Old friends craft in mines

[CDF]

What a fascinating country...

Hito's leg clanged loudly with each monotonous step on the impeccably laid road. He had filtered the sound out long ago, but every so often some variable like elevation and road texture changed enough to knock the sound off the filters parameters and return to annoying him. Tweaking his perception of it again, he marveled at the many mysteries of this strange land.

He had been trotting along without stopping for exactly 2.45 days now since passing the border into "Dungeons Country" and not once did he have to stop to find a road. The network of roads was surrounded by dilapidated terrain and even ancient ruins that every part of Hito's curious nature wanted to explore, but a powerful intuition told him to wait.

That powerful intuition... such a strange new experience and reality he was living. It was fitting to be in such a bizarre place.

The neurons on his skin registered a slight dip in temperature, beginning a trend only somebody like him could have noticed so soon. The temperature was dipping for no conceivable reason, and sure enough, he was soon walking down roads dusted with snow. No elevation or movement of the earth could account for this... it had to be jutsu or spirit related.

Is that why this nagging sensation felt so strong? Or was that because he hadn't reconnected with Hito prime in over 24 hours? Technically the longest of his existence? Oh well, the connection here was strange and it was a good opportunity to see the limits of autonomous movement and exploration. His goals remained the same: scout dungeon country and search for Tousha, which intel suggested was somewhere in the part of the world though not specifically this country. There was the potential additional subgoal of investigating the rumors he'd heard more than once before arriving and since arriving of mystical items and dungeons.

The former Hokage was popping up in reports in interesting places doing interesting things, and that new powerful intuition told him this could be tied into the grander plan he could not yet see, but felt a few steps ahead. Feeling the equivalent of a sigh in the depths of his soul, he stopped suddenly and began channeling chakra while reviewing details and possible next steps. Soon after, another perfect earthen copy of him rose from the earth, was transformed and then became possessed with the spirit that was previously within him

So far, Hito had mostly avoided people and made himself invisible. Again his curiosity lost to the stronger intuitio within him that said he'd had plenty of time. Even with this avoidance and the sparse population, it was enough to notice that this nation was a strange place with a lot of tourism and sales from its strange dungeons.

Feeling a sudden lurch and certainty within him that went beyond even the newfound feelings that came with his possession, Hito accelerated his movement and walked in the direction of what looked to be a vendor with a crowd outside a particularly ominous looking dungeon. There was a crowd around him and they all seemed rather captivated.

Cautiously, Hito would walk up behind the crowd and observe. Something powerful was telling him to investigate, something beyond just his intuition. He was dressed in the typical garb of the crowd, having actually transformed the clothing onto himself after having seen them from far enough. The pull was entice and now there were two of them, one from the intuition telling him this moment with the crowd was crucial for the plan. The other was the intense spiritual energy coming from the dungeon further up behind the vendor.

"YOU'VE TRAVELLED LONG AND FAR FOR GOOD REASON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Except you kid, I can't sell you anything unless your fake ID is unbelievably good." The vendor flashed a crooked grin at the 10 year old girl in the audience and everyone laughed, but everyone also instantly knew he secretly meant it. "THIS HERE, IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW ITEMS TO EVER COME OUT OF THAT DUNGEON OVER THERE!"

There was no point in analyzing all the signs as he watched the man flaunt a chainmail glove that had a very ornate and jewel encrusted design. The chainmail glittered in a way that it almost seemed to move and the entire thing gave off a strange feeling of danger. The vendor, on the other hand, was emitting dozens of signs that he was an immoral charlatan. The subconscious guarding in the body language even in the child was clear to him.

"Behold!" Also subconsciously feeling their reaction, the vendor hurried to captivate them. He seemed to slip it on fearlessly, but just as he seemed to be perfectly fine soon after, Hito could tell he was hesitant and then immediately in physical pain. Jutting out the gloved hand at the tree directly behind and to the right of him, the tree seem to do nothing for a while. After a few seconds, faint trails of smoke seemed to appear from within it before finally plumes of steam were bursting through every part of it, causing it to slightly swell before deflating and withering in place and then suddenly exploding. The explosion was oddly anticlactic, it just burst at the point of contact and a few pieces flew outwards safely.

The pieces clicked and it was clear he had done this too many times, he would likely get very desperate by the end of this presentation to make a sale to anyone here. Assuming it was doing what he expected, Hito couldn't let it continue existing, but he also wan't about to put any money in this man's pocket. Let's see what happens and what's brought me here.