[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
The Land of Sound.
...
...
Naruto, Akame, and Kimimaro continued their journey into the Land of Tea, following the coast and heading south.
"Let's camp here for tonight," Naruto said as they reached the middle of the territory, entering the forest and choosing a spot as night fell.
They had a peaceful night, avoiding any ninja by choosing a kind of hole to make the campfire. The next day, they continued, heading towards where the scroll instructed Naruto to start the investigation.
After a few hours passing by the blind spots of some patrols, they moved on, while Naruto sensed something ahead of them.
"There's a small village over there," Akame alerted ahead of Naruto, pointing to a formation of houses in the distance.
"Yes. We can start there and gather information. After all, the Kiri rebels informed us that their Jinchuuriki was seen in this region..." Naruto said and headed towards the village.
The village was simple, with wooden houses and thatched roofs, surrounded by green tea fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. "Let's remain discreet, we might be seen as invading ninjas," Naruto said, removing his mask.
"Akame, come with me. Kimimaro, stay vigilant for anything unusual," Naruto instructed, and Akame removed her mask as they descended into the area. There were some people entering the town, so they could pass as travelers, blending into the place instead of arriving on horseback and having to prove that point.
Akame performed a temporary transformation jutsu on herself and Naruto, and they stepped in without anyone noticing. Thus, they began to walk through the village. People looked at them with curiosity, but no one seemed hostile, thinking they were newly arrived travelers.
"Where should we start?" Akame asked quietly.
"I want you to use your genjutsu without the victims noticing if they know anything while I talk about the Jinchuuriki," Naruto instructed, and she nodded.
They entered a small local tavern, where the air was filled with the comforting aroma of fresh tea. Naruto approached the counter while all the people, mostly appearing elderly, looked at them curiously but no one spoke to them. Naruto finally reached the counter with Akame and signaled to the bartender.
"Can I help you, young travelers? How about some tea?" the man asked kindly.
"Give me your best tea. We also want some information," Naruto requested, and the man nodded, first preparing the tea while he and Akame sat down.
"Here it is." The bartender delivered the tea, and Naruto quickly turned to him, handing over ryō notes, more than enough to cover the tea and the information, leaving the man a bit surprised by the amount.
"We're looking for someone," he began, keeping his voice low. "A man named Utakata. Do you recognize him or know anything?" Naruto showed him a photo of Utakata.
The bartender looked around, checking if no one else was listening, then leaned forward.
"Utakata, you say? I remember him... he passed through here a while ago, maybe two weeks... I don't know where he went... but there's someone in town who might know, his name is Gefu, he organizes caravans to the capital, and I remember this man with a young woman paying for his services..." he said as Naruto nodded, pleased to uncover relevant information on his first attempt, confirming that Utakata had indeed passed through here.
"Thank you for the information," Naruto responded, finishing his tea with Akame as the man took the money and left.
"Is it really him?" Naruto asked Akame, as she searched the man's memories without him knowing, activating her Sharingan discreetly. Naruto felt he was telling the truth but couldn't read someone's mind like a Sharingan user could.
"Yes, he saw a man with a young woman, despite wearing a hood, the description matches Utakata's photo," Akame commented, and Naruto nodded.
"Isn't this tea good?" Naruto changed the subject, and although Akame didn't respond, she nodded with a small smile, enjoying her tea.
After they finished, Naruto stood up and Akame followed him. "Let's go," he said, and they left the establishment, looking for the man named Gefu. It wasn't difficult to find him after seeing a large sign with his name, indicating that he was a sort of medieval travel agent with a large caravan heading south, offering paid travel.
"New customers? Well, we're leaving tomorrow, heading to the capital," said a slightly overweight man.
"No. But you can help us," Naruto said, and Akame wasted no time activating her Sharingan. The man fell into a trance that lasted only two seconds before blinking and scratching his head with sudden dizziness, unaware of what had happened.
"Hm? Didn't you want my help?" he asked, confused, as the couple who had approached turned their backs and left.
"You've helped us enough," Naruto said, tossing a coin to him before departing.
They reached a spot out of sight of the people and leaped onto the rooftops, meeting up with Kimimaro. "Do you have everything?" Naruto asked Akame, who nodded. "Let's leave this village first and find a quieter place to talk," Naruto said, and they left the village, finding a spot in the forest.
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"Tell me what you discovered," Naruto requested.
"The Jinchuuriki asked to be taken to a port city in the south," Akame said. "This happened two weeks ago, just as the innkeeper mentioned," she added.
"A ninja asking to join a carriage group heading south... Was he trying to throw off the Mist followers?" Naruto wondered.
"He seemed quite cautious, so it appears that way," Akame said, recalling the man's behavior and noting the Jinchuuriki's demeanor. "Once he was dropped off, our target disappeared, and the man didn't see him again," she added.
"I see... Let's head to that city; we might find what we're looking for there," Naruto said, and they departed shortly after.
Continuing their journey, they skirted around the hidden village of the country and the capital to avoid drawing attention, passing through numerous tea fields. It was no wonder this country had such a name, as they finally headed towards the southern coast.
The city was much larger than that village, maybe not as big as the country's capital, but it likely housed around 20,000 people. Besides tea, fishing seemed to be a strong economic activity here.
After assuming the same formation, with Naruto and Akame heading into the city and Kimimaro watching over them, they prepared once again by removing their masks, and Akame used a transformation jutsu on herself and Naruto.
"Be careful, there's a lot of ninja activity here," Naruto warned, as this was no longer the same as the previous village. After Kimimaro nodded, they set off.
As they blended into the crowd, Naruto knew that finding information about Utakata here might be more challenging due to the city's size and the number of people.
"Let's start by asking in taverns and markets," Naruto suggested, already heading towards the first tavern they spotted.
In the first tavern, they asked the bartender for information, but he merely shook his head, stating he didn't know anyone matching Utakata's description after seeing his photo. The second and third attempts were equally unfruitful. People seemed either suspicious or genuinely unaware of anything.
"This is harder than I imagined," Akame murmured as they left the fourth tavern without any leads.
"Yes, but let's keep going... We still have a few hours before the day ends," Naruto said, and they moved on to the next spot.
On the fifth attempt, an elderly woman in the market said she had seen a man with similar characteristics to Utakata, but her information was vague and didn't provide useful details. Another person overhearing the conversation tried to approach with such information, but Naruto knew he was a charlatan and used Haki on him, rendering the man speechless before they left.
Finally, on the sixth attempt, they entered a tavern located near the port. The place was full of sailors and merchants, and the air was heavy with the smell of fish and salt. Naruto approached the counter, once again signaling to the bartender.
"What will you have?" asked the man behind the counter, without much ceremony.
"Some tea and some information," Naruto replied, handing over a good amount of money.
The bartender looked at the money and then at Naruto, assessing the situation. "What kind of information?"
"We're looking for a man named Utakata," Naruto said, showing a photo once again. "He was seen around here about two weeks ago."
The bartender frowned and leaned forward. "I saw this man," he affirmed while Naruto could tell he was telling the truth.
"That's good, I want everything you know about him," Naruto requested.
"I don't know much about him, just that he talked to Captain Jon and boarded his ship," the man said and continued. "Captain Jon just returned from the south, he should be at the docks, spending all the money he earned from his trips." Naruto nodded at this.
After Akame checked his information without him noticing, they spent some time in the tavern before heading to the port.
"This is so nostalgic..." Naruto commented, recalling the water-dominated world in his memories, where the main activities were becoming a pirate or a sailor.
Seeing so many ships there, even more than at the port during his mission a year ago in the north of the Land of Hot Water, stirred something in him. Despite not having very technological ships in this world, there were some armored ones at the port.
Following the path, they arrived at a warehouse where people were playing cards, and Captain Jon was playing amidst a crowd. Naruto approached with Akame and watched the game.
"Are you Captain Jon?" Naruto asked amidst the people cheering for the players, with a large pile of money in the middle of the table.
"Hm?! Don't bother me right now, I'm in the middle of a game, go away!" he said, giving Naruto a dirty look to signal not to disturb him. But as soon as he raised his head, he saw the girl with red eyes beside him and fell into her genjutsu, blinking the next moment, with Naruto and Akame disappearing without him realizing what had happened.
"Did we find our target?" Kimimaro asked as he saw Naruto and Akame approaching with their masks on.
"Yes, let's first choose a place to stay tonight before departing because we need to rest," Naruto said, and they rented an inn with a room and three beds.
"Our target is to the south from here, taking a clandestine ship," Naruto said after receiving the information from Akame. She managed to see which route Utakata and his companion took and where they disembarked after a week of traveling by sea.
"So he continued traveling like a normal person..." Kimimaro commented.
"Yes, a good way to throw off the ninjas after losing his trail, not believing that a Jinchuuriki would use this method to move," Naruto said.
"..." Kimimaro nodded and Akame remained silent.
"Let's rest. Tomorrow we will head to the Land of the Sea in pursuit of the Jinchuuriki, where he is hiding," Naruto said, and everyone nodded.
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