If the whole world were a human body, then the Five Great Nations would be the vital organs—and the merchant caravans, its blood vessels.
Sure, the Hidden Villages often wanted nothing more than to beat each other's brains out, but when it came to trade caravans, there was generally a hands-off policy.
After all, ninja didn't transport goods themselves between countries and cities. That was the job of merchant caravans. Each Hidden Village had its own local specialties, unavailable anywhere else, making trade vital.
Of course, customs inspections had to be strict—just in case spies tried to slip through.
But every ninja village depended on trade caravans for supplies and economic exchange. That's why escort missions for merchant convoys were typically ranked C-rank—just enough to deal with the occasional bandit.
Ninja cared about trade routes. Bandits didn't. They just wanted to get rich.
Now that the war was over, it was rare for any Hidden Village to attack merchant caravans. Doing so would utterly destroy their reputation.
"Truth is," Gatō said after hesitating a moment, "I've offended a merchant from the Land of Water. He said he'd hire ninja to have me killed."
Kazuki nodded. If that was the case, then the B-rank classification made sense.
"But are you sure he wouldn't hire a jōnin?" Kazuki asked. Better to be safe.
"He can't afford it," Gatō said with confidence. "Kirigakure's under tight control these days, and I know the man's financial limits. A jōnin is out of his reach."
Kazuki figured that since Gatō eventually became a wealthy tycoon, he clearly survived this incident. Even without Kazuki's help, he probably wouldn't die here. And that meant no high-level threats were likely.
So Kazuki and Guy departed with him.
They still had several days of leave left—more than enough to escort Gatō to the Land of Waves.
"Hey, Kazuki! Let's travel while walking on our hands!" Guy flipped over and balanced on one hand, flashing a thumbs-up with the other—which, due to being upside-down, was pointed downward.
"I'll frog-hop instead," Kazuki replied with a sigh, deciding to use the trip as strength training.
Gatō sat in his carriage watching the bizarre duo—one hand-standing, one frog-hopping—and oddly enough, he felt...safe.
These two shinobi clearly worked hard. That kind of dedication meant they'd probably handle any trouble just fine.
He just didn't understand why one of them kept tossing out clones every so often, only to continue hopping along as if it were normal.
The journey went smoothly for two full days. No signs of enemies. Nothing suspicious.
"I thought this was supposed to be a B-rank mission. Where are the enemy ninja?" Guy asked, his mouth full of dried rations.
Kazuki chewed thoughtfully. "That merchant hired shinobi from the Land of Water... Probably from Kirigakure."
That alone made things trickier.
These weren't hot-blooded morons charging in screaming about youth and friendship. These were cold, calculating shinobi who thought before acting.
Kirigakure's ninja were famous for their Water Release techniques and their dominance in aquatic combat.
Sure, anyone who learned chakra nature transformation could use other elemental styles, but fighting in your home terrain gave a major edge.
Water Release on an open ocean was vastly different than using it in a desert.
"Oh... ninja from the Hidden Mist, huh..." Guy nodded sagely.
Then paused. "So what?"
Kazuki sighed and explained.
The Land of Waves was an island nation—and always would be, for the foreseeable future. To get there, one had to cross the sea by boat.
If Kazuki were the enemy ninja, he'd attack at sea. That was the obvious move.
"Fighting on the open sea's kind of annoying," Guy admitted, scratching his head.
Kazuki nodded. While they could walk on water, the difference between a calm pond and open ocean was night and day.
Eventually, they reached the nearest harbor connecting the Land of Fire to the Land of Waves. Still no enemy activity. Which confirmed Kazuki's suspicion—the enemy planned to strike at sea.
"Ninja-sama, should we take an alternate route?" Gatō asked, visibly uneasy. "There's another way to get to the Land of Waves..."
As a merchant, Gatō knew how risky the sea could be. Even with ninja guards, his cargo might not survive. All the enemy had to do was sink the ship. The merchandise would be lost—even if he lived.
He could only afford to take so many losses before going bankrupt.
"No need. Even if you're clever, you can't out-sail the merchants of the Land of Water," Kazuki said, waving him off.
Those guys were born to sail. Changing routes might just make them easier to trap.
Kazuki scanned the bustling harbor. Several other merchant caravans were also preparing to board ships.
And then a thought struck him.
If the enemy merchant wanted revenge, they'd need to know which ship Gatō was on. They wouldn't just sink every vessel.
That would be a declaration of war against Konoha.
And Kazuki knew—at this point in time, the Fourth Mizukage was under Obito's control. Kirigakure wouldn't risk outright conflict with the Hidden Leaf.
"You, come with me," Kazuki said, pulling Gatō into a wagon.
Kazuki suspected the port had been compromised—that enemy scouts were already watching. If they spotted Gatō, they'd report it, and the ambush would be set.
Konoha wouldn't go to war over a sunk merchant boat.
Gatō was confused, but obediently let Kazuki get to work.
Back in his previous life, Kazuki had been in a cosplay club at university. He'd picked up a few tricks from their makeup artists.
This wouldn't be enough to completely change Gatō's face, but it would make him harder to recognize.
And Gatō, to his credit, was committed.
He shaved his head into a sad little crescent of hair and shaped the clippings into a fake beard. Now, he looked eerily similar to his future self—just slightly less greasy.
"Perfect. Let's go," Kazuki grinned.
Now it was time to see what kind of move their enemy would make.