Land of Iron is located in the north of the Land of Fire, adjacent to the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Rice Fields. It is a neutral country where Samurai is the one leading it!
Because it is higher to the north, the temperature in the Land of Iron is very low. Nearly one-third of the year is below zero degree Celsius with heavy snowfall, and the rest of the time is also hovering below 20 degrees Celsius.
Kanpū and his group set off from Konoha, and after taking rest in between the travel, it took about a week for them to enter the Land of Iron's territory.
During the period, Kikuchi introduced the local conditions and customs of the Land of Iron to Kanpū and the others from time to time, as well as some interesting things about his business, inadvertently drawing the relationship between the two parties closer. It can be seen that his EQ is very high.
Of course, Shikuro did not forget to guide the three in Taijutsu, as well as anti-tracking, setting trap and other skills, which made Kanpū and the others' journey extremely fulfilling!
After entering the Land of Iron, Kikuchi stopped riding the horse because the temperature here is a bit low.
It is now late June. In the Land of Fire, it will be hot summer, but in the Land of Iron, it seems that winter has just passed and the temperature has not exceeded ten degrees Celsius.
Kikuchi is an ordinary person, so there is no way he can ride a horse in this weather.
Because of that, the traveling speed of the group of five instantly slowed down to a turtle speed, and it was not until the next day that they bought a carriage in a border city of the Land of Iron, and their traveling speed gradually recovered.
Kikuchi's destination is not the Land of Iron's capital, but a city called the Iron City, a city that prospered because of a nearby iron ore vein. Many merchants and even Shinobi will come here to buy high-quality iron ore!
"In order to avoid trouble, should we disguise ourselves?" Kanpū suggested cautiously.
Although the Land of Iron is a neutral country, if they meet the enemy's Shinobi and fight here, the Land of Iron will not do anything.
Shisui nodded in agreement: "I agree! The Land of Iron is very close with the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. And it is very likely that these two countries would send people to watch here, so we still have to be careful."
After that, Kanpū's group of four, including Shikuro, took off their Shinobi headband, put on ordinary clothes, and disguised themselves as Kikuchi's family.
Kikuchi naturally had no objection about this.
In the afternoon of the same day, the group of five officially arrived at the Iron City.
At the gate of the Iron City, there are seven or eight Samurai wearing iron armor and have Katana on their waists.
This was the first time Kanpū saw a living Samurai, so he couldn't help but take a second glance.
When Kikuchi saw this, he thought that Kanpū was worried about their identity being discovered, so he said with a smile: "Don't worry, these Samurai's duties are equivalent to the Military Police Force in our village, and they are responsible for maintaining order. As long as we don't make trouble, they won't interrogate the coming businessmen."
Kanpū was stunned, then immediately smiled, and didn't explain anything.
When the group of five people entered the city, the Samurai glanced at them, but they did not step forward to intercept and question them.
After entering the Iron City, Kanpū felt uncomfortable. The city was full of a faintly discernible smell of rust, some of it smelled like blood, and it smelled very uncomfortable.
Shisui and Yui also frowned, as they don't like the smell.
When Kikuchi saw their appearance, he smiled and said: "The smell here is really not good, but please bear with it for just a day."
Shisui asked in surprise when he heard this: "Kikuchi-san, can you buy enough iron ore in one day?"
Kikuchi smiled and answered: "One day is enough."
The iron ore veins near the Iron City are very large, and the mining rights are jointly occupied by a dozen of Samurai clans. Then, these Samurai clans contracted the mining areas under their name to the merchants to mine and sell, and the Samurai clans took the bulk of the money from the sale, and those merchants could only drink the broth. In order to maximize their own interests, those merchants often mix inferior products in the iron ore they sold.
Therefore, if someone come to this city for the first time to purchase iron ore, whether it is for the quality or price of iron ore, they will have to shop around, and they will not be able to finish buying in ten days or even half a month.
Therefore, Kikuchi's goal is not these iron ore from the vein, but the iron armors and Katana discarded by the dozen Samurai clans.
Of course, the cost of acquiring these items will be much higher than the direct purchase of iron ore, plus the cost of dissolving them and recasting them into Ninja Tools, the cost will at least triple!
In normal times, Kikuchi would not dare to do something like this, but now is the war time, and the price of Ninja Tools is constantly rising, so even if the cost of acquisition, dissolution, and recasting is high, he can still make money from it!
After the group of five found a place to stay, Kikuchi was ready to go out to do his business.
"Everyone, you don't have to follow me for the next day, and you can just take a stroll here. The Katana here are still good. Then, I will go first."
After Kikuchi went out, Shisui looked towards Shikuro with some worry.
"Shikuro-sensei, shall we follow him?"
"Don't worry, the Land of Iron is a neutral country, so the security here is still very good, besides, this is the employer's request." Shikuro said with a smile, "It's a rare chance for us to come to the Land of Iron. You all should listen to Kikuchi-dono's suggestion and go shopping."
"Shikuro-sensei, can you buy a weapon that can perfectly transmit Chakra here?"
Kanpū thought it was a rare visit, and he really can't go home empty-handed.
Shikuro gave him a sideways look and said: "Even if there is one, you can't afford it."
'How dare you look down on me?'
'I am a petty bourgeoisie worth 600,000+ ryō at any rate, there's no way I can't afford a special Katana, right?'
Kanpū was about to refute, but after another thought, he felt that it seemed to be true.
The sword in the hands of Kanpū's cheap father, Hoshino is called Shūsui, which is a sharp blade that can perfectly transmit Chakra, and his father also said that there are only a few of such swords in the entire Gekkō Clan.
It must be known that Hoshino is a Jōnin, and he can earn 500,000 to 600,000 ryō by simply taking an A-Rank mission, and Gekkō Clan has four or five Tokubetsu Jōnin. So if this sword is really "cheap" that his 600,000 ryō can buy it. With the earning power of the Jōnin and Tokubetsu Jōnin of the Gekkō Clan, the clan can buy as many swords as they have. How can there be a situation where there are only a few such sword in Gekkō Clan?
That means, Kanpū's 600,000+ ryō really can't afford it.
Kanpū sighed depressedly, he thought he was rich, but he didn't expect he is still a poor man.
'However, the streets that should be visited still have to be visited.'
The group of four left the inn, and soon saw a Ninja Tool, no, it was a Katana shop.
The shop is very big, with Katana hung on both sides of the walls. The long ones are Tachi and Uchigatana, and the short ones are Wakizashi and Tantō.
Kanpū then picked up a Tantō. Although it is short, it is still longer than an ordinary kunai.
"Kanpū, the Tantō in your hand is specially used by Samurai to cut their abdomen." Shikuro glanced at it and said neither light nor heavy.
Kanpū's face twitched slightly, and he coughed dryly, "Of course I know that."
Then he made a posture of cutting his abdomen, showing his knowledge about this.
Then, Kanpū put the Tantō back and continued to look at the other Katana on the wall.
On the side, Shisui also grabbed a Tachi and made a few slashing movements, but soon after, he shook his head. Although the Tachi feels good, it is not suitable for him.
Yui didn't even touch it.
"Kanpū, are you planning to buy a Katana?" Shisui glanced briefly and came to Kanpū's side.
Kanpū nodded: "You may not believe it, but recently, when I was training Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, I obviously felt that I received some enlightenment. I believe I will soon be able to advance leaps and bounds on Kenjutsu, then inherit the Konoha-Style Kenjutsu and embark to the peak of life!"
"But Kanpū, I think your talent in Ninjutsu is better than your talent in Konoha-Style Kenjutsu." Shisui said.
'Why are you talking so truthfully in front of the adults!'
Kanpū looked at him reproachfully.
Shisui was dumbfounded.