Finally, the next day, in the morning of their training ground.
"Are you ready, honey?" Jay asked.
"Yes, I'm ready, how about you, honey?" Ameno replied.
"Of course I'm ready, so should we go now?" Jay asked again.
"Wait a minute, let me remember… I've prepared food for mom and dad, and Nining… I've watered the vegetable garden… and finally, I've cleaned the house…" Ameno seemed to be trying to remember what she had done before deciding to leave.
Finally, Ameno said, "Okay, let's go!!" Ameno then said to Jay.
"Okay," Jay replied happily, then took Ameno's hand and led her into the room.
######
"Ahhh…where am I, honey?" Ameno asked, confused.
When Ameno realized she had appeared in an unfamiliar forest.
"This is where I first arrived, honey... and welcome to the ninja world..." Jay then told Ameno where they had arrived.
"Ahhh, this is the ninja world... wait a minute... this scent... this is the scent of sand... yes... this is the familiar scent of sand, honey!!" Excited as she realized she had returned to her home world.
Ameno hadn't expected to finally return to her home world, though she couldn't be 100% sure where she was.
However, as a border area adjacent to Sunagakure territory, Ameno had been here several times and was familiar with the atmosphere and smell of the air.
It was dry and a little hot... there wasn't the humid scent of the forest in Adam's village, Ameno thought after analyzing her surroundings.
"Then let's go to the nearest village..." Jay then took out his horse-drawn carriage, which contained some basic supplies and daily necessities for ordinary citizens.
As for the ninja's necessities, Jay kept them in his space and didn't dare take them out until he hired another ninja to escort them.
After all, the ninja world is unsafe and always dangerous, so it's best to be cautious and minimize losses.
Fortunately, they didn't forget to change into the clothes of ordinary merchants in the ninja world.
Ameno, of course, had told them about the clothing reference.
"Then let's go!" Ameno excitedly said, and immediately boarded the horse-drawn carriage that appeared before them.
So, not long after, on a remote border road, a horse-drawn carriage carrying a young man and woman was seen moving towards the Sand Country border.
(Note: Do not conflate the time in this story with the time in the original anime, as many changes and adjustments were made for this story, so please understand any differences.)
Finally, after walking for almost an hour, a fairly large village appeared before them.
The village appeared to be quite beautiful, with a large lake in the center, which appeared to be the village's main source of water.
"Do you know what village that is, honey?" Jay asked Ameno.
"This is Hacho Village, a village on the border between the Sand Nation and the Fire Nation. It's quite prosperous and well-developed," Ameno replied.
(If you're curious about Hacho Village, you can find it in episodes 290-291.)
"Ohhh, I think it's bigger than our Adam Village," Jay replied.
"Yes, it's much more developed, honey. Because they're located on the border between the Fire Nation and the Sand Nation, they're quite developed as a connecting point between the two.
On the other side, there's Tonika Village, which also borders Hacho Village," Ameno replied again.
"Then let's see if there's anything interesting in this village," Jay replied, turning his horse into the village.
Walking into the village area, they were greeted by a neat and well-maintained stone-paved road.
Seeing the road, Jay compared it to the ordinary dirt road in Adam Village; it was truly a stark difference.
Shouldn't Adam Village be better, but just by looking at the condition of the road, he could already tell the vast difference between the two villages.
Although Adam's village had far more abundant natural resources than Hacho's, everything here was somehow more neatly organized.
But after considering the current political situation in his homeworld, Jay quickly realized that this was commonplace for a ruler like that.
Furthermore, they had just experienced a rebellion, which of course further delayed their progress.
Putting aside these unimportant matters, Jay returned to Then, he saw the neat, identical houses of the villagers.
They were built with a mix of stone and wood, and the sight of these houses reminded Jay of medieval European homes.
On a smaller scale, Jay and Ameno arrived at the village around 9 a.m., and the village was still bustling with activity.
Many children and villagers were milling about.
Seeing the two of them arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, the villagers didn't look at them strangely.
This was likely because they were used to the arrival of merchants from both the Fire Nation and the Sand Nation.
With Ameno's guidance, they arrived at the village's bustling market: the Hacho Village Market.
"Are we going to trade here?" Jay, seeing that they had arrived at a market, immediately asked Ameno.
"Yes, we have arrived at a place where we can sell freely. We just need permission and pay some fees to do so," Ameno replied.
"Then, let me go get the permit, honey, and you'll look after our horse-drawn carriage," Jay replied.
"Okay, you can go into the market and ask the vendors where the market supervisor's office is," Ameno told Jay where they could ask for permission.
(Note: To simplify currency exchange in this story, 1 dollar in Jay's world is equal to 1 ryo.
And according to some sources, 1 ryo in the anime is equivalent to 10 yen. As for how much ordinary citizens earn in the ninja world, we won't discuss it; you can find out for yourself.
However, some sources suggest the price of a bowl of ramen in the anime world ranges from 110-150 ryo, so this will serve as a baseline. Please understand if there are differences in commodity prices in this novel and the original anime.)
After asking around for a while, Jay found a clue to the market supervisor's office.
After arriving there, Jay was immediately served by the office staff. There was no complicated process.
They only asked where they were from and what goods they were selling. Otherwise, they simply charged the village a fee set by the village for outside traders trading in the village.
After paying an administration fee of 1,000 Ryo, Jay was given a booth number at the market and allowed to trade in the village for three days.