Ch307. What lies beyond the sea
Rei watched in untold amusement as Konan who was currently comfortably snuggling into his chest while drooling finally stirred, waking up from her undoubtedly pleasant dreams. Her drowsy eyes slowly opened with confusion as her sleep-muddled mind tried to catch up. Konan suddenly flared bright red, no doubt realizing her current position. Despite her embarrassment, she just slightly lifted her head and looked Rei straight into his eyes, a happy smile stretching on her lips.
"Good morning." She tried to play off her embarrassment by acting as if nothing happened.
Rei lifted an eyebrow at her, the corner of his lips tugging upward while his eyes amusedly flickered at the wet spot on his chest, causing Konan to flush even deeper red as he returned her greeting, "Good morning. I see you slept well."
Konan narrowed her eyes and bit her lower lip, "And whose fault is that?" She playfully huffed, mentally feeling her pleasantly sore body pressing into Rei's figure and sharing their warmth.
"No comment. Any answer I could give you will be used against me." Rei quipped.
Konan giggled at that before she returned her cheek to her comfortable place on Rei's chest. "So true..." She hummed as Rei started to absently stroke her hair.
The duo enjoyed the slow and comfy morning in the bed, unburdened by their duties. These could and would wait.
It was only after some time that Rei noticed Konan had a strange expression and decided to ask her what was bothering her.
"I... must have received a memory package from my clones while I slept. They finally managed to scout the other continents to some degree." She stated in reply, "I am just surprised there is no mention of Chakra there."
"Hmm~... maybe they have a different name for it?" Rei tried to be helpful but then a thought occurred to him, "You know... in the legends, it is said it was the Sage of the Six Paths that taught humans how to use chakra. Since the guy was obviously active in the Elemental Nations, he probably didn't travel to other continents. Maybe they just never figured out how to make use of chakra or that it even exists." Rei theorized.
The history of chakra and how it came to be was confusing at best.
"That's possible. My clones didn't focus on the history there, yet. I ordered them to focus on looking for anyone who could be a threat." Konan said with a sigh. "It is going slowly since I'd rather not attract unwanted attention."
These new continents were uncharted territory for them and that meant Konan decided to go with the most careful approach. She didn't dare to create any waves and only sent clones that would stick to the shadows while gathering rumors. It wasn't the most effective or quickest method but it was the one with the least risks of somebody powerful spotting her spying.
Rei didn't have any complaints about that. Firstly, he knew there would be no invasion of note before the Fourth Great Ninja War so, unlike Konan, he wasn't overly worried about the other continents. It didn't really matter for him if the progress on that front went slow. It wasn't as if he had actual time to pay attention to what happened overseas.
"According to Yuriko's observations from the moon, on the west, there is a continent ten times the size of Elemental Nations. I wasn't able to get there yet with my Paper Clones but I managed to infiltrate a... well, I am unsure if I should call it a continent or an island but between this massive continent and our home, there is a land as big as Land of Fire, Earth, and Wind put together. It is quite close to the massive continent and in comparison to it, it's but an island, to be honest." Konan explained, knowing Rei didn't pay the other continents much attention so she was trying to give him all the necessary information in a small compressed bundle.
"It felt as if I entered one of the remote underdeveloped parts of Elemental Nations with a different culture and sense of fashion, to be honest." She chuckled, "My clone instantly stood out."
'So... medieval setting, huh?' Rei outwardly hummed in acknowledgment. 'Kinda expected. If they were technologically developed enough to build planes, they would discover Elemental Nations long ago.'
"The only mention of something out of the ordinary I managed to get was just rumors about silver-eyed witches and man-eating monsters. Honestly... you wouldn't believe how superstitious the people there are." Konan huffed. "Still, my clone didn't find any of the two but the villagers seemed to have a way to contact these witches so they are most likely real."
Rei was shocked when he heard her. 'Silver-eyed witches? Claymore? But... if that's true then the bigger continent to the west might be the home of the two races that are warring among themselves. The human land was supposed to be just some experimental ground or something if I remember correctly.' Rei's thoughts then skipped towards the... human-eating monsters. It was certainly possible that their Yoki was just tainted chakra. One just had to look at Orochimaru's handicrafts to see that it was definitely possible to create monsters via science.
Not noticing Rei's pondering mood, Konan continued with her report, inwardly enjoying his absentminded gentle caressing of her hair. "To the south, the continent closest to us is quite technologically developed but the people don't seem to have any independent supernatural abilities. They instead focus on tools. My clones recorded a technology similar to the Chakra Armor powered by an unknown energy source."
"That could be dangerous... If they are able to outfit an army with it and cross the ocean." Rei remarked. "Any information about how good this armor is?"
"Normal soldiers wearing it are around low chunin level threats if the guys that tried to apprehend my clone were any indication." Konan's cheeks briefly reddened as she averted her gaze, "That infiltration didn't go well. My clone might or might not have decimated a military camp. In my defense, they were rude when I wanted to just ask a few questions."
Rei snorted. It was praise-worthy that they discovered Konan sneaking around. Most likely some of their technology isn't so shabby. Still, the most important question was... "Do they have the means to cross the ocean?"
"No and yes." Konan calmed down and continued, "Yes, they have sufficient technology that with some..." She briefly paused before chuckling, "oh, who am I kidding, with a shitload of luck they MIGHT be able to get through all the monsters lurking in the waters between the continents. Will they waste the resources to do so? Nope. That's not gonna happen anytime soon."
"Oh? Are you sure?" Rei asked, remembering there was a Naruto movie about some invaders. Then again, genin Team 7 managed to subdue them all so...
"The countries on that continent have problems of their own and the existence of Elemental Nations is basically just a legend. Not many believe there is a different continent beyond the sea."
"Ah. Countries won't dispatch an army without proof. That's good." Rei said.
"Yeah, the strongest nation on that continent is currently in a sort of civil war anyway and the surrounding countries are just waiting like hungry dogs to pounce once it's weakened enough. My clones heard they use something called Teigu in that country but there is no confirmation since they haven't infiltrated it yet."
Rei furrowed his eyebrows, 'Teigu? Really? ... I guess the Danger Beasts might be likened to Chakra Beasts and the Teigu could possibly be something like Samehada but... Okay. Whatever. I don't care.' He released a suffering sigh. 'It could have been worse. It could have been a cultivation world or something. I think I should be grateful for these small mercies.'
"Just keep up with your information gathering and try to get into the mainland of the western continent and reach the eastern continent with your clones. No hurry. Unless they are planning to invade us, there is no need to intervene in their affairs. The best would be if they had no idea about the existence of Elemental Nation altogether. We don't really have the time for other continents since Kumo and Iwa are getting restless because of the Alliance talks between Konoha, Kiri, and Suna."