"Are you all ready to go?"
"Ready!"
After the morning routine, Yoichi looked at their expressions filled with excitement, thrill, and expectations. In particular, his wives were non-stop talking and blabbering about the women's things with the children in each embrace while his students were thinking about what to expect on the unknown ocean and mysterious world.
'As expected, this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip after all. However, the mood was too energetic!'
"Universal Swap: Engulf!"
The surroundings instantly changed, they were greeted by the salty breeze of the ocean and the trees with a canopy. The endless vast blue water matched the sky and was mesmerizing to the eyesight.
"Sensei, is this the misty island you are talking about? How come there are no foggy clouds and the village here looks...dilapidated?" Ryoma and the others let their eyes venture into the coastal shore, skeptical about Yoichi's description.
"This is the land near the misty islands... However, I can't be sure that the spot of these hazy islands was in the east. Anyway, let us travel eastward!" Yoichi summoned his high-tech boat and to his group's surprise, the ship was even more sophisticated than any other boat they'd seen.
"Yoichi, I have never seen a boat like this before! Where did you get this?" Satomi's question sparked their interest which Yoichi replied, pointing to his book and letting them inside the boat.
"Go inside, then let the ship run by itself." Yoichi stepped into the water using his Chakra-Ki and rode in the waves like a professional surfer.
After all the passengers boarded, the ship automatically followed Yoichi's direction and sailed slowly along with Yoichi to the eastern world.
"Having some fun time doing that? Why not join us here with your children?" Maki asked him with concern flickered in her eyes. The students and children were doing fine while Satomi was drinking the booze from the refrigerator with a joyful face.
"I'm fine here, don't worry. It's my curse to not allow me to have any type of transportation device to ride or else a misfortune could happen."
Any type of indirect force such as tying himself with a rope to a ship would also be considered a violation of his curse and a mishap would truly occur.
"Idiot! Why would you even— ahhh... Limiting yourself so you could have fun... Even that is amusing to you?" Maki shook her head and decided to ignore him while Yoichi laughed at the situation.
After surfing for an hour, Yoichi and the rest located the misty islands as the apparent mist enveloped them. The water was cold to touch due to the lack of sunlight, the misty vapor was too thick to even find a shadow or object, and islands were shrouded in secrecy, hiding in the eyes of the public and the tourists just like them. The lanterns were lit up to see the bustling crowd and a bunch of fishes unfolded in their eyes. This is a misty island, the eastern point of the world.
"Sir, hello! I would like to ask some questions in mind..." Yoichi greeted the vendor while the group wandered around the unknown place, curious about the locals, sceneries, and specialties there.
"Oh, a tourist! Welcome to our town! Please, buy and look for our specialties here in our town!" The vendor's sharp acumen in business didn't escape Yoichi's hearing as his dear treasurer, Makima did the shopping plan for him, a job well done.
"Thank you for buying our products, sir! May I know your inquiries?" the vendor grinned with an instant change of expression, a merchant in its habitat.
" I have a monk friend named 'Chaiya'. Does that ring a bell?" Yoichi ignored the vendor's money-grubber attitude and directly asked the location.
"Ah yes, that blue-dressed monk! He is living in the Mizuki Shrine, near the eastern mountains. I hope you can quickly find him, sir." the vendor's eyebrow arched slightly with a barely imperceptible smile.
"Alright. Thanks for giving us the best fishes here!" Yoichi left along with his group and went on their way to a secluded shrine at the side mountain.
"Greetings, Benefactor... I am surprised about your visit here. I hope you are not uncomfortable along the way here with the foggy settings of our lands." a familiar bluish dressed greeted Yoichi and his group, bowing slightly in respect with a helpless smile.
"Hahaha, you are joking, old monk. By the way, here's my wives and my students..." After Yoichi introduced his group one by one, the monk greeted them in reply and showed his propriety yet the monk's eyelid twitched at the sight of Yoichi's wives.
'Benefactor... Looks like lust was the main problem you have here... If this hard work could be focused on the dharma...'
After the pleasantries, Yoichi's wives and his students enjoyed the unique scenery. The view was great with the mountain blocking the mist from going out of the land as the hazy smoke was continuously generated through the condensation around the islands. A bizarre formation and climate was formed for thousands of years, a beautiful wonder like a piece of a cloudy painting.
"Old monk, would like to have a bout against me? I like your way of using such fascinating energy just like Monk Ananada did." Yoichi stood up and stretched his body, eager for the exchange.
"Benefactor... Please, be my guest." With hesitation in mind, Chaiya shook his head before looking at Yoichi's fiery flame of enthusiasm, forming his stance not as a monk but as a fighter.
'So fast! His ability was...so deceiving!'
Chaiya's dangerous intuition preemptively dodged earlier before Yoichi vanished in an instant, casually delivering a kick to the body of the monk, who appeared to be narrowing his eyes with Yoichi's nimble attempt.
Afterward, Both Chaiya and Yoichi traded blows at each other yet Yoichi's unpredictability managed to land some heavy blows into the monk. Chaiya was as stable as an enduring mountain while Yoichi's attacks were devastating seasons with capricious movements like a climate, constantly eroding the mountain's gracious endurance and determination.
"Benefactor, let's stop with our contest." The moment Yoichi launched an attack, the monk stopped in his stance. Still, the battle was minimal but the bruises and grazes of Yoichi's attack were a testament to his power even without any kind of technique.
"Hahahaha, sorry old monk! Just blowing my steam off with my newly created ability. I apologize for my misconduct!" Retracting his savage grin, Yoichi scratched his head and asked for forgiveness.
"There's no need for the pleasantries. Please, sit down, and let's talk." Chaiya shook his head and ignored the pain of his old body, prompting his guest to sit near him.
The talk was all about ideology and the monk was surprised by his recent discovery. Yoichi vehemently disagreed with the monk's guidance of Dharma toward humanity. His opinions were about individualism and the choice of the people while the monk's idea was completely different, subjecting humanity to leave their desire for the Dharma and be enlightened by Buddha.
After these debates, Chaiya found a new perspective and admiration for Yoichi's open-mindedness, a trait very rarely found in the sea of struggling people. Yoichi's incomprehensible ideas left an indelible mark on the monk's mind, giving his benefactor a mental thumbs-up for the broad-minded attitude.
"Old monk, is there any kind of divine power here such as gods? Just like the Fire God in the previous year? Any insights?" Yoichi laid out his true intentions, his desire to uncover these secrets in this world was evident.
"There is one..." Hearing his benefactor's words, Chaiya narrowed his eyes and grew serious, "I fought with a mystical being calling himself 'Water God' from the southeastern part. Its body was deeply rooted in the waters and a troublesome enemy! I suggest exercising caution, Benefactor!"
An elemental being rooted in its natural territory was one of the scary types of enemy. If the earlier Fire God was connected to a volcano or a natural formation of nature, he wondered what catastrophic disaster would happen.
"You are being serious again, old monk... It's not good for your health, is it? Oh, it's getting late... I am gonna go with my family now, old monk. I will visit you next time!" Yoichi noticed a darker tone of the sky and stood up, saying his farewell words while gathering his group.
"Hahaha! I have a good time with your help, Benefactor! I hope your future endeavors will be able to safely return you to your family. Take care!" With his encouraging blessing, Chaiya bowed slightly as his gains for the current day were enormous and substantial.
"You too, old monk! Your plan with the 2 old monks was ingenious and I hope you succeed! Take care of yourself!" Yoichi left with his group, smiling like idiots yet Yoichi's mind was preoccupied with the plan of the 3 great monks: the sacrifice to build a field of eternal bliss, Pure Land.
'Maybe it's their choice since the people of this era didn't have any peace even in death. Also, the gradual decay of death emanating from the monk was too obvious... So they are the creators huh... What a grandiose concept...'
Yoichi shook his head and went to insert the house into a secluded forest nearby. The concept of Pure Land was not rare in Yoichi's knowledge, it was a Buddha's field without distractions yet in the Shinobi World's case, it was a field for people dead tired from the struggles of human suffering. Although the similarities were here and there, the 3 monks' selflessness in developing such a field was enough to gain respect from Yoichi's perspective.
It was a completely benevolent belief, a great deed.
"Yoichi, where are we going next? Raijin Mountains? Or other lands?" Satomi was curious. She instantly became bored with her Six-Eyes scanning and wondering with the lands yet her expectations dimmed a little bit more.
His group perked up their ears, also curious about the next destination in the clan leader's mind.
"You are gonna fight against a God and seal it! Look, is it exciting?" Yoichi revealed his plans while the rest were shocked and thrilled to death.
"You mean, like the Fire God who wreaked havoc in the Capital City?" Maki's blood spiked in a rush, her inner desire to beat a god with her bare hands made her adrenaline soar and pumped wildly.
"Yeah, just like that... Anyway, let's rest up today and refill our stamina for the next day..."
After the meeting, all of them ate the food and slept instantly without disturbance. The scenery and specialties on the misty island were good but the encroaching fog felt suffocating without seeing the endless ocean, bumming them out of the huge expectations about the adventure.