A while after the sky turns dark, Zoro's group finally arrives in a town. The remaining 4 ninjas don't attack them. In fact, Zoro can't sense them at all after they escape from him even with his Observation Haki's wide range.
"They aren't waiting in this town either."
Zoro scanned the whole town and doesn't sense those 4 ninjas.
"Maybe they've given up because just the 4 of them won't be able to do anything." Samui is finally comfortable enough to voice her opinion.
"I think it's either they are calling for reinforcements or their village changes the plan. Either way, I doubt they have given up on delaying our way there. After all, if nothing goes wrong, then we will arrive on the 1st day of the negotiation time. So the other villages should do their best to delay us."
Everyone seems to agree with Dodai because his guess is very logical. So they won't let their guard down until everything is truly over.
When they are about to enter the town, a group of Kumo ninjas suddenly appears. These are the ninjas that they called to bring the captured ninjas to the village and interrogate them.
Zoro hands over the captured ninjas to the Kumo ninjas. They don't waste time and quickly return to the village. The captured ninjas are tied on big wolves that one of the Kumo ninjas summoned before they run very fast.
Zoro's group then goes to an inn they have reserved to rest. The representative also seems to have some business to do with the local lord, so he goes to the Lord's house with Raikage.
Zoro doesn't have anything to do with that, so he rests in the inn and enjoys the services there. The food is really good, so he eats a lot before going to sleep.
The next day, they continue their way and finally arrive in the port town at night. They don't get attacked again, which makes them suspicious although they are also glad.
"Are they planning to attack while we are on the sea?"
"Most likely. Once we enter the Land of Iron, it will be hard for them to attack us, so the most possible thing is they will attack while we are on the sea."
They don't know how their enemies will attack them on the sea. But they do know that they can fight better on land than on the sea.
Still, they don't worry that much about it with how strong their team is. So they enjoy the night on the ship that departs not long after they arrive in the port town.
Now they can relax on the ship after walking for 2 days. The only ones who didn't walk were the representative and his servant who took care of his needs, after all.
This voyage on a ship reminds Zoro of when he escaped the Land of Lightning during the war. He never thought that now he would sail on a ship again with ninjas from Kumogakure.
"The world is really a strange place."
"How strange?"
Yugito suddenly asks when Zoro is just mumbling that while looking at the night sea.
"You don't sleep?"
"I can't sleep. The ship sways so much that I can't fall asleep at all."
"Well, the sea isn't that calm tonight."
Zoro can sense that it's not just Yugito who can't sleep. Samui, Yasu, the representative, and the normal guards also can't sleep. But they stay in their rooms so they can rest even if they can't sleep.
Zoro is on duty to sense their surroundings in case the enemies attack them tonight. He will switch with Yasu tomorrow at day because Yasu's detection range is smaller, so Zoro needs to work at night when they can't see their surroundings well.
"What kind of country is the Land of Iron?"
"You never go there?"
"I rarely get missions to another country."
"I see." Zoro understands that it must be because she is a Jinchuuriki, so the village can't send her to another country easily because she will be targeted.
"Well, it's a cold country, literally. Most of our land is covered with snow all year round. We still have warm places, but the cold places are wider. The port town we are heading to is one of those cold places."
Zoro explains about the Land of Iron to Yugito. He tells her the country's general geography, some famous local specialties, good tourist locations, and other general information about the Land of Iron.
Then they also talk about their experiences. Though Zoro talks more about it because he has more stories as a bounty hunter who travels from country to country.
Yugito listens to his stories with sparkling eyes even though she looks very calm. Being a Jinchuuriki, the village treats her like a very precious treasure but also a calamity.
So the village limits her activity so much and trains her very strictly. They want her to be able to control her Tailed Beast just like B. His success made the village put more pressure on her, which takes away her freedom even more.
Although she never complains, deep inside, she also yearns for freedom. She wants to go to places she wants and do whatever she wants without being restricted.
She also wants to be treated like other normal girls. People are afraid of her because she is a Jinchuuriki. Though she knows the people in Kumo treat Jinchuuriki better than other villages, thanks to Killer B who is seen as the village's Hero, that's why she never complains.
Still, hearing Zoro's stories really makes her jealous of how much freedom he has. He is unbounded by anything and only lives for himself, the complete opposite of her.
Well, except for having friends. Just like her, he doesn't have that many people he can call friends. It's hard to build friendship when he always goes around and never settles in a place long enough to make friends.
Well, he did stay in Iron Capital for a few years, but he only made a few friends. Though he needs to keep his relationship with those people a secret because they are influential figures and he needs to work as an informant for them.
If their relationships are known, then it will disturb his job as an informant because other countries will be very wary of him. It will also ruin his freedom which he surely doesn't want to happen.
That's why he is always careful about what he says to other people. Just like now, he excludes things related to him being close with those important figures from the Land of Iron and other secrets.
Well, Yugito also avoids telling him secret things and she doesn't ask secret things to him as well. Both of them know the limits of what they can ask because they know everyone has secrets they need to keep.
Anyway, they just keep talking about many things that night. Just talking is boring, so they also try to fish and get quite a lot of catch.
B who looks from afar is smiling. He was the one who asked Raikage to bring Yugito with them because he knows she must have felt suffocated staying in the village all the time and rarely goes out.
It's also a chance for her to get a friend her age from another country. As a Jinchuuriki, he also knows well how lonely Yugito is. That's why he hoped Zoro could help her a little and it actually went better than he hoped for.
Raikage also approves of this for another reason. They can't tie Zoro to their village, but they can forge a good relationship with him. He is already friends with B, so if he also befriends Yugito, then their relationship with him will be deeper and it will be easier to ask for his help in times of need.
Zoro's power and potential are something that impress Raikage. He can reach such a level without proper education and resources from any big forces.
So Raikage is sure that he will be a very powerful individual in the future. Having a good relationship with Zoro will surely be beneficial.
Also, if this negotiation is another way to check Zoro's value. Raikage wants to know if Zoro really has a good relationship with the Land of Iron. If he is, then they really can't get on his bad side.
Minato also has a similar thinking with Raikage. But he can't interact with Zoro for too long because of Konoha's internal problems that need to be handled quickly.
That's why the most he could do was hiding Zoro's involvement in Kyubi's and Danzo's incident to keep him away from being on the bad side of Konoha.
Anyway, Zoro's group strangely doesn't get attacked again until they arrive in the Land of Iron after sailing for 2 days. But they won't let their guard down until they achieve their goal.
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Chapter 73. Women
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