After unloading the ship, it was docked at the port, with two jonin stationed on it for its protection, even though Ryozo insisted they could leave four behind for the protection of the ship.
Taizen shot down that idea in a heartbeat. No one on the island would go for an empty ship, so even leaving 2 jonin was an overcommitment for the safety of the empty ship. Also, they knew that this ship was rental and Ryozo was most likely trying to save up some money.
'These merchants will also think through their pocket,' Taizen grumbled in his mind, as now that he could clearly understand why Ryozo wanted 20 jonin, he was cursing his luck that he was selected for this job.
Alas there was nothing he could do other than complete his mission. While the ninja and merchant alike were moving away from the port, Kaida was thinking deeply about his next course of action.
'This is the outer area of the Land of Water, and the civil war should not be too evident in these areas. If I want to search for him, this is the perfect time. Otherwise, when we get to the center part of the country, I have to be present with them for any unwanted scenarios.'
"Taizen-san, I will be back in a sec," Kaida said, moving towards the bushes.
"What do you need? Anything?"
"Urgent nature's call, just give me a minute," Kaida said and went towards a little patch of the trees on the sidewalk.
After a minute he came back, and the caravan began moving once again.
"You could have controlled for some time, we will reach the settlement soon," Akito came to him as he and Kaida were responsible for the rear security.
"Maybe because it was my first time on the ship, I was not feeling well," Kaida said.
"Makes sense, though if you were feeling unwell you should have said so. No need to hide these types of things, no one will think you any weaker for that," Akito said, patting Kaida's shoulder.
"Okay," Kaida said with a smile.
As the caravan moved, two pairs of red eyes were watching them go from the canopy of the trees.
'As expected, no one can tell the difference between a shadow clone and a real person. Heck, even a god was unable to do so, let alone us mortals,' Kaida chuckled and then went back to the port.
'I need to find how to move from now on. Man, I should have done a little research before coming here,' he thought before stealthily approaching the workers on the port. But seeing the condition of the people working on the dock, he decided against using them for getting any information.
'They most likely will only think about what they can get to eat for the night.' After a quick scan of the port, Kaida identified someone who was most likely the manager of the port with three well-built bodyguards following him everywhere.
Aside from the bodyguards, his plump nature was also a big enough difference to tell he was not among the workers at all.
'None of them are ninja?' The absence of ninja on the deck was quite weird for Kaida, so he waited for some time, once again activating his Sharingan to scan the port in hope to find even a hidden one, but to no success.
"Well, this just makes my work easier," Kaida said and directly went to the office the fat man was moving towards. Entering it through the window was as easy as walking through the door.
Kaida took the seat right in front of the gate, his Sharingan activated. As soon as the gate of the office opened, the bodyguard went alert about the presence of someone inside the office, but before he could even say something, his eyes paused on the two glowing eyes, with 3 tomoe rotating in them.
After which the things were simple, one by one everyone entered the office, falling under genjutsu sequentially.
'Sometimes, I think this Sharingan is the greatest cheat possible,' Kaida thought before he went to the fat man.
urgh
"Maybe directly looking at someone's memories is not a good idea," Kaida said out loud while emptying his stomach. The man was unique. Normally he presented himself as a straight manly man, but at night he indulged in some nightly activities as both man and woman.
The image of him looking in the mirror dressed as a woman while three men waited for him on the bed, with his loose fat visible through the dress, was enough for Kaida to stop the process.
After an unknown period of time, Kaida finally decided to try once again, this time making sure to block any unnecessary information out.
"So this port is only for civilians, that's why there are no ninja present here. They only come here to take tax, but some ninja are present in the city. Maybe I have to visit it.
Though he doesn't even know any rumors about Kimimaro at all. Maybe I am too late," Kaida thought out loud as there were only four people in the room beside him, and all of them were under his genjutsu.
Alas, this was all the information he was going to get out of them, so he left these four people behind, after planting the idea of donating the food that the fatso was holding on to, otherwise people will eat him alive if they got too hungry.
Normally he would have scoffed at that, as he could just hire more guards to protect himself. Even hiring a ninja for his safety was not out of reach. But since Kaida's suggestion was directly implanted in his brain, it was almost as if he himself had thought those things.
After making the life of a few people a little easier, Kaida went directly toward the city... well, calling that a city was an overstatement. It was a well-built town on the island which had the presence of ninja, Mizukage's fraction, protecting them. While there was also presence of rebels on the island, because that fatso was providing supplies to the rebels as well, just to gain some extra profit.
'I have 5 more hours before we have to move to the next city. Let's see how much I can find in these five hours,' Kaida thought as he reached the city.
Since it was just a small city on an island of Land of Water, there was not much security present like arrays and mountainous walls surrounding the city. It was simply a collection of houses, with a joke of a wall surrounding it. On the outskirts were slums, while the wealthy lived in the center of the city.
Kaida had no use of either of those. He directly made his way towards one of the patrol units of Kirigakure.
'Just some genin and one chunin.' Luckily the security was not that tight, and once again four people were under his genjutsu. Naturally, genin didn't have much info about much, but the chunin was different. As a strong enough fighting force of Kiri, he did have some of the crucial info which Kaida needed.
'So the massacre of Kaguya clan only happened a few months prior. That means there is still some chance of finding him, but he doesn't know much about the massacre.'
Kaida thought and looked toward the largest building in the center of the city. The building housed all of the ninja in the city, and it currently held 25 ninja, with 3 squads out as patrol. For an entire island, this number is quite small, but if one has to infiltrate this building, then the number suddenly becomes significantly larger.
'I can try, but it will be costly,' Kaida thought, weighing his options. With his current strength, he could just use Mangekyo and storm directly inside the building, using genjutsu like breathing and get any info he wanted, but it would be just that, a waste of chakra.
'We still have 10 days of travel. I will find a better opportunity in the future. No need to take any unnecessary risk,' Kaida calmed his rapid mass genjutsu thought and went back to the ship, getting on it while hiding from two jonin was tricky but not impossible.
After a few hours, the caravan was also back. Kaida's shadow clone just made his way toward his room, while dispersing himself as soon as he entered.
'So we are directly going to the merchant hub now, huh?' Kaida thought after getting memories of his clone.