Chapter 54: Heading to the Land of Artisans
The Next Day
Everyone was resting at home, so there was no gathering at the secret base. Yamamoto Ryusei thought of his shattered sword, Aurora. It was always inconvenient not to have a weapon, so he decided to go to the blacksmith shop to buy a new one.
Arriving at the shop, Ryusei placed the hilt of Aurora on the counter in front of Morita Ryota. "I'm sorry, Brother Ryota. Aurora is destroyed."
Morita Ryota patted Ryusei's shoulder. "It's alright. Aurora's destiny was to die on the battlefield. Besides, we went to see your battle. I never thought you were so strong, to even defeat such a huge toad! Are you here to find a new weapon this time?"
Ryusei nodded. "That's right. Last time I was on a mission, I felt it was always inconvenient without a weapon. So I want to find a new one."
Morita Ryota nodded, went into the back room, and returned with a sword. "This sword is of similar quality to Aurora, but it's longer and heavier."
Ryusei took the sword. It looked much like an ordinary katana. It had a black blade with only a sliver of silver along the cutting edge, and a brown wooden hilt wrapped with a blue cloth band, giving it a simple and elegant look.
Morita Ryota frowned. "Ryusei, after watching your battle, I've realized that you have particularly high requirements for the quality of your sword. You are a ninja. Your sword not only needs good chakra conductivity, but it also has to withstand your slashing attacks. In my impression, only a Kusanagi sword can do that."
Ryusei said helplessly, "I want a Kusanagi sword too, but a divine weapon like that is something you can't just find by looking for it!"
Of the eleven Kusanagi swords in the ninja world, eight were used to defeat the Yamata no Orochi. Now there were only three left: the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the Sword of Totsuka, and the Sword of Nunoboko. The Sword of Totsuka was a spirit sword that could only be used by an Uchiha who had awakened their Susanoo. The Kusanagi no Tsurugi and the Sword of Nunoboko would later fall into Orochimaru's hands. Orochimaru even gave the Kusanagi no Tsurugi to Sasuke Uchiha. He had no idea where Orochimaru found them; his memories from his past life didn't contain that information. Otherwise, he could have intercepted them.
"But..." Ryusei's spirits lifted again. "Since the Kusanagi swords were forged by people, then we can also forge an even better sword. In a little while, I'll go to the mission hall to post a bounty for chakra-conductive metal. When we have the metal, I'll have to trouble you to forge a chakra weapon for me, Brother Ryota."
"Wait!" Yamashita So popped out from the side, somewhat dissatisfied. "Big Brother, we agreed that I would be the one to forge your future chakra weapon!"
Ryusei was a bit speechless. "But you don't know how right now. I might find the chakra metal in a few months. When that time comes, Brother Ryota will still be the only one who can forge it."
"No, I can do it!" So took out a kunai from his ninja pouch and handed it to Ryusei, saying proudly, "Big Brother, look! This is a kunai I forged."
Ryusei took the kunai and examined it. Although it wasn't perfectly standard, when he flicked it with his finger, the clear, crisp sound it made proved that its quality was at least passable. Ryusei gave Morita Ryota a questioning look, asking if So had really forged it. Morita Ryota gave a slight nod.
"Not bad, So," Ryusei praised. "To be able to forge a kunai so quickly. But forging a sword and forging a kunai are not the same concept. Why don't you ask Brother Ryota how long it took him to forge his first sword?"
Morita Ryota took over. "It took me five years of learning before I forged my first sword. With So's talent, three years should be enough."
"Three years?" So said excitedly. "Why so long? That's a despairing amount of time."
"Then let me give you some hope," Ryusei said, pointing at the novel in So's ninja pouch. "After you learn to forge weapons at school, you can forge whatever weapon you want. For example, the Power Pole, the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Sword, the Exquisite Pagoda, the Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger..."
So's eyes grew brighter and brighter with each weapon name Ryusei mentioned. He turned to look at Morita Ryota with the same expression a dog has when staring at a meat bun and said excitedly, "Brother Ryota, please continue to teach me how to forge weapons!"
Morita Ryota gave Ryusei an admiring look, then said to So, "Mm... let's work on the basics first."
Ryusei went home, took some money, and went to the mission hall to post a bounty for chakra metal.
"You can't do that?" Ryusei asked with some doubt. "Why can't I post a bounty for chakra metal?"
The staff member was confused. "Of course you can't. This is for posting missions. If you want chakra metal, you can just go and buy it. Why post a mission? This is a mission hall, not a shop."
Uh... that's right. I can just go and buy it directly. I've been reading too many cultivation novels. I thought it was like in those novels, where you can post a bounty for anything. But it's not like it's a bad idea.
Ryusei cleared his throat. "You could also open up this function. A super service hall that combines shops, intelligence, and missions. People could come here to solve any problem they can't solve themselves. Think of how much profit that would generate!"
The staff member gave an awkward but polite smile. "I will pass your suggestion on to my superiors."
Ryusei knew he was just being placated. He smiled back and left.
A few days passed, and it was time for another mission. Because Hashirama was the Hokage, he had to stay in Konoha and couldn't just go out for fun. Mm... how tragic. Besides, it wouldn't look good for the Hokage to be doing a C-rank mission. So, it was Senju Tobirama who led them to the mission hall.
Seeing Tobirama about to choose a mission, Ryusei called out, "Teacher Tobirama, could we choose a mission to the Land of Artisans?"
Tobirama was a bit confused. "Why the Land of Artisans? Do you have some business there?"
Ryusei said with some embarrassment, "I want to go to the Land of Artisans to buy some chakra metal to forge my own chakra weapon."
Tobirama turned to the other five. "What are your opinions?"
The teammates looked at each other and then all nodded, indicating they had no objections.
Tobirama turned back to the counter and chose a mission to escort a merchant caravan to the Land of Artisans.
After receiving the mission, they soon met the client, a middle-aged man who traded grain and ironware between the Land of Fire and the Land of Artisans. He hired Konoha ninjas for every business trip, but he never thought he would be able to hire Senju Tobirama this time.
The merchant, Uncle Ito, stood up excitedly and said respectfully, "My humble surname is Ito. I never thought I would be able to hire Lord Senju Tobirama. It is truly the honor of three lifetimes."
Although Tobirama's fame in the Land of Fire couldn't compare to the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, or the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, his title as the fastest in the ninja world was not for nothing.
Tobirama replied faintly, "You are too kind. These are my disciples. They are all Genin of Konoha, and they will be completing this mission with me."
Uncle Ito immediately began to praise Ryusei and the others. "You are all so young and promising, to become ninjas at such a young age! And to even become the disciples of Lord Senju Tobirama, your skills must surely be the strongest among your peers."
This was the first time Ryusei and his teammates had received such praise, and they couldn't help but beam with joy. This was especially true for Hiruzen and Danzo; after being knocked out by Ryusei with a single punch last time, they had been berated by their families for a long time. Finally hearing a voice different from reprimand made them feel a little excited.
Tobirama looked at the happy group, cleared his throat, and said with a stern face, "If you are ready, then let's set off."
Ito nodded repeatedly. "No problem, we can leave anytime."
The journey to the Land of Artisans was different from their last mission. They couldn't run at high speed like before but had to follow the caravan slowly, which took more time. In the caravan of a dozen or so carts, Tobirama and Ito were drinking tea in a carriage, while Ryusei and his teammates patrolled the perimeter in pairs. But not a single enemy approached. Ryusei created several shadow clones and had them practice chakra nature transformation while his main body continued to patrol.
Seeing how hard Ryusei was working, his teammates also created shadow clones and began to train.