"What happened to the rebellion the two families started in the south?" Jin asked his Defense Commander.

"Lord Daimyo, they were immediately caught and sent to prison, they await trial by you." The man reported. ​​

"Good, keep them in the prison. I will move to the trial when I feel it's enough punishment. I gave them enough chances to not go against me and focus on their business. What are the sentiments in that area?" Jin questioned.

"Normal, the people didn't support the rebellion because they support and love you. In fact, it was the people who reported the suspicious activities of the two families." Commander explained.

Jin sighed and continued, "That's good. Lord Dama has instructed us to stay on alert. Some people might try to enter the country illegally to snoop around."

"Yes, Lord Daimyo." The man saluted and left.

Jin tiredly rested back on his chair and looked outside from the window. The sky was clear, the sun was pouring some healthy light. But he wondered, "It must not be as enjoyable at the Wind Country as here. It's a desert after all."

...

Jin was absolutely right. The desert heat of the Wind Country was scorching. Even though everyone was a hardened warrior, no one could face such heat without cursing once or twice.

"AAAA... This old man will die if this goes on." Rakumatsu, the old bodybuilder, had finally met a challenge, the desert heat. He was travelling with Shiroken and Shisui and laid in the carriage under the shade of the cloth covers. While Shiroken sat in the driver's seat, seemingly unaffected by the sun.

"Lord Dama, how are you unaffected?" Shisui asked, finally opening his mouth. He was drenched in sweat.

"Haha, I am one with nature. I am enjoying basking in this sunlight. It feels refreshing. You two should just stop thinking about the heat." Shiroken advised them.

But they had obviously tried doing this. "Lord Dama, can you create ice for us in the carriage?" Rakumatsu asked.

"Of course. Here." Shiroken manipulated the natural energy and created a small heap of snow inside the carriage.

"YES! This old man will not die today." Rakumatsu jumped on the snow and started making a snow angel. The man might be old but his heart was young.

Currently, they were on their way to the Daimyo Palace, which was surrounded by a city and that was where they would sell their produce.

Their path was long, as they had to go through the Fire Country, then cross the River Country and finally enter the Wind Country.

Along the way, they would sell many items to the normal villages at an affordable cost. This was to generate goodwill in people's hearts. Shiroken would openly tell them they were from the Dama Country. Even all the items that had some kind of packaging had the logo of the Dama Country, a steaming dumpling.

However, if what they thought were poor villages in the Fire Country and the River Country, the conditions in Wind Country was much worse. The poor people of the other nations were rich as compared to the poor here.

However, human perseverance was an amazing thing. Even in this desert land, people were somehow surviving. The road they had taken was the main road leading to the Daimyo's palace city. But, the road still looked empty. Only the long line of their trading convoy was creating dust.

"Shisui, show me the map," Shiroken asked for the map to see what was their nearest location. He checked the map closely and saw that there were some villages nearby. Shiroken had been sending a few carriages towards these villages so they could also buy things.

"Send them to these three villages. They are close by." He ordered.

Shisui nodded and prepared to jump to the rear, to tell the last carriages.

"LORD DAMA! LORD DAMA..." Suddenly a Nidama clan member came trotting on the horse. He looked tired.

"What happened Roku?" Shiroken asked.

"There... I came from the last village you sent us to. Our carriage was robbed. The people in the village... They are cannibals. I and the carriage driver were able to come here safely but we lost the carriage. And they ate one of the horses." Roku reported grimly.

"Should I go?" Shisui asked with a stiff expression.

Shiroken thought for a while, then shook his head. "No, leave them. It's not like we can get the carriage and food back. Though I do feel bad for the horse.

"Sadly, I don't know how to deal with them. Killing them would be a wise choice but... They are not my people and they became like this out of necessity. The Daimyo couldn't handle his country correctly.

"Leave them be. We will deal with them later. Hopefully, when food regularly starts reaching them, they will stop their cannibalistic tendencies. And you two, jump on my carriage and take some rest. Look at Rakumatsu, sleeping soundly, push him aside."

Roku looked inside and saw snow in the carriage. He wasn't amazed but jealous of the old man.

...

They continued on the path while being careful not to take a wrong turn and end up inside the Desert of Solitude. There was nothing but sand as far as one could see.

Shiroken could understand why the Shinobi of Sunagakure were so short-tempered and war-loving. This climate could turn even the weakest person into an average fighter. But, call it stupidity or ignorance of Sunagakure, if they had acted in accordance with Hashirama's treaty they would've enjoyed food trade from the Fire Country and also cheap land for lease.

The convoy continued for another day and eventually saw a big city on the horizon. It stuck out like a large lush fruit tree in a vast desert. The city was too big, much bigger than they were all expecting.

"How did they make this city while being so poor?" Rakumatsu wondered.

"The country is poor, not its ruler. The whole country's wealth comes here to accumulate after all." Shiroken deduced.

"Shisui, go ahead and scout the city, find anything you can about it's secrets," Shiroken ordered. Shisui was already as good as a person with normal eyes by now, he used something called eco-location to understand his surroundings and create a colourless X-ray world in his mind.

The convoy of 500 carriages spanned more than 3 kilometres on the road and created a lot of traffic outside the city. The city gates were quickly closed in fear of it being some kind of an attack. The bells started to ring for some reason and many heads appeared over the boundary walls.

Shiroken went ahead towards the city gates. A man from inside also came out. He seemed important enough as he was wearing clothes with golden embroidery on them, along with 10 samurai guards behind him.

"Hello, I am a trader from the Dama Country. This is our trader's convoy, coming all the way from my country. We heard people lacked some food items in this country so we came to sell." Shiroken introduced himself.

The man respectfully bowed, "I am the Treasurer of Lord Daimyo, Nobita. We heard many reports about a large group of carriages moving towards here. We welcome you to the Wind Country, and of course, we appreciate you bringing all these items. But there is not enough space inside the city so we request you to set up your market outside the city gates... Lord...?"

Shiroken obviously didn't want to give his real name at the moment, "Oh, I am Oda Nobunaga. I own most of the trade in Dama Country and also a good friend of the Dama Country's Daimyo."

"Then, Lord Nobunaga, I invite you to the Daimyo palace. Perhaps your people can set up their shops on their own. I am sure Lord Daimyo will love to see you. He is very interested in the mysterious Dama Country, which has become so rich in so little time." Nobita, like any normal politician, knew how to lick someone's feet. It was his job after all.

"Sure, let's go. I heard the Daimyo likes unique and expensive foods? I have brought 100 unique flavours of instant dumplings." Shiroken accepted the invitation and entered the city with him.

Looking around, the people here seemed decent. They wore normal clothes and looked happy. At least the main city of the country was somewhat flourishing.

"On our way, we were attacked by cannibals." Shiroken hit their soft nerve.

Nobita scowled, "Those filthy barbarians. They have lost their human roots."

"But they were forced to do it, right? They have nothing to eat or drink. But why didn't they come to this city?" He inquired.

Nobita became a bit tense and replied, "They won't come. We sent them help but they ate the help. They have left their humanity."

~Lies.~ Shiroken felt.

"Oh, here we are. Let's take you to meet the Daimyo." Nobita enthusiastically led him into the palace.

[You can see the desert and Daimyo's city on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

PUSH THEM STONES ONTO ME!

__________________

(Advised you don't join right now as there are only 24 chapters. I Will be uploading more soon.) You can read 30 Advanced chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

Thank you for your support!