Chapter 106: Yukigakure

After gathering up our gear; my bow, new swords, and vest for me, we all made our way out of the village, Yuga Inuzuka waving us off again from her spot at the gate.

"Yukigakure is in the Land of Snow, which is on the southern border of the Land of Lightning... so we have around five hours of fast travel ahead of us, before we need to infiltrate the village. Since these are Kiri ninja, they should either A) be treated like kings amongst the Yukigakure Shinobi, or B) be hiding in plain sight..."

Anko nodded in front of me, while Kurenai added "It'll be easy getting into Yukigakure; it's the only place to stop along the road leading to Kumogakure, and since none of us are..."

She paused, glancing back at the extremely eye catching Cameia; she was taller than us by a few inches, somewhere in the mid sixes, and was muscular.

Besides that, her piercing golden eyes would be the main problem.

Frowning, Kurenai slowed down and ran alongside Cameia, asking "Can you learn on the move?"

Seeing the Priestess nod, Kurenai displayed the hand signs for Henge, making the woman purse her lips.

As they ran, Cameia slowly did each sign for the Henge, before a puff of smoke appeared around her.

Seeing no difference, Kurenai shook her head as she scoffed, saying "Sorry, forgot to mention; you need to visualize the change you want. The best thing for you would be... ah, just change the eyes. We'll say you're our bodyguard, along with Anko."

Nodding, Cameia redid the Henge signs, and we watched as her eye color shifted from that liquid gold to a dull brown, making Kurenai grin.

"Good! Alright, you can cancel it; when we get to Yukigakure, you'll need to recast it along with a few other small tweaks..."

Giving Cameia a small smile, I said "Brown suits you..."

Watching as she dropped the transformation, I grinned as I finished "But gold looks the best."

Cameia just nodded, her face still as stoic as ever.

Anko chuckled ahead of us, before asking "Why am I the bodyguard? Shouldn't I make the perfect Young Miss who's traveling around, 'enjoying' life?"

Giving Anko a glare, Kurenai said "That's why; you always seem to enjoy that role. So this time, Koko and I will be the merchants you're escorting. Got it?"

Hearing the slight edge on Kurenai's tone, Anko rolled her eyes and nodded, grumbling "I don't always choose that..."

I chuckled, reminding her "Back when we were hunting Juzo Biwa, you instantly chose a revealing woman as your Henge, and you were on personal relations with a 'tea' shop owner..."

That made her purse her lips before sighing, turning back towards the front.

"I do it ONE time and they use it against me! Hmph!"

Hearing her low mutters ahead of me, I held back a laugh, before we all fell into a comfortable silence as we ran.

Since we were running north, we had to pass through the Land of Hotsprings first, which was a beautiful rolling plains, spotted with lush forests and wondrous lakes.

It got its name from the numerous hotsprings that dotted its landscape, and dozens of prosperous cities were set up as relaxing resorts and sprawling trading hubs; in fact, most of the businessmen in the world had a home of some kind up here, where they escaped to during the worst seasons of their home countries.

I had only been a few times, and only on missions, so I wanted to eventually come up for recreation, to enjoy a few days of peace in the healing springs of this beautiful land.

Sadly, we needed to continue past this wonderful vacation spot, rushing further north, where a raised plateau of land was covered in a near eternal frost.

Since it was so high up, so cold, and so close to the ocean, it was almost always snowing, and unlike the humid mountains of the Land of Lightning above it, the Land of Snow was barren for a different reason.

There were multiple reports of even Shinobi squads getting lost in the Land's blizzards, incapable of escaping and being separated in the pure whiteout conditions.

Even with chakra to help ourselves, some succumbed to the freezing climate, dying cold and alone in a foreign land.

That was why there were few villages here, and Yukigakure was the largest one for miles.

I say large, but...

Staring down at the cluster of wooden longhouses, placed strategically to keep the worst of the wind out, we all looked over the hundred some odd buildings, which housed a population of around 10,000.

The Shinobi here were few, and even those were of terrible quality; they spent little time fighting other Shinobi, and more time reinforcing the village with their chakra and warding off any wild animals that grew desperate.

Which meant...

"So, we'll infiltrate as unlucky merchants who lost half our party to the storm; since we still have some various scrolls filled with necessities, we'll trade away a few things to guarantee entry.

Once in, we hunker down for a few hours and chat up the locals, asking about whatever rumors are going around and so on. If we hear anything about a group of new, strong Shinobi showing up, we find out where and pounce. If not, we search the old fashioned way; with chakra, and by surveying the peoples' behaviors.

Cameia, just follow behind us quietly; be the strong, silent bodyguard. We'll do the talking, just keep an eye out for any chakra signatures that are larger than the normal population. If you find something, tell us discreetly.

Anko, do the same; you're a guard, nothing else this time. Koko and I will do the talking.

When we find the targets, we should wait till an hour before dawn to strike; that way we can leave and have some sun to guide us, and they'll be on their lowest guard.

Everyone ready?"

Staring at Kurenai, we all nodded, before each of us assumed a Henge.

Since we were infiltrating and searching for Kiri Shinobi, we kept the changes to a minimum.

Cameia altered her eyes and donned a thick coat, leaving her weapons on display; her Kama hung on her waist, and she had a few kunai sheathed around her torso.

Anko mirrored Cameia, only changing her clothes to a thick fur coat and a harness, which displayed a few daggers. Her own dagger and kunai pouch remained, and the violet haired woman gave me a cocky grin.

Kurenai changed her eyes as well, since her crimson was too eye catching and well known; switching instead to obsidian, the woman wore an elegant black fur dress that hugged her lithe figure well, and she had a coat on over that.

As for me, I changed little other than my clothing, keeping myself the same.

We all altered our features slightly, to throw off anyone who might know who we were, but not large changes that were easy to notice.

After all, even a small change to the face can make someone look different.

Nodding to one another, we approached the main road and started walking towards Yukigakure.

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So I don't remember if Henge lets you change clothing or not, but...

I mean, if I can change myself into a usable shuriken, I would think I could alter my clothing to look different...

If not, then boom, they can.

Anyways, think this will be another 2 chapters, maybe 3 at most, then we go back to the Academy.

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