67 Around the World: The Iron Rod

Quest Added: The Iron Rod.

Find the Land of Iron's Observations of the Great Ninja Wars: (0/3).

(Optional: Find the Shogun's personal accounts: 0/5).

As far as quests go, this one's been illuminating.

When I first started, I wanted to look into why the elemental nation's histories. I wanted to know if Suna wanted to kill their Daimyo for sending their business to Konoha, and they did, but it evolved past that. I wanted to find a way to stop the oncoming war.

With the discovery of the Akatsuki manipulating the Mizukage, the theory that I had that all the world wars are being engineered somehow went from 'conspiracy theory' to plausible. That's scary. Because it means that there is likely no way of working within the Hidden Village system to stop it because the gears of war are already turning, not just with the preparations going around, but because of their cultures and where the mind of the people is at.

Suna wants to take over Iwa for the resources. Iwa and Kumo both see Konoha as a nation to be conquered and its resources claimed. They will never, ever give up. Konoha sees itself as the wronged party in every great Shinobi war and so they'll happily move into next great war and spill countless amounts of blood with the approval of their own conscience.

A person's conscience can be a serious motivator.

I haven't found a way to stop it. If I just try to talk to the Hokage, the village elders, I can already feel the 'success not possible' charisma and speech checks slapping me in the face so hard they actually make my eyes bleed.

The Land of Iron, the land of the Samurai, the one place that is absolutely, truly outside of all the wars, might just be my last hope. It's a small city-state that sits on the Three Wolves summit, which was just three wolf's heads carved into the mountains somehow. I know from a book that I read during my academy days that there were also a series of villages throughout the mountain-range that did things like grow food and harvest lumber. I believe that the capital itself is self-sufficient somehow but beyond hunting animals, I don't see how it keeps itself fed at this altitude.

Actually, you know what? There's probably plants that do grow up this high that I'm unaware of, Konoha's library on growing plants was almost entirely focused on what grew within the Land of Fire.

Currently, I was flying around the mountains, under the upper maw of one of the wolves, taking in the sights. The fact that the three wolves hadn't collapsed under their own weight was awesome and I wanted to see it. That, and I wanted to get a look at the lay of the land and see if I can find a village or two, observe conditions, see how the Samurai govern themselves.

I mean, they're probably fairly mercenary in their dealings too. The rest of the world is. All of the Shinobi villages let problems fester until they get paid to deal with it, including Konoha. Scummy thing to do but that sort of thing happens when you're a monopoly and don't have to compete with anything.

A flare of chakra from down below stops me in my tracks. There's a fight going on.

I look downwards, turn on my binocular jutsu and see what the fight is. It's between a team of samurai and cat people.

Cat people.

Feline head, human torso, arms and legs, claws on their fingers and their feet was bent up like an actual cat's would have been. Their fur was black and short, covering a sleek physique. They also were wearing loin-cloths

Rakshasa? You know, the old Dungeons and Dragons term for cat-human people? I'll call them Rakshasa, though if they turn out to be shape-shifting sorcerers, I'll be surprised.

Anyway, I've found another vat of FEV rejects causing trouble in the mountains. Yay. Just got to find the lab and burn it.

…first, though, I should give a hand to the samurai down there. It'd be the decent thing to do.

I swoop down and take further stock of the situation.

Things weren't looking good for the samurai; a group of five were pinned against the stone wall with their blades out, glowing blue. One of them had their chakra-blade shaped into an axe, which was neat. Judging from the scars on the land and stone around them, it's been one heck of a fight. They were surrounded by the Rakshasa, who were roaring out like triumphant and vengeful lions.

By my count, that's eight.

Make two clones to jump in if things go south, line up the shot and…

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight headshots in a row. 100 Ranged Weapon Skill is like an aim-hack, I love it.

I touch-down and decloak in front of them. I was wearing my Edgelord Bleedingrazor 9000 armor, sans helmet and hitai-ate because I didn't want them to know I was from Konoha. For obvious reasons.

"So, it looks like you were all in a pickle," I told them with a raised eyebrow, holstering my pistol. "You guys alright?"

They didn't answer immediately, instead turning to face each other for a second. Perhaps they were speaking to themselves and their air-tight helmets muted their voices enough that I couldn't hear them?

The man in the center spoke up first. "Why are you hear, Ninja?"

"Right now, I'm here to save your lives," I answered with a shrug. "As for why I'm in the land of Iron, I'm travelling. Sight-seeing."

"Sight-seeing," The man in the center repeated. "Really. Well, I appreciate the assistance, but I suggest you leave."

"I would leave, but I'd like to help," I replied, holding my hands behind my back. "I've got a…vested interest in eliminating these things."

"And what might that vested interest be?" He asked. I could feel him squinting at me through the lenses of his mask.

"There's been things like this all over the elemental nations," I explained matter-of-factly. "Fish monsters in the Land of Fire, Birds in Lightning. I'm two for two in eliminating the problems there and I'd like to keep my record going."

"I see," The leader said, looking to his four comrades for a second before turning back to face me. "Where do these things come from?"

"Previous experience points to there being some kind of lab that they emerged from," I replied. "Vats full of green liquid. I don't know whose been setting them up, but if we want to purge this epidemic, we need to burn them."

…yeah, seriously. Who is setting up these labs? It might have been Orochimaru but the notes in his lab indicated that the FEV in his lab was his only sample and that it came out of nowhere.

"If you wish to help, then first we'll need to know your name and what village you come from," The leader explained quickly.

"I'd appreciate it if you introduced yourselves first," I argued with a smile. "I did save your lives, after all."

They stopped. The leader turned around again to speak and they were talking for several minutes. I started to fidget a little bit, get the edge off.

The Leader turned around. "Very well. I am Mifune, Shogun of the Land of Iron. Now who are you?"

Oooh. The Leader of the Land of Iron. To be honest or not to be honest.

…

My gut is telling me that I need to be honest here. I've got a huge in here and being dishonest could ruin it, especially if he looks down on lies as much as my read of him tells me he does.

"Daisuke, Shimoda Daisuke," I replied with a smile. "I'm from Konohagakure, using my vacation to explore the elemental nations."

"I see," Mifune responded. "So, you are not here in any official capacity?"

"Nope," I shook my head.

He almost believed me. I got him to want to believe me, which is equally important. "Very well. If you want to help, you'll take point."

That's code for 'you first so if you try anything we can stab you in the back'. "Fair enough. Have you guys tracked them to their lair?"

"We did. They chased us out," Mifune explained with a growl on his voice.

Hm. Upset the mission's not going well

"On your order," I replied, seeing as 'lead the way' wouldn't be appropriate seeing as how he wanted me in front.

"The cave is up this path at the end of this canyon," Mifune explained pointing up the path. "Advance to the mouth and we'll form up there for a second offensive."

I nodded and took off. I quick glance behind me confirmed that they were following me rather than cutting to run, which I appreciated.

The canyon was tall, like a pair of massive walls that raised up to box us into long, long trap. It honestly reminded me of light cycle walls from the movie Tron. I loved Tron. Not so much the sequel or reboot that came out a few decades later, but the movie and the first-person shooter were pretty solid.

I shook my head.

Focus.

From the side a blur lunged at me. I planted my fist inside the fanged mouth of one of the Rakshasa, causing its head to explode. Wasn't that thing a rock just now? Great. These things can do jutsu, which makes them shape-shifting sorcerers.

Color me surprised.

Two more lunge from the right, I draw my pistol and end the two of them. The art of the quickdraw lives on in me!

At the end of the canyon was the opening of a cave, just like Mifune said. It was a small, round thing that stopped all light dead like it was a portal into the plane of darkness. Or it is plane of shadow?

Ugh, the nerd culture is really on my mind right now.

"On my mark, we head inside," Mifune began. "M-"

He stopped, and when I turned to look at him, he was talking to his subordinates. Not being able to hear the other side of this conversation was starting to irk me, but I suppose I'll hear that later. For now, we need to handle this infestation of cats.

"My Samurai want to know if you are capable of creating clones," Mifune began.

"…yes," I replied after a pause. I don't like where this is going. "I can create clones. Why?"

"Because they were hoping you could send in some as a forward guard," Mifune answered.

Awwwwwww, no! Really? That's so, so boring! They had a point but come on! "Yes, I can do that. You want me too?"

"I believe it would be prudent, yes," Mifune nodded. "Please make a squad of five to move in."

"Alright," I held in my sigh of disappointment. Flash through the seals, make five shine clones. I like those, they explode into a blinding flash of light and pretty colors when they die. "You guys know what to do."

They nodded and got to work.

Mifune wasn't talking, neither was the Samurai. So, I was just sitting, waiting for the clones to – you know what? Idea! Instead of making autonomous clones, I could make clones which I controlled utterly. Like puppets. So instead of sitting out here, being bored, I could be playing a Real Time Strategy game. I used to love those. Was never any good at them, but that might have changed now.

They wouldn't be clones, though, what would I call them-oh, they're done. That was quick.

"They're done," I said, letting my sigh of annoyance through because I just missed a fantastic fight with things that could plan, use stealth tactics and could fight in melee with the best of them while still being the most savage animals I think I've ever seen. Rats.

"What do you mean they're done?" Mifune asked incredulously.

"The cats are dealt with," I replied. "They're all dead. Down to the last cub. Let's go examine, shall we? They found the lab, too."

"I was about to give the order to move in," Mifune explained, still incredulous.

"Care to go in and see?" I asked, gesturing into the cave.

He took a moment to speak to his subordinates, eyes never leaving me for a second. "Very well. Take point and dispel your clones."

They don't necessarily trust me, which is understandable. Still, the clones were dispelled, except for the two I had floating above me in case things go wrong. Mifune meant the clones in the cave, so I didn't feel too bad for leaving the two above alive and kicking.

"They dispelled themselves," I replied with a smile. "Let's move in."

The cave was a slaughter house. Rocks and been pulled, stalactites and stalagmites had been created to impale the cats on like Vlad the Impaler did to his enemies and criminals. Blood dripped down the stone. As we progressed further, the grisly scene continued and I guess my clones, actually fearing their demise because one hit equaled death, decided to get creative.

The Samurai behind me said nothing as we continued on.

Then we hit a solid stone wall, with the kanji for 'hazard' marked on the top.

"The cubs had fled into this room," I said, knocking the kanji with a knuckle. "My clones sealed them off and gassed them – relatively painless death. Better than their parents got, at least."

"I see," Mifune replied.

"They found the lab, it's just down that passage," I said, pointing to an opening that had a sharp turn to the right. "Shall we go see what's inside for ourselves?"

"Take point," Mifune insisted.

"You got it," I replied, doing so.

The lab…wasn't. It wasn't a lab. It was just a small room with six large, glass vats that had been broken. It was just a growing facility, as small and bare-bones as you could get. Interestingly, the floor and walls were metal. Not the 'fake metal' that I grew for my vault but actual, real metal. Most structures underground were made of earth release simply because of how easy it was to construct with a jutsu. Pipes, like the type you saw in sewers, required a craftsman to craft and could be very, very expensive.

"So, did anyone bring explosives?" I asked, putting my hands in my pockets.

"We didn't realize there was a lab we would need to destroy," Mifune explained with a thoughtful tone to his voice. "We thought it was simply a nest of pests that we would need to exterminate, though this goes a long way to explaining where they came from."

"These things must've been a huge problem, huh?" I continued my questions. "To get the Shogun himself to come out to deal with the problem."

"One of my top generals was mauled by these monsters in transit from his home to the capital," Mifune explained. "I decided to come make an example of these beasts. I didn't realize how over our heads we were until they jumped out at us from all sides."

I find it interesting that the cats gave the Samurai trouble. The Anglers didn't give me much trouble in the sewers, the harpies even less. The bloodworms were so simple to deal with, speaking of otherwise alien creatures that make no sense. But the cats?

Well, they made my clones actually have to fight. I mean, in Konoha they were there solely to be popped, but these guys weren't to be popped at all. They were fast, clever and could cleave through stone with their claws.

To sum up my thoughts, the cats were significantly higher level than the other set of creatures that appeared out of nowhere, and I'd like to know why.

"Hm. Well, I can make some explosives and destroy the lab here, if that's agreeable," I offered with a wave of my hand. "That way none of us have to come back here again."

"Do it, Ninja," Mifune said with a nod.

First, make a set of bricks out of the cave behind us. Then I brought them up to me, wrote seals on them and scattered them throughout the lab. "Alright, they're set to blow on your order."

Normally, I'd just tell them all to clear out and blow it, but I'm trying to demonstrate a willingness to cooperate. This is also his mission, so I'm letting the Shogun call the shots.

"Move out," He said and we did so.

As soon as we cleared the cave, I detonated the blocks, causing the mountain to shake. A quick look up confirmed there was no avalanche coming our way, thankfully.

"Mission complete," I said happily. "Question, is this mission a contract?"

"A contract?" Mifune repeated.

"I mean, I know you said that you're out here because a general got mauled, but is someone paying you samurai to be out here?" I continued. I don't believe the Samurai were mercenaries the same way the Hidden Villages were, but I wanted to be sure.

He took a second to respond. "We aren't mercenaries like Shinobi are. Our people pay taxes, they deserve our protection."

"That's awesome," I said that and I meant it. Protecting the people is the government's job. Well, one of its job. "It's always annoyed me that sometimes shinobi let situations boil over so people get desperate enough to hire them."

He took a moment to respond. "I see."

While he responded to his subordinates, I took the time to dispel the other two clones. I think he's trying to figure out what, exactly, I want. Which isn't too hard. I want to know what makes the Land of Iron tick and I want to know what they know about the last few Shinobi wars.

"Shimoda, what is it that you want?" Mifune asked. "Shinobi don't do anything for free."

"I'm glad you asked," I said with a smile. "I've been going around the Elemental nations to examine the records that the other villages have to say about the first three great Shinobi wars. There's another one coming and I want to stop it."

"You're rather young to be interested in global peace," Mifune responded doubtfully. "Children your age-"

"DON'T CALL ME A-"

He stopped because of my outburst and the other two immediately assumed combat positions.

I took a breath. "I apologize for my outburst, but please don't call me a child. I really, really don't like being called a child."

"Fair enough," Mifune replied. "Ninja your age are usually so enamored with their village they want to take over the world for it."

I scoffed. "Yeah, well. I'm not average by any means. If a war breaks out, my friends could die in the line of duty, plus all the bloodshed besides. That's not something I'm okay with."

"Huh," Mifune said. "So what is it you want from the Land of Iron? We have not been involved in your wars, our neutrality has been carefully maintained."

"That doesn't mean that you're ignorant of what's been going on," I replied with a frown. "You had to have at least been keeping a small eye on the wars, figuring out if the fighting would ever enter your territory."

"You want our old surveillance reports?" Mifune asked, trying to clarify.

"As well as anything you've got from internal spies in the villages," I continued. "I won't pretend that Konoha is exempt or is sinless in any of the Great Shinobi war, so I need to know if I missed anything that wasn't necessarily kept in their archives."

"We can provide you with our old surveillance reports," Mifune replied. "As payment for your service today."

They still don't quite trust me. That's fine.

"We'll need to blindfold you before we take you inside the village, though," Mifune explained, somewhat hoping that the threat of going into a new situation blind would deter me.

I'm sending in a clone and swapping with it if it turns out these guys are on the up and up.

Alright, so they're on the up and up. Huh.

The clone I swapped out en-route to the Village was blindfolded about half-way through the journey. He was then escorted through a dangerous, perilous pass and came close to slipping several times. Then he was let in and taken straight to a quiet and out of the way office and had the blindfold taken off. Then the records were presented and I read them.

Quest Complete: The Iron Rod.

Completed: Find the Land of Iron's Observations of the Great Ninja Wars: (3/3).

Completed: (Optional: Find the Shogun's personal accounts: 5/5).

Quest Complete: Around the World.

Completed: Complete The Iron Rod in the Land of Iron.

Bum-bum-bum-Bum!

Level Up!

Oh. Level 33. Fun. Throw some skill points here, there, everywhere.

Using a clone to move through the Shogun's personal accounts revealed…not much. I mean, internal politics, fears about the oncoming war being the one to wipe humanity off of the elemental nations, stuff like that. Nothing really surprising or things I didn't know. They've even picked up the idea that the conflicts between the Ninja are being engineered.

What this information means I'll go over when I get back to the vault. For right now, however, I've got to talk with Mifune because there's been something I've been curious about.

"Thank you, this is all I needed," I said, closing the records and placing my hands in my lap. "There was something I was curious about?"

"If you're going to ask that we ally with Konoha for the upcoming war, the answer is no," Mifune stated matter-of-factly. Now outside of his armor, I saw that his hair was gray and that he had a fu-man-chu mustache. His eyes held a steady focus on anything he was looking at like they were being "Our neutrality is the only reason I've survived."

"No, I had no illusions that you'd want to join the war," I shook my head, slowly standing up, pushing the wooden chair I was sitting in away as I did. "Again, I want to prevent the war. My question is simple; what's Ninshū?"

It was a concept I was first introduced to back in the academy. I was never actually taught what it was, just that it was a doctrine of some kind that the Samurai held and was the reason the Samurai were so small and irrelevant in national politics.

"What is Ninshū?" Mifune repeated my question. "I'm surprised you've even heard of the concept."

"It was an offhand mention back in the academy," I replied with a shrug. "Mentioned it was a kind of doctrine you held too, but not explained. I'd like to know what it is."

"Ninshū is the believe of all Samurai," Mifune started, beginning to go into lecture mode. "It is the belief that Chakra is not meant for war, but for the connection of all people. To connect them in a spiritual way to both themselves and others, for understanding and peace."

"Tell me more," I urged him to continue, sitting back down.

"You are aware of Hagoromo, yes?" Mifune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Sage of the Six paths?" I asked with a raised eyebrow to match his. "Who isn't aware of him?"

"He created the Ninja world by spreading his chakra to everyone, any and all," Mifune continued to explain. "He was the founder ofNinshū and sought that everyone could use chakra to connect to themselves, to understand themselves. To connect to others so they could understand them without communication and pray for their safety."

Sounds like a great way to implement a hivemind if it's twisted for nefarious purposes. As it stands, the ability to understand oneself and communicate that with others and in turn have them understand you without speaking or…needing a Charisma check.

Huh.

"You say connect to everyone," I began my question with that statement. "That means he wanted everyone to use chakra?"

"That's what I said, yes," Mifune nodded.

"Everyone," I repeated with a sweeping gesture.

"Yes," He nodded again.

"Absolutely everyone," I asked again.

"Yes, everyone," He narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"Wow," I said, sitting up straight with my eyes somewhat popping out of their sockets. "That's…amazing."

"I'm surprised you would think that," Mifune stated. "Forgive me for saying so, but Ninja, by and large, hoard secrets like miser hoards ryo."

"I've never really liked secrets," It was true. As much as I hold in my status as a reincarnate, I cherished the one time I was able to share that secret with a Penguin who…used chakra exactly as described by Mifune. Wow. "Everything that I can do can be done by someone else with enough skill and practice. I want to spread it everywhere. So, everyone knows it."

"What use would the common man have for ninjutsu?" Mifune asked with a frown.

"Give me an occupation," I said.

"Oh, uh…farmer," Mifune offered.

"Earth Release to till the fields, fire release to kill the weeds and cook meals, water release to water the crops, wind release help harvest by cutting the fruit from the vine and lightning release to kill rodents and pests that hide underground," I rattled off quickly. "Ninjutsu is more about understanding the land than each other, I'd say. So, I think everyone could use both Jutsu and Ninshū."

"I…haven't looked at it that way before," Mifune responded with a surprised blink. "Huh."

"Mifune-sama…do you think I could come back here?" I asked with a smile. "I'd love to learn more about Ninshū and how it works."

Mifune cupped his chin, stroking his chin-beard thoughtfully for several moments. He was likely considering what his generals would say, his sons, his wife, what the reaction would be if they willingly allowed a Shinobi from Konoha to return to their small, isolationist kingdom.

"Very well," Mifune finally agreed, folding his arms. "But only because you saved my life and the lives of my fellows."

"Awesome," I said standing up. "Say, am I allowed to just leave or am I going to be escorted out?"

"I will have an escort for you," Mifune answered. "Go in peace, Shimoda."

We traded bows and I was escorted from the village.

The Land of Iron's snowcapped, onyx-made buildings were so jarringly different from my vaults grey, steel-wood walls it actually took me a minute to process the change.

It was just…weird.

But I think I've finally found the answer to my dilemma.

The Land of Iron was neutral. They didn't want global war any more than I did and what's more, they had no skin or money in the fight. The Samurai likely have their own demons, corruption, etc. But their layout, their neutrality in the politics of the Elemental Nations and the fact that they don't just leave problems to fester for profit…they're ideal. Or at least as close to ideal as I'm ever going to get in this screwed up world.

That Ninshū though! I never thought I'd see anything like that in this world! A world filled with secrets and backstabbing super soldiers, and there's a small pocket of people that believe that everyone should be able to use chakra. Even if they exclude jutsu, there's so much that super strength, speed and wall-walking can do to benefit the common man, all things they use! Cat stuck in a tree? Little Lucy can just walk up the tree and get it. Then jump down the fifteen foot drop completely unharmed when Mom calls her for dinner!

This is the first time I've been truly excited since I got Almost Perfect and this isn't underlined by a vague sense of dread. I've found my medium to deliver the solution. I'm not stuck with a village motivated by righteous judgement to smash all other villages and bring them to heel.

…and suddenly that vague sense of dread hit me.

What am I going to tell Naruto? Kakashi? Anko? Nichiren? Ino?

'I'm sorry, pal. But there's a war coming that I'd like to stop and Konoha's one of the biggest offenders. I can't stick with this, sorry'? Well, obviously I'd need to lead him through the thought process to get him to understand. Get them to understand.

In essence, though…yeah. That is exactly what I'm going to say to them.

But the indoctrination in the village system is really, really strong. They might understand it but be so completely unable to accept it that I'll make enemies out of the people I considered friends for life. They will hate me. Everyone except Naruto will consider me a traitor of the highest order without any sympathetic reason for doing so like Sasuke in canon. Naruto will hunt me for the rest of my days, trying to get me to come back to the village at any cost.

Is that all worth it?

If it keeps them from being casualties of the next great war, then yes. Yes, it is.

I really don't want to though.

…my life has been hamstrung way too much by not doing things that I don't want to do. No, I can use the Land of Iron to stop the oncoming war, break the informational stranglehold the villages have on each of their respective lands and force the villages to adapt a peaceful way of life or wind up financially ruined. That's the strategy.

But first I have to come up with a plan. A real plan, something I can pitch to Mifune to get him to go along with it. With steps, contingencies and backup plans. Put this massive set of Barter points to use.

Let's see, what other tools can I use?

…Gaara owes me a favor…