The following morning a group of Yamakaze clan members under Tenki's leadership was ready to depart when they were joined by two unexpected parties.
One of these was, surprisingly enough, Tomoe and her young mistress Benihime.
"Beni-sama wished to accompany your group, I naturally followed to protect her. Wouldn't want to add to your burdens." Tomoe spoke.
". . . Very well." Shiki sighed in acceptance but inwardly, his suspicions were triggered.
'The little girl is definitely not simple. They spoke of some innate clan ability before, a special sight and maybe more, kekkei genkai most likely . . .' The boy's thoughts began to turn
'This combined with the feeling she gives off sometimes that is very similar to my Hollow . . .' Slowly, Shiki's had started to notice Beni's extraordinary aspects but he still had no idea how deep they went . . . For now.
'The fact that Tomoe-san made no attempt to stop her from coming and seems very willing to go along is also suspicious as a guardian.' Shiki noted.
This last thought however, was just a mistaken assumption.
It might be true that Tomoe is not as worried about her young mistress' safety as before, specially after she had talked with her and Ema about unlocking her hidden clan abilities.
But the true reason the older woman became so enthusiastic towards joining the group about to go outside, was her need to get away from Maya and Ema.
The tense atmosphere and hidden verbal sparring, most of it prompted by the former, was wearing on Tomoe's patience greatly and so she decided to extricate herself from the situation entirely.
A most wise move on her part.
Tomoe and Benihime were just half of the arrivals though.
A young girl accompanied by what looked to be a maid as well as two protectors also approached the group.
'A member of the local royal family? Or at least someone pretty high up.' Shiki evaluated.
'Maybe this mission won't just be a waste of my time after all.' He was suddenly more motivated.
The reasons were twofold.
It was an opportunity to get close to the ruling class in this micro-country which would make things easier for some of his future plans years down the line.
If there was actual danger, then the boy would have a chance to earn some real favors.
And most importantly . . . They were not his responsibility.
Even if things went sideways and they all died, it would not affect his mission record in the slightest.
A shame that the opportunity would be lost in such a scenario but the lack of risk for himself made the situation intrinsically better for Shiki, he had more leeway to plan his moves.
'This is all hypothetical anyway, it's unlikely that we will be attacked in Roran's territory.' He thought to himself.
'Flag raised! Come on Universe, do your thing.' The boy internally played before talking with the approaching party.
"Tenki-dono. Seramu-hime would like to join your group and visit the settlements while you work if that's possible." The maid spoke while the two guards remained stone faced.
But to the surprise of the entourage, rather than responding, Tenki turned to Shiki, he knew the boy was irritated already so he was quite worried about his stance but this was not the kind of request one could easily refuse.
'Seramu? The movie's deceased queen? Her future daughter Sara was the female lead of the movie if I remember correctly.' Shiki noted.
"You may join if you wish but I request that you follow instructions if we come under attack." The boy spoke.
"Y-You're the one in charge of protection?" The maid asked with disbelief. Even the stone faced guards showed they shared the feeling in their expression, much less the young princess.
'I'm gonna develop a special transformation to manipulate the age I look like Tsunade did in the original timeline's future, I swear . . .' Shiki thought to himself with annoyance.
"That's right. I'm Ryumon Shiki and that right there is Uchiha Mei. We are part of the Konoha shinobi providing security for Tenki-san as per our contract with Tenma-dono, the leader of the mercantile caravan Tenki-san and his clan are a part of." He spoke in his disturbing monotone.
'Maybe this way they'll be creeped out and not bother me further.' His annoyance was already interfering with his original plans to make a good impression but they were not essential anyway.
"I-I see. We will be in your care then." The maid recomposed herself and spoke.
'Success!' Shiki internally celebrated.
"You may call me Rosa, our guards are named Roukan and Fuzan." She added.
"Understood." The boy nodded.
'Roran naming conventions are a bit off from the rest of this world aren't they. Then again, Kumo name their Raikage Ay and have a guy literally called Killer Bee, legal name, so I guess Roran is still on the normal side?' He casually thought.
Relieved he didn't have to deal with the Roran party doubting his abilities and thus proceed with a face slapping routine, Shiki led the whole group out of the city.
Then again, maybe they knew enough about shinobi to not underestimate one simply because of their age, even if Shiki probably pushed the boundaries of what they were willing to accept.
The settlement tour started out quite well even if it was monotonous, giving Shiki time to ponder on his future.
He wanted to raise his status and position before the second war came but improving his strength was far more important and the missions were cutting into his training time pretty heavily.
The awakening of his Ryumon lineage was a one time thing, so his privilege of getting boosted through battles like a true protagonist was sealed, he needed time to train.
'It really puts things into perspective.' The boy thought to himself.
'Naruto and Sasuke went from being practically useless to gods amongst men in three to four years but considering they were the sons of god reincarnated and got a big boost from daddy himself I can't really complain.'
'But Sakura was a civilian born shinobi with no hidden lineage and went from actually completely useless to Kage level in the same span of time.' Shiki internally shook his head.
Discounting any plans to seal powerful creatures inside himself and his sort of reverse Kama Seal currently in development, the boy's estimation was that by the time he hit seventeen, the main trio's age at the end of Shipuuden, he would be Super Kage level at most.
'Probably still below Madara and Hashirama but in that tier of power. Certainly not bad but considering I am already at the low Jonin level without using my self-destructive amps, it is a snail-like pace by comparison.' He thought.
Trikaya, his cheat from enlightenment, the perk of his reincarnation was immensely powerful but it required time and stimuli to do its job.
'My raw stats probably won't surge again until I hit twelve or thirteen but if I can develop my skills and jutsu properly, Elite Jonin level without amps should be possible before the Second War.' Shiki planned.
'If I then add amps on top of that, temporary kage level strength is a sure thing. That's probably enough to actively participate in the war so long as I play it smart.'
But just as the boy's thoughts could wander further into possible training plans and such, something which had been happening annoyingly often lately, occurred.
Strange presences at the edge of his detection range.
He was not using Enlightened Mind's Eye at this time so these possible interlopers were not that far and . . .
'Now that's a familiar chakra signature.' Shiki thought, killing intent beginning to emanate from his body, chilling everyone around him as they looked at the boy with shock.
+++++
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 -