Naruto The Warlord

Chapter 13

The next morning, Naruto's officers had all received their orders. Their people would be allowed to enter the city to trade and stock up on whatever they fancied, but none other than Naruto's officers currently knew what their goal was. All it would take was for one of his officers to blab and the plan could shatter, but Naruto couldn't do anything but have faith in his men. Leaving the daily affairs and logistics to his officers, Naruto entered 'The Ivory Docks' along with Shou.

While Naruto had spent many hours surveying the city and its...tastes, Naruto wanted a second opinion. Shou had a keen eye and a sharp mind; he needed his counsel if they would ever take the city.

Just a minute into the city, Shou, now cloaked much like Naruto himself, looked pale, disgusted and had the beginnings of a snarl that was barely hidden.

"...You alright...?", Naruto murmured softly over his shoulder at Shou as they passed a 'slave post' where 7 crumpled slaves were chained up. His friend looked like he was on the verge of killing someone. They both froze as they saw a slavemaster strike a slave to the ground, yelling angrily in an unfamiliar dialect while his guards hovered over the slave stock they escorted. As Shou took a step forward looking like he wanted to step in and do something, Naruto grasped his shoulder to stop him. "...Don't! No matter how much we want to help these people, we'll just get ourselves killed if we show our hand this early. Bide your time...!", Naruto hissed with a shake of his head. Shou forcefully calmed himself and nodded, a look of disgust still present of his face.

Whispering and scheming, they quickly decided to follow 'The Ivory Road', the main road of the city built by white bricks and filled with nothing but the most prestigious shops of the city. They wanted to check out the palace first, but even after an hour of inspection, Shou had little more to add than Naruto himself had already observed.

"...We're getting nowhere with this...", Naruto rubbed the stubble on his chin with frustration. Shou looked thoughtful for a minute, gazing over at another slave master leading his stock to some unknown location.

"...We're outsiders in this city. No matter how much we observe, there are things we're going to be unable grasp unless we stay here for a good long while, something I assume none of us wish...", Shou muttered, his eyes following the direction of the passing slave master. "...Perhaps a new pair of eyes would be good for us to rely on. Someone more familiar with the traditions of this disgusting place..."

Seeing the frown on Naruto's face as a lack of understanding, Shou leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Initially furious, Naruto only took a minute to be convinced as Shou argued his plan and his reasoning.

They needed to buy a slave.

Having followed one of the many passing slave masters, they found a slave market in the northern part of the city. They had struck gold and found the biggest one, connected to 'The Ivory Road' itself, but Naruto had nearly screamed in frustration when they overheard the name of the marketplace, namely 'The Ivory Bazar'.

Honestly, Naruto hated this city with every fiber of his being.

The bazaar was wide and filled to the brim with a bustling crowd of both locals, slaves and traders. Hundreds of stands made out of sandstone littered the area where the slavemasters sold their stock or other miscellaneous items. Some of these items were exotic in nature, even to Naruto who was a well traveled individual, but other items were eerily familiar, like a pot with engravings and markings he recognized from his time way back in Konoha. How such items had found their way all the way to this despicable city, he would never know.

Blending in as well as they could among the crowd, they muttered and plotted together as they listened and overheard the conversing people and its traders. They especially took note of the slavemasters who were currently selling their slaves on the stands.