Four hours later Kenshin and his sons were two hundred kilometers from home and approaching Hinohara Outpost. Over fifty years since its founding, Hinohara Outpost had become something like a small city inhabited by shinobi. This place was unique because here shinobi not belonging to any structure could take missions, trade, and exchange information.
"Stick to the legend as we agreed," Kenshin mentally warned his sons, walking simply toward the outpost.
"Who are you?" a man sitting at the checkpoint asked lazily. He wore a Konoha forehead protector, and his gaze was full of arrogance toward outsiders.
"We came looking for work." Kenshin answered politely, using his charisma. He only slightly felt the interlocutor's mood and guessed he simply didn't care about them.
"Pass, but behave quietly. We don't need aggressive youths from some backwater used to being the center of attention. This isn't your shitty village, and if you break the law—you'll be killed in an instant. Understood?"
"Yes. We won't cause problems." Kenshin answered just as politely, not wanting to irritate this eternal Genin in any way. Even a simple Genin from Konoha could consider disrespectful treatment from an ordinary person offensive, even if accompanied by two strong Genin and a Chunin. The Genin from Konoha had no doubt that Kenshin was an ordinary person. Shinobi could easily determine a person's approximate rank by the slightest movements and reaction speed.
When Kenshin and his sons were inside the walls, they couldn't hold back their surprise. The appearance of this small city differed from all villages they had seen before. All houses were stone and stood in a special military order for easier defense.
Kenshin asked the nearest passerby for directions to the needed building and immediately headed there. Then came an hour and a half of bureaucracy Kenshin hated. He had to fill out several documents at the registry and then wait for the outpost deputy commander to receive him.
"So you want to register your mercenary group?" the black-haired man with a scar on his left eye sitting behind the desk immediately asked.
"Yes, that's correct." Kenshin said and, after a light nod from the interlocutor, sat on the chair.
"A mercenary group leader without chakra… Looks strange, don't you think?" he asked Kenshin with a smile, leaning back in his chair and crossing arms on his chest.
"It's not quite like that, Sētoru-san. We live in a small mountain settlement, and lately we've had problems with food supplies. The elder, my father, found two most talented guys in the settlement and also sent my older brother here. Unfortunately they have no idea how to negotiate, so this first time I came with them." Kenshin explained with a smile. He had thought through the legend for a long time and in discussions with Kasumi even found the needed settlement on the map where she had met several talented shinobi not belonging to any force.
"Want to perform missions for reward, you say… A bit strange name for a mercenary group considering most of the group aren't related to each other." Yamada Sētoru said skeptically and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Kenshin's answer.
"The thing is we are all related in one way or another and bear the same surname. Gojo's mother is my third cousin aunt, and Mitsuo's father was found in the mountains by my grandfather's second cousin and received the Nakayama surname. That's why our group is called 'Nakayama Family'." Kenshin said with a light smile. At that moment he praised himself again for the right decision to go on the mission as negotiator.
"Hm, so that's how it is… Good, each group member must fill out a questionnaire. Come tomorrow morning, and I'll find you a test mission. You're free."
Kenshin politely said goodbye and left the office, then the building itself, heading to a small hotel the registry worker had kindly pointed out.
Once behind the doors of the four-person room, Kenshin deployed a simple formation and only then sighed with relief. Yamada Sētoru reminded him of a cunning old bloodhound ready to smell blood at any moment and take the trail.
Kenshin tiredly collapsed into bed and advised his sons to do the same. After resting from the hard road, they headed to a local eatery and ate well, then walked around the town, looking at sights of which there were only a few. A four-story building of the outpost head and a large watchtower where Kenshin first saw a member of the Hyuga clan.
A man about forty only glared at Kenshin with his white eyes, looking at him like at an empty place, and turned away. Apparently the Hyuga clan member served as a radar, but Kenshin couldn't capture Byakugan activation because lingering near a strategically important place meant attracting unnecessary attention.
After "looking around" Kenshin and his sons went to the room, deciding to go to bed early. Most of the evening he replayed the conversation with Sētoru in his head, trying to notice at least some hidden details in his behavior but found nothing.
*****
The next morning, Kenshin headed to the outpost deputy commander and after a short wait entered the office.
"Good morning, Sētoru-san." Kenshin politely greeted, continuing to play the role of a courteous and harmless guy.
"Hm? Ah, Nakayama… Sit." Yamada Sētoru answered and returned to work.
Five minutes later he finally tore his gaze from his papers and looked at the patiently waiting Kenshin.
"One of the mountain settlements sent a request for help in eliminating proliferated storm wolves. That will be your mission. Your group needs to kill at least six individuals. Here are the coordinates." Sētoru said and handed Kenshin a map with a small pencil mark.
"Storm wolves…?" Kenshin asked questioningly, not understanding the mission's difficulty.
"Don't you have those?" Sētoru asked in surprise and, seeing Kenshin shake his head, continued: "Storm wolves are born with a predisposition to the lightning element and love living high in the mountains, absorbing chakra after lightning strikes. Not many can use the element, and on average a qualified Genin can handle one wolf. A group of four Genin can destroy a dozen individuals, so you have nothing to Worry about." For the first time showing friendliness, Sētoru answered.
A few minutes later, Kenshin thoughtfully left the office and, accompanied by his sons, left the building. He still couldn't find out anything specific except particularly important information. Sētoru assured him that even the weakest Chunin could kill a storm wolf pack leader and there was nothing to worry about.
First he headed to the eatery, and while everyone had breakfast, thought over the action plan. He had heard before that there were animals capable of generating chakra, thereby becoming physically stronger and faster, but he had no idea how to fight them.
Kenshin mentally told his sons the mission details, wanting to hear their opinion.
"If these wolves aren't stronger than Genin, we'll handle them easily. Plus we have formation protection," Ichiro mentally said.
"Yes, Father, these wolves are just stupid animals, and fighting them should be much easier than shinobi. This is a great chance for training!" Third declared.
"Mm-hmm, these wolves won't touch us if we activate Sharingan with big brother. There won't be extra people nearby. This is a great opportunity!" Fourth supported his brothers.
Kenshin smiled satisfactorily. At that moment he wanted to ruffle their hair but restrained himself in case of extra eyes nearby. He was pleased with how sensible his sons had grown and wanted to share this with Aya and Natsumi.
"Good, let's eat—we have a long road ahead." Kenshin said with a smile and pulled a plate of ramen toward himself.