The mercenary group from which the real Hiroshi had hired protection had arrived in the Wind Capital city to investigate the reason why their comrades didn't return for almost 2 months.
Ryota had handled several such cases in the past. In the majority of cases, this was a result of those squads being killed in action. He replied, "I see. Can you tell me the names of the ninjas and the traders?"
Seiji nodded and informed him of the names of his ninjas. He added, "They were tasked to guard a mercenary group led by Takahashi Hiroshi."
Ryota nodded and passed the details to a few civilians who used to sit with them. After a while, one person said, "Ryota-sama. The ninja names they mentioned haven't arrived here."
Seiji heard it and let out a sigh. He had expected this result.
Suddenly, another person said, "Takahashi Hiroshi and his trader group had arrived in this city 51 days ago. You were the one who accepted them, Ryota-sama."
The mercenary group were surprised to hear this information. Ryota took the document and read it. He said, "Yeah, I have some memories. This group was very polite."
Seiji squinted his eyes and asked, "But if our members are missing, how can they have arrived here unharmed?"
Ryota shrugged and replied, "How would I know?"
Seiji said, "We want to meet with Hiroshi and question him."
However, Ryota shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, I can't allow that. Once a trader or a merchant arrives in the city, he is our guest. We cannot allow him to be harassed."
Seiji frowned. He withdrew a bag and handed it to Ryota secretly and asked, "Can we meet up with him now?"
Ryota took a quick look inside the bag. It had around one hundred thousand Ryo. He smiled and said, "Sure. How can I deny our esteemed guests?"
The mercenaries maintained their smile but scoffed internally at his morals. Meanwhile, the other Samurais and civilians guarding the gate were joyous. After all, they too would receive a share. Ryota sent a samurai to find and bring Hiroshi to the gate.
An hour later, a Samurai knocked on the door. Fujin was surprised. He wondered, 'Are they still finding the culprits?'
He opened the door and politely greeted, "Hello. How may I help you?"
The Samurai looked at him and said, "Hayashi Ryota, the samurai who you met while entering the city wants to meet you. Please come with me."
Fujin frowned. He didn't understand what it was about. He asked, "Why? And why didn't he come here?"
The Samurai said, "He is busy and can't leave the City gates. That's why he sent me. As for the reason, you will have to ask him."
He began walking. Fujin followed while thinking, 'What the hell is this about? Did they figure out that I was the culprit? No, that doesn't make sense. A lot more people would show up if they did. Hell, Rasa might come himself!'
Fortunately, the Samurai wasn't walking in the direction of where Rasa was staying. Though suspicious, Fujin followed thinking, 'It doesn't matter what he is planning. As long as Rasa isn't involved, I'll be able to get away.'
They arrived at the city gates. Ryota looked at Hiroshi and warmly said, "We meet again, Hiroshi. Did you enjoy the city?"
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes. I have fallen in love with the city. I can't seem to want to leave it. Haha. But, why did you call me?"
Ryota pointed at a group of ninjas who were walking towards them and said, "These are from the mercenary group Kurogane no Sensen. They want to ask you about the ninjas who took the mission of protecting you."
Ryota looked at Fujin meaningfully. After all, there were no ninjas protecting his group. And he hadn't mentioned them when they arrived.
Fujin was surprised. He thought, 'I see. They have finally come to investigate. Sign, such bad timing. If they had arrived after Rasa left, I would have had so many more options. Looks like this identity can't be used anymore. Though it is probably not a bad thing to leave this city now. Rasa and Daimyo should have come to some sort of a deal. So if I make a move now, the Daimyo will lean more towards believing that someone is setting him up.'
Seiji approached Fujin and said sternly, "Hiroshi, I am Oda Seiji from Kurogane no Sensen. Can tell me why your group arrived in the city without the squad assigned to protect you?"
Unlike Ryota, Seiji was much more aggressive. Fujin walked back a couple of steps and showed a fearful expression. Ryota took a step in between them to remind Seiji that this was the Wind Capital city. Seiji stopped but still stared at Fujin.
Fujin answered with a hint of fear in his voice, "On our route, we encountered an injured man. He said that his group was attacked by bandits and asked for our help. The ninjas we hired initially refused the injured man. But the man promised to give them all his profits from the goods that he was going to trade.
That made them change their mind. Two of the ninjas followed the man while the remaining two escorted us to this city. However, since we didn't hear from those two ninjas again, the other two got worried. So after this city was in sight, they left us and went back to look for them. I don't know what happened after that."
Seiji frowned. He analyzed, 'Seeing how scared he is, I doubt he is lying. Besides, we are a mercenary organization. People chasing after more money is very common in our line of work. Did they fall into a trap? And why did the remaining two chase after them? No, something doesn't add up."
He asked, "Where did you find that man?"
Fujin replied, "Around four days' journey from here."
Seiji replied, "Okay. You will come with us and take us to that place and help us find them."
Fujin immediately said, "No. The man was in a very bad state. I don't want to end up like him."
Seiji replied, "You won't. We will be there with you."
However, Fujin kept saying no. When Seiji was about to get aggressive, Fujin said, "This is the Wind Capital. You can't forcefully take me from here."
Seiji frowned and looked at Ryota who looked to be on Fujin's side. He said, "Help me out, brother. I will make sure that he is safe and that you are compensated."
Fujin immediately wondered, 'Compensated?'
Ryota nodded and looked at Fujin and said, "Hiroshi, you don't need to be worried. With twelve ninjas, even I won't be able to do anything to them. So the bandits won't pose a threat to you. In addition, you need to save the ninjas who brought you here safely. Or at the very least, you should get justice for them."
Seeing that everyone was against him, Fujin's face became very ugly. He reluctantly nodded, "Alright."
The Samurais and the mercenaries smiled. After all, Hiroshi was just an ordinary trader. How could he disobey them? Seiji secretly passed another hundred thousand Ryo to Ryota.
Fujin obviously noticed it and decided, 'In the future, if I decide to steal or plunder, I will definitely start with the Land of Iron. In terms of cash flow, that will definitely be the richest country in this world!'
This wasn't the first time Fujin had seen an 'honorable' samurai act in this manner. Almost every Samurai working for Daimyo or in Capital cities was very liberal when it came to accepting bribes. In addition, the Daimyos also paid them a lot for the protection they provided. In addition, they were also the largest suppliers of basic ninja tools and chakra metal weapons and also mined the last few remaining Elemental Crystal mines. So a lot of money keeps getting funneled continuously into the Land of Iron.
They were about to leave when suddenly a commotion was heard. The entire group looked back to see the Kazekage walking towards the city gate along with a few Sunagakure ninjas.
Everyone immediately became tense. They quickly moved out of the way and stood on one side of the road respectfully. Rasa passed through the gate without paying any attention to them. The mercenary group sighed in relief.
However, Rasa suddenly stopped and glanced towards the mercenary group and thought, 'Weird, why do I get a peculiar feeling from this group?'
Rasa didn't sense anything from this group. However, he just felt as if something about them was off.
