In Byakuya's memory, the Sand Village's military strength ranked at the bottom among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The undisputed number one was the Hidden Leaf. After all, pretty much every major event in the ninja world was related to the Leaf.
Even Madara Uchiha, who thought he was plotting the Eye of the Moon Plan from the shadows, was one of the Leaf's co-founders.
Pakura hurriedly arranged tasks for the Sand ninja in the Land of Rivers, then took her disciple Maki and two other kunoichi back to the Sand Village.
Byakuya knew what orders she had given: without her permission, the Sand ninja stationed in the Land of Rivers were not to make any rash moves.
The Next Day.
Although the weather was clear, the chill in the air was becoming more pronounced. The autumn wind, carrying the dampness of the primeval forest, felt particularly uncomfortable against the skin.
Byakuya had bought autumn and winter clothes in the Leaf—black, of course—and stored them in a storage scroll.
Putting them on, he realized they were slightly tight. They had fit perfectly when he tried them on back in the village.
Children in the ninja world really did grow faster than in his previous world, and they matured much earlier too.
Byakuya held his mask, standing on a hill, marveling once again that humans in the ninja world seemed like a different species.
Since Pakura had returned to the Sand to report Danzo's "goodwill," and the high command's decision wouldn't be instant, Byakuya decided to rest until his stamina was at its peak before setting off for the Town of Sasori.
The town's name gave him a bad feeling.
After thinking it over, Byakuya concluded it was probably just the character "Sasori" triggering his sensitive nerves. Chiyo's grandson was also named Sasori. His strength was unquestionable; he was a character killed by plot armor in the original story. If Byakuya ran into Sasori at this juncture, his only option would be to channel chakra and activate the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
In short.
Mastering the Flying Thunder God gave him the confidence to venture deep into Sand territory.
If I can't beat you, I can at least run away, right?
During this time, Byakuya didn't go see Tagorihime. Once he was fully rested, he hit the road.
The complex terrain of the Land of Rivers broadened Byakuya's horizons once again. Following the route Pakura gave him, he traversed one canyon after another, endlessly. It was sparsely populated. Luckily, Byakuya had excellent stamina and could leap across gaps to the other side; otherwise, just this journey alone would have been a headache-inducing nightmare.
The Town of Sasori was not in the Land of Wind.
Byakuya arrived three days later.
Along the way, he completed a timed mission for a minor speed boost.
Although the "Speed" stat hadn't seen massive jumps, the accumulation of minor boosts resulted in a considerable improvement for Byakuya.
The Town of Sasori was a fairly large settlement. Most inhabitants were civilians, but there was no shortage of Sand ninja from the Land of Wind.
Even though this was clearly within the borders of the Land of Rivers, it felt like Land of Wind territory.
He took off his mask and stored the katana from his back into a storage scroll.
The storage scroll he brought this time was high-quality. He naturally didn't have the money to buy it; he "borrowed" it from the Academy warehouse.
Being the warehouse manager was worth at least an A-rank jutsu in value to Byakuya.
The town actually had a hot spring hotel.
But Byakuya didn't go in, as he saw quite a few Sand ninja staying there.
"Want some beef balls? Fresh beef, made today! Cheap price! Look at the color, smell the aroma!"
A peddler spotted Byakuya's unfamiliar face and grabbed him to push the beef balls.
"Give me two skewers."
"Coming right up! Here you go."
"How much?"
Byakuya didn't take them; he asked the price first.
The peddler piled on a smile, tempting him. "Just take them, take them."
"Tell me how much."
"Don't you want to eat?"
Byakuya turned and walked away. The peddler didn't grab him this time, sighing behind his back.
Clearly a scam to overcharge tourists. Byakuya wasn't going to fall for it.
He found a guesthouse.
Six hundred ryo a night.
Not cheap.
And this was after he compared prices at three different places.
"Guest doesn't look like someone from the Land of Wind or the Land of Rivers," the guesthouse owner observed, squinting as he puffed on a pipe while lying on a bamboo chair.
A maid brought lunch for Byakuya.
Sitting on the floor in the hallway, Byakuya picked up a bowl of some unknown grain. He tasted it; it was similar to wheat but coarser.
"I'm going to the Land of Wind to stay with relatives. I'm passing through the Town of Sasori and plan to rest for two days."
"Where are you from?"
"Land of Rain."
"I hear there's fighting in the Land of Rain?"
At this point in time, the Land of Rain was in turmoil. There were skirmishes between Leaf and Rock ninja, as well as internal divisions within the Hidden Rain.
Had the Akatsuki been founded yet?
Byakuya didn't know; he never remembered the exact date of Akatsuki's founding.
"Yes, the Land of Rain isn't peaceful, so I came to the Land of Wind to find relatives."
"Hard on you, kid."
Byakuya wasn't showing his true face. After taking off the Shuten-doji mask, he was wearing a mask that looked like real skin.
Never mind where such a mask came from—it was sitting in the Academy warehouse anyway. Before Byakuya left the Leaf, a teacher had requisitioned realistic masks like this to teach students about identifying enemy disguises.
It had flaws. The contact points between the mask and the face weren't secure and needed chakra to adhere. A ninja with outstanding sensory abilities could easily detect it.
But for fooling ordinary people, it was enough.
The owner exhaled a smoke ring, looking relaxed, and whispered, "You're a ninja from the Hidden Rain, aren't you?"
"Hmm, good guess."
"Not much of a guess. With wars starting everywhere, the fact that you could reach the Town of Sasori safely means you must be a ninja. Only a ninja can deal with other ninja."
Byakuya took a sip of miso soup. Average. Far inferior to what was sold in the Leaf.
"A while back, a group of ninja from the Hidden Rain also arrived in the Town of Sasori."
Byakuya was slightly surprised. "Did they go to the Land of Wind?"
"Yes. Before they left, they preached their ideals in the town square, saying they hoped for a ceasefire between nations and peace through negotiation. Heh, so childish, so naive."
The owner sighed. "The storm is coming. Everyone thinks the Sand Village is about to launch a war."
Byakuya asked casually, "Is that what everyone in town thinks?"
"You're not a local, so you don't know. The Sand sent ninja to collect heavy taxes from us and told us that before long, the Town of Sasori would be Land of Wind territory."
"Do the Land of Rivers ninja not intervene?"
"How would they dare! The ninja of our country either defect to the Sand or submit to the Leaf."
"How do you view the Hidden Leaf of the Fire Nation?"
The owner puffed on his dry tobacco pipe for a long while before saying, "No concept. Don't know how to view the Leaf. The people of Sasori Town don't reject joining the Land of Wind; some hope Sand ninja will garrison the town to protect everyone."
Byakuya laughed. "I'm afraid taxes would double or triple."
"You hit the nail on the head. The civilians who don't want to join the Land of Wind hate their brutal taxation. It's like draining the pond to catch the fish. They don't treat us as their own!"
A petite maid trotted over in wooden clogs, leaned into the owner's ear, and whispered, "Two more Sand ninja are here to collect tax."
"Damn it, what is it for this time?"
"They said it's a Clothes Hanger Tax."
"What tax?"
"Clothes Hanger Tax."
The owner looked incredulously at Byakuya, who was eating slowly. "Honored guest, have you ever heard of a Clothes Hanger Tax?"