While Shinka kept to herself as usual and Mei looked around with curiosity and asked Tenki about his clan, which the man happily talked about with pride, Inori had other things on her mind.
The Violet Rose of course knew that Mito now decided which missions their Team could and could not take and so, she wondered why this particular one was selected.
This was, after all, not really the kind of mission preferred by most shinobi, young ones especially.
The long duration meant serious training had to be stopped for a while, something one wanted to avoid when they are young and full of potential.
And being away from the village for a long time also meant Mito would be unable to do anything or even know if her ward had an emergency.
'I can't probe around too much thought or Shiki will notice.' Inori thought to herself while coming up with covert ways she could investigate possible reasons for the mission selection.
She was not the only one with a lot on her mind however.
The ever private Aburame Shinka had a storm of thoughts swirling in her head though neither Shiki nor Inori knew what they were about despite being aware something was going on.
Such was the horror of empathic sensory abilities.
Can't keep anything truly hidden from someone possessing them. Not for long anyway.
As for why Shinka was in turmoil, it was due to the conflict between what she believed and what she was told to believe.
Team 6's disastrous mission still made its presence felt in the way that it shook the mute girl's faith in her superiors.
Now, upon receiving further orders, Shinka did not know what to do.
Should she follow them?
Should she ignore them?
Should she come clean to the rest of her team?
Would her team even understand?
Would Inori report this infraction to Shinka's superiors?
Would Mei forgive Shinka's actions and affiliations?
The Aburame could not even conceive how Shiki might react.
He probably would not do anything overt, not immediately, but the girl feared the change in his thoughts.
Out of everyone, the one with the most extra objectives and hidden intentions regarding the mission, Shiki himself, was the only one fully focused on it.
Checking people, cargo, transportation, etc. Planning the best way to arrange for the caravan's protection.
Quite ironic but understandable as it was still not time for him to pursue his personal objectives.
Soon, the rest of the travelers returned from the capital and the main client along with the other sub-leader of the caravan joined Team 6 for discussions.
Daikin Tenma was a spry looking man despite being in his forties, sporting rugged but handsome features, dark black hair with barely noticeable greying and wearing a type of black and white traditional chinese style clothing, shenyi it was called.
A younger woman in her thirties, wearing an open black robe over a deep red kimono with swirling wave-like patterns and black hakama pants.
Her long black hair tied in a loose bun, showed her long neck which combined with her sharp and bright black eyes, red lips and pale skin without any blemish, gave her a regal and elegant, if a bit cold, sort of beauty.
"Welcome, folks from Konoha!" Tenma greeted the team with a smile.
His female companion was far less enthusiastic.
"My apologies for not being here to receive you myself, the last business in the capital took a bit longer than expected." The man explained.
"No problem at all. Tenki-san was more than hospitable." Inori politely replied.
"Oh I'm sure! Very polite young lad." Tenma responded.
"Very bright mooded despite being saddled with the responsibility of leading his entire clan." He further commented.
"This is Tomoe-dono by the way, a medicine trader from the Land of Iron." The man pointed to his female companion, the leader of the medicine traders originally from the Land of Iron, as Tenki previously explained.
The lady gave a curt nod and no further words.
"Pay no mind to her attitude, being grumpy is her default state." Tenma joked and from her scowl, Tomoe clearly did not appreciate the words.
The man chuckled but made no effort to correct himself.
"Are you sure these children will be adequate protection?" Tomoe questioned him.
Understandable.
Even their jonin sensei Inori was just nineteen. It might make them look unreliable to those unaware of the reality of shinobi.
"Konoha would not have sent them otherwise." Tenma casually replied with confidence and the woman seemed to take him for his word, walking away to find and organize her people for the imminent departure.
"Expecting more trouble than usual, Tenma-san?" Inori inquired.
The man nervously scratched his head.
"With the rising unrest in the world and me often dealing with weapons, it is a rather sensitive time so I thought it best to be careful about things, more so than usual." He said.
"Understandable." The Violet Rose nodded.
It was a reasonable answer and truthful from what her sensory abilities could gather but it left her no closer to figuring out Shiki and Mito's motives for selecting the mission.
The caravan moved out shortly after the conversation.
They formed a decently long line while moving so the team slipped along the various groups.
Shinka took up the rear position, travelling with Tenki's Yamakaze clan while Inori stood at the front with Tenma's Daikin clan.
Shiki and Mei took up position in the center with the medicine trader's group, the boy taking up a meditative position on top of their carriage, keeping his Enlightened Mind's Eye up at all times
The girl on the other hand, took a more active approach, moving up and down the line every now and then to make sure everything was in order.
All this caution seemed pointless as days passed and they smoothly crossed the border between the Land of Fire and Land of Rivers but Shiki's continuous use of his Enlightened Mind's Eye enabled him to discover a couple of very interesting things.
Particularly, about the group of so-called medicine trailers headed by that cold woman Tomoe. They were about seven in number but three of them, Tomoe herself included, possessed rather developed chakra networks.
Something was suppressing their chakra, making them invisible to even the finest of sensors but to those with the ability to perceive the chakra network like the Hyuga with their Byakugan or Shiki with his Enlightened Mind's Eye, the ruse became apparent.
'Interesting . . . Very interesting.' Shiki thought, determined to find out more.
He did not believe that he would find something useful for himself but curiosity was reason enough for the boy, it did wonders to ease his boredom while they were not close to his hidden objectives.
'They claimed to be from the Land of Iron. If we assume that is the truth, then it becomes probable that they are, or at least were, part of a samurai family.' Shiki mused.
'The development of their chakra network seems quite advanced. Hard to accurately gauge their abilities with their chakra being suppressed but based on her network alone, this Tomoe-dono is at least chunin level if not superior.' He continued pondering.
'With her posture, the way she carries herself . . . I would not be surprised if she is in fact jonin level which would necessitate her being a part of a distinguished samurai clan rather than a random family.'
'That woman in her twenties, Ema I think they called her, seems to be an attendant less skilled than Tomoe-done but far from helpless and the little girl they constantly watch must be their young mistress or something . . .' Shiki was already writing a whole drama in his head.
Unbeknownst to him however, the boy's previously undetectable Enlightened Mind's Eye actually caught someone's attention . . .
+++++
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 -