project in the west has been completed thanks to the efforts of the puppets," Anrokuzan said with a faint smile, unhurriedly, seeing her hesitation.
"If I can control more puppets, then the people of Rouran will have more land to live on, more comfortable buildings…" This was the basis of his confidence in repeatedly requesting Dragon Vein energy. "Nourished by your Dragon Vein power, Rouran will have more arable land and produce more food."
In a year's time, he had more or less figured out this woman's way of thinking.
Although the Queen of Rouran always hesitated and pondered for a long time whenever she granted him Dragon Vein energy…
As long as his plans were beneficial to Rouran and its people, this woman would, after some hesitation, agree to his requests.
All in all, she was a shrewd, yet foolish woman.
"Your Majesty, there have been quite a few newborns recently. The citizens of Rouran need more food," Anrokuzan continued.
"…" Seramu stroked her daughter's head. "I understand."
"Then I won't disturb Your Majesty any longer." The smile on Anrokuzan's face grew even brighter. After another bow, he turned and left.
Looking at her mother's furrowed brow, Sara tightly gripped her hand.
Amegakure.
"Were there any unexpected incidents?" Yahiko asked.
"Possibly." Recalling the few chakra signatures he had sensed on the way, the shadow clone said uncertainly.
Those blocking the road between Amegakure and the Asuka Shrine ruins were, nine times out of ten, highway robbers.
But the Flying Thunder God Technique was a space-time ninjutsu, eliminating the need for conventional travel, so they hadn't encountered each other.
"Possibly?" Yahiko was speechless. What kind of strange answer was that?
Although he couldn't quite grasp the meaning the clone was trying to convey, looking at the storage scroll on the table, Yahiko's tense heart relaxed a little.
The means to counter Sunagakure's puppeteers were now ready. Though the cost was a bit high, it was far better than sacrificing the lives of Amegakure ninja.
"You were really fast." Yahiko glanced at the blue sky and white clouds outside. "I thought you'd be back tomorrow."
Shadow Clone: "…"
He always felt there was something odd about what Yahiko said.
"Where's Konan?" the shadow clone asked. The fact that Yahiko was alone in the large office was highly unusual.
"She went with Nagato to research Kekkei Genkai," Yahiko said, lounging lazily in his chair.
"Paper Release?" Shadow Clone Naruto's eyebrow twitched. Konan had asked him about Kekkei Genkai not long ago.
But regarding Kekkei Genkai, especially self-created ones, his understanding was limited to book knowledge.
After all, he was born with only Wind Release affinity; he couldn't play around with combining two elements for a Kekkei Genkai, and Kekkei Tota was out of the question.
When Konan had consulted him, all he could do was share the relevant knowledge he had found in his parents' study in that world.
"Mm," Yahiko nodded slightly.
"Nagato, who is proficient in all five elemental ninjutsu, is indeed a good teacher."
Nagato was the kind of ultimate genius who had mastered all five elemental releases and had already started researching Yin-Yang Release.
"Why don't you try researching a Kekkei Genkai like Konan?" the shadow clone asked with a smile.
"If I remember correctly, you're dual-natured too."
"You think I haven't tried? Is that kind of thing something an ordinary person can play with?" Yahiko shot him an annoyed glare.
Developing a Kekkei Genkai, aside from deep mastery of one's own chakra natures, also required a significant amount of luck.
The same Fire + Water combination: some fused it into the terrifyingly destructive Boil Release, while others ended up with a Mist Release that could only kill by suffocation…
Of course, that wasn't to say Mist Release was weak.
There were many similar Kekkei Genkai in the shinobi world. Take Wood Release, for example, a Kekkei Genkai powerful enough to suppress an entire era; other hidden villages definitely had ideas about copying it.
As everyone knew, Wood Release was Earth + Water, at least on the surface. And yet, Kumogakure's Earth + Water fused into a rubber-like Lava Release; Iwagakure's black earth fused into a cement-like Lava Release.
Both were Earth + Water, the basic components identical, yet the Kekkei Genkai developed were worlds apart.
One could only say that comparisons are often invidious; comparing goods, you discard one; comparing people, you despair.
Perhaps Yahiko had ended up creating something similar, or even a completely unusable product.