The last stop before Roran, a small but relatively prosperous village, had boasted something of great interest to Shiki.
Because this village was led by shinobi, the Rinha Clan which appeared in a non-canon Naruto game.
'I read up on some clans and villages from non-canon lore within Mito's library so I knew they existed but the Rinha clan was not among them.' Shiki thought to himself as the caravan entered the town.
But after giving it a bit more thought, it made sense.
'I seem to remember that this clan made its name in the Great Shinobi Wars as medical-nin and that profession only started popping off since the Second Great War where Tsunade played a big role.'
'So I guess they have yet to become notable enough to be included in historical records.' The boy concluded.
That said, while medical ninjutsu was what the Rinha Clan became known and sought for, Shiki was far more interested in another aspect.
Their kekkei genkai.
It went unnamed in the game but it allowed its possessor to use the Spirit Reflection Jutsu, a rather broken technique that enabled its user to steal a shinobi's chakra and imbue it into a puppet, creating a perfect copy of them under the user's control.
There was no limit to the distance the puppet could take from the user and all of the targeted shinobi's abilities, kekkei genkai included and even weaponry, were perfectly reproduced.
Shiki was very interested indeed.
He wished to add that kekkei genkai to his collection of genetic samples for the Nirvana Seal Transcendence but more importantly, the boy believed that the Spirit Reflection Jutsu would match very well with a certain Uzumaki fuinjutsu he was studying.
That fuinjutsu was the Four Symbol Puppet Shinobi Seal, kind of a mouthful.
Alone it could create an endless legion of cannon fodder autonomous fake shinobi so long as it had a plentiful source of chakra. These fakes look like humanoid paper lanterns with the large paper tags stuck on their heads being their weak point.
But if the Spirit Reflection Jutsu was added in, quality could be added, making large numbers of powerful fake shinobi.
'Spying on foreign shinobi to steal jutsu and kekkei genkai is but a common occurrence in this world. I'm not going to act as if I'm above it.' With that self righteous inner declaration, Shiki decided his course of action.
*
"Welcome back Tenma! It is a pleasure to host you and your caravan at our humble town once again." The village head, clearly familiar with the visitors, greeted them with enthusiasm.
"Hahaha! We both know you're happier to see Tenki and his people than me, Kairi." Tenma teased the man in response.
Rinha Kairi good naturedly laughed but did not even bother to deny it.
"I am happy to be back as well Kairi-san, you were always the clan's most generous and loyal customer." Tenki interjected from the side.
"Tenki, my boy! More mature than before I see. You have truly grown into your clan leader role." Kairi commented.
"Got yourself a wife yet. My girl here is always asking about you." He teased.
From behind him, a demure young woman dressed in white with a black bob cut and light yellow orange eyes blushed while pinching her father's waist in protest, a move learned from her late mother.
"By the Sage, Maya! You remind me of your mother in the worst ways sometimes." Kairi nearly jumped in complaint.
"Maybe if you-san had better control of your mouth, this kind of thing could be avoided." Maya hit back with a cute scowl.
"It's great to see you again, Tenki-sama!" She then turned towards the Yamakaze clan head with a bright smile as if nothing happened before.
"You've grown into a beautiful young woman, Maya–chan. I almost didn't recognise you." He praised in response.
The young woman had still been a teenage girl the last time he saw her, five years before, and he was a very young man, barely having assumed leadership of his clan after his father's tragic passing from disease.
The Yamakaze were long standing friends with the Rinha and Tenki's father was receiving treatment for his chronic illness in their town when he passed.
Being his father's best friend and a clan leader himself, Rinha Kairi had helped Tenki a great deal during that dark time and even introduced him to Tenma.
Before then, the Yamakaze clan traveled by themselves but by joining with the caravan, the logistical problems brought about by their nomadic traditions were greatly attenuated.
Even so, the time spent in the domain of the Rinha clan was the longest time Tenki had lived in the same place and he became quite familiar with the town and its people.
"And who are these two young ladies?" Kairi asked, turning to Tomoe and Ema who came to greet him with Tenma and Tenki.
"Apologies Kairi-san, this is Tomoe-dono and Ema-san. Medicine makers from the Land of Iron." Tenki introduced.
"Medicine makers? Then it is likely we'll have business for you. Medicinal ingredients are rare to come by in the Land of Wind and essential for medical practitioners such as ourselves." Kairi spoke.
Tomoe gave a curt but respectful nod while Ema bowed a bit deeper, a reflection of their respective personalities.
"My daughter can take you to our medical center." Kairi added and turned to Maya but the young woman was spacing out a bit.
She noticed the way Tenki's gaze lingered on Ema when he introduced her to them and she did not like it one bit.
Her father immediately realized what was going on.
'Let the young ones figure that out by themselves.' He internally shook his head.
While personally, he would be thrilled if his daughter could marry the man she loved for years, a man he himself approved off, he was not enough of a stubborn old oaf so as to interfere in the love affairs of the younger generation.
Still, he laid his hand on his daughter's shoulder to call her to attention and Maya snapped out of it, leading Tomoe and Ema away with who knows what thoughts in her mind.
Tenki, completely ignorant of the shuraba developing because of him, went to make preparations for the large-scale manipulation of weather that the Rinha clan always commissioned when the Yamake clan visited their town.
With the assistance of a sealing formula akin to that of summoning circles, several members of the Yamake clan could pool their abilities into a single of their number, enabling that member to focus their combined power into a single phenomenon under their control.
In this particular case, the intent was to create a light rainy weather without heavy clouds, watering the land while birthing fantastical rainbows to live up the town.
This well funded endeavour where nearly all members of the Yamakaze clan participated, became the best chance for Shiki to conduct his final observations of their Weather Manipulation Jutsu.
'Truly, this town is destined to be one of the caravan's most profitable stops for me.' Shiki thought to himself as everything seemed to be going his way.
A nice pause in the journey at a secure town where he could go off and practice his jutsu in peace, a perfect opportunity to complete his study of the Yamakaze's Hidden Jutsu and even the chance to obtain a unique kekkei genkai like the Rinha clan's . . .
Truly, everything was going swimmingly . . .
For now.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -