Three days later, a caravan of more than twenty people pulled ten carts loaded with seafood toward Iwagakure.
At the head of the caravan was a plump middle-aged merchant with a cheerful smile and a pair of glasses—Kazuyama Gekkō in his new disguise. The rest of the group were workers he had hired from nearby towns.
"Everyone, keep pushing. We'll be at Iwagakure soon."
"This batch of seafood is sure to sell well. When it does, I'll pay out the bonuses I promised, at the price we agreed on."
If you wanted to play big, you had to play the part. This time Kazuyama Gekkō didn't even consider using a Shadow Clone, worried that something might go wrong.
After all, Iwagakure's Tsuchikage was Ōnoki, a wily old veteran who had spent his entire life on battlefields and in schemes. His mind was sharp, perhaps even more difficult to deal with than that old Sarutobi.
He had lived since the era of Uchiha Madara, carrying with him a wealth of experience and cunning.
"Oh! That's great!"
"Boss, is this seafood really from the Land of Frost?"
Many of the workers were curious. The Land of Earth did have seafood, but only in a few coastal cities.
Big yellow croakers, giant squids, massive octopuses, all kinds of shellfish... it was hard for them to imagine.
Kazuyama Gekkō chuckled, a trace of pride flashing across his face.
"Hehehe, I'm an old sea wolf. The ships from the Land of Frost are perfect for sailing, though transportation can be a bit tricky."
"This was thanks to the ninjas of Takigakure. I made it here from the Land of Frost all because of their help."
"And these ice blocks—tsk, tsk—if they hadn't preserved them with ninjutsu, I could never have carried so much."
The carts were piled high with seafood, each covered with ice. Even in the mountainous Land of Earth, the seafood remained fresh.
"But doesn't the Land of Earth feel different these days?"
"A little deserted, isn't it?"
"No one on the main road?"
Kazuyama Gekkō casually asked. He already had a suspicion but wanted confirmation.
Sure enough, his words made the workers sigh in unison.
"Ah, it's all because of the wars before."
"Some say it's divine punishment for Iwagakure starting so many wars—disasters keep breaking out across the Land of Earth."
"No kidding! First insects, then snakes. Scared us half to death!"
Hearing "insects" and "snakes," Kazuyama Gekkō couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Weren't those his masterpieces?
"If the Daimyō's manor hadn't ordered Iwagakure to deal with it, the roads would still be crawling with insects and snakes."
"And if that were the case, boss, even if you raised wages to the sky, no one would dare help you."
"No one's going to gamble with their life."
One of the older workers shook his head, voice filled with helplessness.
"What? People have died?"
Kazuyama Gekkō froze. How could he not know? He hadn't received any system notification.
He asked again, and the same worker replied, "As far as I know, no one's died, but there have been lots of attacks."
"But I did hear that quite a few ninjas from Iwagakure were killed handling these disasters."
"They're not like us workers. We just run if we run into them, but they have to face them head-on. Totally different."
Kazuyama Gekkō nodded. That made sense. He had released those swarms to cut off Iwagakure's supply lines and sow chaos, not to harm ordinary people.
Besides, the outer swarms were made up of ordinary snakes and bugs, weak and mostly non-venomous. By his design, they shouldn't have been fatal.
Along the way, Kazuyama Gekkō had picked up a lot of information about Iwagakure and the Land of Earth—an unexpected bit of intelligence gathering.
When they finally reached Iwagakure, the caravan was stopped at the gates by ninjas once again.
"Merchants? From the coast?"
"All of this is seafood?"
The Iwagakure ninjas were clearly sharper than those of Kusagakure. After a thorough round of questions, they had a clear grasp of the situation.
But Kazuyama Gekkō had prepared everything meticulously, and with the testimony of the Land of Earth workers, there were no holes in his story.
"All right, you can go in. If you're looking to do business, head for the central district."
"There are shops for rent there."
"And, just asking… how much for this seafood?"
Food was one of life's greatest pleasures, and the gatekeepers were clearly intrigued.
Iwagakure was a mountain village, surrounded by rocky peaks. They only ever left on missions, and their regular meals, truth be told, weren't anything special.
Seeing such fine seafood, they couldn't help but want to improve their diets.
"Haha, that's easy."
"Hey, bring some fish out, leave it for them."
"No money needed—thanks for pointing us the way, hahaha."
Winning the guards' goodwill was worth more than a handful of coin. It wasn't much seafood anyway, more a gesture than anything.
"Not bad. A word of advice—once you're in the village, follow the rules. As long as you do that, everything will be fine."
One of the ninjas accepted a big yellow croaker with satisfaction and added the warning.
Kazuyama Gekkō nodded with a smile, and the caravan entered the village, making their way toward the center.
Following the ninja's suggestion, he found a decent shop and rented a number of ice chests.
The act was thorough—by the end of the day, he was finally set up and ready to open.
"Come take a look! Fresh seafood, fresh yellow croaker!"
"Big squid! Giant octopus! All kinds of shellfish! Caught in the Land of Frost, preserved on ice all the way here!"
Kazuyama Gekkō had somehow found a loudspeaker and was shouting at the entrance.
But the first response wasn't a crowd of eager customers—it was the roaring laughter of his brother, Chōmei.
"Poisonous yellow croaker! Fresh!"
"Hallucinogenic squid! Blinding octopus!"
"All kinds of shellfish, all kinds of poison! Hahaha!"
"Kazuyama, if they knew the truth and heard you shouting like that, wouldn't they die of anger? Hahaha!"
Kazuyama Gekkō nearly burst out laughing himself. Chōmei's sense of humor had grown outrageous. It was all true, of course, but how could he say it out loud?
Still, his shouting worked—people turned to look his way.
After all, for the villagers of Iwagakure, the lure of fresh seafood was impossible to ignore.