Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 43 The Four Celestial Beings

"What's wrong with the list?"

The group didn't immediately understand what Shimotsuki Ichiro meant by the problem with the price list; they just looked at him with some confusion.

Shimotsuki Ichiro didn't keep anyone in suspense and took out a stack of documents to explain.

"More than half of the items on this list are priced far below normal prices, and it also states that these weapons come from Sixiangfang. If you want to cooperate, you need to pay a deposit in advance."

"With the situation in the ninja world so tense lately, why are weapon prices actually lower?"

Qing immediately noticed something illogical.

"That's right. Moreover, orders for standard weapons like ours are all arranged by the Takumi Ninja Village, with direct contact with the village leader. Only for occasional retail orders requiring custom-made weapons are we commissioned to have them crafted by more renowned masters. After all, most of the funds need to be handed over to the Daimyo's Office in the Land of Takumi, and if transactions aren't handled in a unified manner, it would lead to chaotic accounting."

Everyone understands this point, but the fundamental reason is that the model of the Land of Craftsmen is different from that of other countries.

Just like the Five Great Nations, the ninja villages provide military force, while the daimyo provide funds and missions to maintain the daily operation of the ninja villages.

In contrast, the Land of Craftsmen is completely different. The Craftsman Ninja Village has virtually no fighting power, yet it is able to earn a lot of money. The daimyo maintains the overall peace of the Land of Craftsmen through his connections with other daimyo and diplomatic means.

"And we've never had anyone come to collect a deposit in person before," Shimotsuki Ichiro added.

"No deposit required for large-scale transactions?"

"Previously, all payments were settled on the spot. Otherwise, given the strength of Takumi Ninja Village, if any family went back on their word, they would have to return the deposit even if they had already received it."

After hearing Shimotsuki Ichiro's explanation, Tachibana and the others exchanged surprised glances.

What's even more surprising is that the investigation hasn't even started yet, and the matter has already surfaced so easily?

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Shimotsuki Ichiro continued speaking.

"Old man, I know your mission this time isn't just about escorting me, so I'm telling you about this issue. Whether it helps you or not, the rest is your problem, and it has nothing to do with me."

After saying that, Shimotsuki Ichiro ignored everyone's reactions, put down the stack of documents, and strode back to his room with a nonchalant air.

"It seems things are simpler than we thought."

Mei Terumi seemed to be in a good mood, with her hands behind her head, casually sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing her legs.

"It can't be that simple, can it? The other party is being far too blatant; it's practically smuggling on the head of the village chief."

Although it was a rare occurrence, even the usually reckless Zabuza Momochi advised everyone to proceed with caution at this time.

However, Ao was, after all, a Jonin who had carried out many overseas missions. He knew that small ninja villages like this, which seemed to operate normally in their daily lives, would occasionally do some bizarre things that made people laugh.

Finally, Ao turned to look at Kanagawa Tachibana, who seemed lost in thought, and asked.

"Ju, what's on your mind?"

"Um."

Jianchuan Ju certainly had some ideas, but they were all from the original plot, so she was still thinking about how to explain them to the team members.

In the original work, Takumi Village also made an appearance. Among them was a small organization called the Four Heavenly Elephants, who attempted to capture Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, and use the Jinchuriki's chakra to revive their ancestor Seimei, hoping to rule the ninja world in the process.

As a result, the ancestor was successfully resurrected, but was eventually taken down by Gaara's Shukaku Spear, who was already injured. He can be considered a very common comedic villain who doesn't understand the situation in the ninja world.

If Sunagakure hadn't been tricked by Orochimaru for participating in the Konoha Crush and hadn't been beaten up by Konoha, leaving it at its weakest point, it's uncertain whether these people would have been able to escape the Land of Wind alive.

However, Tachibana Kanagawa vaguely remembered that in the original work, these people had just prepared the conditions for resurrecting their ancestors, which was why they thought of capturing Gaara as a battery.

However, there are still more than a decade since that storyline took place, so even though they knew they were coming to Takumi Village to carry out a mission, they had never considered the Four Heavenly Elephants before.

However, the place suspected of being a smuggling operation is now called "Four Symbols Workshop," which forces Tachibana Kanagawa to connect with the future Four Symbols People.

Jianchuan Ju sorted out her thoughts and looked at Qing and the other two.

"I think the other party might actually be smuggling openly right under the nose of the leader of Takumi Ninja Village. Based on our understanding of the overall strength of Takumi Ninja Village, as long as a ninja of even a little skill appears, they can basically suppress the entire village."

This statement isn't entirely unfounded. In the original story, when the Four Celestial Beings were preparing to cause trouble, the entire village of Takumi-ninja was so frightened that everyone fled, abandoning the village altogether. The current situation, where the leader is merely being sidelined, is nothing compared to the bigger picture.

"That's possible. It's still early, so let's wander around the village and gather some information first. We can make a decision on the specifics of the investigation later tonight."

"Zabuza, you stay at the inn and protect Mr. Shimotsuki's safety."

Considering Zabuza's personality, Ao left him behind while the others went out on their own to investigate.

Although he was supposed to be gathering information from all over the place, Takumi Village was only a small place. Tachibana Kenkawa only observed and recorded the terrain, and then took advantage of his age to subtly obtain some information from the shopkeepers in a few shops.

Although they didn't get any useful information in the end, they did see a lot of strange and unusual ninja tools.

One of the shops even had ninja tools that were said to be replicas of the "Flame Fan," a weapon passed down through generations of the Uchiha clan.

Of course, this replica does not have the ability to deflect all ninjutsu, but it can use wind chakra to deflect fire ninjutsu.

However, this "fire fan" is not only beautiful in effect, but also very expensive. The meager sums in Jianchuan Ju's pocket are probably only enough to cover the cost of touching it.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan is still the largest clan in Konoha, so they wouldn't dare to flaunt this counterfeit Kenkawa Tachibana in public.

Finally, unable to resist the shop assistant's enthusiastic sales pitch, Tachibana Kenkawa gritted his teeth and bought a roll of steel wire ninja tools, intending to give it to Zabuza for practice later, despite the assistant's disdainful look.

As night fell, the three returned to their temporary inn and called Zabuza over to share information.

Although Tachibana didn't get any useful information this time, Ao and Mei Terumi made some discoveries.

Aside from the basic terrain reconnaissance around Sixiangfang, the two also learned some other information from the villagers.

First, there's the Four Symbols Workshop, which has existed in Takumi-nin Village for a long time. It's said to have been a well-known workshop in the land of craftsmen during the Warring States period, but it gradually declined. It has only developed rapidly in the last two years, but I haven't heard of any outstanding figures emerging from it.

Secondly, their conversations with certain shopkeepers revealed that they seemed to be aware of the changes in the way ninja tools were traded, but they both chose to conceal it.

Finally, there is the current leader of Takumi Ninja Village. Because he is an excellent blacksmith, he has a high reputation in the village.

"That's all?"

Zabuza was listening intently to the information when he noticed that the other three had suddenly stopped talking.

"So the entire village was completely unaware that their leader had been sidelined?"

(End of this chapter)