By mid-morning, the caravan wheels rolled over smooth, well-worn roads paved with dark stone, a far cry from the dusty, uneven paths of outer provinces. The Fire Country's inner lands were vivid and alive. From forest to township, a sense of peace wrapped around them, not unlike a gently worn kimono threaded with hidden strength.
The red-leafed trees lining the main trade artery shimmered in the sunlight. Ahead rose the first rooftops of the Sakyō District, a merchant hub just east of Konoha's diplomatic sphere, yet sovereign and fiercely economic.
Yugo, ever composed, raised a hand. "We're here."
Caravan wheels hissed to a halt. Guards exhaled, some slumping down immediately. Vendors and townsfolk nearby barely batted an eye it wasn't uncommon to see road-worn merchants arrive like this.
Yugo didn't waste time.
He sent a coded note via a local courier hawk, and within the hour, representatives of the Mugen Merchant Company arrived, dressed in grey silks and wearing lapel tags shaped like crescent fans. They bowed deeply.
"Master Yugo," the eldest said. "The vault is ready. The ledgers have been reviewed. The Mugen Hall awaits."
Yugo simply nodded and began giving orders.
"Unload the main crates. Store room A3. Escorts return by morning."
Then, to the guards: "You've done your duty. I've arranged a local inn, go rest, wash, and forget the road for one day."
There were grateful sighs, but one figure remained at Yugo's side, unmoving.
Daizo.
Wounded but proud, Daizo's armor still bore dried blood from the forest fight. He stood like an oak beside Yugo.
"My contract isn't complete until you've returned to Konoha alive," he said quietly.
Yugo gave him a nod of respect.
"You're free to wander."
Neji, still in disguise as Shin, bowed like a humble porter.
Yugo gestured lightly. "You've worked hard. Go stretch your legs. Explore the Fire Country, country boy."
The tone was almost teasing, but not unkind.
Neji bowed again, suppressing a grin. "Thank you, Master Yugo."
With a casual stride, he disappeared into the city.
Beneath a rising sun and gilded clouds, "Shin" wandered wide-eyed through the city like a lost puppy and it wasn't just an act.
Though Neji Hyūga had spent much of his shinobi life within missions, walls, and rules, this the loud, chaotic, colorful heartbeat of civilian life was almost foreign.
He walked along the main avenue, where the cobbled path curved into a spiral mosaic. Brick-laden shops leaned into the road like old friends. Silk banners waved gently in the wind, painted with kanji for fortune, health, and success.
Street musicians played zithers and flutes beneath parasol trees. Children ran between carts selling sweet dumplings on sticks, roasted eel, cinnamon plums.
He paused beside an open vendor stall. A woman wrinkled, wrapped in brown linen smiled up at him.
"First time in Sakyō, young one?"
Neji nodded dumbly.
She pressed a steamed red bean bun into his hand and waved off payment.
"You've got mountain dust on your shoulders. Eat. Smile more."
He took it silently, walked a few more steps and bit in.
It was incredible.
Neji wandered through:
The Paper Garden: A square filled with open parchment scrolls drying on lines poems, illustrations, and hand-inked advertisements written by calligraphers who sold verses like baked bread.
The Wind Tower Plaza: A massive turning paper sculpture rotated on a wind-propelled central column, designed by an ex-engineer from the Land of Wind. Children tossed coins into its base for luck.
The Lantern Veins: Curved alleys lit by hanging red lanterns even during the day, glowing faintly from embedded light seals.
He even passed by a stage where a traveling puppet theater reenacted the First Hokage's taming of the rampaging boar spirit complete with fake water jutsu flung at the crowd.
Neji didn't laugh, but he couldn't look away.
Even here, where laughter and smells of cinnamon air filled the space, Neji's mind remained sharp.
He noticed:
Hidden barriers drawn subtly into the road stone to mark emergency summon points.
Chakra threads used by certain merchants to tag their goods.
A young girl pickpocketing a samurai without triggering his spiritual defenses. He let it go she was hungry, and the samurai had five purses.
The Fire Country… it has culture and security embedded in the same breath.
This place was different than the compound.
Here, people chose who they became.
As the lanterns began to glow with the setting sun, Neji paused on a curved bridge over a koi-filled stream.
The city shimmered before him, touched by sunset. Smoke rose from chimneys. Distant laughter echoed from a tavern.
What if… this could be a future?
Not as a shinobi bound by mission after mission. Not as a cursed tool of the main branch.
But as a merchant, a strategist, a builder.
There was power in the art of coin and connection. And Neji had always seen the undercurrent of things. That, he knew, was the heart of business.
He watched two merchants haggle over the price of cinnamon imported from the Land of Rivers. They had bodyguards not elite shinobi, but well-trained enough to deter theft.
If I could… own a merchant license… I could move freely. Learn. Negotiate.
Not just as a weapon. But as a player in this world.
Companion?
He thought of Yugo.
He's sharp. Too sharp. Calculated.
Neji had watched him bluff assassins, reroute supplies, and trade secrets for value not favors. Yugo was a man of masks.
For a moment, Neji considered it asking Yugo to help him start something here.
But then he dismissed it.
No. He wouldn't trust me. And I wouldn't trust him.
Not yet.
If Neji wanted to move forward in this world, he needed someone trustworthy, but malleable someone he could shape alongside himself.
A true companion. Not a merchant prince.
By the time the bells of the Hour of the Monkey tolled, Neji had returned to the inn. He dropped the act slightly as he crossed into his room a small guest space with paper walls and tatami floors.
He peeled off his worn sandals and sat in silence.
He could still hear the street performances below. Smell the incense wafting up from a tea house.
His byakugan pulsed once, scanning the building. No spies. No chakra tags. Yugo had kept things secure.